The standard arc for poor Murdock, post Born Again, is for the writer to torture him relentlessly, drive him to the brink of madness and let him crawl on his fingernails back to a functioning human being. Kevin Smith copied it studiously to ill results in Guardian Devil, Bendis inverted it a bit by having Murdock declare himself Kingpin in his moment of rage, and Brubaker broke his marriage up to pitch him into a massive depression. Andy Diggle, deciding that our intrepid hero hadn't suffered enough, turned him evil, had him get possessed by a demon and utterly ruined his life. At the end of Shadowland, Murdock packs his bags and leaves Hell's Kitchen in disgrace.
Throughout Reborn, the reader keeps waiting for something climatic and life affirming to happen. Matt confronts some backwoods arms dealers and only when he meets their super powered crime boss, Calavera does the story start to show potential. Striking an iconic pose as a white skinned dealer of evil, Calavera forces Matt to confront his inner demons, shoots him in the head and pushes him off of a cliff. That's where issue four opens up.
Matt has inexplicably survived. He's a superhero so we knew he was going to survive. The interesting part of the scenario is trying to figure out how Matt will get out of this. The answer remains a mystery. Matt pulls himself out of a river, bleeding from his head, and wonders how he is still alive. So does the reader. Is this the "rebirth" we've been waiting for? Mysterious is one thing, but this feels lazy.
Calavera has the power to bring out the darkness in people's souls. His use of this power on Matt lasts only a single panel. Murdock easily defeats his enemies and is back in Foggy's apartment by the end, promising that they will get their practice back, presumably bringing everything back to the status quo.
The whole series was disappointing, and the last issue lands with a wet thud.
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