Daredevil Noir
By Alexander Irvine
Reviewed by: Munawar Mobin
“To know the end of a story, you have to know the beginning”
Written boldly by Irvine and made visually superb by Tom Coker's artwork, Daredevil Noir is an end from a Marvel Elseworld cover of the man without fear so superb that it could stand as a strong testimony to the original Daredevil.
This novel takes blind Matt Murdock to a Hell's Kitchen subjected and victimized under the rule of old nemesis, Kingpin. The climax triggers when a beautiful woman shows up at the door of his and his lawyer friend Foggy Nelson with a new case which pulls Daredevil into a fight between the current boss Wilson Fisk (Kingpin) and the upcoming rising star Orville Halloran.
The artwork is perfect, only the colouring challenging it, as every shade of black for the night sky, and every shade of blood red for the lipstick on the damsel's lips is done to be easily spotted and appreciated. Irvine's writing seems strong from start to the end, as the story grips the reader and doesn't let go until the last page is turned.
The best thing about the novel is one whose existence can be credited a bit to the author and a lot to the mythology behind Daredevil. The Daredevil universe consisted of a blind man, jumping off buildings and fight bad guys at night and hobbling with a cane in the mornings; that, and the intricate attention to the details of this mortal man's experiences throughout Hell's Kitchen, the Daredevil world was already very much in the 'noir' setting. Thus, this Marvel version of Elseworld was a better fit than any other Marvel title.
All in all, it's a great novel and it's also a one-shot, so even if you've never real a single Daredevil issue in your life, you still won't get lost.
