As mentioned earlier, I’m on vacation. However, Daredevil duty calls and there are some new links out there worth checking out apropos of the new Daredevil news reported in my last post. So, aside from the interview I’ve already linked to, here are some other news items worth mentioning regarding the new The List series of one-shots:
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Bleeding Cool: Dark Reign: The List emerged from Xbox gaming session
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Wizard World Philadelphia: Bendis, Fraction and Remender talk Dark Reign: The List
Obviously, there’s a lot of overlapping information on this list, but I’m trying to be thorough. And, speaking of being thorough, I’ll be kicking off my little unofficial “Diggle under the microscope” project as soon as I get back from London. Over the last month, I’ve read his own series The Losers in its entirety and I’ve also been checking out his run on the Thunderbolts. I’m also going to read at least some of his run on Hellblazer. Look for my review of The Losers on Thursday. I know I’m sometimes sketchy about keeping my promises as far as when I’m going to post something, but this review is half-formed in my head already and I have the whole week off from work. No excuses!
Have a good week everyone! I know I’ll be looking forward to Daredevil #119 on Wednesday.
UPDATED: Thanks Jeremy for linking to preview art from Daredevil #501 in the comments!
UPDATED AGAIN: Interview with Daredevil editor Warren Simons on CBR featuring an extensive preview of this week’s Daredevil #119.
6 comments
Jeremy says:
Jun 22, 2009
Have you seen the new Daredevil #501 preview pages? They're early, black and white pages, but you ca get a feel for the future look of DD. It still has that sketchy/gritty look of Lark/Maleev, IMO. Also, I'm SO glad that old dude from the Lady Bullseye arc is still around. He's a great addition to the DD mythos.
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=21697
Christine says:
Jun 22, 2009
Thanks so much for that link! I hadn't seen it since I was sleeping.
I'm not that surprised that the art looks pretty close to Lark/Maleev since de la Torre is pretty good at rendering fine detail and has a good grasp of anatomy. The "sketchiness" shouldn't be too hard to add to that mix if that's what you want to do. I also hope Matt Hollingsworth will stay on colors, but I guess they won't tell us yet.
Jeremy says:
Jun 22, 2009
Also, judging by the art, I'm pretty sure I know what the big twist for the end of Daredevil #500 will be!
Remember in one of the interviews Brubaker planned on putting DD in a bind, like Bendis did to him with Murdock is jail? Well, look at that last preview page. Notice how when the Hand attacks, the old man looks scared and DD doesn't care?
THATS BECAUSE HE'S THE LEADER OF THE HAND! He must have accepted Lady Bullseye's offer! Man, Murdock's life just gets worse and worse, which always makes it more fun for me to read actually.
Francesco says:
Jun 22, 2009
Also, the ninjas have cowls with DD-horns on them.
Christine says:
Jun 22, 2009
I think you guys may be right. Unfortunately, that means a complete character assassination of Matt Murdock as far as I'm concerned. I've never seen DD as a perfect character (I didn't even think his infidelity was out of character), but if they do that and don't pull it off really well in a way that makes the circumstances extremely forgiving, I'll be very disappointed. In fact, just thinking about this makes me want to bang my head against my desk.
I would also have to disagree with you Jeremy, as far as shit-dumping on Matt goes. Good storytelling, to me, is based on conflict and putting a challenge in the hero's path for him to overcome. The only problem with DD lately is that it's all problem and no overcoming or prevailing on behalf of the hero. Now, mind you, I can wait for a very long time for the hero to prevail. In fact, it's only recently that I've felt that Brubaker has gone too far in putting Matt through the wringer. I just don't get where all the downward spiraling is supposed to lead. When will writers and editors say "enough"? When will they decide to build the character back up again so that he will be strong enough to face the next conflict or challenge? Everyone wants to do a take on Born Again without remembering the actual "born again" aspect where the main character triumphs. And, as I will show in a post later this week, Frank Miller's Daredevil succeeded without putting he hero through anywhere near this amount of almost ridiculous trauma. The level of tragedy right now (adding up the back to back tragedies of the last few years) is actually unprecedented in the history of the book. I'm glad that you're enjoying this since that means there will still be people out there buying the book if things get even worse (in terms of tragedy) because I know that a lot of fans are likely to be turned off by it. The overly depressing tone of the book was also given as the number one reason people didn't read Daredevil in the poll I did last year on CBR and Newsarama.
Well, those were just some thoughts. I will never stop buying Daredevil as long as the book is in publication, so no need to worry about this blog, but this development has me worried. On the other hand, Diggle is capable of writing both humor and "the good guys ending up on top" types of stories (the difference in tone between Brubaker's Criminal and Diggle's The Losers is rather striking). If anyone can rebuild Matt Murdock right now as a man with a complicated life, but an actual life nonetheless, I think he might be it. I like the "superhero next door" aspects of Daredevil, but right now I'm finding him very hard to relate to.
Jeremy says:
Jun 22, 2009
I understand where you're coming from, but for me I always enjoyed watching Murdock suffer. I don't know if that makes me a masochist, but it hooks me every month. "Holy crap, how can this get any worse!" He's "cheating" on his wife, his wife is pretty much written out the book(GOOD, IMO, I never really cared for Milla), his friends are getting killed off for simply being DD's friend, Dakota is gone, Hell his best friend hates him and fires him from his job!
Its always gets me, to the point that I crave the new DD almost more than any book. Murdock the Hand leader could make for some VERY interesting storylines. What does the great DD supporting cast think(Urich, Dakota, Foggy, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, etc)? This probably attracts Norman Osborn to DD now that he's becoming a serious threat(hence the DD: List one-shot). Will this be the big spark in the war against the Hood's gang for Hell's Kitchen? Theres a lot of potential here for more great storytelling, and if that means Murdock's gotta be dragged through the mud to do that, so be it.