Help me understand why the positive feedback around Mark Waid's Daredevil?

[Ultimate Spider-Fan]

I don't consider it an elitist view. My reply is directed specifically at the readers who haven't read (or only partially read) the past eras of DD (Miller, Nocenti, D.G., Bendis, Brubaker) and generalize the events (dark, brooding etc) of those runs. For the record, I like the current run but admit it's overrated and has had some really bad stories to go with the good.

It's interesting that there are at least 3 other posters on this thread who admit to not having read complete past runs of DD (either Miller or Bendis) but praise the current run with the same rhetoric thrown around by all the critics who adore it. I'm not buying into that and will hold off judgment how good Waid's run is when it's done.

As of now it's nowhere near the earlier runs, imo.

You do realize DD existed before Miller, right? Gene Colan's time on the book was largely really good and I think a lot of fans dismiss it simply because it's pre-Miller. Frank Miller had a fantastic run on the character, one of the best creative runs on any character ever, but that doesn't mean all future DD writers have to copy it and tread the same well-worn path. Nothing wrong with trying something different every now and then.

[aleksivic]

You're not alone. I don't hate the run by Waid but I don't see it as anything above average. It's an average book. This new volume, so far, I feel is worse. Yet it still gets crazy high reviews. Certain writers just can't do wrong in the eyes of some internet reviewers or communities and Waid seems to be one of those guys. I enjoy a lot of his stuff but this run, yeah, I do not know why it's so popular. I keep current with it to stay current with Daredevil as fortunately he's not overused all over the MU so his book is where to get my DD fix. But if Waid announced he was leaving the book tomorrow, I not only wouldn't be sad, I'd be looking forward to an announcement of who was replacing him.

I think it depends where Marvel wants to take Daredevil in the TV show.

I just spoiled myself knowing I won't read Vol.2/3 and I found out Waid took DD to San Francisco. I can't believe nobody brought that up in this discussion! This is a character with so much history with Hell's Kitchen. What's next for the character? Give his vision back?

[Tiamatty]

I think it depends where Marvel wants to take Daredevil in the TV show.

I just spoiled myself knowing I won't read Vol.2/3 and I found out Waid took DD to San Francisco. I can't believe nobody brought that up in this discussion! This is a character with so much history with Hell's Kitchen. What's next for the character? Give his vision back?

He did actually live in San Francisco for a time back in the '70s. And there was an in-story justification for moving him back there. It's also worth noting that the character's history in Hell's Kitchen essentially started with Miller - before that, he was a lot like Spider-Man, patrolling pretty much all of Manhattan.

It honestly comes across as people who think Daredevil's history starts with Frank Miller. The character was around for 20 years before Miller came in. Waid has taken the character back to those roots. But he did it by having the character explicitly choose to go back to that. Instead of continuing with the dark'n'gritty, utterly miserable stories, Waid wanted the character to be capable of having fun again, the way he did before Miller, and the way he often did after Miller.

[Ultimate Spider-Fan]

It honestly comes across as people who think Daredevil's history starts with Frank Miller. The character was around for 20 years before Miller came in. Waid has taken the character back to those roots. But he did it by having the character explicitly choose to go back to that. Instead of continuing with the dark'n'gritty, utterly miserable stories, Waid wanted the character to be capable of having fun again, the way he did before Miller, and the way he often did after Miller.

Exactly, Bravo!

I like Miller's stuff too, it was a fantastic run on the character, but DD existed before him and will continue to exist in the future. There been a lot of good stories following Miller's trail, but there's been a lot of bad, as well. No problem trying something different for a change.

I think Miller's run on Daredevil has caused the same problem as his run on Batman. It was so groundbreaking and genre defining that people forget that there was work on the character before then that was pretty good as well. Just because DKR and Year One was awesome doesn't mean that Neal Adams and Jim Aparo's work on the character was any less good; it was just different, and that's alright. There's been a lot of mediocre Batman stories in the past 20 years because people have been to afraid to have Batman crack a smile once in awhile, and the same goes for DD.

[banky]

You're not alone. I don't hate the run by Waid but I don't see it as anything above average. It's an average book. This new volume, so far, I feel is worse. Yet it still gets crazy high reviews. Certain writers just can't do wrong in the eyes of some internet reviewers or communities and Waid seems to be one of those guys. I enjoy a lot of his stuff but this run, yeah, I do not know why it's so popular. I keep current with it to stay current with Daredevil as fortunately he's not overused all over the MU so his book is where to get my DD fix. But if Waid announced he was leaving the book tomorrow, I not only wouldn't be sad, I'd be looking forward to an announcement of who was replacing him.

+1
This. It's funny how some here defend Waid by citing the 'swashbuckling' silver age runs like Colan or Lee. What's so original and innovative about rehashing that? A change of pace? - yes. Good storytelling? Only sometimes. Worth all the praise it gets from gushing internet critics? Definitely not. DD could don a cape and do some genuine swashbuckling with a sabre in the next arc and I wouldn't care if it were at least good writing. As it stands now just half the arcs have been decent.

As I said earlier, I'm not 100% in either camp. I'll withhold judgment when Waid is done but until then, I don't see what the big deal is. There is nothing elitist about that.

[OlOneEyed]

Agreed. Read the first two trades of his run years ago. Thought it was good, not great. I stopped reading comics for a while and came back recently only to see his run become the neq "It" book and receive some of the praise I've seen some of the previous classic runs on the title receive. Re-read them again. It's decent enough, but it's not really the Daredevil that I want to be reading. That doesn't mean it's bad, it's just not what I want out of the character and it isn't so phenomenal of a book that it supersedes what I want from the character. To each his own.

I foresee the publication of a second DD title once the Daredevil Netflix series gets closer to release that mimics that dark, street-style work of years past if Waid is still on the title at that point.

[just another user]

It is well written and has good art, so it gets positive feedback.

However people have different tastes, so some people such as yourself might not like it.

That's ok.

[Ultimate Spider-Fan]

As I said earlier, I'm not 100% in either camp. I'll withhold judgment when Waid is done but until then, I don't see what the big deal is. There is nothing elitist about that.

No, the elitist part comes from when you implied that those who like Waid's run are just chasing something trendy. What I'm saying is that you can be a longtime DD fan and STILL like Waid's run.

[pageturner]

I've also experienced that on the DC side recently when Geoff John's left Green Lantern.. Robert Vendetti made a mess of what Johns fixed but I could still continue reading the book.

Maybe the complete 180 behavior of Murdock is what threw me off and there was no gradual road to recovery. There could've been something like a 12-issue arc to make that transition but it's like a flip of the switch.

road to recovery from Shadowland?

He left DD behind for a while and got his head on straight.

[Ultimate Spider-Fan]

road to recovery from Shadowland?

He left DD behind for a while and got his head on straight.

There was a miniseries Diggle wrote between Shadowland and Waid's run, but I didn't read it. After Shadowland, I was pretty much done with his version of DD.

[Alan2099]

This. It's funny how some here defend Waid by citing the 'swashbuckling' silver age runs like Colan or Lee. What's so original and innovative about rehashing that?

Is it completley original? No. It just feels fresh because it hasn't been done in a long time, which is still far more innovative than "Daredevil has his 35th psychological breakdown and his entire life goes to hell again!"

[pageturner]

He did actually live in San Francisco for a time back in the '70s. And there was an in-story justification for moving him back there. It's also worth noting that the character's history in Hell's Kitchen essentially started with Miller - before that, he was a lot like Spider-Man, patrolling pretty much all of Manhattan.

It honestly comes across as people who think Daredevil's history starts with Frank Miller. The character was around for 20 years before Miller came in. Waid has taken the character back to those roots. But he did it by having the character explicitly choose to go back to that. Instead of continuing with the dark'n'gritty, utterly miserable stories, Waid wanted the character to be capable of having fun again, the way he did before Miller, and the way he often did after Miller.

Of course what was hell' kitchen in the real world is a lot different from the world Miller created. What used to be a gambling den might now be a Bubba Gump Shrimp.

[pageturner]

There was a miniseries Diggle wrote between Shadowland and Waid's run, but I didn't read it. After Shadowland, I was pretty much done with his version of DD.

Yeah I don't get how the other poster things it came out of nowhere the change in Matt's outlook.

[Randumbz]

Waid's run on daredevil is the only one that I've read and I liked it a lot. I'm way behind on it right now, so thanks for reminding me about it.

[Drakeon]

Ive read every issue of Daredevil and own the singles from #192 up to current. I enjoyed the old tales, loved the miller run and found some later runs (the 90s) terrible. I like my DD dark and crime noir.

That said, I LOVE Mark Waids run. Its a blending of light and dark done to perfection. The art helps this considerably. Rivera and Samnee are masters at thier craft and I havent been dissapointed yet in four years.

One of the best things is there is story per issue rather than decompressed trade arcs and over drawn out plots. Its done how comics should be: serial storytelling. While I disliked Waids Hulk, his DD is spot on!