Daredevil: No Devils, Only God by Eric S Brown

Daredevil: No Devils, Only God is the second collected volume of Chip Zdarsky’s run on the title. It contains issues 6-10 of the current ongoing series. The story opens a small amount of time after Daredevil is presumed to have died, and Matt Murdock has retired from his super hero lifestyle. Matt now works as parole officer, still trying to make a difference in the city he loves so dearly. At night, instead of donning a devil suit and paroling the streets, he sits listening to the cries of those in need and calling the police to report the crimes he overhears.

Trying to find a gift for Foggy’s birthday, Matt stumbles upon a bookstore ran by a woman named Mindy Libris. Instantly attracted to her, Matt can’t keep away from her shop despite the fact that she is married. Eventually, she invites him to dinner with her husband and family. Matt is surprised to learn that she is part of the Libris crime family. During the dinner, the family is attacked by a sniper in a neighboring building. Matt saves everyone he can without revealing that he’s Daredevil. Already strugging with his faith, again, Matt goes to seek guidance from not only a nun but also Mr. Fantastic, the world’s smartest mortal. Mr. Fantastic tells Matt though he’s not a man of faith himself, he can’t rule out the existence of God and turns Matt’s question back on him, asking what’s in Matt’s heart.

Matt finally begins to find is faith once more and heads out to save a young boy from the criminal crowd that the youth has fallen in with. Injured in the process, Matt returns to see Mindy. They begin a romantic relationship despite her circumstances. Matt knows he is sinning but bring himself to stop. The collected stories end with Elektra entering his life again.

While the artwork varies greatly throughout the stories collected in this book. The artists involved can’t seem to settle on exatly how Mindy is supposed to look. Sometimes she’s an attractive healthy sized woman and others is both frumpy and overweight. However despite the ups and downs of the art, the story is top notch. It really delves into the depths of the characters’ mind and hearts, especially Matt’s as he wrestles with his personal demons and the questioning of his faith.

As the collected stories come to a conclusion, the reader is left wondering just how Matt will deal with Elektra showing up in his life once more out of the blue and whether or not he will finally become the protector of Hell’s Kitchen once again.

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