Daredevil is going to jail — for manslaughter!

If there’s a guy who has consistently worse luck than Peter Parker, it’s Matt Murdock. Lately, Daredevil has been having just a real time in his main series.

Writer Chip Zdarsky and various artists have been putting Matt through the ringer since 2019. This week, Daredevil took real responsibility for a big mistake — accidentally killing a man while in the process of stopping a petty robbery — by pleading guilty to manslaughter.

What else is happening in the pages of our favorite comics? We’ll tell you. Welcome to Monday Funnies, Polygon’s weekly list of the books that our comics editor enjoyed this past week. It’s part society pages of superhero lives, part reading recommendations, part “look at this cool art.” There may be some spoilers. There may not be enough context. But there will be great comics. (And if you missed the last edition, read this.)

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Daredevil #24

Image: Chip Zdarsky, Mike Hawthorne/Marvel Comics

Matt Murdock has been to jail before, but in Brian Bendis and Ed Brubaker’s runs on the character, he was in prison as Matt Murdock. This time, through some legal maneuvering unique to a setting with costumed superheroes, he’s headed there as the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, secret identity intact.

(Wait, if that’s Daredevil, who’s the lawyer in red-sunglasses next to him? It’s Matt Murdock’s twin brother Mike — who used to be made up but became a real boy in August — pretending to be Matt.)

The Other History of the DC Universe #1

Black Lightning fans will not want to miss the first installment of John Ridley and Giuseppe Camuncoli’s illustrated novella The Other History of the DC Universe. It’s an intricate portrait of a flawed but still compelling hero struggling with real and fictional history.

I Walk With Monsters #1

Image: Paul Cornell, Sally Cantirino/Vaul Comics

I didn’t really know anything about I Walk With Monsters going in, but Sally Cantirino’s art really sold the concept of a young girl and a guy who can turn into a man-eating monster traveling around the country honey-potting serial killers and abusers. I’ll definitely be sticking around for another issue.

X of Swords: Destruction

In one of what felt like a dozen “Avengers assemble” moments in the climax of X of Swords, Illyana Rasputin opened an ENORMOUS portal from Earth orbit to Otherland, bringing the ENTIRE SWORD space station in to float above the nexus between all Marvel realities, carrying two separate armies of X-Men and space zombies, respectively. It was dope as hell.

And a large part of that was how artist Pepe Larraz and colorist Marte Gracia pulled off this page. I feel like it’s 1996 and I’m watching Independence Day for the first time again. I feel like I can hear this panel. Incredible stuff.

Suicide Squad #11

It probably seemed like a cheap shot for Suicide Squad to bring back a character who died ages ago in its final issue in order to deus ex machina the rest of the team. But I don’t care, because Jog — the speedster revolutionary who can only go fast in short bursts before napping — is the demigod son of the dumbest best New Gods character, Black Racer, the Grim Reaper of the New Gods, who skis through space at inescapable speeds. That’s dumb as hell and I love it.

Power Pack #1

Image: Ryan North, Nico Leon/ Marvel Comics

Ryan North and Nico Leon absolutely killed it in the first issue of their Power Pack miniseries. The Power Pack are a beloved and yet rarely seen Marvel Comics team of four kid siblings who got superpowers from a nice alien once and now they have to keep it all a secret from their parents. The only subpar thing about this issue is that it’s not an ongoing series.

Wonder Woman #767

Image: Mariko Tamaki, Rafa Sandoval/DC Comics

Mariko Tamaki closed out the Max Lord arc of her Wonder Woman with a perfectly brutal fight. Max kept trying to lock Wonder Woman down with mind control commands, only for her to outsmart him by finding the loophole in each one. “Bury your blade in your flesh” — she gave herself a flesh wound and faked being impaled. “Drop your sword” — she chucked it his head. “Your sword is heavy” — joke’s on you, Max, she’ll just try harder.

It’s a mind control solution that echoes Greek myths of prophecy and riddle loopholes, perfect for Diana.