We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming (i.e. finishing an already delayed review), to look att the latest news on the Daredevil front. Yesterday, it was announced – Newsarama were the the first to report it – that there will be a Daredevil special coming out in April, in the form of Daredevil #15.1.
I have to wonder about the thinking behind naming it that, if the aim is to maybe attract a casual Daredevil fan or two who might have a renewed interest in the character due to that other thing happening in April (the Netflix series, more on that in a separate post). It might have been a better idea to give it a more timeless branding? On the other hand, that would probably lead some fans to decide that it doesn’t “matter.” Oh well, I’m sure the marketing guys at Marvel know what they’re doing. 😉
There is much to like about what we’ve heard so far. I love the idea of Marc Guggenheim – who is a lawyer himself, among his many other accomplishments – tackle a story that seems to incorporate a great deal of Matt acting in his professional capacity. We also get to see the return of Peter Krause, who did the art for the digital four-parter Daredevil: Road Warrior last year, who will be providing the art for Guggenheim’s story. Perhaps most exciting of all is seeing Chris Samnee take on a story he’s both writing and drawing, a first for him at Marvel. There will also be just a pinch of Mark Waid in there, for perfect flavor.
Both stories are set in Daredevil’s past, and Guggenheim sums of the gist of his story in the Newsarama piece:
“My story is set in the early days of Matt Murdock as Daredevil,” Guggenheim says. “Back when he was practicing in a law firm and before he went out on his own with Foggy Nelson, so he’s very new to the vigilante game. It’s a very simple concept in which Matt goes out on patrol as Daredevil one night and catches a murderer just after he had killed someone. The next day, his law firm assigns him a pro bono case, where lawyers for the good of society and to be charitable take on a case of an indigent defendant for free. His client, however, turns out to be the same guy that Daredevil captured the previous night.”
I know I wasn’t the only one to react a bit to the perceived timeline here. In classic Daredevil canon, the was no Daredevil before Matt and Foggy go into practice together, which they do right out of law school. In Man Without Fear, Matt practices law elsewhere before starting a firm with Foggy, but it’s only after returning to New York that he dons the Daredevil costume. On the very last page of the story, in fact. This essentially means that the time period that Guggenheim is alluding to doesn’t actually exist in the comic, as its history has traditionally been written.
Personally, I don’t particularly mind this deviation from canon, but I can see why others might. In terms of Matt’s emotional journey into vigilantism, it was the the events of his father’s death and the failure of the justice system to put away his murderers that provided the impetus for Matt becoming Daredevil. This traditionally coinciding with the establishment of the law firm is not that important to me, since it has little to do with the characters’ motivations. But yeah, this is certainly a bit of a retcon.
Either way, I’m looking forward to this! What do you guys think?
Marvel.com also has an interview with Marc Guggenheim and Peter Krause.
I’m just super excited about all of this. I really love Chris Samnee, so I’m happy he’s getting to do his own thing!
Also I’m really excited to see what you think about the most recent issue, especially the last page or so. 😉
When I first heard about this issue, my first thought was that it sounded like some kind of handoff issue between old and new creative teams. But now i’m not so sure. I think Waid and Samnee will go another 5 issues (so up to issue 17) before bowing out. But even then, this 15.1 issue would have served as a nice welcome handshake to the new guys taking over the reins.
Knowing me i’m probably barking up the wrong tree! But it’s a possibility.
Sounds like an interesting story. And a way to dive into Matts past. The retcon for me isn’t that big of a deal. I wonder if the point one issues are supposed to tie into a larger story in the main book or is it just extra money for Marvel. Either way more DD is better for me.
The deviation from existing history doesn’t bother me as much as it did when I first read this announcement. I was probably just in a mood that morning. However that doesn’t change the fact that I have been less than impressed with any of the .1 books so far, so this will have to work hard to impress me enough to buy it. I’m mostly curious about Samnee’s contribution.
The reasoning for it being “15.1” and not “DD: The Early Years” is to give the perception that it is part of the main ongoing series (which it may or may not be). Daredevil “one shots” don’t exactly sell like hotcakes compared to the regular series, which unfortunately has been trending down lately. Issue 10 only sold 28,000 and 11 was 27,700 which is a big step down from previous months where it was the mid 30’s.
This is off subject but my friend who also reads DD and I were talking about this decline. We both think it has to do with Mark Waid’s possible departure. I myself am ready for a new writer, but wouldn’t drop the book until then, but I could see a lot of readers doing just that. Waid’s run hasn’t been universally loved and with the all the talk of a reboot/relaunch, why would someone who’s not enjoying the book stick around when in all likelihood there will be a new #1 in a few months time? We also talked about this relates to the overall current trend of relaunches. The fact that there is no invested history in a series only a dozen issues in to keep older fans attached to a book through “runs” by a creator you may not enjoy when there is always the likelihood that its just going to be relaunched in a year. Again, why not just leave the book and start fresh with a new number 1 next year.