Marvel’s Red Band books haven’t always leaned into the promise of their polybagged, adults-only premise. And for the first half of Daredevil: Unleash Hell – Red Band #1, it seems like more of the same: a good, solid Daredevil book that might as well have skipped the plastic bag. And then the second half of the book hits, and all hell (literally) breaks loose.
Written by Erica Schultz, with art by Valentina Pinti and José Luís, the new series essentially continues Schultz’s run on the Elektra version of Daredevil that’s spooled out over various miniseries. They’ve all been excellent so far, and as Elektra continues to battle crime and her own inner demons in Hell’s Kitchen in the first half of the issue, we’re once again getting another rock-solid series. It does not, however, seem like something you should hide the children’s eyes from, particularly since Elektra is trying to hold back from violence herself as she embraces Matt Murdock’s legacy.
But in the background, and spoilers past this point, we’re getting the origin of a new, female version of the villain Muse. She’s a student derided by her teacher and told to make things with more commercial value, instead of following her, well, muse. Enter into that a voice that whispers into her head that maybe she shouldn’t listen to that, and instead push her dark artistic instincts even further.
It’s a neat, meta trick here to take a mainstream comic book — see above re: commercial value — and infuse it with some extremely disturbing imagery as the issue continues. While Schultz isn’t exactly spray-painting a counterculture, RAW-style book on a wall across from the Marvel offices or anything, there is a clear message of the push and pull between creating something artistically profound, while working inside commercial restraints.
That idea with She-Muse (that’s definitely not her name) also neatly parallels what Elektra is going through, though her shackles are self-imposed. While the hero and the villain are likely on a collision course soon enough, when they do meet it will be interesting to see how this new Muse inspires the worst in Elektra, before she (hopefully) pulls out her best.
I haven’t touched on what happens in the back half of the issue, by the way, but is wild in a way you won’t expect unless you’ve read the title of the series. And as this new Muse’s origin unfolds, it retroactively justifies some of the weirder elements of Daredevil lore.
Pinti and Luís deliver some disturbing visuals throughout, and some great action as well. Overall, this is a great start to a series that, yes, deserves the Red Band moniker.
Daredevil: Unleash Hell – Red Band #1 Rating:
Daredevil: Unleash Hell – Red Band #1 Official Synopsis:
MURDER IS AN ART! The violence and the occult swirling across the Marvel Universe find their way to Hell’s Kitchen! As grisly crime scenes start manifesting across the city, all signs point to an impossible perpetrator! Estranged from Matt Murdock, it’s up to Elektra to get to the grisly truth, if she can stomach it!
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