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Daredevil: The Man Without Fear Omnibus Vol. One
Daredevil: The Man Without Fear Omnibus Volume One
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Alex Maleev, with David Mack and Various.
Published by Marvel Comics. $99.99 USD
Brian Michael Bendis grew up on Frank Miller and Klaus Janson's Daredevil, which is the most celebrated run of the book (followed by some other Miller-written runs). Fortunately, Bendis takes the correct approach in being inspired to come up with his own take on Daredevil rather than trying to deliver some sort of homage to Miller/Janson. Miller's Matt Murdock/Daredevil was fearless, yes, but led by his heart and often confused by the machinations of others around him. Bendis' version is quite different, though one can understand him as possibly the same character after more years of experience and heartbreak. Indeed, an idea floated around by his friends is that he had a type of nervous breakdown after first girlfriend Karen Page was killed. Kind of a stretch, really, but the motivations aren't that important. What's important is that this Daredevil is not only crafty, he's audacious, no longer just a bit careless with his secret identity but now essentially taunting everyone--lawbreakers and the media--to take action. Just as Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man worked best when you could feel Bendis revisiting awkward adolescence through Peter Parker, Daredevil works best when it's the adult Bendis at his most confident, constantly trying to one-up not only past writers but himself, with one surprising development after another, and significantly, many of the surprising moments are from Murdock rather than him having to just react to them.
To back up a bit, the first storyline in here, "Wake Up," though it was acclaimed for the time and helped land Bendis the regular gig, is actually one of his weaker efforts. It might have been a joy to produce, as his artist on this story was old friend David Mack, but it's basically four issues of reporter Ben Urich talking to a traumatized kid until he finally figures out that his anger towards Daredevil was really misdirected anger and shame about his dad, third-rate DD enemy Leapfrog. Now, as Leapfrog had a criminal record, it probably wouldn't have taken much investigation to learn his identity and focus on that right away, but you know, we have comics to sell, and David Mack likes to draw big pictures. Bendis writes Urich well, but that's about it, and it's just as well he does, as Urich is the only real connective tissue between this story and the rest of the stories in this volume, which are a smoothly flowing piece aside from a two issue bit of courtroom nonsense involving forgotten '70s Marvel hero The White Tiger being falsely accused of murder. It's a chance to give Maleev a break from art, and I suppose it serves the purpose of giving Luke Cage a reason to start mistrusting Matt Murdock, which would play out more later, but it's mostly a dead end for Bendis and the book. Again, the book works the best when Bendis is able to meld his shocking, fan fiction-type story ideas (Kingpin killed? By his son? Kingpin's wife kills son? DD declares himself new Kingpin! Murdock marries blind girl!) with strong, naturalistic dialogue and an overwhelming sense of confidence that everything has been thought out well and will all fit together. It helps that Maleev is around for most of this, as that not only lends continuity to the twists and turns of the book, but Maleev's photorealistic style is well-suited to the blood-spattered street stories Bendis is telling. That isn't to say I'm a huge fan of Maleev--looking at the work now, years on, I realize I actually don't like the way he draws Daredevil very well. But that's okay--it's not inappropriate that one looks at DD here with some measure of repulsion. He's basically kind of crazy here. He does a nice job with new girlfriend Milla, as she's obviously based on a real person, and as a kind of comics in-joke, Bendis' own bald mug is the basis for the Kingpin. The late, great syndicated columnist Mike Royko is clearly the inspiration for Urich, which is so fitting one wonders if it has been done before. Bendis will have to put his toys back in the box by the time the eventual second volume wraps up his run, but what's here is passionate, surprising work that holds up quite well.
Bonus features for this Omnibus are the same material used for the previous, smaller hardcovers: some interviews and introductions, some Maleev sketchbook material, and a piece from Bendis explaining his joy at lining up some past DD greats for a DD/Kingpin fight sequence, including John Romita, Sr., Gene Colan, Lee Weeks, Klaus Janson and Bill Sienkiewicz.
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Alex Maleev, with David Mack and Various.
Published by Marvel Comics. $99.99 USD
Brian Michael Bendis grew up on Frank Miller and Klaus Janson's Daredevil, which is the most celebrated run of the book (followed by some other Miller-written runs). Fortunately, Bendis takes the correct approach in being inspired to come up with his own take on Daredevil rather than trying to deliver some sort of homage to Miller/Janson. Miller's Matt Murdock/Daredevil was fearless, yes, but led by his heart and often confused by the machinations of others around him. Bendis' version is quite different, though one can understand him as possibly the same character after more years of experience and heartbreak. Indeed, an idea floated around by his friends is that he had a type of nervous breakdown after first girlfriend Karen Page was killed. Kind of a stretch, really, but the motivations aren't that important. What's important is that this Daredevil is not only crafty, he's audacious, no longer just a bit careless with his secret identity but now essentially taunting everyone--lawbreakers and the media--to take action. Just as Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man worked best when you could feel Bendis revisiting awkward adolescence through Peter Parker, Daredevil works best when it's the adult Bendis at his most confident, constantly trying to one-up not only past writers but himself, with one surprising development after another, and significantly, many of the surprising moments are from Murdock rather than him having to just react to them.
To back up a bit, the first storyline in here, "Wake Up," though it was acclaimed for the time and helped land Bendis the regular gig, is actually one of his weaker efforts. It might have been a joy to produce, as his artist on this story was old friend David Mack, but it's basically four issues of reporter Ben Urich talking to a traumatized kid until he finally figures out that his anger towards Daredevil was really misdirected anger and shame about his dad, third-rate DD enemy Leapfrog. Now, as Leapfrog had a criminal record, it probably wouldn't have taken much investigation to learn his identity and focus on that right away, but you know, we have comics to sell, and David Mack likes to draw big pictures. Bendis writes Urich well, but that's about it, and it's just as well he does, as Urich is the only real connective tissue between this story and the rest of the stories in this volume, which are a smoothly flowing piece aside from a two issue bit of courtroom nonsense involving forgotten '70s Marvel hero The White Tiger being falsely accused of murder. It's a chance to give Maleev a break from art, and I suppose it serves the purpose of giving Luke Cage a reason to start mistrusting Matt Murdock, which would play out more later, but it's mostly a dead end for Bendis and the book. Again, the book works the best when Bendis is able to meld his shocking, fan fiction-type story ideas (Kingpin killed? By his son? Kingpin's wife kills son? DD declares himself new Kingpin! Murdock marries blind girl!) with strong, naturalistic dialogue and an overwhelming sense of confidence that everything has been thought out well and will all fit together. It helps that Maleev is around for most of this, as that not only lends continuity to the twists and turns of the book, but Maleev's photorealistic style is well-suited to the blood-spattered street stories Bendis is telling. That isn't to say I'm a huge fan of Maleev--looking at the work now, years on, I realize I actually don't like the way he draws Daredevil very well. But that's okay--it's not inappropriate that one looks at DD here with some measure of repulsion. He's basically kind of crazy here. He does a nice job with new girlfriend Milla, as she's obviously based on a real person, and as a kind of comics in-joke, Bendis' own bald mug is the basis for the Kingpin. The late, great syndicated columnist Mike Royko is clearly the inspiration for Urich, which is so fitting one wonders if it has been done before. Bendis will have to put his toys back in the box by the time the eventual second volume wraps up his run, but what's here is passionate, surprising work that holds up quite well.
Bonus features for this Omnibus are the same material used for the previous, smaller hardcovers: some interviews and introductions, some Maleev sketchbook material, and a piece from Bendis explaining his joy at lining up some past DD greats for a DD/Kingpin fight sequence, including John Romita, Sr., Gene Colan, Lee Weeks, Klaus Janson and Bill Sienkiewicz.
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