He could be the Man Without Fear but that doesn’t mean that he has to be the man without Sense. The armor was a practical piece of equipment for fighting crime. Much more so than the red leotard that Daredevil was used to wearing. The club was much more useful also. It could turn into nunchakus, and a staff.
The same way Batman is or every other super-hero of that ilk.
Probably seeing as Wally is dead and all.
I never said that the old costume was bad or even worse than the new one. I think that it lacks certain practicalities that you’d expect from a character in a 21st century comic world. I’d personally prefer a combination of the old suit and the armor. Something old, something new ,something borrowed, something blue that sort of thing.
My point in saying that he is ‘The Man Without Fear’ is the fact that he IS completely fearless, and therefore desires no armor to protect himself. Even if the decision for the armor was to create a ‘practical’ piece of equipment, which it wasn’t, it doesn’t change the fact that it was a gimmick, created to spark interest in a title that was sinking at the time because of shitty stories. While we’re on the subject of practicality, what IS the function of all of those razor-pads he sported all over his body? You know, besides looking like a really badass, black and red cheese grater. Knee and shoulder pads, I could see…but, the sides of his thigh and calves? In that case, why not a sound-proof helmet to eliminate the weakness of his hyper-sensitive hearing?
What?
Quite honestly, I think his club has always been able to change into a nunchaku, considering the fact that it has a nylon cord inside it that allows him to swing from it. Although, I do not know when it was first used as such. However, I don’t see how the ability for his club to change from a staff is a relevant change. I mean, I could see how certain weapons could be advantageous in certain situations, but in all honesty is a staff any more efficient than his club in a gun fight? In fact, perhaps its boring…but, I’ve always thought that it was awesome how DD fought mobsters and ninjas with nothing but his simple billy club backed with a ninja-like proficiency.
And dead or not, Wally Wood kicks all kinds of ass. If it weren’t for him DD certainly wouldn’t have lasted as long as he has.
At $4.99 it better be, although I seriously doubt the issues of the Kingpin and the Hand will all be resolved within a single issue. And in all honesty, I wish Brubaker was my dad, but that man is a master of the slow-paced story. I’d be highly surprised if he leaves DD all wrapped up with a pretty bow for Andy Diggle when he takes over at #501.
Read issue 500. I have to say that I’m somewhat disappointed. I won’t spoil anything but I’ll just say that the Return of the King story is similar to the Hardcore storyline by Bendis and Maleev. Too similar.
I can’t say I didn’t see it coming, but in the same respect, I can’t quite say I expected this either. I will agree with matrix and admit that there are some similarities between the main story and the ‘Hardcore’ arc by Bendis. However, in admitting so…that itself IS a spoiler, if you’ve been reading all along.
Just in case I did in fact spoil anything just now, let me just ask…“What the hell are you doing here?” Go read DD #500 now.
If you’ve enjoyed Brubaker’s run so far, this is the perfect conclusion to my favorite run since the almighty Miller. I feel as though, I’ve watched Lark’s art improve with each issue, if that’s even possible. And it really shows in #500. There are so many panels that I would love to discuss, particularly the ‘reunion’ between Milla and Matt. Not to mention the last few pages are utterly haunting, perfectly capturing the tragic nature of Matt Murdock.
I’m not a fan of Ann Nocenti by any means, in fact I feel as though her run was highly over-rated(…perhaps due to Romita Jr.'s art?) Yet, I still managed to enjoy her backup story with help from Aja’s simplistic, almost Mazzuchelli-esque style. As far as the reprint goes, it’s easily one of, if not the best single issues in DD history. It’s one of my personal favorites out of Miller’s run, and I don’t think they could have picked a better issue. And how about those pin-ups? I swear, I’d kill for an over-sized version of Darrow’s pin-up to frame and put on my wall.
I haven’t read Nocenti’s run in its entirety. The stuff of hers I have read didn’t seem particularly good. It seemed like she was constantly trying to use the comic and the character to preach to the audience. I’m sure it was all very sincere but it just came off as wishy-washy and really inappropriate for the character of Daredevil.
Her story in #500 was pretty good, though - maybe the highlight of her career? It was short, to the point, and she wasn’t trying to use Daredevil as a platform for her political views. Aja’s art was outstanding. It was a different style for him, I think, but he’s quite adept at depicting the quiet moments as well as the action-packed scenes.
And the Miller issue they chose to reprint is a highlight of Marvel canon in my mind. That’s one of the best single issues of any superhero comic ever published. “My gun has no bullets” is, in my mind, easily as iconic as “There is no corpse” in terms of Daredevil stories. Painy better have bought this comic.
Brubaker’s conclusion was kind of telegraphed, but I thought it was done calculatingly. His ending has that pulp element to it, where you kind of expect the story to end a certain way, and it does, only for some reason that’s the only ending that makes sense. There are still plenty of plot threads for Diggle to pick up, which I imagine is probably intentional just like how Bendis handed it over to Brubaker.
I don’t think I am gonna buy Diggle’s issues, though. I am just gonna wait for the TRADE, BABY.
I haven’t read Nocenti’s entire run either, but I stand by my opinion that its terribly overrated. I couldn’t agree with you more. I couldn’t find the right words before but, yeah she was totally guilty of using DD as a platform for her beliefs as you said. At some point, I would love to see Aja take over as the main artist for DD, the style used in #500 seems like the perfect blend of Lark and Mazzuchelli. It’s simplistic and fluid, yet still dark and raw at the same time.
Thinking about #191 again, I simply cannot reiterate what a powerful issue it is. Miller starts off the issue with DD seemingly doubting his acts of violence as a hero…raising the level of tension throughout the story with each hollow click of the .38…only to arrive at the grim reality that while DD accepts that violence has consumed his life, his gun “has no bullets”. It’s difficult for me to describe the feeling that the ending provides, it’s one of stubborn determination and utter despair, and it’s for this reason that the issue is such a masterpiece.
I’m going to continue to buy DD, in some ways, reluctantly. You’ll notice that I made no comment on the DD: The List preview, because it was nothing like a Daredevil book should be. Thankfully, it’s a mini. I pray that Diggle’s DD will not be plagued with Dark Reign tie-in bullshit. Let’s keep the book where it belongs, on the street.
Damn, next time I wanna talk DD I should just talk with you, instead of posting here.
I read them. It’s probably the only Daredevil comics where you’ll see him fighting Ultron, Mephisto (sort of), and Freedom Force. Maybe the stories weren’t great but the artwork made up for it.
Sure, and maybe if you say something mildly intelligent about the topic, I’ll hold your hand too.
Ummm, yeah…key words being Ultron, Mephisto, and Freedom Force. Obviously, Nocenti didn’t comprehend the noir-ish direction Miller had pushed the character, thereby making him cool, and had him fight robots and demons in order to propagate her beliefs through the title. She did create Typhoid Mary, and I’m sure she had a few gems throughout her run…I’ll give her that.
They created Blackheart also. Maybe the wrong book for the son of Mephisto to appear in but it’s still a cool character with a fascinating origin story.
I just think it’s kind of a weak premise to have Daredevil fighting the forces of Mephisto. It’s almost like Nocenti thought, Hmm, Daredevil, Daredevil, Dare…DEVIL? I know! I’ll make him fight a REAL devil! Yay! And from the parts of it I read, that didn’t work out at all.
It would be like having Spider-Man fight the god of spiders, or Batman fighting a man-bat… Wait a second…
Have you guys ever read any of D.G. Chichester’s run?