By Bruno Savill De Jong — It’s 2008. The Global Financial Crisis continues to take hold, war erupts between Russia and Georgia, CERN’s Large Hadron Collider goes live, and Barack Obama becomes the first African-American President. People are listening to “Poker Face,” watching The Dark Knight and reading Daredevil.

Written by Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka (107-110)
Illustrated by Paul Azaceta (106), Michael Lark (107-110, 112-115), Clay Mann (111), Tonci Zonjic (115)
Inks by Paul Azaceta (106), Stefano Gaudiano (107-115)
Colors by Matt Hollingsworth
Lettered by Chris Eliopoulos

Coming off the unrelenting tragedy that was “Without Fear,” Daredevil deserves a break. And while 2008 is not exactly a reprieve, it is a plateau. It’s a year wherein things seemingly settle into place, with Matt welcoming the return of more “typical” cases to distract from his recent psychological assault. Brubaker has pushed Matt Murdock lower than was thought possible, but within such depths is the safety of thinking it cannot get worse. Of course, this is a foolish thing for Daredevil to think. Becoming numb to the tragedy around him has its own problems.

Brubaker’s run has been based on “consequences.” He picked up the reins of Bendis’ tenure, continuing to explore the mental toll of Daredevil’s life, and how his poor decisions pile up. 2007 already showed how Matt could not reset the status quo, and in 2008 Ben Urich comments that “you can’t unring a bell.” All of Daredevil’s turmoil will not simply evaporate. But as we shall see, the mounting pressure provides the temptation to remove such bells and whistles entirely.

The first storyline Daredevil faces after his miserable failure in “Without Fear” – following the one-shot “Sympathy for the Devil” (Daredevil vol. 2, #106) that expresses necessary supporting concern over Matt’s mental health – is “Cruel and Unusual,” which sees Brubaker joined by his Gotham Central co-writer Greg Rucka. Appropriately, this is a detective story, with B-level Luke Cage villain Big Ben Donovan accused of (and confessing to) decapitating three kids. Donovan, however, is innocent, and Matt sniffing around the case unravels a deeper mystery involving Eric Slaughter (whom some may remember from the Frank Miller years) and the FBI.

Matt also faces a ticking clock, since Donovan is up for the electric chair in under a week. “Cruel and Unusual” doesn’t exactly question the ethics of the death penalty, only that Big Ben’s innocence in this case – regardless of his other crimes – means he doesn’t deserve it. But the setting and interaction with the NYPD enables Brubaker, Rucka and Lark to resurrect their Gotham Central crew, as well as showcase Daredevil’s detective skills, particularly in one sequence where he tracks a gunman from the position and scent of the sniper nest.

Mostly importantly, “Cruel and Unusual” provides Daredevil an actual victory, which he hasn’t had in quite some time (maybe since before he was imprisoned). Matt had flung himself into aggressive beatdowns of street thugs after Milla’s hospitalization, but exonerating Big Ben shows him proactively “saving” someone instead of simply hurting them. The “coincidence” of Big Ben Donovan sharing a surname with Milla enforces a parallel between them, both innocent prisoners of the justice system who are paralyzed by fear. So by saving Big Ben, Matt is able to get out of his own self-pitying head and “win one,” making small steps towards personal recovery. The final panel of him walking away from Dakota North, who encouraged him to take this case, is the first time we’ve seen Matt smile for a while.

Of course, any comfort Matt gets is turned against him. Matt gets closer to Dakota North during their shared investigation – drawn towards her tough “roll with the punches” resolve that refuses to be victimised by her proximity to him – and they eventually have a spontaneous affair during some late-night exercise stretches. Matt feels incredibly guilty about betraying his catatonic wife Milla, even if a cruel twist of fate means he isn’t even allowed to visit her in the hospital given how his presence distresses her. And his worst fears are realised after Milla’s parents get emergency custody, threatening to leak incriminating photos of Matt and Dakota unless Milla’s marriage is annulled and she is taken away from him.

Most of this is of Matt’s own making, all the resentment towards him as Daredevil being delivered in one final kick from outraged outsiders. Even his signed divorce papers, only done to appease an upset Milla, are pulled in as evidence. But the situation is helped along by a new foe, Lady Bullseye, who acts as the lawyer for Milla’s parents. Lady Bullseye was “inspired” by watching Daredevil’s deadliest foe assassinate human traffickers, which (accidentally) freed her.

Lady Bullseye is not exactly a “fan” or protégé of Bullseye – indeed her calculated and manipulated moves are very different from Bullseye sadistic and rabid attacks – but feels a strong connection to this moment of liberation. Lady Bullseye operates as a lieutenant of the Hand, thereby bridging the gap between Daredevil’s athletic personal counterpart and the mystical organization that always seems to hound him.

The Hand themselves are in disarray, fractured after their leader Elektra was revealed to be an alien Skrull during Secret Invasion (Brian Michael Bendis still affecting Brubaker’s Daredevil from afar). Following this, “Lady Bullseye'' slowly unravels a mysterious plan while Hand foot-soldiers “test” various allies of Daredevil, including Black Tarantula (who was released and “reformed” within Annuals and spin-offs) and White Tiger (last seen in Bendis’ run). Brubaker also folds in the mystic Marvel elements he’d been working with from Immortal Iron Fist, bringing Danny Rand and the enigmatic, drunken Master Izo into the fold. At the same time, Lady Bullseye frames Daredevil for murdering street thugs, leaving the police to question Matt (since they won’t pretend to “not know who he is”), leaving him distracted while the Hand prepare their plan.

Yet Lady Bullseye claims she is not trying to destroy Daredevil’s life, but rather simplify it for him. She wishes to pave a pathway for him to become leader of the Hand. As one of their greatest foes, he could be someone to rally around, taking the ancient clan into a bold new direction. Threatening Matt’s friends – including successfully killing and “converting” White Tiger and Black Tarantula – is her way of clearing his life of any distractions, highlighting the stress and complication of having “material attachments.” In any other year this offer could seem hollow and generic, but Matt was just thinking to himself “I should live in a cage and have no friends,” all too aware of the price of having loved ones. Although in the moment Matt rejects Lady Bullseye, we can see the temptation of the offer lingering in his mind.

At times 2008 feels more like table-setting for Brubaker’s final year than the propulsive, unrelenting tragedy that took off from the start of his run. “Cruel and Unusual” both impact Daredevil, but leave him relatively unscarred compared to previous Brubaker storylines. Yet 2008 demonstrates how all the pieces add up, with even the minor victories showing how desperately Daredevil tries to stay above water.

2008 also shows Brubaker pivoting away from his typical noir stories into the self-described “mystical mumbo jumbo” around the Hand. This is even reflected in their political subtext, as although “Cruel and Unusual” withholds commentary on capital punishment it does expresses critiques of the US Government’s corruption and their willingness to sacrifice morality for “the greater good.” Meanwhile, “Lady Bullseye” exchanges such “realism” for mystical fantasy, but even then it revolves around an organisation attempting to find new leaders after their old ones betrayed them. 2008 was, of course, when George Bush was replaced by Barack Obama, with many Americans feverishly anticipating a “fresh start” for their country (even if the same baggage always remained underneath).

2008 may not be the strongest year of Brubaker, but that’s only since he’s set the watermark extremely high. These comics remain exceptionally well-paced, devised and illustrated, with the mysteries allowed to organically and satisfactorily reveal themselves. Brubaker incorporates lovely understated moments of characterization and grim humor amongst them, meaning his Daredevil is always great to read, regardless of how tough Matt might find them. Brubaker’s penultimate year is relatively kind to Daredevil, giving him time to collect his wits, before he is thrown for a loop with another revelation; an opportunity to abandon all the heartache and angst he’s been collecting in the 21st century. Honestly, after the time he's had, who could blame him?

Read classic Daredevil Comics!

Check out past installments from The Man Without Fear…By The Year!

Check out Bruno Savill De Jong’s last regular series, Gotham Central Case by Case!

Bruno Savill De Jong is a recent undergraduate of English and freelance writer on films and comics, living in London. His infrequent comics-blog is Panels are Windows and semi-frequent Twitter is BrunoSavillDeJo.