Bendis' Daredevil Part 4: Lowlife

[cyberghostface]

"Lowlife" is IMO when the meat of Bendis's run starts. He's set up the new status quo and now he gets to play around. The arc also introduces Milla Donovan, a major character in Bendis's run, a memorable new take on the Owl and includes what was (to me at least) a rather shocking plot twist.

#41 opens with a blind woman named Milla Donovan and her friend walking down the street and talking.



Just as the truck is about to hit her, Daredevil grabs her and crashes her into a nearby store window.





The next scene has Matt meeting Wilbur Day A.K.A. Stilt-Man in his office (who amusingly seems to have been modeled after Bendis here). He says he's done, he quit. Turns out Vanessa Fisk had attempted to split up her husband's territory and sell it under the promise that none of the buyers would interfere with each other. There's one person she had refused to sell it to: the Owl.  When she left, the Owl had muscled his way into it and took everything for himself.

So as Daredevil, he roughs up all the nearby goons in the city looking for the Owl.



...and he burned the money.





I really loved the Bendis/Maleev version of the Owl. Just look at that hair.

#42...

The issue opens with Milla talking to her friend. She felt something when Daredevil rescued her, and she wants to see him again.

Meanwhile, Owl is attempting to sell on the market 'mutant growth hormone' -- a street drug that gives the user peak genetic performance. A drug dealer is telling his customers that this MGH comes from Spider-Man when Daredevil intervenes and busts the operation.









We then meet up again with Mr. Rosenthal, owner of the Daily Globe (he appeared in 'Out') currently in a lawsuit with Matt Murdock over the Daredevil story. His lawyer informs him that the trial is starting next week, but things aren't looking good. They have no concrete sources on Matt being Daredevil, just innuendo. Worst-case scenario, Murdock could end up owning the paper.

Back at Nelson & Murdock, Milla decides to visit Matt and thank him for rescuing her earlier.



So we once go back to Mr. Rosenthal, now taking a swim in his pool.





#43...







Matt asks her what she does for a living, and she explains that she works at the Hell's Kitchen Housing Commission, helping poor people find a place to live. 

Matt tells her that even if he was Daredevil and had pushed her into the clothing store, admitting such would be dangerous for the both of them.



Foggy tells Matt that he's asking for trouble by pursuing a relationship with Milla at this point in his life. The conversation turns to the Owl and MGH--Matt wants to get it off the street now before it becomes a real problem with the criminals in New York, but Foggy says that doing such a thing would only bring more attention to him and jeopardize his identity. Foggy asks if Luke Cage could do it, but Luke hasn't been returning Matt's calls since the White Tiger trial.

Matt visits Luke Cage and asks if he's angry with him about what happened with the White Tiger. Luke Cage says it's not that, Matt did everything he could. Rather, he says he doesn't want anything to do with Matt's current behavior.





Later, Foggy gets a visit from the police. They want to ask Matthew some questions concerning the murder of Mr. Rosenthal.

#44...

Matt and Milla are coming home from their date, and the conversation turns to the history of Hell's Kitchen. She says how the gangs back then would mean something more than just getting high and getting some; they would protect their neighborhood.







Matt is questioned by the two detectives. They searched his house and found nothing...too much nothing, the kind of nothing that used to be something. Not even a personal computer. Matt tells them that he's blind, and that makes it hard to see the screen. Matt asks one of the detectives to sit back, and he's asked if he's nervous.





Outside, after getting away from the media, Foggy asks when Matt cleaned house, and Matt responds that he did it the day the tabloids hit.

Back with the Owl, his lawyer asks him if he had anything to do with the Rosenthal murder. Owl says "Maybe". He says Murdock's out of their hair now, and they did what the Kingpin could never do. Now they're officially open for business.

#45...

We open up with Sammy Silke (remember him?) at prison playing cards. He's bemoaning his current situation, saying that he got nothing while Kingpin's territory is wide open.





In retrospect it's obvious now (given that you can tell it's a bald man outside of Rosenthal's pool if you look at it) but when I first saw this I went "Holy shit!" Bendis had given the impression that the Kingpin was down for the count for the duration of his run and not once even implied that Fisk would be returning. Plus, I just loved seeing Kingpin giving Silke his just desserts.

Anyways, Matt is laying low with Foggy. He leaves a message on Milla's answering machine apologizing for what happened. Foggy tells Matt he was wrong when he told Matt to give up on being Daredevil, he was scared out of his mind. Foggy says there's no right answer in Daredevil's situation: "Do what you gotta do. Be who you gotta be."

Meanwhile, the Owl's place is raided by the FBI.  Turns out he's under suspicion of murdering the drug dealer from the first issue; he came in but he never came out. Owl had just assumed that the FBI wouldn't bother them because Wilson Fisk wasn't caught, but as the FBI agent points out, the Owl is not as nearly as smart as Fisk was. As an aside, Silke is brought up; he was found in prison with his head crushed..."like a melon."

Owl attempts to escape but he's stopped by none other than Daredevil.