Customer Reviews

Daredevil: Guardian Devil 10th Anniversary Edition (Daredevil (Unnumbered))

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Kevin Smith is a famous and popular filmmaker, and also a tremendous fan of superhero comics, periodically entering the comics world for an arc or so on a property. This was his first gig, relaunching the longtime superhero Daredevil after a string of runs in the 1990s that hadn't done a whole lot for him in terms of sales.

The basics of the story: Matt Murdock is entrusted with the care of a baby who may be either the savior or the Anti-Christ, and all of a sudden chaos erupts all around him: his partner, Foggy Nelson, is accused of murder, his ex-girlfriend Karen Page suddenly returns to his life having been diagnosed with AIDS, and a shadowy stranger appears, claiming to represent an agency dedicated to stopping the Anti-Christ, demanding he turn over the child. All the while, Daredevil finds himself acting more and more irrationally.

People who have read Smith's first arc on "Green Arrow" ('Quiver', which I highly recommend) will recognize a huge number of similarities here: an underlying mystery story, which brings in a wide range of characters from the superhero's career (in this case, we get appearances by Spider-Man, Black Widow, Doctor Strange, and references to most of the major stories told with the character), and ends with an elaborate explanation from the villain of the piece that details how everything actually went down. More broadly, as with Green Arrow, Smith is aiming to reshape the status quo to harken back to his preferred version of the character; in the case of GA, that meant literally bringing him back to life and moving more towards the 70s iteration overlooking the Grell era; in the case of Daredevil, that means going back to the setup from around the time of Frank Miller, sweeping away some of the detritus of the 90s (by story's end, for example, Matt and Foggy have quit the big firm they belong to to restart their old Nelson & Murdock brownstone).

Thematically, Smith brings a very high Catholic quotient to the story, which for the most part works very well, though a huge part of it hangs on the Book of Revelations, which tends to assume much more prominence in Protestant Dispensationalism than in Catholicism. Smith also conducts an extensive examination of what Matt's Catholicism means to him, handling the subject with a great deal of finesse; via Black Widow, Smith also voices his views on Matt's romantic history and his need to centre himself.

The biggest lasting development here is, of course, the death of a longtime supporting castmember, and the latest in a long line of Daredevil's to be killed by his enemies. This pattern has become quite controversial in the "Women in Refridgerators" school of thought, and it may indeed be as part of a larger pattern; on it's own, it is very well-written, though it could also be said to be a bit unnecessary.

All in all, I would not rank this as highly as "Quiver", but it is a very strong piece of work, worth reading for any fan of Daredevil.

In his film noir world, Daredevil has always been the hero with the darkest secrets and darkest villains - not to mention a host of skeletons in the closet. Darker than Batman certainly, and always on the slippery side of maintaining the fragile balance between good and evil; light and darkness; normalcy and chaos. Guardian Devil brings these issues to the fore in dramatic, cinematic, novelistic fashion.

Kevin Smith proves here, as with Green Arrow, that he's a far better comic book writer than a film director. And Joe Quesada's visual storytelling talent shows why he became Marvel's Editor-in-Chief. Smith's debut ranks as one of the all time great Daredevil tales - between Frank Miller and Brian Michael Bendis.

The plot's already been mentioned in other reviews, so I'll skip that. At risk of providing a spoiler, I would say that one revelation could've been better near the end but I can't fault Smith and Quesada for impeccable structuring. The power of the story is that it sears Daredevil's core - something that reminds us how all too human he is. Smith hit up the series with a big bang. Daredevil's life is irrevocably changed, but like a true hero, he soldiers on. The realistic relationship dialogues of the comic elevate it beyond the normal superhero schtick.

This edition includes intros and short essays by Quesada, Smith and Ben Affleck.

Oh man! This is a good one. I didn't expect Kevin Smith to kill it like he did. Turns out he writes comics just as well as he writes movies, maybe even better. The huge change for me, was seeing him do something dark and serious. Smith is outstanding at writing non-comedic material and I wish he would do more of it. "Guardian Devil" is a pageturning mystery that places Daredevil in charge of a newborn child. Matt Murdock then begins panicking as he receives messages that the child is either the son of the devil or the son of God. Smith came up with a truly worst case scenerio, but he led a very entertaining story that could have been a melancholy mess.

Best part about this story is the humongous twist that I won't spoil. I thought I could predict every movie and comic out there in these times, but man I did not see the developments come in this graphic novel. With Kevin Smith to impress you and Joe Quesada to enchant you, how could you not enjoy "Guardian Devil." I really can't fathom why people can disagree with the majority's clamor for this book, because I think it appeals to anyone instantly. There's a lot of things I like. There's fewer things I love. And there's seldom things I rave about. I'm raving about "Guardian Devil." Get it.

"Guardian Devil" was one of those comics of about a decade ago that helped usher in this new era of "story over spectacle" that the comic industry has been enjoying recently. There's a good case to be made that Kevin Smith did his best ever writing here, on this book, telling a story that Daredevil neophytes can enjoy, but that is still aware of and pays homage to the years and years of backstory the character has behind him. Responsible for bringing Daredevil back to the Marvel A-List of characters (or at least a high "B"), and rightfully so. A must-read superhero book from the last ten years.

Well, Kevin Smith and Joe Quesada brought a new breathing to Daredevil stories. This is an execellent book that stresses Matt Murdock`s religious side. Buy it.

I had heard some good things about this story, so when the anniversary edition came out, I hurried to get it. Overall, it was alright, but I had some big problems with it. First of all the art. Quesada has done some good things as Editor in Chief but as an artist, he was a completely wrong choice for this story. I know he was the one that helped Smith get into writing comics in the first place, but he should have taken a back seat to someone whose art style isn't so cartoony. The story is dark, Daredevil's life being absolutely dragged through the mud, but Quesada's art is more suited for a Marvel Adventures title, or something more light. I can think of a dozen artists whose style would have been more suited for this story, but Quesada's art kept me from getting into the story at all.
The second problem I had with this story was that it was a rehash of multiple ideas from Marvel's past. SPOILER WARNING.
The story is all about Mysterio trying to destroy Daredevil's life after he buys Daredevil's secrets from the Kingpin. Everything Smith does had been done before. Trying to drive Daredevil insane was done much better in Frank Miller's Born Again storyline. Mysterio's suicide was just out of Kraven's Last Hunt. Bullseye killing Daredevil's girlfriend again a rehash of Miller's work. The worst part of it was Smith even specifically draws attention to the fact that he rehashed all of these ideas.
END SPOILER WARNING.
The concept of the antichrist baby was interesting and Smith's use of Daredevil's Catholicism was true to character, but overall it was a poor story for Smith's first entry into comics. Thankfully, his later stories improved, but this could have been a lot better.

Has it really been ten years since Kevin Smith re-vamped Daredevil? The Clerks, Dogma, and Zack & Miri writer/director relaunched Daredevil under Marvel's then new Marvel Knights imprint, and helped erase all the memories of mis-handling that Daredevil had received during a majority of the 90's. Taking many cues from Frank Miller's epic runs on the title, Smith re-invigorated Daredevil as the Catholic and morally-bound vigilante that gets charged with taking care of a baby who may be the Anti-Christ, all the while strange thigns are happening around him: his ex-girlfriend Karen Paige finds herself stricken with AIDS, his law partner and best pal Foggy is accused of murder, and even Matt finds himself acting all the stranger. What's really going on here and just who is pulling all the strings behind the scenes? That's what helps make Guardian Devil so compelling is the mystery that Smith manages to weave, brought to life by the solid if not cartoony artwork of current Marvel EIC Joe Quesada. While it doesn't quite stand up in terms of subsequent readings, Guardian Devil is a landmark Daredevil story regardless that re-vitalized the character while setting up the direction that writers such as David Mack, Brian Michael Bendis, and Ed Brubaker would eventually take, and if you missed out on it before, this new hardcover anniversary edition is definitely worth picking up.

Have just got into comics again as an adult. After 25 years of reading books I re-read Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns and decided to try Brubaker's Captain America Omnibus. I was stunned! Read some other stuff and got around to Bendis DD Omnibus and was totally overwhelmed by the quality on EVERY level of that piece of art.
I then decided to read Smith's Guardian Devil and just couldn't bear with it's utter mind-numbing banality. This adolescent religious drivel actually had DD aping Job and based upon somebody telling him the baby's actually the devil, throws the infant off a rooftop. That's a hero according to the Bible. Not my kinda hero.

This level of writing is what got me outta comics 25 years ago.
Gonna read Moore's From Hell now.