Matt Murdock encounters a shocking new face — Lady Bullseye! Who is she? Where did she come from? What does she want? And will she be a foe to Daredevil...or a friend?

Paperback: 120 pages
Publisher: Marvel

Ed Brubaker, arguably the most talented writer currently working at Marvel Comics, started his run on Daredevil with a bang: "The Devil in Cell-Block D" (collected in "Daredevil: The Devil, Inside and Out v.1"), which saw the title character deal with imprisonment and exposure. Following that, Daredevil's European tour and his return to a New York status quo, and the following "Without Fear" mega-arc lasted a year, and, while it reads better collected, in the single-issue format it dragged (Brubaker is normally the most practiced craftsman in the slow-burn writing school). Then, Brubaker's old "Gotham Central" co-writer, Greg Rucka, arrived on the book for an arc focussing on Daredevil and Dakota North, his private eye ally, which recharged the series. "Lady Bullseye continues that upward trend.

This five-issue arc (#111-115) follows two major plot threads. The first of these is the introduction of the title character, Lady Bullseye. Now, the revelation of the name set numerous people a-groaning at what sounded like a very lame concept. The distaff counterpart to a more established male character has a lengthy history in comics, beginning with Captain Marvel's sister Mary Marvel. The idea has become something of a cliche, so anyone looking to use it has to bring something new or really sell the core concept. Brubaker is a master at both innovation and reviving the best parts of the superhero formula, and he succeeds once again here. Lady Bullseye, an assassin for Daredevil's ninja enemies the Hand, is my favourite new villain of 2008. Brubaker constructs her as a black inversion of the traditional concept of heroic inspiration: after being 'rescued' by Bullseye, she sees his sadistic brutality as admirable.

Continuing the theme of Daredevil's troubles with women, Brubaker delivers fascinating developments in Daredevil's personal life. At the end of "Without Fear", Daredevil's wife Mila was driven insane by the villainous Mister Fear. In the following arc, Milla's parents intervened, suing to obtain custody of their daughter from him, and cutting off his access to see her. Driven into a state of despair, Matt finds himself drawn towards Dakota. There are only a few characters with which this sort of thing would work, and Daredevil is one of them. One can understand and sympathize with Matt's situation.

Brubaker introduces a cliffhanger final plot point that sets the stage for his next arc (and apparently also his final one) on the series, which so far has been excellent. Add in some strong new characters like Lady Bullseye and Master Izo, skillful use of guest heroes like Iron Fist (it's nice to see Brubake writing him again), Black Tarantula, and White Tiger, and excellent art from both series regular Michael Lark and guest Clay Man. Brubaker's run looks to be headed for a strong finale.

Highly recommended.

‘Daredevil’ Disney+ Series in the Works With Matt Corman, Chris Ord Set to Write

A new “Daredevil” series is moving forward at Disney+, with Variety having exclusively learned from sources that Matt Corman and Chris Ord are attached to write and executive produce.

Rumors have persisted for some time that a Disney+ series about the Man Without Fear was in the works, especially considering that two of the stars of the Netflix “Daredevil” series — Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio — have appeared in recent Marvel projects. Cox once again played Matt Murdock, the secret identity of Daredevil, in the film “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” while D’Onofrio reprised the role of Wilson Fisk, a.k.a. Kingpin, in the Disney+ series “Hawkeye.”

It now appears that the project is picking up steam with the hiring of Corman and Ord, although Marvel has yet to announce anything regarding the show formally.

Reps for Corman and Ord declined to comment. Marvel Studios reps do not comment on projects in development.

Corman and Ord most famously co-created the USA Network series “Covert Affairs” starring Piper Perabo and Christopher Gorham. The show aired for five seasons on the basic cabler between 2010 and 2014.  They most recently worked as executive producers and co-showrunners on the NBC drama shows “The Enemy Within” and “The Brave” as well as The CW series “Containment.”

Fans have been clamoring for more Daredevil ever since the Netflix series was canceled in 2018 after three seasons. They were in for a long wait, however, as Variety reported in 2018 that the deal with Netflix included a clause that prevented any characters from the Marvel-Netflix shows from appearing in any non-Netflix projects for two years after cancellation.

The move came as Disney looked to bring its Marvel heroes under one umbrella, with multiple Marvel Cinematic Universe shows having since debuted on Disney+. “Moon Knight” starring Oscar Isaac was the last such show to premiere, with a trailer for the “She-Hulk” series starring Tatiana Maslany dropping earlier this week.

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