Since the latest iteration of the series started roughly two and a half years ago, Daredevil, written my Mark Waid and illustrated by a bevy of exceptional artists including Paolo Rivera and Chris Samnee, has been one of the most adventurous, visually stunning, and downright fun reads each and every month.
It’s one of a handful of comics that I truly look forward to reading first in my clutch of Wednesday Run comic books. And now, with the release of the thirty-sixth issue, this great series is ending. And it seems that it’ll end in tears for Daredevil, his friends and his readers.
Follow me after the jump and I’ll tell you why – and why you should pick this book up today!
Daredevil #36
Written by: Mark Waid
Illustrated by: Chris Samnee
Published by: Marvel Comics
Mark Waid’s turn on Daredevil followed acclaimed and long-lasting runs by writers Ed Brubaker and Andy Diggle. Renumbered with a first issue, Waid’s take on Matt Murdock (the civilian persona of Daredevil) was a complete refresh on the figurative restart. Daredevil had become a very dark and psychologically tortured character under the previous writers. They were great stories, to be sure, but Waid wanted to lighten proceedings to a certain extent and bring back the devil-may-care attitude to the New York–based crime-fighting adventure series.
And boy did he do that!
Alongside artists Rivera and Samnee, readers were treated to exciting, emotionally driven stories and a visual take on the blind Daredevil’s world that they hadn’t really experienced before. Some of those early Rivera covers and interior work were breathtaking to behold. In one case, it was an image of Daredevil the acrobat, smiling, and seemingly floating above Hell’s Kitchen, with only the graphic representation of sounds via lettered words making up his surroundings: the “honking” of car horns and “flapping” of bird wings. Samnee wisely and confidently continued with this visual sense of freedom, adding his own flair for representing human body language to the book. That enjoyment, hat characterizations, that sense of liberty was what this new Daredevil series was all about!
But there was an underlying darkness as well, seen in the downward spiral of Matt Murdoch’s law practice, the dissolution of his long-standing friendship with Foggy Nelson and, most importantly, Foggy’s battle with terminal cancer over the past year.
It’s been gut wrenching for the character – and for readers. Here were stories that make you feel. So, issue #36 brings to a conclusion Waid’s run on the Daredevil title – and you should be here for that ending.
But, like Daredevil the character, fear not!
For every ending, there is a beginning and while Daredevil #36 is just the end of Waid’s first “major” take on the character. He and artist Chris Samnee will be back next month with an all-new Daredevil #1, which finds our “man without fear” relocating to San Francisco!
In the meantime, relocate yourself to your local comic book shop and pick up Daredevil #36, a truly engaging and important issue in the oeuvre of so many great Daredevil comics.
Every Wednesday, JP makes the after-work run to his local downtown comic book shop. Comics arrive on Wednesdays you see and JP, fearful that the latest issue will sell out, rushes out to purchase his copy. This regular, weekly column will highlight a particularly interesting release, written in short order, of course, because JP has to get his – before someone else does!
