Review: Daredevil by Mark Waid, Vol. 1

Daredevil by Mark Waid, Vol. 1 by Mark Waid
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I think I first encountered Daredevil through Marvel UK reprints in the late 70s (or early 80s). At the time, it was not easy to source American comics in the UK and Marvel UK was my main source. As far as I remember, I liked Daredevil but somehow, never picked up on him even once American titles became easier to find. But I saw this book in a charity shop, and even though I didn’t know anything about Waid, Rivera and Martin (the creative team), I decided to give it a go.

I’m glad I did.

First, the artwork. Interesting page layouts (like all the little frames introducing his origin story on the first page) and fascinating drawings of what Daredevil would “see” (from the cover with pigeons drawn using the word “flap” to a double page spread of a walk through the city with sounds, smells and dangers highlighted. Brilliant.

And the writing was equally creative. From the opening pages with Daredevil crashing a wedding, stopping a hit and stealing a kiss from the bride, to the way he defeated Bruiser. Outstanding. I also loved the way he dealt with the reveal of Daredevil’s secret identity - flat out denial.

By far and away my favourite section though was his fight with another superhero (no spoiler/reveal of who he was fighting). The way the two opponents not only used each other’s weapons, but used them with great skill, showed just how good these two hero’s are at what they do.

Loved this. I will be on the lookout for more Daredevil and more from Waid, Rivera and Martin.

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