Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes - Posts Tagged "matt-murdoch"

Daredevil, Vol. 4: The Autobiography of Matt Murdock by Mark Waid

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collect the end of Mark Waid's legendary run on Daredevil with issues 15.1 and concluding with 16-18.

Issue 15.1 are excepts from Matt Murdoch's titular autobiography and they're fun stories that carry the readers back to Daredevil's early days. Waid has excelled at this type of stories, so it's not hard to understand why he goes back to that well. My only complaint is that I'm kind of uncertain about the chronology of Daredevil's Yellow costume and working for another firm, but Waid probably has it right.

The final three issues bring us the climax of Murdoch's attempt to cut a deal with the Kingpin in order to restore his secrets and stop the damage that's been done by a Cyberattack. Wilson Fiske is probably the biggest (in both a literal and figurative sense) villain that Waid hasn't tackled. It's a very solid and satisfying story with great personal stakes and the book ends solidly even if it's in a way that makes this whole renumber after the end of Volume 3 of Daredevil seem more pointless than already has.

Having the read the entirety of this run, I have to say that Waid (and artist Chris Samnee who was with him for most of the run) deserve a ton of credit. Waid's entire run on this series has been historic, not just for Daredevil but for comics in general. He managed to take Daredevil in new directions while honoring what came before. It's been a strange mix brilliant originality which touches of nostalgia, with great character development and emotion throughout the series. Young writers and artists looking for an example of how superhero comics should be written couldn't really do better than looking at Waid's run on this book.



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Daredevil: Back In Black Vol. 1: Chinatown (Daredevil by Charles Soule

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book collects the first five issues of Charles Soule's run on Daredevil. It follows up from the Mark Waid series but moves Daredevil across the country from San Francisco back to New York and now everyone in the world has forgotten that Murdoch is Daredevil because he made them forget except for Foggie.

It's annoying that this isn't explained and instead Soule throws in something that happens off-panel which he may or may not ever show. Clearly this story was trying to align more critically acclaimed Daredevil TV show, sut this is a lazy way to get there. I'm also disappointed as someone who was very skeptical of the Matt and Kirsten relationship that it gets summarily dumped with only one mention of her in the whole book.

The art work is also a problem. It's unappealing. The whole thing is done with this Sepia shading which makes everything look kind of faded and washed out. I read this on my Kindle and actually went and checked my settings. It had such an unpleasant look. I could see this in places to establishment the atmosphere. Done throughout the book, it makes the whole thing seem dull and hazy. I actually do like the look of Daredevil's black costume, but I don't think the art really allows people to really see and enjoy it because the world around it lacks color. It doesn't have to be all bright and cheerful. Certainly, Chris Samnee's art doen't, but putting a Sepia shading on everything hurts that distinctness.

At the same time, I do think Daredevil's new protege Blindspot works and is well-realized. The villain, a man with Ten Fingers on both hands named Ten Fingers who planned to save the world through extra fingers through his religious cult. It's not a bad story, but it does lack a sense of fun and soul, which hopefully Soule will announce later on. As it it, this is only an okay story.



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