Comic Book of the Week for 1/15/14

This week's comic is one I have been waiting to praise for a very long time (2011, when this volume first started), Daredevil #34. This comic is written by Mark Waid with artwork by Chris Samnee and was the recipient of 2012's Eisner Award which is very prestigious in the comic book world. Since its beginning it has been without a stray month my very favorite monthly pull.

The cover of Daredevil #34

I know it's weird having a comic book of the week be a month old, and as a matter of fact by the time you read this post you may already have a copy of Daredevil #35 but I won't have it until next week, so here we go. I love this book because the premise is that New York has taken away Matt Murdock's ability to practice law because of the allegations that he is Daredevil (so now the cat's out of the bag I guess). Murdock and his best friend Foggy Nelson have circumvented this by becoming legal consultants and teaching people how to represent themselves. In the midst of this are some pretty zany adventures for Daredevil who has to  battle against old and new foes, every major crime syndicate at once, and his own sanity (or insanity). If that weren't enough, his best friend Foggy is stricken with an aggressive form of cancer and Matt/Daredevil must care for him while dealing with the prospects of losing a loved one to something that Daredevil can't do anything about.

This issue is great because Daredevil is battling a band of white supremacists who have infiltrated the New York City government and their source of power is a book of black magic that Daredevil has to travel to the deep south to obtain and on the way runs into a vampire, wolf-man, mummy, and a frankenstein. Pretty zany right? That's part of the charm of this run by Waid and Samnee. They're determined to keep the storytelling and action up and the self loathing depression that Daredevil has been known for, down.

All the worries of the world, but no fear.

Amidst all the zaniness, we still have Foggy in the hospital with cancer which is a very serious deal. This series has built heavily on Matt and Foggy's relationship, their ups and downs, and eventually, Foggy's determination to help Matt deal with his brokenness, and Matt's determination to help Foggy deal with his cancer. Their relationship really test and define the definition of BFFs and at the end they find out that they are willing to die for each other. A lesson that everyone can learn. Even in the Bible, Jesus says in John 15:13  

"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends."

In Daredevil #35 we should see a resolution to our latest Daredevil conflict, and Marvel says that soon they will relocate Matt/Daredevil to San Francisco for a slew of new adventures, but hopefully, they will keep the proportions of action, adventure, story, and relationships to what they are now. If you haven't picked up an issue of Daredevil, do it NOW!

Blessings~!