WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Daredevil #31 by Chip Zdarsky, Mike Hawthorne, Adriano Di Benedetto, Marcio Menyz, and VC's Clayton Cowles, on sale now.
Elektra's Daredevil might still be patrolling the streets of Hell's Kitchen, but Matt Murdock's life has been spent dodging one assassination attempt after another behind prison bars. Even if no one knows that Matt Murdock is underneath the mask, Matt has finally found his edge again, and he's shown other inmates, prison guard and even the warden that his being locked up doesn't mean he's retired.
Matt Murdock hasn't been doing himself any favors in prison. After turning down a get-out-of-jail-free card because of his self-sacrificing sense of justice, it's clear that the Man Without Fear is more concerned with punishing himself than actually doing any good at the moment. But as much as he might hate himself, the recent revelation that the prison's warden himself is out to kill him has brought back into focus just why he has subjected himself to being a prisoner in the first place. Murdock is in prison to see justice served, and he's dishing out as much justice behind bars as Rorschach did in Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons and John Higgins' Watchmen.
When Daredevil is called to the warden's office, he doesn't hesitate to let it be known that he is aware of the bounty on his head. He doesn't hesitate to put the real villains in the room with him in their place, either.
Daredevil easily disarms both of the guards on either side of him before dismantling the warden's panic button. He makes sure that the warden understands that there is nothing on either side of the prison's walls that could stop him. Deep inside, Matt's self-loathing has been replaced by a burning rage for justice, and he's more terrifying than ever since it's come to the surface. . Daredevil has always been willing to strike fear into the hearts of his enemies, but he's rarely taken as much joy in hearing their screams without some sort of corrupting dark or demonic influence.
Although Daredevil is arguably acting out of self-defense to some extent here, this entire sequence still bears a striking resemblance to Rorschach attacking and threatening his fellow inmates, many of whom he put there himself, in Watchmen #6. As Rorschach reminded them in both the comic and the film, those inmates were trapped in there with him, implying that he would still dole out justice and defend himself as he saw fit.
Daredevil might not be throwing hot grease in anyone's face or killing his attackers, but the damage he has done makes it seem like both of those options are on the table. Even if Elektra is finding it difficult to stick to Matt's code of no killing as Daredevil, he has just proved that it doesn't take a lethal edge to make him the Man Without Fear.
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