Kingpin has new powers that come with a big secret, flipping his dynamic with Daredevil on its head
They're new abilities for the Marvel character, sure, but they come with a huge downside
Wilson Fisk has been back on the rise to reclaiming his position as the Marvel Universe's Kingpin of crime in the pages of Daredevil, and now, in June 12's Giant-Size Daredevil #1, readers get a look not just into Fisk's mind and interior thoughts, but directly into his very soul.
And what's there isn't pretty, because as Marvel previously promised, Kingpin is carrying a demonic secret that puts a sinister new twist on his relationship with Matt Murdock.
Spoilers ahead for Giant-Size Daredevil #1
Giant-Size Daredevil #1 by Daredevil series writer Saladin Ahmed, artist Paul Davidson, colorist Matt Hollingsworth, and letterer Clayton Cowles follows Wilson Fisk as he leaves a bloody trail across New York City, attempting to lure Matt Murdock out of hiding.
Unlike many of Fisk's previous campaigns against his arch-enemy, he's getting his own hands dirty right out in the open - and it's all because he's been literally possessed by a demon who shares his own singular obsession with hunting down Daredevil.
The demon of greed that has possessed Kingpin has its own grudge against Murdock, who escaped Hell at the end of the previous volume of Daredevil, with the demon embarking on a mission to bring him back.
Kingpin's new scheme to draw out and destroy Matt Murdock kicks off with some brutal, bloody retribution against a group of burglars who attempt to rob him. Soaked in their blood, he makes his way to a bar, where he leaks an address for Daredevil to find him.
With Matt Murdock hot on his trail, Kingpin has one final encounter with a member of a gang that was taken out by Kingpin's henchmen in a territory dispute. Wearing a suit of Mauler armor, the gangster blasts Kingpin with a laser that he easily withstands without injury - a sign of the demonic strength granted to him by his possession.
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Kingpin destroys the Mauler armor, leaving the gangster injured with Daredevil arriving a few minutes later to pick up the pieces, though Fisk has already moved on by the time Daredevil arrives.
The story ends with Kingpin alone, lamenting the price of his possession, and though he maintains the rage against Daredevil that is fueled by the demon inside him, Kingpin longs for Matt Murdock not to die at his hands, but to save his very soul.
The story continues in June 26's Daredevil #10.
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I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)