(Late) NB of the Week

IT'S A GLOW-IN-THE-DARK COMPASS SPOILS. SO YOU DON'T GET LOST-

Daredevil #18

Written by Mark Waid

Drawn by Chris Samnee

 

Waid and company bring their four year run on the Man Without Fear to a close in perfect fashion. No big death, no big shocker, no big twist. At the end of the day, the bad guys lose and the good guy wins (even if in comics it's only for another month). This has quite possibly been the best run of DD since I've started reading and with Foggy's words towards the end, Waid perfectly sums up the type of hero we all know Murdock is:

"When you were a kid, you got blinded just trying to help an old man across the street. That wasn't fair. Ever since then, you've devoted your life to balancing those scales. To making the world a fairer place for everyone else despite the fact that it is a vast, random entity of incomprehensible power. You get up every morning and you fight an unjust universe because you think you can make a dent. That is exactly the level of arrogance Kirsten and I will always trust to protect us."

I won't go as far as to say that this run redefined the hero we all know. A lot of blows were thrown at Murdock and some big changes did happen (like everybody knowing Murdock is Daredevil) but I find it hard to say that all these things redefined who Daredevil is when every choice, every reaction, every move felt so very true to the character. If anything, this run strengthened the definition of who Daredevil is.

I started Daredevil on a monthly basis 17 years ago (which seems really long now that I say it) when Kevin Smith relaunched it under the Marvel Knights banner. Over that time, there have been downs but by far there were more ups and I have no problem saying that Waid's tenure has been my favorite and will likely be my test for any writer to come after. They all have my best of lucks in doing so and time shall tell.

But I doubt it.