Now here we are. Frank Miller's DAREDEVIL is another one of those classic late seventies/early eighties runs I missed as a kid and eventually checked out much later. Its legend was built for me over the years by publications like WIZARD, to the point that I felt I had to read it. My first exposure to the issues came via Marvel's DAREDEVIL VISIONARIES: FRANK MILLER trade paperbacks published somewhere around 2001 or so. I devoured the run then and I believe I've re-read it maybe two times in the ensuing decade and a half (which should make this my fourth go-round with this material).
Marvel released a DAREDEVIL BY FRANK MILLER AND KLAUS JANSON OMNIBUS a few years after the Visionaries trades, but I was on a much tighter budget back then and didn't want to upgrade -- plus Omnibuses were a brand new thing at the time and I didn't really know what to make of them. Eventually the Omnibus went back into print years later in 2013, and this time I sold off the VISIONARIES books to subsidize its purchase. Though I believe the contents and reproduction should be identical to the trades, I'm excited to read Miller's run in the oversize format.
One last thing: both the Visionaries books and Omnibus featured new, modern-style coloring from Steve Buccellato -- a practice of which I thoroughly approve and wish Marvel would engage in more often, as long as it's done well (I wrote a little article on the subject some time back). From what I can see, it looks like the issues on Marvel Unlimited, from which I'll be pulling my screenshots, use this same modern coloring. So be aware that, as far as color goes -- which I don't really ever bring up much anyway -- I'm not looking at the original hues (though I believe Buccellato has said he used the original colors, mostly by Glynis Wein and Klaus Janson, as a guideline for his work).
By my count, at a rate of one issue every Monday, this project should take us close to the end of August. So get ready, because beginning on Monday -- here comes Daredevil, the Man Without Fear!
This might sound like sacrilege but after reading Miller's run of Daredevil the past year I didn't see what the fuss was about. I guess if you compare it to other things happening in the mid/late 80's this is really good but I wasn't blown away like Wizard made it sound like I should be after having read Wizard's hype for it all in my teens.
ReplyDeleteI actually enjoyed the series by Kevin Smith and the rest of that whole series with Bendis writing it more than I cared for Miller's version. That Smith/Bendis series made me actually like the character when I normally don't care for the primese.
The TV series is great, I just never understood why Miller's run of Daredevil was so hyped by Wizard the way that it was. I much more enjoyed Miller's Sin City and Batman work to his Daredevil. There again, I really like Batman as a character and loved Year One by him but Daredevil, eh.
As with most things, it's hard for me to pin down precisely why I like Miller's DAREDEVIL so much, but there's something about it that really appeals to me. It's basically the definitive take on the character, as far as I'm concerned.
DeleteI for one welcome this selection and will join for a full read-along. We did get selected bits as the 2nd story in our Spider-Man book back in the 80's but other than that I'm not too well-versed.
ReplyDeleteGlad you're on board, Teemu! It's a great run.
DeleteAw...and I was hoping you would do another DC title like John Byrne's SUPERMAN or George Perez's WONDER WOMAN or maybe those series like CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS or LEGENDS. However, I will read along with enthusiasm.
ReplyDeleteWizard made a list of every tie in issue for Crisis and I went on a hunt and picked up every issue, everything fit in a long box and I never read any of them except for the main story line which is great.
DeleteI recently read Legends (the one that leads into bwahahaha Justice League) and it wasn't that good.
I'd love to see you cover Byrne's Superman as well. I've never read it but have always wanted to check it out. It might be the only time I ever liked Superman.
Byrne's Superman is on my to-do list, probably for 2018 (yes, I'm thinking that far ahead). I really want to read it, but having just finished his FF, I wanted a Byrne-break before jumping into another long run of his.
DeleteI do have some seventies-era DC coming up on Fridays for the months of March and April, though, so you can watch for that, at least!
I hope you were at least a bit tempted to do them back-to-back, like Byrne himself back in the day. :)
DeleteI actually did give some legitimate though to "following" Byrne over to DC and Superman as fans would've done in 1986, but I think I was just a little "Byrned" out (har har) after all those FF issues. Daredevil will be a nice break in between!
DeleteI read these when I was a kid (my brothers copies), which he then got rid of. I bought a partial collection years ago, and recently got the daredevil Visionaries set, and reread before Christmas. It was interesting. There is a huge amount to like, but it all seemed quicker than I remember! It should be remembered that Miller started the whole trend of more gritty comics with this run (though I expect it was influenced by other comics also), and the likes of the Bendis run would not exist in the same way if not for this. I look forward to reading your take.
ReplyDeleteMatt B
This run does go by very fast. In the first place it's only 33 issues -- approximately half of John Byrne's FANTASTIC FOUR, for example -- and on top of that, as the run goes along, Miller becomes increasingly "cinematic" in his style, favoring big panels and sparse words, so the individual issues themselves become very quick reads.
DeleteYeah, he develops the sparsity of his writing style for sure. Also events seem to move quicker than I recalled!
Delete