Tags
alex maleev, big box of comics, book review, Brian Michael Bendis, Daredevil, david mack, Ed Brubaker, Kingpin, Leo, michael lark, omnibus
In January, thanks to this blog’s readers, I reunited with my all-time favorite Daredevil run in the form of the Daredevil by Bendis Omnibuses, Volumes One and Two. Brian Michael Bendis approached the series like a crime story—of which he has penned many—and even when he embraced cliché superhero tropes, he stayed close to the heart of the superhero as a crime fighter. He never pitted Daredevil against cosmic battles where the fate of the universe was at stake. Bendis kept Daredevil on the streets in brutal, hand-to-hand combat with the criminal elements who sought to take over his neighborhood.
That’s the strength of this run and, at first, a weakness. I mean, aside from the nonsensical way that aging takes place in serial superhero comics, Daredevil has been trying to clean up his neighborhood since the 1960s. Does he just suck at his job? How long will it take before this guy finally snaps and kills Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime? How long until Matthew Murdock starts beating a mile of ass and filling graves to protect his city and free it of scum?
I guess Bendis asked himself the same question. About a third of the way through this run, Daredevil can’t take it anymore. He beats Fisk nearly to death, puts the body on the hood of a car, and drives it through a frickin’ wall! To the astonished sleazebags at Josie’s bar, the Man Without Fear unmasks and declares himself the new ruler of Hell’s Kitchen. Hell yeah! An issue later, the series cuts to one year in the future, where reporter Ben Urich tells the story of how Daredevil cleaned up the city with his fists and his force of will.
The art team deserves so much credit for this run. Alex Maleev and the colorists and letterers all mesh perfectly to bring the stories to life. Every now and then in comics, we are treated to a perfect union of art, design, and script. This is one.
As thrilled as I am to be reunited with my favorite Daredevil, three things are missing. First: a multi-issue story written and illustrated by David Mack. It takes place after the Mack-illustrated story that begins the Bendis Omnibus. It’s a beautiful work that explores the character Echo and features an offbeat yet mystical cameo by Wolverine. It really belongs with this Daredevil run, even if Bendis didn’t write it.
The second missing piece is the brilliant resolution to this run that takes place in Ed Brubaker’s first story arc: The Devil in Cell Block D. I have mixed feelings about the rest of Brubaker and Lark’s gripping yet soul-crushing extension of the series, but their first arc is a memorable finale to the tense cliff-hanger left by Bendis. Despite its bleak prospects for our hero, the story and its continuation weave perfectly into the theme that unites the entire Bendis/Brubaker/Diggle run: How far will Daredevil go to defeat the evil that surrounds him, and will he become evil in the process?
One other thing is missing. The first time I read this run as a series of TPBs from the Burton Barr Library in downtown Phoenix circa 2006, I did not read it alone. I had a feline companion, a fluffy orange cuddle beast named Leo who decided that me and he and Daredevil on the couch made three. Leo and I spent a long holiday weekend snuggling and reading Daredevil, with occasional visits to our food bowls and litter boxes, then right back to the extremely serious business of cleaning up Hell’s Kitchen with our spandex-clad paws. We fell asleep on each other more times than I bothered to count before we finished the entire series.
Leo’s been gone for eight years now, but I miss that big fluffball, and he will always be part of my Daredevil memories. He stole my bacon off the kitchen counter like a brazen pirate, but he hid behind the bedroom curtains anytime people came to visit. He stole my spot on the bed, then purred like an engine when I used him as a pillow. Leo couldn’t tell you a damn thing about Marvel Comics, but he sure as hell loved reading Daredevil with me.
Even with his eyes closed.
Collector’s Guide: Daredevil by Bendis Omnibus (second edition) #1 and #2 is usually in stock. David Mack’s Echo and Wolverine stories appear in Daredevil (1998) #51-55. The Devil in Cell Block D from Daredevil #81-88 begins the Daredevil 2012 TPB series collecting the Brubaker/Lark run.
Mars Will Send No More 
Aawwwwwww, Leo sounds like the best reading partner!
I have DD Collection in hardcovers. It was such such a good run! I remember when the Daredevil movie came out, I’d go on and on to my dad about how, in the comics at that point, DD had made himself kingpin of Hell’s Kitchen. It was such a powerful moment.
I still love Bendis as a writer — but even a fan like me sighs and wishes he could hit his stride again like with DD and Avengers back in the day. Daredevil especially shined, because it required sharp, focused, developed characterization. Bendis was damn good with Goldfish and Jinx, and what I’ve read of Jessica Jones, too. But he relies more on tropes he developed over the years more and more now. I still like him and was heavily enjoying Superman. But a single character focused book (especially street level) seems more geared to his strengths, and I wish he’d be able to get back to it. Justice League #1 I tried, just needed more polish, I thought. But there’s no denying how great Bendis was back during Daredevil.
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Thank you for dropping by and commenting, and sharing that memory of your dad!
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Aw man, you made me remember Mittens, a calico cat who shared an attic with me back in Long Island. Good times.
Maleev is crazy good! How the hell does he draw those realistic scenes? It’s like he has models at his beck and call to stage the actions. I remember someone said to me that DD became Marvel’s Batman, perhaps in style and temperament. I definitely see similarities and I would love to see Bendis & Maleev take a turn at that helm of craziness. My collection of Marvel Knights DD is spotty. I will have to take a look at that Omnibus. Thanks.
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Shout out to Mittens! The only thing better than reading comics is reading them with a cat.
You know, you’re right. Maleev does use models. I have a feeling it’s mentioned somewhere in the Omnibus bonus material, but I might be wrong. He for sure discusses it in a CBR article: https://www.cbr.com/ccc09-alex-maleevs-digital-pencils/ He says his wife modeled for Daredevil’s wife, Milla, and other characters.
If you’ve read Ex Machina by BKV, you might have seen bonus pages about how artist Tony Harris uses models, too. He stages some friends in poses he wants for individual panels, then photographs them as references. I suspect he draws on top of them on a digital workstation, tracing parts and adding other things from his imagination. And Nexus artist Steve Rude has published pics about how he posed for many of the iconic, painted Nexus posters.
Models are the way to go! I’d like to see something about Maleev’s process for his urban landscapes, because it looks like he took photographs of a city and digitally rendered them into the gritty backdrops for Daredevil’s adventures. It would be fun to see how he really did it.
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