Issue #3

At the end of the previous issue Tony Stark used Extremis to cure Daredevil of his blindness in an attempt to tempt him to come round to his way of thinking.

The first page is really effective at conveying Matt Murdock regaining his sight. It starts off with complete darkness in the first panel with only Tony’s voice filling the emptiness before the detail of the image builds in the next 3 panels before Matt looks at Tony’s face for the first time. I thought this was a superb introduction to the idea and the building detail really emphasises the dramatic change in Daredevil’s life.

Naturally Matt finds it difficult to adjust to this given that he’s been without his eyesight for so long but he doesn’t lose sight of the bigger picture. He immediately realises that Tony will be using this “gift” as a form of blackmail and keeping his sight will come at a price. That price is likely something that Matt Murdock will be unable to live with.

I like that Matt Murdock’s morality isn’t compromised in the face of temptation as I’ve always thought that he was a strong character with a defined moral center so to see him stick to that when tested is excellent and very much in character. It would have been understandable had Matt been tempted a little and maybe gone through with Tony’s deal just to see how disgusted he would be in himself every time he looks in the mirror.

As with the last issue there’s a really effective contrast between the opposite positions held by Matt and Tony. Matt is determined to stop Tony doing what he’s doing but Tony’s inverted personality is completely without humility. I really liked Tony’s dialogue where he admits that he sees himself as a God pretending to be human. This level of arrogance is new even for Tony who was always arrogant but never to this extent. His inverted personality is something that will prove to be very dangerous for everyone concerned.

Matt and Tony’s conversation is the best part of this issue and I really liked that it was entirely done in the first person. We see Tony through Matt’s eyes and it really shows how terrifying he is through his facial expressions that suggest he’s 100% serious about everything he says. The most terrifying part is that Tony truly believes he’s better than the human race and that everything he’s doing is to their benefit.

Daredevil getting his sight back appears to be resolved in this issue as it was only designed to be temporary in order to tempt him to do whatever Tony wants. The last 2 pages where he goes to visit his old friend Foggy just to see him for the first time are really moving. It’s a really effective image to see his sight dim before disappearing entirely making Foggy the last thing he’ll ever see. The anguish from Matt Murdock at this point is clear and I found myself really affected by this part of the story.

This issue also gives us some development on the old Iron Man suit but not an awful lot. It seems that Pepper knows who is under the suit but maybe she doesn’t. She does mention that the modern world isn’t the world he was a part of. It could be that this is a version of Tony Stark from the past who has come to the present to sort him out but I doubt that given that Pepper constantly refers to Tony in the presence of this character. In general I feel that this appearance is just to remind the reader that this character is here and give us a little more information on what he might be up to. It also lets us see how the Extremis is affecting people through calling up tweets showing people in distress due to the fact that they can’t afford to have it.

There is a very small confrontation with a 13 year old Teen Abomination who decides to attack Stark because Extremis was ineffective. Tony offers to help him once he stops the attack but as with Daredevil is very clear about the fact that he intends to get something out of it himself. It’s a nicely done action beat and it further reinforces that Tony is only out for himself now.