A review by tabman678
Daredevil: End of Days by Joe Caramagna, Alex Maleev, Matt Hollingsworth, Klaus Janson, David W. Mack, Bill Sienkiewicz, Brian Michael Bendis

Daredevil End of Days is a return to when Bendis and David Mack wrote the title. It plays off of everything they did in their run and uses the events as the basis for what happened to Matt Murdock.

Who’s dead in the first pages of this story.

So the comic is about what happened to Matt in all those years since he’s stopped being Daredevil. The main character is Ben Urich as he’s assigned to report on something he really does not want to. But he finds that the last thing Matt said as he lay dying was Mapone. And that’s the start of a rabbit hole that leads him to everyone Daredevil has touched. Good or bad.

The form is top notch. With Ben as narrator he shines recounting the life of Matt Murdock. And the trail of whole goes to and in what order keeps the story interesting.

Though it also lends to one of the things that bothered me about the story in that we have no basis for what Mapone is. That might be a strength in some people’s eyes so we’re kept guessing and we think it’s the same thing Ben does. But having Matt give us some sort of indication if it was a person, thing, or place would have been better I think.

The art is strong all the way through. The story is gritty and cynical and the art helps covey that through rough and heavy Frank Miller inspired pencils. Done by Klaus Johnson. David Mack also fills in his breathtaking painted pages every now and then to serve the story and they’re always welcomed as they are always always always top notch.

The title does utilize elements from when Bendis and Mack wrote the title so reading those comics may help in getting everything you can from it. Though I don’t think they’re entirely necessary as this is a strong story in its own right.

My main problems with it are overly gritty tone, pacing of the mystery, lack of a few key Daredevil players, and the overall mystery detective angle doesn’t pan out into the most interesting answer but the mystery is always sweeter then the answer.

Overall a strong book that has a problem with lack of levity and an answer to a mystery that ends up in a neutral sort of “oh okay.” Response more than anything.

Would recommend to Daredevil fans especially of the Bendis/Mack/Maleev caliber.