DAREDEVIL: LAST RITES - The Fall of the Kingpin

A look at D.G. Chichester's game-changing comic book arc "Last Rites" that saw Daredevil finally defeat The Kingpin from Daredevil issues #297-#300, with an analysis of its storytelling style, how it counters "Born Again," "Gang War," and Ann Nocenti's run, and its long-term effects on Daredevil comics.

#Daredevil
#Darecember

Music:

"Nighthawks" by The Midnight

"Mirage" by Mitch Murder

"Daredevil" OST by John Paesano

[superthorc]

The image of daredevil forgiving a broken down kingpin is the image I most remember of the last rites

[stainedclassv]

Last Rites is probably one of my absolute favorite DD comic stories. A perfect sequel to Born Again.

[Chandasouk]

"Bing-bong, Kingpin's done" lmao. Matt is from NYC confirmed!

[johnathonhaney]

I'm actually fond of Last Rites, my first Daredevil story. Rushed, yes, but it's also a pretty compelling disintegration of a man who started with total control. Vanessa haunts him like a living ghost, the one thing he will always want but will stay out of his reach.

And Typhoid Mary wasn't made "sane" any more than Fisk suffered "bad luck" (the latter being more bad research). As a DID sufferer, she reverted to her "Mary" alter while Matt made sure she got institutionalized before the "Typhoid" alter could pop back out. It was removing the queen piece from the chessboard, exposing the Kingpin to checkmate.

[ankityadav]

Chichester never got a fair shake he deserved. Fall of the Kingpin is legit the best DD story done by anyone not Frank Miller, and the editorial interference in the rest of his run poisoned the well.Last Rites is excellent! It’s a fantastic sequel/follow up to Born Again. I don’t understand why it’s not more widely acclaimed like other arcs. Chichester showed an apt understanding of Matt and all of his rogues gallery, and Lee Weeks draws in a style that is so dynamic, but also feels like an echo of Mazzuchelli’s style. Easily one of my favorite DD stories, and I highly recommend it.

[magnusprime]

I think one of the things that does work about certain supervillains never truly going away is that it’s symbolic of real life. In reality, evil will never truly be defeated because it exists in the heart of every human being. Conversely, good will never truly be defeated either. The two will remain locked in struggle, both internally and externally. Daredevil and the Kingpin will always fight for dominance, just as the good and evil in us all. We just have to keep working to try and win as many victories for good as we can.

[zemox]

The story may be flawed but I still love it. Seeing Kingpin defeated (both physically and emotionally) was satisfying, even if it was only temporary. And yet despite all the awful things he did, I cannot help but feel a little bad for Wilson.
He is the type of villain you love to hate and hate to love

[vincentfranklin]

Kingpin really developed as a character when Miller brought him into the pages of Daredevil.

[GreenTengu]

I've always valued this story as being a perfect place to stop on volume 1. It felt like this answer to Touch of Typhoid and Born Again, and like it served the important purpose of showing Fisk can bleed. I'm not too familiar with 301-380, but it always seems like since Last Rites, Fisk was far more capable of being taken down than he ever was before. As much of a downward spiral as volume 2 was for Matt, it was a rollercoaster for Fisk, with many rises and falls contained across it. He got New York back, but he never really had the same stability again after Last Rites.
There's a moment at the end I've always found cool, where Matt's standing in his new office, clad in a white suit, where the image of Fisk appears before him covered in red. Its kind of questionable why this happens or what Matt's really perceiving, but it felt like this really cool visualization of how their circumstances have essentially flipped.

[joeclarke]

I don't think I can pick a favorite out of all the DD videos that you've done but I constantly re-watch them all because of how engaging they are. I swear you can feel your love and reverence for this character and these storylines through the screen.

Merry Christmas, Mr. Draper.

[Douglasman]

Omg !! Thank you so much !! I have been hoping someone would’ve make a video of this comic arc for years !! It’s not only a hidden gem in storytelling but a perfect sequel to Born Again. A times i feel sorry and joy seeing Fisk go through his owl fall of grace .

[VaughnColeman]

Damn I’d love to hear your Elektra: Assassin commentary. That story is so damn good and the art is amazing. And I had never heard of this particular DD story but maybe I’ll read it once I get around to Nocenti’s run

[johnnieriot]

“Bing-Bong” as a life long New Yorker and unfortunately a life long Knicks fan, that cracked me up. Great episode as always, man.

[dgchichester]

Really well done. Appreciate such a thoughtful retrospective and analysis - some ideas objectively spot on, some subjectively interesting. My only real quibble: it’s “chai” not “chih”. ;-) Thank you for including me in Darecember!

[pastnon]

Super jazzed that you tackled Last Rites. These were my first four issues of Daredevil, and it was love at first read! Sure, I knew DD and Fisk from reading Spidey, but this opened my eyes to a whole other side of Marvel's Big Apple! Of course I would eventually read Miller and Nocenti, but Chichester put that first score on my heart for this character. And don't get me started on Lee Weeks' pencils!

Also... I'm totally the type of uncultured swine who prefers Maltese over Wesley. 😈🙃

[Deadwolf]

I normally don't go in for Dare Devil stuff. I couldn't tell you exactly why. I suppose in some aspects he doesn't seem particularly heroic to me. But gosh I get excited for these videos Matt. Especially after the last episode

[Karls_Clips]

Ive been waiting a long time for this video, i collected this whole arc i love it.

[wdcain]

When I read this, I was genuinely impressed because when a superhero had a supervillain that had a positive public image, the hero wasn't allowed to take them down. It's why for decades Superman and Spider-Man weren't allow to really do anything about Lex Luthor and Norman Osborn despite them constantly doing awful things every other month. I know Jeph Loeb and Mark Millar have their critics but at least they ended that cycle.

[dr.s]

I'm afraid that the finale of Darecember might prank us all by being Matt's essay on The Defenders instead of Daredevil Season 3.

[robertopulitano]

"Fall from grace" was my first DD comic, I truly love it. Even when it doesn´t make any sense. But I love the art of Scott MCDaniel, you can really see him improving and trying a new art style as pages go by. I believe you can see his "old" style and the new one in 319, the evolution of his art in 320 (THAT final splash page... amazing!) and its truest form starting with 321.