This is a review of Marvel Masterworks Daredevil Volume Three. You can read my reviews of the first two volumes here and here. Thus far, this series has been uneven. I can sum up this particular volume in four words: great art, awful writing. Matt Murdock takes his identity hijinks to the next level when he starts pretending that he has an identical twin brother named Mike Murdock.
Matt tells Foggy Nelson and Karen Page, his law partner/friend and secretary/potential lover, that Mike is Daredevil and not him. Apparently they believe him, even though Matt and Foggy roomed together in college and Matt never mentioned having a twin brother. Oh, and Matt and Mike are never in the same room. Writer Brian Michael Bendis adapted some of this material as fodder for his own Daredevil series, where DD’s secret identity is treated as an open secret and he’s portrayed as an out-and-out narcissist.
In this volume, Matt’s antics are portrayed as funny – I guess? To me, it seems a little weird to be lying to friends, coworkers, and potential lovers. This seems like the type of storyline a kid might find funny. The Cobra/Mr. Hyde storyline starts out dopey, with Daredevil swinging around Manhattan dressed as Thor, but becomes interesting when Mr. Hyde manages to deaden DD’s other senses. Unfortunately, the climax of this storyline strains credulity.
On the plus side, we have the debut of the Leap Frog, another great weirdo Daredevil villain. The Leap Frog dresses up in a green frog costume and hops around as he robs banks. He joins the Stilt Man, The Owl, The Gladiator, and The Purple Man in the pantheon of Daredevil’s rogue gallery. Verdict: you can see the holes in the writing a mile away, as the writer is so obviously phoning it in, and the art can only take this series so far.
For Daredevil completionists only.
Abandoned Places 
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