Dare To Challenge The Powers That Be With The Death-Defying Devil #1
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
The Death-Defying Devil wakes up on a couch. He’s beaten, bruised, and bleeding. A wounded veteran tells him the story of a WWII vet he once heard about. We then jump back to the incident that left the Devil in this condition. A couple were walking home to their apartment complex when a group of crooks tried to hold them up for money and more. The Devil intervened, and all seemed to be going well for the masked vigilante. Unfortunately, a hooded figure appeared, and he was faster and stronger than the Devil. He took vengeance on the Devil for his henchmen, and the Devil barely escaped alive.
The Death-Defying Devil #1 brings back the Golden Age hero and Project Superpowers character for his own comic book series. Fun fact for those who don’t know: he was originally called Daredevil, but he has no relation to that one.
Actually, Death-Defying Devil #1 reads a lot like a Daredevil (yes, that one) story. It brings gritty and brutal street-level justice to the reader. The bad guys are extra cruel and are only extensions of greedy real estate developers., and the innocents are just unfortunates with no money and trapped living on the bad sign of town.
The fight scenes are excellent and show how skilled an athlete this Devil is. He’s also more punishing and brutal than that other Daredevil, with the aforementioned thugs losing limbs and appendages to the Devil’s razor-sharp boomerangs.
Walter Geovani brings his A-game once again, with the fight scenes looking especially good. They flow well and have a coherent order of action. There is a nice bit of grit to the style too. The Devil’s costume looks great too, with no small credit going to color artist Adriano Augusto for giving the book a great palette.
Death-Defying Devil #1 gives this Golden Age hero a hell of a return. With a brutal story and a narrow, intimate scope, Gail Simone reminds us why she’s one of the best in the business. This one gets a recommendation for sure. Feel free to give it a read.
Death-Defying Devil #1 comes to us from writer Gail Simone, artist Walter Geovani, color artist Adriano Augusto, letterer Simon Bowland, cover artist Riccardo Federici, and variant cover artists Lucio Parrillo, Tyler Kirkham, Ben Oliver, and Inhyuk Lee.
Final Score: 9/10
