Daredevil 1, Ms. Marvel 2

Daredevil 1
Waid (w) and Samnee (a) and J. Rodriguez (c)

Matt Murdock has officially set up shop out west and he's already taken on his first client. The deputy mayor's daughter has been kidnapped with a ransom note left demanding that she arrange amnesty for a criminal in exchange for the daughter's release. Using the note and a rag doll left behind, Matt determines the likely location of the little girl and manages to take her back from her kidnappers. As he travels the unfamiliar San Francisco terrain with the help of Kirsten McDuffie via earpiece and Google Maps, he realizes there's more to this kidnapping case than meets the eye. The armed men following him by glider (more goblin glider than hang glider) seem to be driving him away from their base rather than trying to catch him and Daredevil comes to realize that the ticking he thought to be a watch the little girl had is actually coming from inside the girl. Determining that the bomb planted inside the girl isn't a time bomb but likely a radio-detonated bomb, he rushes her into an elevator in a hospital to block the radio signal. With the girl out of harm's way, he stops his pursuers and sets things right. Three days later, the deputy mayor stops by to tell him that the girl's okay and to thank him and Kirsten in their brand new law office. However, it's not all perfect here; when asked about his former law partner, Matt says "his name was Foggy Nelson," to the bemusement of someone secretly watching.

We've had enough scares with Foggy Nelson of late that I'm not going to get all nervous about this one, as it seems to me like Matt is simply spreading rumors to protect Foggy, unable to defend himself if anyone were to come calling now that they know Matt's identity. With that out of the way, it's a great first entry, fun and fresh with the same sort of revitalized air that Waid brought to the last volume of DAREDEVIL and that readers responded to so favorably. San Francisco is an interesting new place for him as it poses questions of learning the landscape and recognizing the scents as well as a completely different structure to the buildings he's leaping on. The differences in Matt's role now that his secret is out are front and center here as the deputy mayor comes right to him for assistance and he's able to show off a little bit, telling people what hints he's picking up from his sense of smell and touch, not just having to bottle it up and investigate it himself later. Obviously the secret has come with some strings too as the deputy mayor had to step in when a landlord attempted to deny Matt office space and with the whole Foggy business. It's a really good start for this new volume and one that has a very clear shift in direction. It's nice to have a book out there that can shift from an old direction that was pretty great into a new direction that will be pretty great.

Ms. Marvel 2
G.W. Wilson (w) and Alphona (a) and Herring (c)

Kamala is a bit freaked out to find that she looks like Ms. Marvel and can't seem to understand how it happened. She's therefore happy but still a bit freaked out when she quickly changes back to regular Kamala. These changes keep happening as she rushes deeper into the mist that has settled on the city. She stumbles on Josh and Zoe leaving the party and shrinks down to hide herself, still unsure how it's happening. However, when a drunk Josh accidentally lets Zoe slip into the bay beside the docks, Kamala grows in size, now as Ms. Marvel again, and reaches a giant-sized hand and arm into the water to fish Zoe out. With Zoe saved, she rushes off again, heading home to try to figure it out. She sneaks back into the house (somewhat unsuccessfully) and is immediately set upon by her brother and her parents, who knew she snuck out and who are very disappointed in her. She decides not to tell them what's been happening, at least until she can sort things out for herself.

It's weird to think, given the way the Marvel Universe was born and grew, that this form of storytelling feels little weird in the modern Marvel age. Typically speaking, the way things happen now is that an established character will get a solo series based on their popularity or on a particularly good pitch for that character. New characters are introduced, then, in team books or even in the solo series of a different character and they're established there before potentially branching out to their own book. Even NOVA, a recent series that is a rather new character getting a new solo series, spins out from the Nova history and mythos of the Nova Corps, although it's clearly a different character and even a different part of the mythos. Here, Kamala is a brand new character with seemingly brand new powers so it requires reading a somewhat different way. It's like when you start reading comics and you're not quite sure who everyone is; you have to hope that the creative team has done enough to explain these people to you. As such, we're still in that explaining phase with Kamala as her powers start to blossom and as things start to get a little weird. That said, it's not a bad issue and it has its clear defining moments for the character, particularly as she chooses to reveal herself, unsure of her new powers as she is, to Zoe and Josh because there's some heroing that needs doing. Looking forward to seeing a little more from this series as we start to get the origin out of the way.