The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
That ancient proverb certainly applies to Daredevil and the Punisher. They have fought each other countless times, and they have begrudgingly teamed up just as many. They are not friends, and they never will be, but they do have a grudging respect for each other’s convictions and beliefs, if not their actions. Daredevil & Punisher: Devil’s Trigger #4 takes us back to a time in the Marvel Universe when things were simpler for these two characters, and it allows us to really put their relationship under a microscope.
On the VIP List
In order to keep the brewing gang war over the Gnucci family’s territory from exploding across New York, Matt Murdock has asked his private investigator friend, Misty Knight, to book a meeting between Daredevil and the Punisher. The two men, who have fought and teamed up more times than they can count, come together to see if a truce is possible. Only in the Marvel Universe can you have these two men walk into an alternative dance club, in full costume, and head to the basement for a sit-down without a single person in the building batting an eye.
Before we get to that meeting, however, the mystery boss who has been getting crooks with life sentences out of jail early has added two more to his collection: a pair of brutes known as Icebox and Reaper. The job is to kill the Punisher. I am sure that will not end badly at all.
Meanwhile, Matt Murdock is on a date with his gorgeous new neighbor. How does he do it? I mean, I know he is a fit, good-looking, and successful lawyer, but he also has a history of his love interests meeting horrible ends. Plus, he is blind, so how does he manage to only meet the hot ones?
I digress. Moving on.
Strangely, Daredevil and Punisher showing up to the club in full regalia tips the bad guys off to them being there, and soon Icebox and Reaper are on the scene to kill them. Cue the fight scene, and Punisher once again murders someone in front of Daredevil. He simply cannot help himself, can he? The boys manage to work through their differences and pool their resources long enough to finally locate the mysterious boss behind all of their current misery. It is a really cool reveal that makes perfect sense for the story being told, but I do not want to spoil it here.
Next issue brings the conclusion and a big fight where the Punisher will presumably murder more people, much to Daredevil’s chagrin.
Parlay
This is such a good, no-frills comic. It is a good Daredevil story, it is a good Punisher story, and it is a good team-up story, all in one. You could come to it for only one of the two leads, and you would still leave happy. That is no small feat.
Both characters have been through so much, with so many changes to them since the time period this book is set in. It is nice to see them during this simpler time, when Daredevil still had a secret identity, and Punisher was a little unhinged, but “crazy” was not his primary character trait. Seeing characters like Foggy Nelson and Misty Knight helps add to the feel of the era, and even the new characters, like Matt’s neighbor Katherine, are interesting and are given a lot more to do than you would normally expect in a “lost years” miniseries.
There is action, investigation, character building, and an interesting discussion between the two leads about their different beliefs and their approaches to their particular crusades. It is everything you could want from a Daredevil and Punisher team-up book.
Court Recorders
Jimmy Palmiotti is writing the heck out of this book. I have never disliked his work before, but in my mind, this book is one of the best things he has written. He has taken what is, at its core, a “throwaway” series to pad the gap in the publication schedule where neither lead has its own ongoing series, and has told a tale that actually has something to say about its two leads. He nails the characterization of both men and their supporting players, and even the bad guys are given more depth than the Punisher’s usual cannon fodder.
Once again, art duties are split between Tommaso Bianchi and Gabriel Guzman, with Bianchi handling all but pages 9 through 18, also known as “the sit-down pages.” If you are going to have to have two artists, having a clear break in the story between the two styles always works better than just jumping back and forth between them. Bianchi’s pages are a bit more detailed, while Guzman’s are a bit more dynamic, so it makes sense that he would be the one to keep the meeting scene a little more visually appealing. Both men put in good work, and even with their differences, the output is close enough that without the page numbers, you would be hard-pressed to point out exactly when the changeover took place.
Colors are handled by Bryan Valenza, and he does a solid job as well. The daytime scenes are bright, and the night scenes are darker and more shadowed. The red of Daredevil's suit is striking, as it should be, but is not something ridiculous like a fire engine red. The white of the Punisher’s suit is bright and stands out against the black, which is, of course, the intimidating effect the character is going for.
All told, this creative team is a great fit, and I would love to see them all work together again after this miniseries is over.
Water Cooler Talk
Daredevil & Punisher: Devil’s Trigger #4 is another solid issue in what has been a surprisingly strong miniseries, well exceeding expectations. It is a good Punisher tale, alternating between treating him almost like the monster in a horror movie and letting us inside his head as he undertakes his crusade against crime. Daredevil is in top form, romancing a beautiful woman as Matt Murdock and busting heads as the Man Without Fear, while Misty Knight and Foggy Nelson help keep the investigations on track. The villains are a bit underdeveloped, but it is a story set in the past that costars the Punisher, so I am sure they are not long for this world anyway.
I have made no secret of the fact that I was not a fan at all of the last Daredevil ongoing series; it actually soured me a little bit on a character that I love so much. This miniseries has helped to rekindle my love of the character, and has made me more appreciative of a well-written Punisher as well. It has driven me to pull out some of my older Daredevil issues, and I have actually tracked down some Punisher books to read more about him. If that does not tell you that the creative team has done a great job with these characters, then I do not know what will. In the end, the penultimate fourth issue of Daredevil & Punisher: Devil’s Trigger is just a darn fine comic book, which knows what it wants to do and does it with skill and precision.