The New Daredevil Series (2011)

What a great new debut! Someone at Marvel (*cough* Mark Waid *cough*) really gets it! I stopped reading Daredevil after Kevin Smith’s run (how long has that been? 15 years ago?), and have read only a handful of issues since. I know Matt Murdock has had to deal with the fallout from the revelation of his secret identity in the years since, but Waid treats it as an effect of the 24 hour news cycle in which the average man-in-the-street may or may not believe it. Waid also reinvents the Spider-Man villain “The Spot” as a true force to be reckoned with. Don’t page ahead, though, because the last page of the main story ends with a surprise you wouldn’t want to have ruined.

Yes, there is a back-up story, but it’s every bit as good as the main story. And the art is exceptional! (Paolo Rivera on the main story, Marcos Martin on the back-up.) The description and depiction of how DD’s powers work is also very well-done in both stories. Even the LOC page (“Letters Without Fear” - Is that new?) was good, providing not only Waid’s pitch of the series, but also a tribute to long-time DD penciler Gene Colan.

No one is more surprised than I, but Marvel is still capable of producing comic books I want to read! This is the best “new number one” since… well, since Captain America a week or two back.

Replies

Doc Beechler (mod-MD) July 26, 2011 at 12:32pm

Yeah, I raved about it on facebook. It was the comic that made me break my "no more buying/keeping single issues" rule.
Wandering Sensei: Moderator Man July 26, 2011 at 1:33pm

It was a terrific issue. I read it this morning. Looks like I will be reading Daredevil for the foreseeable. Mark Waid does, indeed, get it. The only DD I've ever really read is Karl Kesel's way too short run back in the 90's. That was probably the last time he was happy! Now that I'm a Marvel reader, I'm proud to add this title to my line.
ClarkKent_DC July 26, 2011 at 2:43pm

Okay, you talked me into it. I'll get one the next time I go to the store.
Captain Comics July 26, 2011 at 2:56pm

I haven't got Daredevil #1 yet -- it's coming with my Westfield order in a week or so -- but I'm told that there is a letter from and a shout-out to Darediva, a member of the Legion of Superfluous Heroes and a sort-of neighbor (she lives in Arkansas) of your humble Captain. She's just about the world's biggest Daredevil fan -- for heaven's sake, she quilts him -- so I am in awe. Give her a shout-out here or on Twitter at @darediva. She's good folks!
Doc Beechler (mod-MD) July 26, 2011 at 3:08pm

She has the ONLY fan letter in the issue!
Randy Jackson July 26, 2011 at 5:11pm

It's a good start. Hopefully he'll try something other than "Matt gets a new girlfriend, she gets assaulted/killed/driven insane and Matt has a nervous breakdown" cycle, followed by the obligatory "Kingpin's latest and greatest plan to rub Matt's face in the tarmac" followed by "oh look, the Hand. We haven't seen them in like...six weeks."
ClarkKent_DC July 26, 2011 at 8:19pm

If there's anybody I trust not to do that, it's Mark Waid. His run on the Fantastic Four impressed me in that it was about finding new ways to look at familiar characters rather than recycling what was hot 20 years ago. Likewise his run(s) on Captain America.
Philip Portelli July 26, 2011 at 8:44pm

Yes keep out the Kingpin, Bullseye, Elektra, Black Widow, ninjas, ex-girlfriends, dead girl-friends, crazy girl-friends, crazy ex-girl-friends and generally remove Matt from the MU for a while so he can heal and set up his own direction without crossovers and guest stars!

Randy Jackson said:
It's a good start. Hopefully he'll try something other than "Matt gets a new girlfriend, she gets assaulted/killed/driven insane and Matt has a nervous breakdown" cycle, followed by the obligatory "Kingpin's latest and greatest plan to rub Matt's face in the tarmac" followed by "oh look, the Hand. We haven't seen them in like...six weeks."
Figserello July 26, 2011 at 9:04pm

ClarkKent_DC said:
If there's anybody I trust not to do that, it's Mark Waid. His run on the Fantastic Four impressed me in that it was about finding new ways to look at familiar characters rather than recycling what was hot 20 years ago. Likewise his run(s) on Captain America.

Spider-Man Brand New Day (which Waid was involved in) managed to find new ways to look at old characters for about 6 months before going back to recycling what was hot 20, 30 and 40 years ago. I've just finished the interminable Gauntlet. Please make it stop!
ClarkKent_DC July 26, 2011 at 9:07pm

... which is why I stopped reading Spider-Man about 15 years ago. After all, wasn't "Brand New Day" all about restoring the old Spider-Man status quo?

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