Daredevil-The Devil Takes a Ride/To The Devil His Due

As many comic book fans know, Daredevil is one of the best characters published by Marvel Comics and without a doubt, his hey dey was under Frank Miller. For years the series was under-appreciated and wafted from creative team to creative team with nary a blockbuster storyline in sight.

But then Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev arrived and took the comic book world by surprise by delivering what has been called the closest the series has come to topping the often revered Frank Miller run.

This claim is not without reason.

The run by Bendis and Maleev has more emotive angst, plot twists and revelations than any other four year run on a series I’ve ever read.

When it was announced that Bendis was leaving the series, many readers started to look around for a new monthly comic to take its place in their collection. Then the replacement team of Michael Lark and Ed Brubaker was announced and things got very interesting.

The first storyline of the new series picked up from Bendis‘ finale which dropped Daredevil in prison. After escaping with the Punisher’s help, Matt Murdock is determined to discover who was behind the murder of his best friend and business partner, Foggy Nelson. The trail leads him to Paris and a twisted ransom plot ending in a confrontation with the Kingpin’s wife Vanessa. In short, it’s complicated.

The new team of Brubaker and Lark have perfectly picked up the reigns of what should be considered Marvel Comics‘ flagship solo title. Each issue is full of excitement, intense danger and a growing story development trick that has not been seen since the early 60’s where each issue builds steadily from month to month while still giving the reader the correct ‘bang for your buck.’

After the unbearable Daredevil motion picture, many a DD fan thought that the character was done for, never again to attain his rightful place as Marvel’s golden gloves champ. But these new issues put an end to those fears. If not for Captain America, Daredevil is the best monthly comic published by Marvel today.

If you’ve been missing out on this series, it’s been collected extensively in trade paperback format and is available on Marvel’s new digital library.

Recommended:

Daredevil: The Devil, Inside and Out, Vol. 1
Daredevil: The Devil, Inside and Out, Vol. 2
Daredevil: Hell to Pay, Vol. 1
Daredevil: Hell To Pay Volume 2 TPB

Marvel Zombie Attack!

I just realized that I’ve been giving lots of attention to the Distinguished Competition lately and have decided to fix that.

A lifelong Marvel Zombie (that’s what the editors called us, so that’s what I call me too), at one time in the late 80’s I collected roughly 11-13 titles (including the odd never seen since titles such as Strange Tales, Strikeforce Morituri, and Stalkers) , all published by Marvel. I’m still not sure how I could afford this and how I avoided all the Spider-Man titles.

Since that time, I’ve explored the other side of the street and now my weekly pull is mainly DC titles. Still, a large part of me will always be a card-carrying member of the Mighty Marvel Marching Society and in this post I will let you know about some very nice additions to your collection that you might not have.

Marvel Animated Features have been releasing straight to DVD cartoon films for a few years now with a roaring success. Their first attempt, the Ultimate Avengers - The Movie, practically flew off the shelves on release day and was quickly followed by a sequel featuring Black Panther, Ultimate Avengers 2 and the Invincible Iron Man film.

Marvel continues their foray into the DVD line with Doctor Strange: The Sorcerer Supreme. Like the other cartoon films, this one chronicles the decline of surgeon Stephen Strange, his search for himself in Tibet and the rise of the Sorcerer Supreme.

It’s a fun and innovative way to grab new readers in ways that the X-Men cartoon did in the 90’s and perhaps the 60’s cartoons back in the day.

The only problem here is that there are no Doctor Strange books to meet the need, should it arise, of Doctor Strange fans. If the viewer is unfortunate enough to enjoy the film and wants to read about this character, they can join the long line of disgruntled Doctor Strange fans who have been waiting for decades for a decent series.

I suppose in a pinch there are reprints, such as Essential Doctor Strange, Vol. 1 By Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.

Why not an animated Defenders movie?

Oh… right… no comic series.

Captain America recently made the papers by being brutally murdered in a crossfire plot that is still being untangled in his monthly comic.

But the story that writer Ed Brubaker has been working on goes beyond just Captain America #25 and according to Brubaker has been planned all along.

I’ve written about my love for Captain America on a previous post, but Ed Brubaker and artists Steve Epting and Mike Perkins took the ailing comic series that had been revamped and handled by so many creators that many were bored simply by seeing another issue 1 on the stands.

It was their loss because the fifth turn at the bat hit a home run. A vibrant, relevant and beautifully drawn series, the stories collected in the Captain America by Ed Brubaker Omnibus, Vol. 1 take the character for such a wild ride that you’d think that Cap had only just been defrosted from WWII.

Using the premise that Captain America is working with SHIELD to fight the Global War on Terror, the series takes a distinct turn for the dark as Captain America’s most dangerous villain the Red Skull is assassinated and returns more powerful than ever. Captain America has to grapple with his past, hos love for Sharon Carter and even the strange and unexpected return of a friend thought long dead… never knowing who is secretly pulling the strings of a deadly trap that springs on both Captain America and the reader.

If you buy just one of the Ginormous Marvel Omnibus books this year, let it be this one.

Captain America by Ed Brubaker Omnibus, Vol. 1 collects Captain America #1-25, The Captain America 65th Anniversary Special and Winter Soldier: Winter Kills.

Or this one.

When I was just getting started in this comic book thing, I snuck into my brother’s room and read his Frank Miller Daredevil comics. The most masterfully crafted comics in the business, Marvel has packaged the issues that made the Mayor of Sin City who he is today a number of times.

Finally, those Frank Miller issues I read are collected in the gigantic Daredevil by Frank Miller & Klaus Janson Omnibus.

If you have heard of Daredevil (not the movie) or Frank Miller himself, but never read the issues… you are missing out. It was in these issues (not X-Men) that the angst and agony of the 90’s was born. As a wee teenager I read the issue where Matt Murdock’s enhanced senses told him that his Elektra was still very much alive, leading him to crawl through the snow-covered cemetery and embrace her cold headstone.

The incredibly drawn pages were so moving and emotive that many a fan sighed, ‘this would make a great movie.’

Oh well… it’s still a great comic.

Frank Miller and Klaus Janson took a comic book no one cared about and made it into the most talked about comic series of the early 80’s. Now is your chance to buy a brick of brilliance for that nice Pier One coffee table.

Recommended Reading/Viewing:

Ultimate Avengers - The Movie
Ultimate Avengers 2
Daredevil by Frank Miller & Klaus Janson Omnibus
Captain America by Ed Brubaker Omnibus, Vol. 1
Doctor Strange: The Sorcerer Supreme