C&C Classic Reviews - Daredevil: End of Days

C&C Classic Reviews

Daredevil: End of Days

Mystery, Thrills and a fair amount of bloodshed...

By Steven Carter

As we near the 10th of April and the much anticipated release of the Daredevil TV series on Netflix, I thought I would take the time to review one of my favourite storylines of the Daredevil comic book series.

Cover for Issue 1

End of Days is an 8 issue comic book series released back in October 2012. Written by Brian Michael Bendis and David Mack and illustrated by Bill Sienkiewicz. This was one of many series where I buy the first issue and end up having to purchase the rest as I just get so caught up in the plot and have to find out how it concludes. Bendis has managed to do this a lot in the past with other big story lines like Fear itself, Dark Reign and House of M. I have a rather morbid interest in seeing a superhero be defeated or getting beat to within an inch of their life. It just seems so dramatic and really stirs up all kinds of emotions as to what this person must be going through and should they survive, how they find the courage to keep on going. This is what you get in the very first 3 pages of issue 1. Daredevil is fighting his long time nemesis Bullseye. The first caption says that they had been fighting for over an hour and 45 minutes and Matt Murdock was clearly losing. After exchanging blows at street level, Bullseye finally has Daredevil on the ground. Exhausted, he is about to deliver the killing blow when Matt utters one last word. “Mapone”. This word appears to unsettle Bullseye for a second before he brutally kills Daredevil with his own Billy clubs.

Pretty gritty right?

Just as I was thinking this was going to be the shortest comic book series I’ll ever read, the story picks up with the main character, Ben Ulrich. For those of you who don’t know, Ben Urich is a journalist who has worked for many newspapers and gets involved in reporting many superhero skirmishes and encounters. In this story arc, he works for the Daily Bugle. A once major newspaper but is now on the verge of closing down. Reluctantly, he is tasked with investigating the story of Daredevil’s murder. At first he struggles to get traction with the story until he finds someone who recorded the fight. He learns about Daredevil’s final word and is then driven to find out what it meant. Across the following 7 issues he visits old enemies and allies of Daredevil to see if they have any information about Mapone. At the same time, he becomes increasingly aware he is being stalked by someone in a Daredevil costume. Is it his imagination run wild? Is it merely a copycat vigilante? Or had Matt been training a protégé?

Ben Urich here without his umbrella

I was hooked on this story from start to finish. Not just out of curiosity as to where Urich’s investigation would take him but mainly to find out what the frack “Mapone” meant! The story is set in the not too distant future. It appears that there aren’t many heroes left. They have either died or moved on with their lives, settling down to enjoy “retirement”. You see various cameos of well known characters throughout the series, Nick Fury shows up in dark alleyways being as mysterious as ever, Elektra is a soccer mom who’se kid had a curious likeness to the late Mr. Murdock. We never find out if he is really Matt’s or not but the kid’s name is in fact Matthew. Cunningly left open to interpretation.

Elektra plus her son Matthew, note the red hair...

My favourite appearance has to be the Punisher. When we meet Frank Castle we start off in a scenario not far removed from “Silence of the Lambs”; Castleis locked away in prison and Urich is trying to get information from him but only getting cryptic messages in return. Naturally, Punisher escapes his cell and resumes his warped version of justice, killing 2 ex villains that Urich was hoping would be useful in aiding his investigation.

Let's be Frank...

There seemed to be a theme that the people who were once heroes years ago are now being perceived in the same light as the villains they fought against. The word “Mapone” serves a veteranry similar purpose to “Rosebud” in Citizen Kane. In fact there are quite a few parallels to be found in the two plots. This doesn’t make the story any less likeable though, I just won't expect a big screen adaption of this comic any time soon…

End of Days had a series of beautiful painted covers

When you eventually find out the meaning of “Mapone” it does leave one big question that appears on many online forums. Why does the word affect Bullseye so much? After his final encounter with Daredevil, he quickly loses his mind. Mumbling the word over and over, giggling to himself. Eventually he commits suicide in typical Bullseye fashion with an expertly ricocheted bullet. Some people come to the conclusion that it was just bad writing since they weren't offered a concise explanation. To me, that’s the beauty of the story. To leave the reader with a sense of mystery into Bullseye’s motives, leaving the topic open to discussion. This is what all great pieces of art should encourage. Sienkiewicz’s drawing style isn’t for everyone but is perfectly suited for this type of story and this type of hero. Very grungy, dark and muted colours with the odd burst of bright colour in the memory sequences made for an immersive read. All in all End of Days certainly deserves a solid 8/10 in my opinion. Hope you enjoyed this review and has put you in the mood to watch the new TV series due out this Friday!