Book Review: Daredevil Vol. 2 by M. Waid et al.

Daredevil Volume 2 written by Mark Waid, art by Paolo Rivera, Joe Rivera, Emma Rios, Kano, and Khoi Pham

Daredevil winds up with a hard drive full of information on five different crime organizations: A.I.M., Hydra, Agence Byzantium, The Secret Empire, and Black Spectre. They naturally want it but any one individual organization would have great leverage over the other four. While they work out a deal to cooperate, Matt Murdock gets on with his life.

After a one-off adventure where Murdock saves and is saved by a bunch of kids on a winter bus trip, the action starts in full force. Spider-man comes by asking for legal help--his friend/former lover Black Cat is in trouble. She's a master thief and is accused of stealing some high tech equipment from the outfit where Peter Parker works. The slip-up that got her busted seems fake. Daredevil and Spider-man investigate, though they don't need to break Black Cat out of custody. She does just fine for herself. The three work together to figure out what's going on. 

Their adventure is cross-cut with a subterranean horror that Matt has to deal with--the cemetery where his father is buried has been graverobbed...from underneath! What sinister plan does the Mole Man have for the dozens of coffins his minions have stolen?

The stories are interested and Daredevil's new, more light-hearted characterization is fun. Matt attends a Christmas party with an "I'm not Daredevil" sweater, still trying to get out from under his identity being revealed. He doesn't find as much humor in situations as Spider-man does (but who can match Spidey in that department?), but he isn't mopey or conflicted like a lot modern superheroes. He still deals with serious issues without being glum.

Recommended.

Book Review: Daredevil Vol. 1 by M. Waid et al.

Daredevil Volume 1 written by Mark Waid, art by Paolo Rivera and Marcos Martin

In July 2011, Marvel Comics relaunched the Daredevil monthly with Mark Waid as writer. Waid was (and still is) a popular writer who had the challenge of picking up the story after a lot of dark stuff happened to the Man Without Fear, including being possessed by an actual demon and being outed as Matt Murdock, attorney-at-law. The actual demon problem is behind him, though Matt always carries some personal demons. The celebrity outing causes him problems in the courtroom--every other lawyer brings it up and causes the case to be about Murdock/Daredevil rather than the case at hand. He and his law partner, Foggy Nelson, come up with a fun plan to work around the problem. Most regular people have moved on to other celebrity scandals, so it's not too much of an issue otherwise, just an annoyance. He sees a lot of action as Daredevil, though the first couple of enemies are a little more outlandish and unbelievable, like an enemy made up of sound. Daredevil does come up with creative solutions and he's fairly upbeat and fun compared to his dark past. He crashes a mafia wedding, foiling an attempt to kidnap some and kissing the bride on his way out! Good thing the New York crime families don't buy into the Matt Murdock=Daredevil mathematics.

Recommended. I may try some more of this.