Daredevil is one of my favourite comic characters. I first came across him in The Punisher (who is my favourite comic character). In his day job Daredevil is a lawyer called Matt Murdock, who was defending Frank Castle (The Punisher's not very secret identity).
It may be odd, that a liberal in criminal justice matters, has The Punisher as his favourite character. And maybe this is why I find Daredevil interesting. By day he is a lawyer, dealing with law. By night the Daredevil is a vigilante.
This contrast was highlighted in Daredevil: Wake up, volume 3 of Brian Michael Bendis's Marvel Knights run (issues 16-19). The moody story was told through the eyes of reporter Ben Urich, who is investigating the story of Timmy. Timmy has witnessed a fight between his Father, Leapfrog (a costumed petty criminal) and Daredevil. Urich should be covering the trial of Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of crime. His boss, Jonah Jameson is not amused by his interest in Timmy.
The story is seen mainly through Urich's eyes, but also Timmy's. Timmy is catatonic, and Urich is desperate to find out what Timmy saw in the fight between Daredevil and Leapfrog, which involves looking for Matt/ Daredevil - Urich is one of the few people who knows Murdock's secret identify.
Daredevil barely appears- he is the background... but the story goes to the very core of the who and why of Murdock the lawyer and Daredevil the vigilante. It is a testimony to Bendis's storytelling.
The artwork is also excellent. Some of it is painted by David Mack, other parts are pencilled by him, inked by Mark Morales & Pond Scum and coloured by Richard Isanove.
Some of the artwork represents stories told by Timmy, and is in traditional comic form. Other parts are highly realistic, others are painted and there is no strict division between frames. The artwork really conveys the mood of the story and where the protagonists are in their head.
This is an excellent book - superhero comic fans will love it, it should encourage comic fans to look at the genre again and encourage others to consider the medium.
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2 comments:
I couldn't agree more. I'm a huge DD fan, and I loved the Wake Up arc, despite the fact that there's not that much DD in it. At least not on the surface. The art work, as you say, is phenomenal.
havent got to those ones , i have got the first volume of the marvel knights run by smith, quesad, palmiotti, mack
what are you reading thats out just now?
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