New York IV: The cost of doing business.

 

 Starlord: galaxy.  The Avengers: Earth. Spider-Man:  NYC.  And then there's Daredevil, micromanaging the shit out of 10 blocks in midtown Manhattan.

Hell's Kitchen in New York isn't what is used to be.  Two waves of gentrification since the 70s have considerably changed the face of what used to be a haven for crime - ironically, including the introduction of critically recognized dining options.

But that's all different in Daredevil's world.  There, Hell's Kitchen is a disadvantaged neighbourhood desperately in need of his protection from a cabal of organized crime groups, led by Wilson Fisk, the villainous Kingpin  - at least until Daredevil fights him to a standstill and turns him over to the police.

Watching all of that take place in the Daredevil Netflix™ series, I was startled by the graphic nature of the damage suffered by Matt Murdock, the man behind Daredevil's various masks.  For a long time, crimefighting in the Marvel universe was a relatively bloodless prospect,  at least until Wolverine and his adamantium claws entered the scene in the 1975 as one of the new X-Men. When artist Frank Miller also took over the writing for the Daredevil comic book in 1979, he raised the ante in terms of bloodshed.

However, four-colour comic-book violence can only be so realistic - the Netflix™ version much more plausibly presents the consequences of going toe-to-toe with supervillains and their minions on a regular basis.  After all, Daredevil's only powers are his enhanced senses:  to misquote Shakespeare, if you cut him, he bleeds.

Oh, and if you watch a few episodes and find it too be a little too much?  Then I strongly recommend you stay away from the upcoming Punisher series - Frank Castle makes Daredevil look like Hello Kitty by comparison.

- Sid