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DAREDEVIL: FATHER
by Newsarama
There’s a serial killer on the loose, and Daredevil is…wait – what is Daredevil doing?
Well, as Joe Quesada’s Daredevil: Father finally starts to wind down with issue #5 out this week, and we’ve got what you need to know to be Up to Date.
Going back to the start, it’s summertime in New York, and the city is being terrorized by “Johnny Sockets,” a serial killer who well, leaves sockets instead of eyes in his victims. The story finds Daredevil/Matt Murdock perhaps at his most introspective, questioning his memories of his father as well as wondering is he is, in fact, destined to become his father, with all the good and bad that would go with it.
Inserted into Matt’s life is the legal case of Maggie and Sean Farrell, who want Matt and his law partner Foggy Nelson to sue New Jersey Power and Light for illegally dumping toxic waste that they feel gave Maggie ovarian cancer, and make her unable to have a child. On top of that, Matt feels that there’s something familiar about Sean Farrell, though the man denies ever having met Matt previously.
Adding in another monkey wrench to Daredevil’s already complicated life is the appearance of a new team of “heroes” in New York – the Santerians, named after their religion, Santeria, whose deities imbue each of the members with powers and abilities.
Both Daredevil and the Santierians are hunting Johnny Sockets, and in issue #3, the two met.
And it wasn’t pretty.
For Matt Murdock.
“The Santerians are the new kids on the block so as far as they’re concerned they’re after anyone who comes across their path,” Quesada said. “I think what they’re most concerned about is that Daredevil has decided to devote himself completely to The Kitchen and in a way has forsaken the rest of the city. And while he’s doing that this Johnny Sockets guy is running around and DD isn’t doing anything about simply because he hasn’t struck in The Kitchen.”
Any worries that Matt might’ve had about becoming his father – Battlin’ Jack Murdock, former boxer and later a thug for hire – were heightened in issue #4 when Daredevil, bruised and broken, hunted the Santerians down for a rematch. It wasn’t to bring the new team to justice, or to stop them from their path. The fight between Daredevil and the Santerians in issue #4 was a street brawl, all about respect.
“As far as Matt’s concerned, these guys are posers or worse yet, he’s not even really sure if they’re good guys or bad,” Quesada said. “Remember, this story takes place during the continuity window right after DD proclaims himself the Kingpin and he’s probably a bit less tolerant and trusting than in the past, which is actually a big understatemen). So, he’s looking for a little payback for what they did. Remember, at this point, he’s the Kingpin, and he can’t have word get out that someone mopped the floor with him – which they did in issue #3, and he kindly returned the favor in issue #4.”
It was this fight, according to Quesada, that is a clear example of what sets Daredevil apart from other heroes – as stated, this was a fight all about showing the others who’s stronger. It’s not necessarily noble, but it is street level, which is where DD lives.
“Daredevil is the most human of super heroes, the most Shakespearean,” Quesada said.
Mixed in all of this is community activist Nero Rodriguez, who has a grudge against Daredevil for a simple reason – the hero discovered his father’s (a city councilman) body a few years earlier. By Nero’s reasoning, Daredevil was too late – had the hero been there sooner, his father would still be alive.
Nero’s also got another issue working – as Matt learned in issue #4, Nero is the same person as the Santerian, Eleggua.
“With Nero, I wanted to create a new character who had a different kind of origin, an origin where he was destined to be a hero within the public eye whether through heroics or celebrity,” Quesada said. “I also wanted to create e team that was built in the same way. Nero is a combination of JFK Jr., Curtis Silwa and Sean P. Diddy Combs. JFK because he is the son of a very prominent government official who is also destined for greatness. The Silwa angle is my favorite part of the character, a kid driven by community service at such an early age that he starts what amounts to an organized street gang in order to police the streets of New York as kid vigilantes. By the way, if you look close, some of the kids who were part of his group eventually became the members of the Santerians. Then there’s the media mogul aspect of ‘NeRo.’ When he emerges from his self imposed exile after his father’s death, he doesn’t come back as a public servant per se but rather as someone who decides to use celebrity and status for his public works. I think it makes him a pretty complex character worth digging into some day.
“So, the Santerians at the end of the day are really childhood pals. I won’t be able to get much deeper into their relationships in Father but perhaps some other day.”
As was also revealed in issue #4, Johnny Sockets is working through a list, one closer to Matt’s world that he’s initially realized. In fact, Melvin Potter (The former Gladiator) is the next name on the killer’s “to do” list.
“And it’s all tied to Matt’s past,” Quesada said. “All of it. And I promise this, even when readers finally see or figure out who the murderer is, they won’t ever guess the true ending of Father. I think hardcore DD fans are going to dig it.”
As one of the final two issues of the (now) six issue miniseries, this week’s issue #5 is larger than the others, reflecting additional material Quesada added to the final two installments of Father.
“It all just got down to page count, and I realized that the last two issues really needed some room to breathe, so I decided to add an extra issue,” Quesada said. “It also did allow me to get a few extra scenes in and allowed me to make a scene or two a bit longer.
“And, while I’m on the technical side of things, yes, issue #5 ran a bit late and issue six should be right behind it. The expansion of the stories, extra page count, plus a few work events put me behind the last two issues by a week or two but a week can throw the whole ship schedule off by three or four. The most unpredictable thing for me in all of this has always been the EIC portion of it.”
That said, Quesada teased out issue #5 and further, starting off with the fact that the Santerians’ role will pull back a little as the stage figuratively clears for the final showdown between Daredevil and Johnny Sockets.
“Come issue #5 Nero will be mostly out of the picture now, fearing that Matt knows who he is. As for the Santerians, I think that after issue #4 Matt realizes that their intentions are good but I think he doesn’t necessarily approve of Nero’s showbiz style of methods. The bikes, the car, it’s all a bit too much for Matt. Let’s face it; there aren’t any heroes in the Marvel Universe that travel around in vehicles.”
The killer is revealed in issue #5, Quesada said, and when it’s all said and done – where does he see Daredevil: Father leaving the character?
“I think it will affect how Daredevil starts to perceive things in the future, more importantly it would really be up to future writers if they even want to address it,” Quesada said. “Let’s just say it has effects that reach to his earliest days in Hell’s Kitchen and he doesn’t even know it.”
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