Join me, a lifelong DC Zombie, as I
attempt to remedy my woefully limited exposure to the Marvel
Universe. Be prepared for opinions forged in the depths of a mind
that is completely dedicated to the DCU. I promise to be as objective
and honest as I can be--even if that leads to contradictory opinions.
Updates will be rare, considering I have limited money for buying new
comics (and the fact that I would rather spend my limited funds on DC
Comics).
I am going to say something that might
seem stupid now. Mark Waid is one of the most underrated writers in
the comic book industry. Look, don't try and argue with me—I've
given this quite a bit of thought. No other writer has churned out
such consistently high quality work over such a large amount of time
without being constantly mentioned alongside the most important names
of sequential art history. There is no doubt that he is respected or
well-liked, instead it seems as if he is the forgotten superstar of
the industry. Perhaps, Waid is too consistent to draw the adoration
or ire of most comic readers—doomed to fly below the radar by his
own unerring competence. As legendary writers build bodies of work
and flash-in-the-pans flare up and burn out, Waid continues to turn
in books that define some of the most iconic characters in the
superhero genre. While every new writer is the next Miller, Moore,
or Morrison, I have yet to hear of one heralded as the next Waid.
Yet, for years now, he has held the reins of some of the comic book
industries biggest franchises. From seminal runs on The Flash
and Fantastic Four, underrated books like the Legion of
Superheroes three-boot and lauded works like Kingdom Come,
Waid has quietly cemented his rightful place in the upper echelon of
comic creators. He might be the unnoticed titan of the medium, but
he possesses a unique ability to capture or create the perfect pitch
for whatever characters he is writing. Currently, Waid has set his
gaze on MARVEL's man without fear—producing one of the best
superhero comic books on the market.
Last week, while writing about Thor:The Mighty Avenger, I alluded to the current Daredevil as
the kind of comic book that the industry needs more of. Though it is
not a book aimed at an all-ages market like Thor was, Daredevil
still captures much of the same superheroic joy within its pages.
Matt Murdoch has been a character mired darkness for a long time.
From the Frank Miller era to the more recent Brian Michael Bendis
run, Daredevil's life has been one grim and gritty tragedy followed
by another. Yet, in his first six issues with the character, Waid
has turned the character on its head. The life of a superhero can
never be too happy, after all violent encounters are part of the job,
but Waid's take on the character is so much more open and free than
some of his predecessors. With brilliant art from Marcos Martin and
Paolo Rivera, Daredevil is the kind of comic book
where the hero smiles as he encounters fisticuffs and, before you
know it, you are smiling along with him. Where Bendis wrote a
brooding, troubled Murdoch that was constantly the target of some
gangster scheme or superhuman assassin, Waid fills his book with
corporate espionage plots and more traditional supervillainous
fare—like echos of Klaw and Bruiser, a luchador-masked fighter moving up the superhero power ladder.
One of my favorite things about Waid
is that he will often write a character so that the reader has a
clear understanding of character's superpower and its implications.
For example, his run on The Flash did quite a bit to explore
the extent of what being “The Fastest Man Alive” meant when put
into action. In Daredevil, we are treated to a similar
examination of Murdoch's extra-sensory powers. In some of the first
issues Martin and Rivera drew beautiful pages allowing the readers
to “see” through Daredevil's “eyes.” There's no doubt that
he has one of the most unique superpowers within the medium, but
presenting these powers in such a distinctive and visually appealing
way was a smart move.
Under Waid's scripting and Martin and
Rivera's art, Daredevil is most certainly one of the best
new superhero books of the year and maybe even one of the best of
this very young decade. If Daredevil was a DC book, I would
extoll it as a product that understood the New 52 initiative—a
comic that clearly defined it's character and showcased his
uniqueness from page one. It is too bad Daredevil only barely
predates the DCnU, seeing as it would have been a great blueprint for
the kind of thing that DC is trying to achieve. Waid's
exclusion from the DCnU is kind of baffling considering that he has
written tons of stuff for DC in the past, and he seems like a natural
fit for the kind of things they are currently attempting. Perhaps
Waid and DC had a falling out, I don't generally keep up with that
kind of thing. Or perhaps DC somehow forgot about the quiet
superstar of the comic book industry.
