Welcome to the Avengers Daredevil, Hope you...oh wait, wrong team.

So Daredevil is joining the Avengers. Or, to be specific, the New Avengers, a team that works out of the old mansion and consists of Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Ms. Marvel, Wolverine, Mockingbird, the Thing, and good ol' Iron Fist, who once filled in as Daredevil when Matt Murdock's cover was mostly blown. Talk about a buddy.

Honestly, it seems like a rather strange addition. Between Fist and Wolvie, and even Mockingbird, the hand-to-hand martial arts fighting is covered. And as for the full red spandex body suit, I think it works better on New York skyscrapers in the middle of the night than in a superhero team lineup at noon in Central Park.

Still, it fits with the latest Matt Murdock comics being released. Between Waid and Bendis, and the event-style global horrors of Fraction, The Man Without Fear may just become the most upbeat, optimistic hero in the universe.

Read on for info on DD's impending recruitment and a review of Daredevil #2 by Mark Waid, Paolo Rivera and Marcos Martin.

The second issue of Mark Waid's new run on Daredevil came out yesterday and, much like the first, it was a beautiful, fun comic that seemed significantly shorter than all the others in my stack. For the first half of the book, Matt is fighting none other than Captain America, who is looking to bring him in for his past crimes (taking over the Hand, creating Shadowland, killing people, inciting riots, etc. etc.) Matt explains there was a demon inside of him (Waid smartly doesn't spend much time reminding anyone about Shadowland) and manages to defer Cap's judgment to a later date (he actually uses a lot of legal jargon comedically. It's almost as good as their physical dance.)



The 'sousa march' heartbeat line is completely genius.



The thing is, Captain America is angry. Noticeably. He ends up giving his old ally the benefit of the doubt, but he doesn't enter the fight that way. In fact, he throws his shield at Matt's head before saying a word. Now, Cap's been through a lot of crap lately, depending on when this series is taking place (post Fear Itself or pre?) Assuming all the Sin/Worthy/Bucky crap has already gone down, I can imagine why he's in a bad place. Still, the one-track, martial sentiment he seems to be acting on is reminiscent of registration act policies from the Civil War.

Has the new role as "Top Cop" and his arguable failure in that position during Fear Itself, hardening the heart of Steve Rogers? And, if he's so dubious about Matt Murdock's return and eager to see justice, how will he feel when Matt joins the New Avengers?



Matt joins Fear Itself



The New Avengers are not run by Cap, so obviously there's that. Their leader is, supposedly, Luke Cage, though they mostly act like a friendly commune with Wolverine barking occasional orders. Still, they liaise with Cap, and he in effect runs things and makes all final decisions. So there's definitely some potential conflict there.

Matt starts Avengin'

And honestly? I'd prefer to see it go down under Waid's pen than Bendis. Not that Bendis doesn't clearly know his team, but everything in Daredevil's title right now feels fresh and clean and exciting. The comic itself is composed so beautifully, the eye leaps and twists effortlessly and gracefully right along with the hero. The way they show us his radar sense is intimate and ties into his thought process brilliantly.

Speaking of blind heroes, I'm currently reading The Broken Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin, sequel to The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms which I wrote about before. It's really very good and in it the protagonist, a blind woman named Oree Shoth has the ability to "see" magic. In a world of gods and godlings and spellweavers that comes in handy. The different magics appear as bright spots, different colored lights that rise and fall and outline shapes or distort them. The ability serves to warn her, educate her, arm her and shows her another way to look at the world.

Much like what Waid, Rivera and Martin are doing for us.

In other words, you should pick up this book. It also has a cool scene on the High Line which honestly I don't recall seeing in a comic before, a ridiculous oversight.

Here's the released description of New Avengers #16, Daredevil's team debut in which they imply a nice little parallel between the Man Without Fear and the God of Fear.  via Comic Book Resources.

NEW AVENGERS #16
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
Pencils & Cover by MIKE DEODATO
Marvel Architects Variant also available
Marvel Architects Sketch Variant also available
Rated T+ …$3.99
With the chaos of Fear Itself running rampant on the Marvel Universe, there’s only one man who can help the New Avengers in their fight, Daredevil – the Man Without Fear! That’s right True Believer, this September courtesy of Marvel Architects Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato, the guardian devil himself finally joins the ranks of Earth’s Mightiest in New Avengers #16! But is the assistance of Matt Murdock be enough to help the New Avengers make it out in one piece? The Man Without Fear enlists in the fight against the God of Fear in New Avengers #16!