Daredevil (1998 Series) #99

August 7, 2007

Quick Rating: Good
Title: To the Devil His Due Part Five
Rating: T+

As Matt seeks his mysterious enemy, Milla reaches a breaking point!

Writer: Ed Brubaker
Art: Michael Lark & Stefano Gaudiano
Colors: Matt Hollingsworth
Letters: Chris Eiliopoulos
Editor: Warren Simons
Cover Art: Marko Djurdjevic
Publisher: Marvel Comics

With Gladiator captured, Matt Murdock finds out that he missed a crime spree while fighting with his former friend. As he sets out to find the person responsible for bringing Hell to the kitchen, Foggy and Lily try to take care of Milla, but Matt’s wife may finally have been driven too far.

Milla’s story is far and away the most interesting part of this story for me thus far. It’s not exactly a new idea to put heroes’ spouses through hell on their behalf, but it’s rare to see a reaction quite a volatile as Milla’s this issue. She’s going to have a lot to answer for when the smoke clears, and I’m not sure if either her husband the superhero or her husband the lawyer will be able to save her from herself.

There’s a reveal this issue that will doubtlessly leave a lot of readers scratching their heads, as it hinges on their knowledge of a character that hasn’t appeared in years (in many cases, before today’s readers were even born). Of greater concern, though, is the ending of this issue. While it’s a GOOD ending, it’s something of a cheat. This issue ends with not one, but two cliffhangers, which would be perfectly okay if not for the fact that this has been billed as the final chapter of the “Devil His Due” story. Maybe I’m nit-picking, but when a story begins with “part five of five,” I think it’s kind of unfair for the last words to be “to be continued.”

A good issue, but that structural problem really rubs me the wrong way.

Rating: 7/10