I didn't immediately geek out over Daredevil #81 because, well, we've been geeking out way too much over Bendis' work lately. He's supposed to be our mortal enemy, after all, for tearing up the Vision like that. But the conclusion to his final arc was superb. Matt Murdock's life is trashed beyond belief. Warren Ellis asked a question in one his Bad Signals:
"...what *does* make a Marvel character work? (Answer: tragedy.)"
I can't think of a Marvel hero with more tragedy than Matt Murdock. Think of all the times he's been punched, shot, stabbed, and sliced. The girlfriends that died? The ex-girlfriends came back to life? And now it might happen to poor Foggy.
I still can't imagine anyone putting Daredevil in the same jail cell with the Owl, Kingpin, and Hammerhead. (Isn't anyone bothered that Hammerhead is appearing in the Sentry now and he's out of jail?) But it's gotta be that way for dramatic license.
There's a really cool podcast that Quesada conducts with Bendis and incoming writer Ed Brubaker on Marvel's web site. Brubaker said that he has two choices with Daredevil: put the genie back in the bottle (the secret identity) or push the situation even further (he's doing the latter). Word Balloon has a nice podcast interview with Bendis on Daredevil and many other topics, including decompressed storytelling. Nuff said.
But really though... how many times can a characters life be "trashed beyond belief"?
Matt Murdock would have committed suicide long ago.
You're right, but the beauty of comics superheroes is that they just keep on going, no matter what, because they are merchandisable entities.