Daredevil vol1 after Chichister quit, was it any good?

[Geralt of Rivia]

Hey everyone

I have always skipped the tail end of Daredevil vol 1 as I did not agree with how things went when the black armor came along, but lately I've wondered if it's worth catching up with what came after, I notice that at first DeMatteis took over for a bit and then Karl Kesel wrote most of the last issues with a couple "undesirable writers IMO" filling in.
Also, some branding "Edge" came along to reflect the extreme mid 90s looks like.

I was wondering is any part of these last issues before the relaunch in 1998 any good and worth completing my DD collection which goes as far back as the Miller years?

Opinions will be appreciated.

[SturdyMike89]

Hey everyone

I have always skipped the tail end of Daredevil vol 1 as I did not agree with how things went when the black armor came along, but lately I've wondered if it's with catching up with what came after, I notice that at first DeMatteis took over for a bit and then Karl Kesel wrote most of the last issues with a couple "undesirable writers IMO" filling in.
Also, some branding "Edge" came along to reflect the extreme mid 90s looks like.

I was wondering is any part of these last issues before the relaunch in 1998 any good and worth completing my DD collection which goes as far back as the Miller years?

Opinions will be appreciated.

DeMatteis run while short was pretty good if I did feel that it relied a bit too much on mysticism. I have never really got into the whole mystic Stick/Hand part of DDs past. Kesel's run was terrific IMHO. It undid some of the less desirable aspects of Chichester's run, and added a lot of needed levity at a time when it was needed. Plus, it pitted DD up against a lot of different rouges actually making good use of half of Marvel's heroes being involved with Heroes Reborn and set the stage for Kevin Smith's Guardian Devil story a few years later. It always bummed me out that he left that book to return to work on Superboy. What could have been I guess. Joe Kelly's run went back into drama and hit it a little too hard. There are a few out of character moments like Black Widow (non-fatally) shooting Matt and the Mr. Fear arc took WAY too long to end. It did feature a return of Gene Colan d on art so that is a plus. Scott Lobdell's run was thankfully brief. I love his writing on X-Men, but this story and its subpar art did not do it for me. The run finishes strong with Chichester and Lee Weeks returning for a double sized issue addressing some of the stories left dangling from when they left a few years previous. The good does outweigh the bad. As for the Edge thing, it didn't really interfere with the way the stories were written, it was just a way to brand Marvel's various "street" level characters as every book needed to be grouped together for some reason.

[Geralt of Rivia]

That's quite helpful, thanks SturdyMike89

[SturdyMike89]

That's quite helpful, thanks SturdyMike89

No problem! I will never get tired of talking about 1990s Marvel and DC comics

[K7P5V]

In agreement with the majority, Kesel's DD run is Highly Recommended (IMHO):

[kcekada]

Loved that run! It was a clean break from the Miller era. Everyone tries to do gritty, but Kesel's brighter version of the character worked for me. I love the Miller stuff, but Daredevil doesn't have to be dark and dreary all of the time.