Daredevil: The Devil, Inside and Out - Volume 2

by Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark

For the past few years, Matt Murdock's life has been teetering on the edge of destruction. Now, pushed beyond the limit, Matt finds himself behind the eight ball with no clear way out, the people he calls friends slowly deserting him, and Hell's Kitchen gradually slipping out of control.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0785122419
• ISBN13: 9780785122418
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: Marvel Comics Group
• Length: 120 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.7" x 10.1"
• Age Range: 13 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 8 to Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

This guy is really good!

Yes, yes. Daredevil is is really good, but that's not who I was referring to. I was talking about Ed Brubaker the writer of Daredevil since Bendis left. Unfortunately I missed most of Bendis' DD, but Brubaker has run with the ball admirably. Brubaker loves crime fiction which is how Daredevil has been best written ever since Frank Miller. Brubaker's version is very gritty and realistic. You don't even see Matt Murdoch in costume for the whole first arc of Volume 1. Also Brubaker has brought in some of the classic villains in believable form in this volume. But this is definitely an ongoing mystery punctuated by some swashbuckling heroics. And the personnal life of Matt is just as intriguing and heart-wrenching as his vigilante life.

Brubaker continues his run, still going strong

In this second installment of Ed Brubaker's run on "Daredevil" (issues #88-93) the story settles into a more conventional mode. Free from prison, Matt Murdoch tours Europe, ninja-style, to find the identity of his recent tormentor, and runs afoul of a trio of baddies before finally piecing together whodunnit. At the end of the book, he has his life back and looks set for more-or-less business-as-usual superhero stories (although I'm sure Brubaker's future plotlines will be appropriately grim and dark...) The return to normal may seem like a bit of a letdown, but considering how far back DD's legal problems stretch -- a couple of years, real-world time -- even though it's over, the recent story arc was quite an accomplishment. The "out" part of "Inside And Out" felt anticlimactic, but it's still a darn good read. Plus, what a great scene when DD decks a seemingly unstoppable tough guy (Tombstone) by smacking him across the jaw with a sledgehammer! Nice touch of realism there, Ed! (ReadThatAgain!)

Running with the Devil

As Ed Brubaker's (Captain America, Uncanny X-Men, Sleeper) run on Daredevil continues, we find fugitive Matt Murdock, AKA Daredevil, on the run after making his daring escape from prison in the first volume of The Devil, Inside and Out. Daredevil's trek takes him out of the country and across the globe as he searches for the truth behind what seems to be an ever-growing conspiracy that hangs over his head. For Matt Murdock though, things are never as they seem to be, and soon enough, it looks as if things are starting to fall into place. What makes Brubaker's run on Daredevil so good so far is the intricate plotting and scripting he puts into every storyarc. He's crafted an action packed and enjoyable modern super hero romp that can make readers think Brian Michael Bendis never left the title, and that in itself is saying something. Michael Lark's artwork is still a noir-ish and well drawn style in the vein of former Daredevil artist Alex Maleev, and it still suits the title quite well. All in all, Ed Brubaker is slowly proving himself to be a worthy successor to Bendis, and the stage is set for the title to even go to a newer level.

The Excellent Quality Continues!

I'm a tremendous fan of Brian Michael Bendis' Daredevil, so when the news arrived that he was leaving the title, I found myself distraught. Before Bendis' run, I'd never really cared much for the character. And though many criticized the level of deconstruction he brought to the line, I always found his work riveting and more than entertaining. That being said, Bendis left Daredevil in enough of a predicament that I wanted to see how this fella--Ed Brubaker--tied up Bendis' loose ends. Brubaker's The Devil, Inside and Out Vol 1 impressed me, but Vol. 2 left me in awe. Brubaker has somehow, somehow, tied up the many dangling plots left behind by Bendis (I believe they agreed upon this, by the way; Bendis wasn't leaving a mess for someone else to clean up) in a way that was both satisfying and quite cleansing. New plot possibilities have organically arisen from the old, and while everything isn't exactly back to normal for Matt Murdock (is it ever?), I do feel as though Brubaker has set the stage to move on with his own agenda for the character and has successfully exorcised the benign ghost of Bendis. So, in summation, I would like to recommend the entire current run of Daredevil. Kevin Smith got us off on the right foot, Bendis brought consistent quality and depth to a character I had never before respected, and Brubaker seems to keep all of the best aspects of what Bendis did, but has now brought his own brand of action and noir, further enriching an already rich hero. ~Scott William Foley, author of Souls Triumphant