Review: Daredevil Vol. 1 by Mark Waid

Quick Summary

Pros: The story here is really good and very interesting. It also gives a fascinating examination into Daredevil’s powers. This is also a great place for new readers to jump in.

Cons: For some, the story might feel a little decompressed at times.

Overall: This story is a really good place for readers to begin reading Daredevil. This is not just because of how the story is written to be approachable, but is also because it is a great start to what is looking like a great series. It is action packed and full of adventure, but it also gets in deep as well and tries to figure out what makes Matt Murdock tick. If the rest of the series is like this, then this is going to be a fantastic ride.

Story

Daredevil Vol. 1 by Mark Waid takes Matt Murdock and gets him back to defending Hell’s Kitchen once again. Intended to be a reintroduction to the series for both new and old fans, this volume is a great place for new and old readers to start their Daredevil adventure. What makes it better is that this first volume of the series is simply fantastic. It tells a great story while also setting up for multiple other great stories in the future. Plus, it really tries to hammer out who Daredevil is, in terms of his powers and his character. Overall, this is a fantastic adventure in Hell’s Kitchen and a promising start for this series.

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This collection features a couple of different storylines that are either continuing or just starting now, but all of them are very good. The main story sees Daredevil getting involved with multiple large scale criminal organizations on a national level. This has the potential to go in many great directions, most of which revolve around the other interesting piece of plot: the Omegadrive.

While this is the main story, this collection features a host of other avenues that it promises to take the series down, including Matt’s reintroduction into the world of law, Foggy’s fear that Matt’s sanity is weakening, and Captain America promising to bring Daredevil in for his previous crimes. All of these stories have promise and all of them give a strong indication that this series is going to really be something.

Surprisingly, the real gem of this collection doesn’t even revolve around the plot it all; it revolves around Daredevil himself. Throughout this story, Daredevil and his powers are constantly being examined, whether it be through simple narration or field demonstration. Put simply, readers are given a thorough look into how Matt Murdock perceives the world around him and how that affects him as a superhero and as an ordinary citizen.

This book features a decent amount of decompression throughout, something which not everyone likes. Since this book is meant to reintroduce both new and old readers to Daredevil, it has a number of exposition heavy scenes designed to highlight Daredevil’s character or past. These scenes usually involve Matt Murdock doing something mundane, like walking around New York or lecturing Foggy about his health. For some, these scenes might cause the book to drag and slow the progression of the story. However, I personally really liked them. I thought these moments gave Daredevil a more down-to-earth vibe, something very important for a street level hero like him. So while this may be a con for some, it might actually end up being a pro for others.

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Art

The best part about the art in this series is how it is very specifically drawn in order to highlight Daredevil’s powers. The dialogue and narration throughout this story feature numerous examinations of Daredevil’s power; how it works, how he perceives things, and how that affects the story. The art reflects this by mirroring these descriptions in various, rather creative, ways. For example, Daredevil, may spend one page questioning someone while listening to their heartbeat in order to tell if they are lying; this page will then be drawn so that the person is a blank outline with an EKG in the center. Things like this happen throughout the book and perfectly add to the reading experience by giving a creative visual clue in order to describe concepts which otherwise are very contrary to human perception.

Other than this, the art is relatively good. It does what it need to do and looks alright but nothing is really special in terms of eye candy. Like previously addressed, the best part of this art is how well it flows with the work it is trying to represent and this is what makes it great for this collection.