Editor's Note: Daredevil #119 arrives in stores tomorrow, June 24.

"Return of the King: Part Four"

The penultimate issue of Ed Brubaker's run on Daredevil sees two of the hero's most dangerous enemies -- the Kingpin and Lady Bullseye -- continue to manoeuvre themselves into a prime position to win the turf war between organised crime and The Hand that is threatening to tear Hell's Kitchen apart.

One aspect of Brubaker's run that has never failed to impress is his grasp of the bigger picture. He's evidently a writer who plans out his stories well in advance, with all of his set-ups receiving a payoff, and every plot point existing for a reason (even if that reason doesn't always become clear within the space of a single issue). The larger plot of this "Return of the King" arc feels like a complex but well-engineered machine, with several moving parts that all intersect in the appropriate place, driving events forwards with precision towards an inevitable (but at this point, still fairly unpredictable) conclusion. Here, alliances are forged and broken, double-crosses are laid bare, and threats are made, giving readers a satisfying sense that Brubaker is setting up a mighty house of cards that he intends to topple in his concluding issue.

However, this intensive focus on plotting means that there's so much going on that it's difficult to feel truly gripped by one single aspect of the story, with less of a direct connection to the emotions of the characters than we've seen in previous arcs. Most notably, Matt Murdock himself is beginning to feel like a supporting player in his own book, with Brubaker placing far more emphasis on the complex machinations of the Kingpin and Lady Bullseye (including a great scene in which Fisk talks with one of the ghosts of his past) than on Daredevil's own thoughts and feelings.

That's surprising, given the success with which the writer has brought his characters and their motivations to life in previous issues, but it's perhaps a side-effect of his having to end his run abruptly due to his heavy workload on other projects, leaving him with a finite number of issues with which to wrap up the details of his overarching storyline.

Michael Lark and Stefano Gaudiano provide artwork that, as ever, feels perfectly suited to the world of Daredevil. There isn't a huge amount of action to speak of in this issue, but the artists still manage to make the story feel dynamic, with a smooth flow of storytelling from panel to panel, and an effective depiction of the few flashes of violence that are called for by Brubaker's script. I've grown so used to the team's work on Daredevil that it's hard to imagine anyone else being able to follow them (still, I said that about Alex Maleev when he left the book, too, so we'll give Roberto De La Torre a chance before we write him off just yet).

If I'm honest, there's a slight sense that the book is coasting towards the end of Brubaker's run, rather than building up tension for an epic finale. With only one issue to go (the anniversary issue #500), I'm concerned that the end of the "Return of the King" arc is going to feel rushed and inconclusive, since there are so many lingering subplots to resolve that even an extra-sized issue might not be enough to do the story justice.

Then again, perhaps Brubaker's handover to Andy Diggle is going to be similar to Bendis's handover to Brubaker, and there will be a cliffhanger left by the incumbent writer to be resolved by his successor. Still, if that's the case, there's a risk that the story might have been neglecting the core characters at the expense of the wider plot for a little too long for readers to feel really invested in where it's going next.

I feel ambivalent about giving this issue of Daredevil a middling bullet rating, because despite the fact that it doesn't live up to the high standards of previous issues, the book is still head-and-shoulders above most other superhero titles on the stands. Still, this is far from being the finest issue of Brubaker's run (or even of this particular story arc), and so can't help feeling like a necessary but only mildly diverting middle chapter that sets up a lot of elements that will doubtless pay off in Brubaker's big finale, but doesn't provide many payoffs in its own right.

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