Law and justice don’t always agree. This conundrum is at the core of Matt’s being, more so than for any other superhero. A trial attorney by day, he uses his considerable legal skills to right wrongs through the courts of law. By night, he haunts the rooftops of Hell’s Kitchen as Daredevil, dispensing an entirely different brand of justice that combines cunning and a healthy dose of martial arts.

The struggle to reconcile the two sides of his being has taken a toll on Murdock over the years, but in the pages of Charles Soule’s Supreme storyline. (Daredevil Vol 5. #21-25), the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen found a way to consolidate his daytime and nighttime activities. Taking the fight all the way to the Supreme Court, Murdock won the right for costumed heroes to testify during trials, and to bring evidence to the authorities without having to reveal their secret identities.

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In doing so, he legitimized the hero community, and succeeded where Tony Stark had failed with the Superhero Registration Act. However, the victory was not without its share of strife. Murdock was thwarted every step of the way by Wilson Fisk. The so-called Kingpin of Crime unleashed a two-pronged attack on him. Plan A was hiring Legal, who was once Stark Industries lead attorney, to challenge Murdock in court. Plan B was contracting hit man Lonnie Lincoln, aka Tombstone, to kill the blind lawyer.

When both of these schemes failed, the Kingpin proceeded to Plan C: getting himself elected mayor.

Written by Charles Soule, and drawn by Stefano Landini, with colors by Matt Milla and letters by Clayton Cowles, the renumbered Daredevil #595 picks up the storyline that concluded in issue 25 of the previous volume. This first Legacy issue finds Murdock returning from China, where he was fighting the Hand and rescuing Blindspot. Upon his arrival he is confronted by an unexpected nightmare: Fisk is the new mayor of New York City.

Being away and all, Murdock may be forgiven for missing the memo. However, readers may also be feeling a touch of whiplash, as the story comes out of nowhere, at least in the pages of Daredevil.

Fisk’s ascension to the mayoralty was, in fact, set up elsewhere; mostly in Matthew Rosenberg’s 5-issue Kingpin series that was part of last February’s Running with the Devil Event, but also in Nick Spencer’s Secret Empire.

Rosenberg’s story showed the Kingpin “rehabilitating” his image by hiring down-on-her-luck journalist Sarah Dewey to write his biography. He manipulates the reluctant reporter into doing his bidding by showing her both sides of his personality.

Is he the gentle giant who finances a children’s hospital and deals directly with patients and parents? Or is he the murderer who dispatches competing mobsters with ruthless efficiency? Did he pay off her ex-husband so that he would reward her custody of their kids? Or did he murder her boxer boyfriend for not throwing a fight as asked?

By destabilizing the economically and emotionally desperate Dewey, Fisk was rewarded with a tell-all biography that exposed all of his many sins. He rightly gambled that his mea culpa would open the door to redemption, and pave the way for his candidacy.

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As we also saw in Secret Empire #2, Fisk used his considerable resources to play Good Samaritan while the city was trapped in the Darkforce Dimension. When a pair of low-level hoods held up a church, demanding that the priest and parishioners hand over any medicine they had, Fisk showed up and executed the attackers. His men then provided necessary aid to the needy, but there was a price: Fisk asked them to remember it was he who had kept them safe.

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Fast forward to the present. With a hail of streamers and confetti, the crowd celebrates the Kingpin’s election in Times Square. In the tumult, Foggy describes Fisk’s campaign to Matt as a drive-by shooting. It has a familiar ring. Despite his sordid past, and media exposés about his misdeeds, Fisk ran as an independent, stayed on message, and used his outsider status to boost his chances.

Matt is having none of this. He suspects foul play and wants to prove it, but the new mayor has other plans for Murdock. After all, he is a prosecutor in the District Attorney’s Office, and now works for Fisk.

When he broaches the question of election irregularities with the D.A., Murdock is told that the new Mayor wants to build cases against “the non-governmental exercise of authority” by vigilantes like Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Ms. Marvel, and the Punisher. He also learns that Fisk requested him specifically, because of his association to Daredevil.

“…Right now, they’re the bad guys,” the District Attorney tells him. Even Murdock’s paralegal, Ellen, agrees. Recounting how her car was totaled in a fight between Spider-Man and the Rhino, she explains that the deductibles on “powers-related insurance” are nuts, and suggests that a lot of people just want a “little normal in their lives.” She also refuses to answer whether she voted for Fisk.

That night, as he returns to patrolling the rooftops of Hell’s Kitchen, a costumed Murdock muses on the genius of Fisk’s move. He recognizes that the Kingpin is trying to force him out of the D.A.’s office while simultaneously trying to ferret out his connection to Daredevil. However, the extent of Fisk’s manipulations is not yet entirely obvious to him, and he is ensnared in an all-too obvious trap.

Sensing a mugging in an alley below, Daredevil swoops down to fight off the assailants, but the whole thing is a setup. The victim and the attackers are all undercover cops, with orders to deliver him to the new Mayor.

Everything that ensues is carefully orchestrated by Fisk.

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As he is led to the mayor’s office in handcuffs, Daredevil overhears the Kingpin consorting with the mobster Hammerhead, who offers the allegiance of the Maggia while congratulating the new Mayor on ensnaring the lawyer.

Murdock is then left alone with the Kingpin, who muses on the new reality in New York City. Fisk takes the opportunity to gloat. “We both love this city,” he explains, “But only one of us was asked to save it.

“I was absolutely clear about what I would give them,” he continues. “Order. Normalcy. Accountability. Things you and your kind don’t understand.

“They don’t know what I’m going to do,” he concludes. “But they asked me to do it.”

The speech is more than gloating. It is another element in Fisk’s calculated plan. After an enraged Murdock frees himself, smashes a window, and escapes, the Kingpin alleges that Daredevil attacked him, and sends the cops after him.

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Like Murdock, Fisk has a conundrum when dealing with the law. He has always known how far he can push it to achieve his goals. However, his endgame has never been justice, but order. Now that he has the justice system of New York City at his beck and call, he can impose order as he sees fit.

There are echoes of Secret Empire and Civil War in the Kingpin’s scheming. His authoritarian approach to governance sacrifices liberty and honesty for comfort and safety. His emphasis on legalities is based on anything but abiding by the law. However, the setting and the cast of characters are smaller. Mayor Fisk is purely a New York City story.

Reducing the scope of the conflict is a good thing, and feels very much in line with the whole Marvel Legacy vibe. Soule is here repeating the same trick he pulled off with Supreme storyline. He is asking the kind of big questions that we usually see in line-wide events.

As is often the case with crossovers, thematic questions and interpersonal interactions often end up taking a back seat to widescreen battles between dozens of combatants. As writers and artists work on showing us the big picture, the smaller stories sometimes get lost in the shuffle.

It’ll be interesting to see where this very political story goes. Mayor Fisk Part 1 shakes up the status quo in a very interesting way. For the first time in his history, the Kingpin does not have to bribe officials. He doesn’t have to work with crooked cops. He doesn’t have to pay off anybody to impose his vision of New York City.

In terms of pure legality, Fisk and Murdock are now on the same side. This ramps up Matt’s internal conflict. As an attorney he is being asked to see to the law, but as a hero, he must see to justice. But will Daredevil survive to thwart the Kingpin’s version of order now that it is based on the rule of law?