Posts tagged as:
The Other Murdock Papers
A blog devoted to the Marvel superhero Daredevil
A blog devoted to the Marvel superhero Daredevil
Posts tagged as:
Christine is a thirty something Daredevil fan from Sweden who spends way too much of her free time writing posts for this blog. Check the About page for contact information!
Assistive technology in Daredevil
by Christine on September 16, 2009 in Blindness & Disability, Character Basics, Commentary
We all know that Matt Murdock has an arsenal of abilities and tricks up his sleeve which make it possible for him to do things us mere mortals cannot. Because of his heightened senses, he not only functions believably (well, sort of) as a superhero, but manages to compensate for his lack of sight in many ways. However, in the absence of normal vision – which the colorless and generally enigmatic radar sense does not provide – there are certain tasks which Matt would approach in about the same way as a non-powered blind person. If you’ve read this far and find yourself thinking “Wait just a minute now, Daredevil can see better than all of us!” you need to go read my old post “My other senses more than compensate” where you will be proven wrong.
At the end of the day, most fans would probably agree that Matt would (and should) have problems with all kinds of screens, displays or exclusively visual indicators. In fact, any and all information rendered exclusively visually and in two-dimensions (with the exception of print, provided he is close enough to touch it) lie beyond what his senses can decipher. In the real world, the blind use a wide range of assistive technology to access information or accomplish tasks for which eyesight is otherwise necessary. Many of these tools and gadgets would probably just gather dust in Matt Murdock’s closet since he gets by without them. However, there are many devices that should have a place in the Daredevil comic, if only as background elements to create a better sense of realism in the book.
In this post, I will be looking at the few instances of any kind of assistive device being featured in the Daredevil comic, and use them as examples of how to do it right. Most of these examples are from volume two, hopefully a sign that including pieces of technology that most readers would probably think of as being pretty cool, is increasingly being viewed a positive addition to how Daredevil stories are told rather than the sign of weakness many writers seemed to have feared in decades past.
Read more under the cut –>
Tagged as: Alex Maleev, Blindness/disability, Bob Gale, Brian Michael Bendis, D. G. Chichester, Dave Ross, Ed Brubaker, Frank Miller, Joe Quesada, Kevin Smith, Mark Pennington, Michael Lark, Scott McDaniel
( 2 comments )
Related entries:
Still don't know where to go next?
Look up a random post or see the complete archives (NEW!).