Alright then, C2E2 is over and while the news of the new creative team was leaked before the big event (well at least two thirds of it), the weekend has brought plenty of information to dissect with Mark Waid doing interviews with Marvel, CBR, Newsarama, and IGN.

To me, the most amazing thing of all has been the overwhelmingly positive response from fans to the announcement of the new creative team. As much as I enjoy meeting (whether in person or online) other comic book fans – and Daredevil fans in particular – there’s no denying that there are a lot of people of the rabid fanboy variety out there on the Internet who don’t really take to change very well. Oftentimes, this seems to be the case even if they don’t actually dig whatever the current status quo happens to be, and I suppose the whole thing boils down to a general sense of “this is going to suck” months in advance of actually laying eyes on the final product. Given this overall tendency toward the negative, and given that the new direction, as it’s been described by Waid and others, is a bit of a shake-up, it’s interesting to see the vast majority enthusiastically embrace this upcoming change.

My own opinion? I’m generally very positive about the whole team and taking Daredevil in a slightly lighter direction. As anyone who’s been a longtime reader of this blog will know, I’ve long argued against viewing Matt Murdock as a one-trick pony who can only be successful in his particular typecast role as anguished and miserable. I’ve also argued for highlighting his sense of humor. We’re not talking about Spider-Man’s neurotic jabbering here, but Matt’s own brand of dry, self-depricating wit. I actually really liked the Kesel run on Daredevil (see here, here and here) though I honestly don’t think that’s what Mark Waid is aiming for, at least not to that extreme. They key to success for this venture likely lies in striking a balance between street-level serious and something a little less depressing. Matt has now fallen so far, that the only way to go is up.

While playing up the superhero angle might not be something that, by itself, is that appealing to me (I prefer to think of Matt as a phenomenal fighter and athlete rather than someone swinging high across the roof-tops and joining the Avengers in battle), I also expect to see more legal action and more of Matt being a somewhat regular person. This really isn’t something we’ve seen much of in a long time (no, Matt wearing a business suit doesn’t equal his actually working as a lawyer).

It’s also been interesting to see Mark Waid comment on dealing with Matt’s status as a semi-out superhero (he’ll deny it, but the suspicions are there), and think that it’s an interesting angle to try to work with. In general, I get the sense that we won’t see previous events being swept under the rug, but dealt with properly, which is something I know many of you guys have called for.

In all, I’m really looking forward to what this team can bring to the table. I also find myself getting more and more excited by the art team. When Rivera and Martin were first announced, I was pleased with the decision, but not exactly bursting with excitement. These gentlemen have put in some really amazing work on other books (most notably ASM) and Rivera’s covers for Daredevil #505-507 were stunning and interesting, but I have to admit that I resisted the change in tone that their respective style might bring to Daredevil. But you know what? I’m over it. After spending much of the last couple of days examining their art with fresh eyes, I think this is a really cool way to go, and a wise decision on Marvel’s part.

For those interested, Paolo Rivera posted a time-lapse video of his work on the Daredevil #1 cover on his site. If you’re interested in seeing Marcos Martin take on Daredevil, look no further than the featured image for this post (also posted below). The panel in question is from the 2008 Amazing Spider-Man Extra one-shot, though it wouldn’t surprise me if this look gets a bit of an upgrade now that Martin will be working on Daredevil’s own title.

Okay then, I’ll get back to you later in the week with a review of Daredevil: Reborn #3!

UPDATED: You may have already seen this, but Newsarama did a longish (8 min) video interview with Mark Waid at C2E2. Interesting to see!