 | Mark Waid, Paolo Rivera and Marcos Martin make Daredevil Marvel's 'next big thing' |
When I first started seriously reading comic books, it was through my brother's collection. Therefore my first favorites were Daredevil and the X-Men. Even after Janson and Miller left the series, I kept following Daredevil as something about the character clicked with me. A tragic hero who seemed to attract bad luck and danger, he was fearless to a fault and openly challenged anyone and everyone who crossed his path, including the Sub-Mariner (often sited as Stan Lee's favorite story) and even the Hulk!
In recent years, Daredevil has become a hot commodity, despite the Ben Affleck film. A very strong succession of creative teams has kept the book in the spotlight, even in the wake of the Shadowland mini-series that transformed DD into a massive demonic creature. Even my love for old hornhead was challenged by that turn of events, but everything is about to change again as Marvel Comics is making Daredevil into a flagship series once again courtesy of Mark Waid, Paolo Rivera and Marcos Martin:
An all-new era for Matt Murdock begins here, as he returns to New York to reclaim his life and the mantle of Daredevil! But for a man who's suspected of being Daredevil-and of the actions in Shadowland-how can he possibly become a lawyer again? Will the super heroes of New York accept that Matt is a hero they can once again trust? One thing's for sure- Murdock is back to protect the city he loves and he's jumping head first into danger, because there's nowhere else he'd rather be!
A new direction for Daredevil begins here as legendary writer Mark Waid, joined by the rotating art team of superstars Paolo Rivera & Marcos Martin, bring Daredevil back to his roots and then take him in directions you never imagined!
Following up the previous runs is no mean feat even for a creative team of this caliber, so Marvel Comics announced a special press launch recently that the folks at ComicBookResources.com covered. Here are a few highlights and some preview images.
This July, Marvel Comics Man Without Fear swings and swashbuckles his way back into Manhattan, and though the events of the recent "Shadowland" event may have left their scars, "Daredevil" is bouncing back in a classic way thanks to the creative team of Mark Waid, Paolo Rivera and Marcos Martin. To help shed some light on where blind lawyer Matt Murdock will be landing with the new series #1 issue, the publisher today held one of its "Next Big Thing" conference calls with the press, and CBR is on hand LIVE! with continuing updates of all the action.
Joining in on the fun were Waid and Rivera as well as Marvel Senior Editor Steve Wacker. As participants waited for things to get started, Steve Wacker joked, "Paolo, you could be drawing while we're waiting" to which the artist replied "I'm drawing page 13 right now!" Wacker joked that it was "page 13 of issue #7...we're way ahead!"
Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso and SVP of Publishing Tom Brevoort joined the call as well to start things by marking the passing of legendary "Daredevil" artist Gene Colan.
"Gene sort of defined what Daredevil looked like," said Wacker. "There have been so many great artist over the years on 'Daredevil' from Frank [Miller] to Joe [Quesada] to Michael Lark to the current team, but we all stood on the shoulders of Gene...he accomplished something that was very rare: being an artist with a style completely his own." Brevoort agreed saying, "He invented the way he drew...he was notoriously difficult to ink because so much of his pencils was in shades of grey." The editor noted that Marvel began reproducing his work from the pencils in the '80s before such technology really existed. Brevoort also added that Colan was "like a Muppet" personally as he looked at the world with childlike wonder and really enjoyed everything of his interest with real honest passion.
Waid spoke to Colan's historical impact on "Daredevil" noting how the first years of the book were simply like "a Spider-Man book without Spider-Man" as "It kept changing direction and changing tone until Gene came along and made it what it was." Alonso said that Colan's work was one of the major artists along with Jack Kirby and Joe Kubert who left a huge impact on him as a child. The E-i-C noted that even though his mother dated actor Christopher Lee, he still thinks of Colan's Dracula whenever he imagines the character in his mind.
"We didn't have the advantage like some guys do of coming on to a book after ten years of sucky stories," Waid said of his challenge taking over in the wake of writers Andy Diggle, Ed Brubaker and Brian Michael Bendis. Waid said his method for following up the darker stories through "Shadowland" was to turn up the superhero dial some and introduce "a bigger sense of advenure, a bigger sense of the world outside Matt Murdock...let's fold him a little more rigidly into the Marvel Universe because he's always been the outsider."
Wacker added that because Daredevil has been through anything, he has no choice but to fear nothing as Waid joked "unless we made him deaf too." The creators felt they ran out of personal tragedies to put him through, but also because it's good to "give him a win" every once in a while.
The series will take Daredevil further out into New York City as Hell's Kitchen is something of a different neighborhood these days than it was in the book's '60s and '70s heyday. Waid said the work on the series compares to his previous Marvel runs like "Fantastic Four" and "Spider-Man" in that DD always threw himself right into adventure. "The challenge here is keeping that heroism alive without ever losing sense of the fact that something bad could happen at every minute." To Waid, Murdock's defining quality is that he gets up every morning and just goes out into the world no matter what.
A sanple of the wonderful interior art by Paolo Rivera and Marcos Martin
The call was opened up to the press, starting with questions on the tone of the series and how a more superheroic take on DD has been a harder sell since Frank Miller's legendary run. Wacked explained that all good takes on the book have their time. "These things are all pendulums, they swing one way for a while, then they go back in another direction. That's what we've done here...when you get a new team on the book, they generally want to try something new. Even with Brian to Ed Brubaker, while those are tonally similar, Ed went in a wildly different direction...it's all about finding the thing that hasn't been done."
Asked whether the fallout of "Shadowland" will play heavily in the book, Waid said "There's definitely fallout from that stuff, but not so much 'here's something from issue #3 of Shadowland." Instead, the emotional issues in Matt's relationships will simmer as he does his usual boxing up of his emotional problems.
Murdock will also be able to practice law again, however the writer said because so many people know or suspect that he is Daredevil, it will change how he approaches the law and his clientele. Both Waid and Wacker promised that the legal drama aspect of the book will not be forgotten.
Daredevil's status as a New Avenger will be reflected in the book but not in an intrusive way. Wacker and Brevoort agreed the relationship will work similar to how "Amazing Spider-Man" and "New Avengers" play off each other.
Waid said that he's looking to influences from recent runs and recent villains including The Matador and the Purple Man. "I think the power of persuasion that the Purple Man has is great" because Daredevil is always at a disadvantage when he can't punch his way out of the problem, he explained.
(Full article at CBR.com)
The previews look simply amazing and with Waid on writing chores, the book is sure to be a hit, so make sure to reserve a copy today.
I am happy that a dedication to the maestro of shadows, Gene 'the dean' Colan got a dedication in the first issue. Gene is an artist of unparalleled talent whose work defined the look and feel of the Marvel Universe through the early days of its inception. It is a sad occasion, but I am happy to see the glowing articles appearing on line, each one praising another work of his from the well known to the obscure. Gene Colan is deeply missed, but his artwork continues to find new followers and influence comic book artists of a new generation.
Please visit the official website dedicated to Gene Colan to learn more about the artist.
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