While the previous storylines of Matt Murdock's secret being exposed and his campaign to end the cycle of kingpins of crime are heavily referenced here, this issue marks something of a new beginning for the title and its creative team. They're not starting from square one, but there's a real sense of a new story growing out of the ending of the previous tale. This first chapter is really more of a character study, introducing us to a figure from Matt Murdock's and Hell's Kitchen's pasts. Bendis humanizes a one-time mob boss in a couple of key ways, and it brings a greater depth and understanding to this new antagonist. The art from Maleev is, as always, gorgeous in all its gritty glory, but what's notable about the visuals on this issue is how the colors are used to denote different flashbacks and chronological settings.
Decades ago, a small-time Manhattan criminal named Alexander Bont found himself on the wrong end of an underworld deal involving Nazis, and the only way he was able to get out of that situation with his hide intact was due to the sudden appearance of a caped, superhuman hero. Terrified, he's all set to run, to leave his life in New York behind him... until he learns of his boss's deportation, leaving a leadership void in criminal society. Bont rises to power, and years later, his downfall coincides with the appearance of another colorful heroic figure: Daredevil. Today, Bont is out of prison, and the neighborhood he once called him and reigned over is practically alien to him.
Maleev's art in the first flashback, the one set in the 1940s, reminds me of Alex Toth's noir style, and his work on the Silver Age setting, featuring a yellow-clad Daredevil, put me in mind of George Tuska's and Gene Colan's styles. What's really striking in those sequences, though, is the coloring. The black-and-white approach in the first flashback, sans greytones, not only communicates how far back the story goes but that we're looking at a simpler time. The old-fashion, four-color motif in the "Silver Age" sequence shows a greater complexity arising but still conveys that a simpler tone is in effect. The scenes set in the present day feature more depth and texture thanks to the colors, and the look on Bont's face show us that the world has changed so much so as to be completely unrecognizable to him.
By showing us that he become a crimelord in part to give the woman he loves a better life, Bendis enables us to understand Bont better. By showing us how lost and alone Bont feels as an old man in a world he doesn't recognize, Bendis enables the reader to sympathize with him, maybe even empathize with him. The writer focuses our attention on Bont as a human being first and foremont, not as an underworld kingpin.
That's what makes this issue's ending so effective. Bendis has fostered a grounded, vulnerable perception of this new character, so his eruption of rage is unexpected. His ultimate goal doesn't really come as a surprise, but the revelation of Bont as a monster -- both figuratively and literally -- has a real impact. 8/10
