And Then I Read: DAREDEVIL by Mark Waid Vol. 1

Images © Marvel Characters, Inc.

This is the collection that won lots of Harvey Awards and a few Eisner Awards as well this year. While I rarely read Marvel superhero books these days, I was intrigued enough to buy it. It was money well spent.

The Daredevil I remember best is the one from the Miller/Janson years. I know there’s a lot of stories since then, but these seem at least in the same arena, though with a somewhat lighter feel that I enjoyed. Writer Mark Waid really thinks about what it would be like to have the physical characteristics of Matt Murdock, both in the limitations of blindness and the superior abilities in the other senses his powers bring. This brings the stories to life in a way that the usual Big Threat alone can’t do. Whether dealing with the bad publicity of having his identity outed, and what that would mean to Matt Murdock as a working lawyer to what happens to this “radar sense” when confronted with confetti-like anti-radar flak to how Daredevil might deal with an entity made of pure sound waves, Mark is always coming up with fresh ideas and directions for the character. The relationships in the book are equally well handled, from the perennial one with Matt’s law partner Foggy Nelson and his overeating to new ones like another blind person being discriminated against, or a feisty new female assistant district attorney. It all feels fresh.

The art by the Riveras (son Paolo pencils and father Joe inks) and Marcos Martin on other issues seem to have been equally inspired visually by Waid’s ideas, also bringing fresh approaches to the storytelling and visual depictions of Daredevil’s view of reality. Two great examples are in the cover at the top of this article and the page above. None of it is particularly typical superhero art, but I think that’s what I like best about it. It also seems fresh.

Highly recommended! I’ll be looking for more when the next collection comes out.