To explain why I loved this book so much, I should first say that I pretty much learned to read with Frank Miller’s original run on Daredevil, and as a result DD has been one of my favourite characters since forever. DD’s is the only booked I have bought and read continuously for around 30 years now, so Matt Murdock is almost like an old friend by this point. And, boy, my old friend hasn’t been doing too well the last couple of years, has he?
Most of the writers who have guided him lately have been interested in doing their own kind of homage to classic Miller, and have gone for the grim and gritty style, forgetting for the most part that Miller always had the good sense to temper the harsher moments of Matt’s life with some flashes if humour, romance and (whisper it) even joy. Sometimes this has worked out well (see the Bendis and Maleev run), but all too often we’ve seen Matt remorselessly pummelled, staggering from one dark episode to the next with little or no hope of respite. And it’s hard to watch an old friend being treated that way. Shadowland was the only point in Matt’s career where I actually seriously considered giving up on DD altogether, and keep in mind that I was reading this book even through the horrible “armoured Daredevil” phase!
Thank God, then, for Mark Waid, the Pulidos and Marcos Martin for bringing back a sense of fun, of joy to Matt’s life. Yes, I’ll admit that I’m biased. DD is my favourite Marvel character. But even had I not been a lifelong fan, even had I never read a Daredevil book before, I’ve read enough comic books to recognise the four issues of this book to date as the triumph of beautiful storytelling that they obviously are. Everything here is perfect, clear, engaging, wonderful! Matt Murdock is having fun again, and good lord, so am I!
Thank you, Marvel. Thanks, Mark Waid, Javier Pulido, Marcos Martin and everyone else associated with this labour of love. You’ve brought back an old friend I thought I might never get to hang out with again.