DC Comics And Beyond: ‘Daredevil’ #9
I often get asked how I choose the comics I’ll buy. It can be a combination of any of the following factors: 1) A cool character, 2) A great writer or 3) A terrific artist. I even buy some product that I’ve never seen before by people I have no idea who they are if I like the company. Oni Press and Archaia leap to mind in that regard.
Writers often have the most sway with me. Geoff Johns. Paul Dini or Arvid Nelson will get me to plunk down my hard-earned shekels faster than just about anything else. Oh, I should have mentioned another name in that group — Mark Waid.
Daredevil #9. Here’s the comic’s description: “Mole Man returns, fresh from his battle in Avenging Spider-Man!”
Mr. Waid has been a favorite writer of mine for a long while now. There are several aspects to his writing that I truly enjoy.
First, he’s excellent at distilling characters to their very basics. For example, he made the Fantastic Four so much more interesting to me by simply bringing them back to where they started way back in the 1960s. They were a family of adventurers instead of a team of superheroes, and they’d lost a lot of that over the years. You can always tell when writers are struggling to tell stories with classic characters — they boot some out of a group while bringing in less-defined folks they may feel they can do more with since they don’t have well-known histories. Waid never did that. Instead, he breathed new and interesting life into Reed Richards by having Doctor Doom use magic against him, forcing Mister Fantastic to have to figure out just how magic worked! Great idea!
He’s also really great at painting himself into a corner, then figuring a way out. Sometimes he has a plan all ready to go into action; other times, not so much. But the clues are always there in plain sight. I just always seem to miss them until he reveals what solution he’s got in store.
Another thing I like is that he helps us understand comics people by putting them in unusual circumstances so we can see how he or she would react. That’s what’s going on in Daredevil #9.
Daredevil has a long history of fighting costumed criminals. He’s been up against Bullseye and The Beetle as well as Mister Fear and Mister Hyde. But they have nearly always been underworld crime bosses or thieves.
This time, though, Waid has Daredevil way, way out of his element. This hero is blind, so he relies on his other senses to make up the difference. Daredevil is in a huge subterranean cave fighting a classic FF villain, and he’s going to have to work hard to get out of this one!
Since Waid took over the comic, which thankfully was restarted at #1, he’s been dealing with some fractured continuity as well. Previous writers have had Daredevil reveal his secret identity to the world, so he’s having to use some creative ideas to get around that. But Mr. Waid is more than up to the task.
And the Mole Man is only one of the “way out there” foes Daredevil has had to encounter. Oh, and Matt’s been seen with Spider-Man’s old flame, the Black Cat, as well. What’s up with that?
I also like Paolo and Joe Rivera’s very clear artwork. It fits The Man Without Fear really well. It’s nice to be able to read the comic and actually know what’s going on! I like that!
If you haven’t been reading Daredevil, I highly recommend it! Oh, and you might want to pick up Justice League: Doom when this direct-to-DVD film is released later this month. The story is based on one of my all-time favorite Justice League adventures, penned by Mr. Waid. In it, Batman has as usual been planning ahead to take down his fellow Leaguers if he ever had to. Things go awry when a villain gets hold of that plan and puts it in action. Just imagine how the JLA will feel when they discover this plan was originally created by one of their own! Great stuff!
More New 52 Reviews: Here are more quick thoughts on the DC books out this week. Batman #6 has the Dark Knight facing the Court of Owls in person for the first time, and it was awesome! I love Batman continuing to fly this high, so kudos to Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo! Next, I enjoyed Nightwing as Kyle Higgins has Dick Grayson facing the anniversary of his parents’ passing. Birds Of Prey is in the middle of an interesting storyline that includes Batgirl! Then came Green Lantern Corps #6 by Peter J. Tomasi really hit home as a Green Lantern dies. Who kills him was a huge shock! Wonder Woman continues to delve into the Gods of myth! Captain Atom fights a rat with powers like his own Supergirl returns to Earth when Argo City is destroyed. Red Hood And The Outlaws looks back into the past, when Red Hood and Starfire first met. Also, Catwoman #6 has her facing off with Batman. What she says stuns even him. Legion Of Super-Heroes has another month of very cool art, particularly the first several pages. Blue Beetle has to take on his friend. My Greatest Adventure still finds Robotman the most interesting of the bunch. has Deadman’s multi-part tale come to an interesting conclusion. The weakest of this week’s offerings was DC Universe Presents Challengers Of The Unknown. Jerry Ordway‘s art is always excellent, but it was too chatty for my tastes.
Other books worth picking up this week included DC Universe Online Legends #23 and Young Justice #12 from DC Comics; Road Rage #1 and Star Trek Legion Of Super-Heroes #5 of 6 from IDW; Daredevil #9 and Venom #13.2 from Marvel; Planet Of The Apes #11 from Boom! Studios; Super Dinosaur #8 from Image; as well as Warlord Of Mars: Dejah Thoris #10 from Dynamite!
Have you listened to the Wayne’s Comics podcast this week? I interview Richmond Clements, creator of Wild West Wendy, Corvus, Black Dragon and most recently, the Turning Tiger comic from Renegade Arts Entertainment. You won’t want to miss hearing from Clements about his fascinating comics! You can order theTurning Tiger Special Edition in this month’s Diamond Comics Previews under the Arcana section! Then I review this week’s comics, followed up by the weekly ‘News & Previews’ segment with Gianluca Glazer and Ian Cullen. Then I take a peek into your local comics shop to see what’s new there! Go to SFP-NOW.com to check it out!
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