Daredevil cancelled? Oh, no, how...ah, he'll be back.

So, when I saw the "last" issue of Daredevil in the Marvel solicits, my first thought? I guess Daredevil doesn't have a movie coming out and they need the staff and resources for another Thor book. And I was a little nostalgic for the long-gone days when, if a book wasn't selling well, the editor would turn it over to a young gun to try and turn it around; like Frank Miller or Walt Simonson...

I'm not too upset about the cancellation, since I know Daredevil will get another first issue sometime, and I don't expect them to kill him off or turn him evil or anything, and I haven't read his book in a while anyway. And I haven't seen a lot of DD specials or annuals or single issues lately; I miss one-shot stories.

Like today's book, from Daredevil #208, "The Deadliest Night of my Life!" Written by Harlan Ellison and Arthur Byron Cover, pencils by David Mazzucchelli, inks by Danny Bulandi. After a hard night on patrol in the snow, Daredevil's ready to pack it in and head to bed when he hears a lost little girl. The girl leads DD on a chase, and into a trap; and the girl turns out to be a robot. DD tosses the decoy away before it explodes, but is trapped in a tunnel under the slums.

Further on, Daredevil manages to dodge a barrage of darts, except one, and then trips out on the hallucinogen on it. He still manages to fight his way through more traps: quicksand, spikes, flamethrowers. Knowing he's being herded through a gauntlet, DD instead smashes through a wall to "backstage," the cables and guts of the deadly traps. He manages to damage some of the machinery, before the house releases snakes into the access space.

Finally reaching the roof, Daredevil realizes he's trapped in a huge mansion, but can't escape that way, it's covered with lasers. He falls back into the mansion, and is nearly dropped into a pool with a shark. But, since DD wrecked up the machinery, the water drained from the pool and the shark was flopping around dying. DD swims out to the shark's holding tank, but is exhausted, and near the end of his rope.

Pulling himself back up, DD makes his way to a living room, where he triggers a recorded message from Elizabeth Dawes Sterling. Who? She was Death-Stalker's mother...and you don't remember Death-Stalker either. That's fine: he died back in Daredevil #158, which is probably better remembered as Frank Miller's first issue on the book. Sterling was old money, and completely willing to throw a lot of it into avenging her son's death. When she died, the trap was set into motion; Matt knows the last trap has been tripped. While she carries on, he escapes up the chimney and gets the hell out before the entire building goes up. Still, even the spiked gate takes one last shot at him.

Matt makes his way to Natasha's, the Black Widow. He's a little cheesed at her right now, but he left clothes at her place, so he can change and make his 8 AM court date. Doubtless reeking of open flame, salt water, and fear sweat, Matt is a little late, but makes it...not noticing the two robot decoy girls in the gallery...

Crap, this issue wasn't a single-issue story at all, it's continued in Daredevil #209! Ellison and Mazzucchelli would be on the next issue, too. I thought they were just leaving it a little open, but shows what I know. This issue's before "Born Again," and DD seems a little too broken for just a bunch of traps: seems pretty tame compared to his string of murdered girlfriends, or the Kingpin ruining him, or actually going to hell. Well, he was just tired.