by Josh Powell, Editor-at-Large
Official Synopsis:
When Matt Murdock was a kid, he lost his sight in an accident involving radioactive chemicals. Though he could no longer see, the chemicals heightened Murdock’s other senses and imbued him with an amazing 360-degree radar sense. For years, Matt used his abilities to fight for his city as Daredevil until he sacrificed his life to save the souls of his friends trapped in Hell by the sadistic Hand cult and its leader, the Beast. Recently Matt somehow returned to life with no memory of his past adventures. But the shadow of evil begins to grow in Hell’s Kitchen, and it’s only a matter of time before Daredevil is born again.
…and not long either. The latest Daredevil “#1” begins with Father Matthew Murdock getting his social work on overseeing a house of troubled moppets in between fighting with the diocese about how nondenominational the curriculum is. Red long johns are initially nowhere in evidence and he is troubled only by faint dreams of seven previous volumes of Marvel-style craziness that he is not anxious to get back to.
Alas.
After a few pages of scene-setting, the beefy ex- of one of his wayward youths comes around disturbing the peace with a couple of his loser friends. Not exactly Bullseye, (or even Stilt-Man) but Father Matthew declines to turn any cheeks at all (except for the ones he kicks) while laying a nasty Frank Miller-era beating on them. From the shadows, a horned figure watches. This is on-again, off-again, on-on-off-on-dead-back-off-fuck-it-I’m-wearin’-ur-costume-and-stabbin’-you-in-the-abdomen-with-my-trademark-sai-again girlfriend-or-wife Elektra, who is the only one who seems to know that this is not the way Matt’s life was going until very recently, but is reluctant to rock the boat but he seems to be digging it. No sooner does she hide in the shadows than an even more horned figure (with gnarly fingernails to boot) teleports in on her, tells her quite forcefully to chill, and wears her body to fuck up the once-and-future DD’s briefly idyllic existence.
Popular writer Saladin Ahmed (Black Bolt, Ms. Marvel, and check out his Hugo-nominated novel Throne of the Crescent Moon from a few years ago) clearly intends to play up the religious element in Marvel’s cardinal paladin, from his new day job to his encouraging a quick Salah break for his cabbie while stuck in traffic, to basically turning the baddie in this story in order to save the day (you can’t just beat him up when he’s piloting your gf). Even the villain seems suspiciously Vice-y, what with his insistence on slothery; one suspects the other six of his deadly homies will have to be overcome in future issues.
Artist Aaron Kuder, late of FF and Ghost Rider brings a generally realistic tone to the artwork for the gritty street-level stuff that slides easily into trippy weirdness for the metaphysical. Wiki tells us he is a devotee of such luminaries as Art Adams and especially Frank Quitely, and it shows.
Overall a promising debut. Daredevil (2023) looks to be an entertaining run by new blood that knows where the series came from.
Rating: 
ComicsOnline gives Daredevil #1 “Introductory Rites” 4/5 silver candlesticks carried by DD in place of his usual truncheon as he races across rooftops to deliver a Valjean-style beatdown to the guy who possessed his girl.
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