Daredevil is definitely not underrated he is one of the best characters marvel has(my favourite personally) and most people praise most of his runs and consider them incredible he also has a very good tv series that is praised. sorry if I sounded offensive I just don't believe he is underrated moon knight on the other hand I believe is underrated
Damn, this run seems pretty divisive. From the way it was described, it sounds like a refreshingly different take of the character I could appreciate. It’s not like Waid’s run undermines those darker stories by Miller and Brubaker. It’s good to have something different, even if I’ll always prefer those darker runs for being so iconic.
I like a lot of the ideas in this series moreso than I like the execution. But give it a read for yourself, still a fan of Waid’s work just wasn’t crazy about this
At least for me this run is really refreshing, I was kind of getting sick of all of the Daredevil writers trying to out dark each other and progressively torture Matt Murdock more and more, it was definitely nice to see a run with a different Focus. if we never have any light the darkness becomes meaningless.
It's not as if this run completely does away with the dark themes and serious situations. There are still some dark themes and serious situations in this run. The only difference is how much Matt allows these situations to affect him emotionally.
God that image of Daredevil making a snow angel on a lonely rooftop with a smile on his face is surreal but also tearjerkingly happy. I'm gonna go read this now!
Waid's Run of Daredevil is one of my favorites & gave Daredevil something new in canon: A story/run on a character thats both brand new & still true to the character too. Daredevil is one of the few characters in Marvel that depending on the writer(s), he can be written as either light or dark. Introducing new spin on daredevil made the run appealing to me since during that time, too many books were going dark (just because) rather than have the characters need it let alone have it be apart of them.
If there should be an ending to Daredevil, I’ve always thought the end of Waid’s run is perfect. I truly believe nothing can top those last issues and the final scene.
Mark Waid's run just might be my favorite. I have all of Miller's and Bendis's runs collected, but for once it was nice to see Matt happy. It also really helped me to find that strength to improve during life's down times.
One of my favorite Daredevil runs, and favorite comic runs of all time. That's coming from a guy who loves reading the "dark and gritty" Daredevil comics. One of my favorite Daredevil story lines is "Devil in Cell Block D." In my opinion by the time Shadowland happened it felt to me like like things had gone too far. There really weren't many more ways you could destroy Matt's life without getting into a territory that was repetitive or just downright unproductive. When Bendis left Daredevil he said it was probably a good time to leave because if he and Maleev stayed on the title any longer they probably would have gotten to the point where they decided to kill off Foggy Nelson. This is from the guy who outed Daredevil's secret identity to the public, made Matt have a nervous breakdown and sent him to prison. There are limits to how far you should take the dark and gritty approach. As long as Matt Murdock is still the hopeful man with a tortured soul fighting against seemingly impossible odds, always picking himself back up when he gets back down, and trying to do good in the world I'm on board. I loved Waid's take for his clever use of Matt's powers (not enough writers take full advantage of them). I loved seeing Matt find happiness against impossible odds. I loved the new villains. I loved Kristen McDuffie. I loved the fact that Waid had Daredevil ride the Silver Surfer's board. Most importantly...I love the fact that he reminded people that on some level Matt is a "daredevil." He's a guy who loves doing death defying stunts because it makes him feel alive. I think that's something more writers should remember. When I hear people say that Waid's run "turned Daredevil into Spider-man" I just want to laugh. As someone who grew up reading Spider-man for years I think I can say with confidence that the Matt Murdock in Waid's run is not Spider-man. If you don't prefer a lighter Daredevil comic that's fine, but that doesn't mean Waid's run was bad.
Yes! I always liked Daredevil but Waid’s run and Riviera’s art was a breathe of fresh air! It could be dark and moody but had pinch of hope and realism. I can see how many people only want dark and gritty. Totally rejecting any glimpse of optimism. We are dark creatures in that sense. We need more brightness in our lives. We’ve grown allergic to the light.
to be fair, dd was a sensational swashbuckler in the silver age! with wits to compete with Errol Flynn, agility that would make Douglas Fairbanks jealous, and way too much determination in the face of incredible power(namor, thor, etc.etc.) i enjoyed every panel of every issue
Fell in love with Mark's run on Daredevil. I will admit, there were things I didn't like: the original sin with his mum felt unnecessary and painted her in a bad light and the second half reused several concepts that we have seen before, like Matt moving to San Francisco and Nelson having his death faked. I also didn't like waid going back to villains Matt has faced before, like bullseye and kingpin. I liked it when Matt faced new opponents, like mole man and coyote. I still love the run, but only the first half. It was nice seeing Matt try to be happy for once and there were so many great moments. Thanks for another great video analysis.
Thanks and good points about the strengths and weaknesses of the run! I think most people enjoy the first volume more than the second and I can see why.
Tao Jones T.jones that’s actually one of the big issues I have with comics(specifically mainstream heroes) is they overuse the heroes biggest villain taking away the spotlight from other villains that deserve better(e.g Spider man they overuse Osborn, Superman they overuse Lex, Batman they overuse Joker, Flash they overuse reverse flash or another speedster villain, etc) and for DD all his stories were Kingpin and Bullseye destroy his life and get away with it, and yes they did use them again in waid’s Run, but at least they weren’t the only villains he faced and they mixed it up a bit, and DD finally got his long deserving victory over Kingpin and Bullseye
That is true, and you are right about writers overusing big villains. The Joker is the perfect example of a overused (and overrated) villain in my opinion, and takes the spotlight away from other Gotham Rogues, like Penguin, Hugo Strange and the Mad Hatter. Another example is The Flash, who has so many great foes like Mirror Master and Grodd, yet writers keep using Professor Zoom and other Speed villains, and it is boring to read/watch everytime! Now, while I will admit I wasn't a fan of Kingpin being the final villain, seeing Matt beat Fisk to a pulp was satisfying.
Although, Matt did deliver a vicious beating to Fisk in the Bendis run. Not saying the beat in the waid finale still wasn't satisfying, but the first beatdown in the Bendis felt a bit more powerful.
Honestly this is what made me a fan of Daredevil and more appreciative of the Bendis/Brubaker/Miller run more. It recontextualizes the darker, serious stories but also is a celebration of the romantic, larger than life swashbuckling adventures Lee and Everett did. It felt like a perfect merging not many could completely do. Honestly it’s a top 5 Daredevil run in my opinion
100% agree. I’ve been a huge daredevil fan ever since i started reading comics week to week and before that when i was first introduced to him as a kid in the 90’s spider-man cartoon. When i fell in love with comics i read everything, i felt there was so much to catch up on. So i bought and read alot of collections and tpb’s from the gold, silver, and bronze age of comics. And although as you mentioned there have been many great writers that took DD concept and made great stories ,including the netflix series, it always felt like Frank Miller wrote a killer story in the 80’s and ever since then everybody’s stuck to the formula (it worked for batman, right?). Mark Waid was already one of my favorite writers and when he took over the book i didn’t think much about the tone or what he was gonna bring to the table, all i knew is he is a writer that can handle volumes of issues and always writes fun cliff hangers. I was not prepared for the refreshing spirit he would bring to the character. For the first time in years Matt was having fun again. The name Daredevil (to me) isn’t suppose to envoke a demonic enraged spirit of vengence (altough you could go that way and there have been plenty of stories that i enjoyed that took that direction) but more to his devil may care attitude, he’s a daredevil he takes risks and cracks a smile whlie cheating death. For years Matt was drowning in his own anger, depression, and suffering and at times used it to fuel his motivations but here we had Matt actively trying to make a change if for nothing else to change his state of mind if even for a minute or 2. I’ve already gone on long enough but my point is Mark Waid’s run was a real breath a fresh of air before Marvel sapped all the color from his book and threw him back into the shit hole of hell’s kitchen.
Apparently Mark Waid said that the reason he made his run on Daredevil lighter is that after reading Frank Miller's run he wanted to read a Daredevil story that didn't drive him to drink.
This video is the best take on the Mark Waid run. It's a great story with lots of stuff underlying the tone. Right up there with Miller, Bendis, and Brubaker.
It was this run that I first started collecting. 2011 was a big year for me. Stated Uni which meant I had time to spend money on what I wanted. Comics. True I focused on the New 52 because D.C. were on a weird acid trip at the time (though Snyder’s Batman will forever be one of my fav runs) but then there was this run. The image of Daredevil kissing the bride, the cheeky wink with that billy club standing tall, the Im not daredevil T-shirt. It was everything I didn’t know I wanted. That you could have your gritty crime with the colours and bombastic nature of the 60s. It pushed me to try new titles, it cemented my love of the Fantastic Four and Justice League International. Made me try out the new Young Avengers run and taught me a hell of a lot in terms of dialogue writing and how to get that “epic moment”. It’s this run that changed my whole view on comics and tastes. Daredevil will always be my fav marvel solo hero, and it’s thanks in no small part to this run, the essence of which is captured amazingly in this video. Bravo Matt Draper, bravo.
Man I've been in a real funk lately, and this really brought me back up. IT's a valuable lesson. I'm gonna go work on making myself happy, thank you and excuse me :)
Awesome video, discussion & analysis as ever Matt! :) Waid's run on DD is definitely one of my favourite Marvel series from the past few years. I think it's largely due to the fact that it's a very silver age series - very light in town and so much fun to read but at the same time not forgetting the modern writing sensibilities and a little bit of a dark edge to it. Another reason is that like you said it's such a far cry and polar opposite to the gritty crime noir drama stories of Frank Miller, Brian Bendis & Ed Brubaker. Plus the array of artists & consistent colourists all do a phenomenal job of bringing the stories to life. Just out of curiosity do you think that will you go back to both Bendis & Brubaker's respective runs on the character and do a video or two on their stories at some point in the foresseable future? keep up the stellar work as always!.
Thanks you! Great points about the duality of Waid's tone in this run and how it contrasts against other recent stories. I'll definitely go back to Bendis and Brubaker and some point, but I don't have a set date for that yet.
I am a very big fan of these videos. It's great to learn about story arcs that don't quite get the limelight that huge crossover events get. I really appreciate someone taking the effort to explore the themes etc of these stories thoughtfully without going so deep it becomes overwhelming. Keep up the good work!
I was really lucky that when I was collecting comics this was the daredevil run on at the time. I loved it so much. I should grab the graphic novels and give them a proper re-read at some point
GREAT VIDEO!..MATT.. Ben Urich felt /believed Matt Murdock had a nervous break down after Karen Page was murdered.. because of his shocking but expected marriage to Milla..
I just finished reading Waid’s run. Honestly loved how it ended and it’s crazy how often Daredevil gets great endings lol, I’ve basically read all the runs starting from Bendis besides soule. That’s next for me, did you have a video on it too?
Would you recommend starting to read Daredevil comics from this run? I’ve only read Daredevil Yellow so far. Also great video! The editing is smooth and the timing of comic panels are really great
This run is a good starting point but I do think it's enriched by reading other stuff first. It also may be a dishonest impression of Daredevil's status quo because his runs are typically not like this one, but it's a fantastic all-time run regardless. I know lots of people who started with the Netflix show, read this run for their comic introduction, and got into the comics period because of it.
Hi Matt! Unrelated topic here. I love Kirby's work, but in my country i only have acess to fantastic four 1-60. about half of the original run. What comes after is as good as Kirby's first 60 issues? is it as essential?
This video, I’ve been coming back to over and over at least once every two days. It got me to start reading the run but this video, there’s something about it that gives me the motivation to keep on trying to be better.
Thank you! I try to say something more than just an analysis of the comic itself in my videos, so I’m glad this could be uplifting for you. That makes me happy to hear!
I didn't really like how he undid a lot of Waid's development, but I get that it was maybe necessary for the story he wanted to tell. I like it, but not as much as other dark modern stuff like Bendis and Brubaker.
Waid left the character in a pretty complicated spot to take over, harder than when Bendis left (imo) and the fact that Secret Wars happened gave Soule the chance to put the identity genie back in the bottle again but thank god he found a way (some how) to do it using continuity, characters and understandable reasons (with a jab at Spider-man OMD too, priceless). The thing that bothers me is that lately Marvel is not giving Soule great artists to fill in for Garney, the biggest chunck of the Supreme arc had the worst art in a DD story in this decade probably and the first issues of Legacy were okay at best, they really need to put a more solid art team to keep people interested in the book.
Agreed. I'm fine with each writer doing something new with a character in order to create something new and interesting. I feel like the fill-ins never match Garney and the lack of interest in Marvel Comics in general lately has unfortunately kept people from reading Soule's run lately.
Matt Draper Yeah agreed and that's probably it. I really wanted Maleev to come back and do the Mayor Fisk arc for Legacy but fortunately Garney is doing the issues from now up to #600.
The worst Daredevil run ever written. Waid exchanges the complexity and actions with viable consequences that were hallmarks of the Brubaker and Bendis eras... for lame hard resets at the end of story arcs, unshaded line art and Silver Age retrosploitation. He would flirt with the idea of genuine narrative consequences (e.g. Matt 'breaking down' at the end of the Purple arc) but then he'd flip the switch and Daredevil would be right back to snark and Silver Age the next issue. And for all the hype from comic media? There's a reason it's the lowest selling Daredevil run of the modern era as well. Which makes it all the more bizarre that Marvel essentially patterned its entire comic line off of Mark Waid's Daredevil thereafter. (Does bring the company's recent sales woes into focus, however) Charles Soule's darker, more Noir take on the character had been a breath of fresh air after the protracted agony of Mark Waid's abominable run.
Mark Waid is the Woody Allen of American comics, hope he never has to find himself having to learn how to flip burgers. Torturous interference with a fellow comic creator, spent thousands on lawyer fees, this after causing pain and suffering for others that have had the misfortune to work with him. Kept out of DC Comics for about a decade for his Spoiled Manchild behavior. Latest insulted a on public forum Jason Pearson, creator of Body Bags, a man that struggled with mental health issues, yet created such great comics. Mark can write some fun comics, yet he should not receive much praise, the man is no hero, just a creep in disguise.
Yeah I quite reading the title after Soule took over. I don't think he's a bad writer but it felt like a stupid decision to throw out all the new story possibilities that could have come out of the end of Waid's run. Like... not much has been done with San Francisco in the Marvel universe. There's more creative freedom that the setting allows than New York, which has been explored to death. Plus...Matt just abandoning his new life, abandoning Kristen, and wiping away everyone's knowledge about his identity. WHAT? Why? Where did this come from?
Yeah, however, Daredevil's fan base completely disagrees with you. Sales have gone down in the 5 years of Waid's re-imagining, while sales went up with Charles Soules' run in just two years.
@@jyetaylor6898 I really doubt it, since Waid was still running Daredevil when its first season aired. Remember, Waid's run was 5 years that ended in 2016 when Charles Soule started.
@@JTHMRulez1 Mark Waid interefered with a contract of an indie creator because he doesn't like his politics. He called the publishing company (antarctic press) and threatened them till they dropped the book. He is being sued, and while the media and fan base is dressing it up as "Oh Waid did nothing wrong" the actual court documents (and any reporting that is honest, though those are buried) show Waid making a complete ass of himself.
Sadly Mark Wade ruined his chance to tell a real story by pushing his own politics on to the readers and significantly changing the tone of the character but I can understand how some people might enjoy it
Jmack as someone who was never exposed to Daredevil comics prior to this run, I thought it was amazing and did an excellent job of introducing me to the characters. Just waiting to buy the second omnibus to see how the story ends. Waid IMHO did a fantastic job and Samnee’s art is drop dead gorgeous (to myself at least)
I'm sorry, but no one wants to see a happy go lucky Matt...that what got people (including myself) back into reading Daredevil...it was more realistic.
At first I hated it but then I realized that at some point one has to overcome the depression and darkness and take on a light hearted outlook on life. Daredevil can only be depressed for so long.
BIlly Ray he clearly missed the point of the arc, he actually isn’t happy go lucky. He’s just trying to, he’s actually still tortured in the inside, he just wants to try and fix himself
Did you even read the run? Happy go lucky? Matt was trying to overcome his depression by putting on a mask. Why are there so many people like you who think Mark Waid turned Matt into a Saturday morning cartoon character?
@@jasonl3736 Because he acts like one constantly. With all the lame jokes and one liners, pastel art, and every arc seemingly resetting Mark just removed all of the grit from Daredevil.
was thinking of getting into this but it just seems like a far cry compared to the Bendis and Brubaker run. Mark Waid makes it too light and jokey tone wise. guess i'll skip this one.
The worst?! The run made Daredevil my favorite superhero. Before It was Batman and Spider-man. Waid's writing of the character and Chris Samnee's art is a breath of fresh air after the grittier runs by Bendis and Brubaker.
@@jasonl3736 So you're saying that fundamentally changing a character made it better? How about making Batman kill? Or making Spider-Man a villain (oh wait, we already had that)?
Julio A. Torres Corazón Characters evolve. By your logic, all characters should act like their first appearance selves. The character of Daredevil also went through a pretty big change with Frank Miller, not at all like how Stan Lee wrote him. . If you prefer that iteration of the character. Just say it. Don’t pretend you know everything about the character. It makes you look ignorant, and not unlike the stereotypical comic book fan from shows like Big Bang Theory
@@jasonl3736 You misunderstood me. Character development is all I ever search for in a story. What I'm saying is: Imagine if Spider-Man suddenly got serious and began killing people with no remorse. Worse off, it ain't Doc Ock in his brain. Wouldn't that just fundamentally destroy what he stands for? What he is? Now, imagine if they made a character known for his Noir look on the gritty side of New York suddenly get rid of that aspect and instead do things that he would never do as Daredevil. You see why Mark Waid's run was the lowest ever?