• • Comic Book Reviews
• January 12, 2022

Daredevil: Woman Without Fear #1 Review

Written by: Chip Zdarsky

Art by: Rafael De Latorre

Coloring by: Federico Blee

Lettering by: VC’s Clayton Cowles

Daredevil: Woman Without Fear is interesting for a couple of reasons. Its happening during Devil’s Reign, an event series that spun out of the Daredevil comic where she was the main character. Then there’s the constant internal monologue that wasn’t noticeable during the Daredevil run. And to top it off, it’s about a story that feels divorced from the conflict Zdarksy’s Daredevil series had been leading up to and Devil’s reign. Because of this, Daredevil: Woman Without Fear is so much stranger than I thought it would, and it feels inconsequential because of it.

Elektra is a character who’s been around a long time, so we’ve seen her origin story before. Sure, skilled writers can go back and add new interesting wrinkles to it, but is now really the time? We’ve only had Elektra as Daredevil for roughly a year, why would we want to stray from that status quo with more flashbacks?

There’s nothing inherently wrong with this story. Elektra is a character who draws out sympathy when written by Zdarsky, she’s always compelling. There always feels like an ulterior motive to whatever she does, motives both big and small. We’re learning a lot about her character, stuff worth learning.

I just don’t want to be learning about it now. I want to see her being Daredevil in Hell’s Kitchen when she’s needed, and that’s distracting me from what’s going on here. Daredevil: Woman Without Fear is a title I think will be much more enjoyable to read all the way through when Devil’s Reign is a semi-distant memory. As I read this issue, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this Daredevil was needed somewhere else.