Talk about a shocker: Wilson Fisk, A.K.A. The Kingpin is dead. Matt Murdock doesn’t know how to process it. But that’s okay because he doesn’t have time. Daredevil is too busy running around town putting out the fires that Fisk’s death has started. Bad guys are coming out of the woodwork to take his place, and are being put down just as fast by some unknown party. It might seem like Daredevil is getting some help, but he’s not so sure the new player has benevolent intentions. Something bigger is going on, and Matt better figure it out, because Daredevil seems to be just as much a target as everyone else. Find out who Matt can really trust in Enemy of My Enemy by Alex Segura.
[Warning: My review of Enemy of My Enemy contains some spoilers!]
Kingpin was bad; this might be worse
Kingpin was a bad guy, Daredevil’s ultimate nemesis, but the truth is that he kept the lesser criminals in line. Now that he’s gone, it’s open season on New York City. Most of the guys trying to step up are jokes (The Owl? Seriously?), but whoever is hunting these low-level upstarts down is much more dangerous. Daredevil knows that he needs to figure out who they are and stop them, even if it’s only bad guys they’re attacking, but he can’t seem to get a lead on who they are.
At the same time, Matt Murdock is swamped. Kingpin’s killer has been caught and it’s….the Punisher? Sure, the kill is on brand for him, but the cop that got caught in the crossfire isn’t. Nor is the fact that he willingly turned himself in. Matt Murdock offers to defend Castle, even though he doesn’t seem to want to defend himself. But Foggy is so angry that Matt made the decision to take on such a lost cause without even asking him that he won’t help him. Which leaves Matt on his own to build an impossible case with a hostile client. A client that Matt is certain is innocent despite all the indicators to the contrary.
Matt is grappling with Castle and the legal system. He’s also being hunted by mobsters that know his secret identity (there are way too many people who know he’s Daredevil). Daredevil is out all night fighting for his life. There’s no way that one man can sustain this kind of stress. More and more of the balls Matt’s trying to juggle start falling, but he refuses to give up on either mission, especially because he’s convinced they’re connected. If he can just put all the pieces together in time, he can save the whole city from imploding on itself, as long as he doesn’t implode first.
Daredevil, the angsty hero
Of all the heroes, Daredevil seems to walk the finest line when it comes to his ideals. During the day he’s Matt Murdock, a defense lawyer. He believes in the system. He preaches it to his partners, his clients, even his opponents. He knows the system is flawed but that it still works. Which is why everyone (even Punisher with his many, many confirmed kills) deserves a fair shot at defending themselves and working through the system.
Which is why Daredevil doesn’t kill bad guys, just apprehends them and leaves them for the cops to scoop up. Sure, he beats the bejesus out of them first, but they get to have their day in court. Technically, Daredevil is a criminal because vigilantes aren’t allowed to apprehend and beat the living daylights out of bad guys. But he feels tons of guilt about what he does and grapples with it constantly. In the end, he seems to feel that the evil he prevents cancels out the bad things he does. And because he doesn’t act as judge, jury, and executioner, just a bounty hunter, Matt justifies his actions and sleeps at night. Not well, but he does sleep.
In Enemy of My Enemy, Matt has his normal guilt about whether what he does is right. But he has more guilt about how it affects his personal relationships. Nobody in Matt’s personal life (other than those that are also involved in crimefighting) knows that he is Daredevil. So when his lack of sleep causes him to lose focus, or he misses important events because he’s fighting crime, or he uses information that Daredevil procured to help Matt Murdock, he feels horrible and guilty. He questions whether what he’s doing is right. But the interesting thing is that his guilt and his questions are never enough to change what he does. Hell, it doesn’t even really slow him down or pause. Just a quick “I feel awful about this, but oh well” and he carries on with what he’s doing. It shows the surprisingly selfish side of superheroes. Everyone always goes on and on about how selfless they are, but when they destroy their personal relationships, hurt the people who love them, and take advantage of situations, they’re being selfish. They might be doing it to help others. But at some point you have to wonder if it’s really about helping others, or making themselves feel good. And if they really want to help others, maybe they should start with the people they love? I know that’s a little bit of an unpopular opinion, “with great power” and all that, but what about responsibility to those you love? What about the small scale? Especially when Daredevil is considered a “street-level” hero, dealing with the small potatoes, maybe he should focus on those personal ties more. It might actually solve quite a few of his problems because if he were a little more willing to let Daredevil go, Matt might not get drawn into so much trouble.
And that is a big aspect of Enemy of My Enemy. If Matt had paid more attention to his personal relationship and not let Daredevil take over so much of his life, I think it’s safe to say that the entire story would never have taken place. I mean, boo, because it’s a good story, but there’s a lesson there, and not just for superheroes. Take care of the people you love and be a good, dependable person before trying to save the world.
Rating: 8/10
Enemy of My Enemy by Alex Segura is available now!
Learn more about the book at the official website for the title.
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