Customer Reviews

Daredevil Legends Vol. II: Born Again

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I read all the glowing reviews for Kevin Smith's Daredevil (Daredevil Visionaries Vol. V) and felt compelled to write. Make no mistake, everyone; this is what Kevin Smith tried so desperately, and failed so completely, to imitate.

This is the quintessential Daredevil story. Here he contends with the Kingpin, who is catapulted from his early days in Spider-Man comics to the elite of Marvel evil. The story opens with the Kingpin learning Daredevil's secret identity as Matt Murdoch (the blind attorney). It is not enough to merely kill him, though, so he begins the process of systematically destroying Matt's life. When that is done he arranges Matt's death, disgracing him even further, and Kingpin's victory is complete. But only then does he realize he hasn't won at all.

Someone once said that the measure of a hero is in the strength of his villains. After reading this there will be no question that Daredevil is one of the best heroes in Marvel comics. His rise from defeat is as stirring as anything I've read in comics, and I've read a lot, believe me. And I don't imagine many female readers could see this and not come away with the impression that DD would make a better boyfriend than most other superheroes.

David Mazzuchelli, not Frank Miller, handles the art in this comic, but I don't think you'll be disappointed. Miller's art is great but can be a bit too stylistic. Mazzuchelli is more of a classic comic book artist, and he knows how to draw a fight.

On a side note, Miller wrote the best Batman story and here gives us the best Daredevil. But he also gives us, in this volume, the best portrayal of Captain America I've ever seen. (Cap's best line ever: "He wears the flag." Read it and you'll understand. And remember, DD can't see colors!)

This is definitely one of my five favorite comic book stories (along with Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, Squadron Supreme, and the Alan Moore Supreme issues). I cannot recommend this highly enough.

My first read of "Born Again" was in installments --- it was the last time I can remember feverishly waiting for my favorite comics to arrive each month. This was 1985. From that point forward, all comics that approach this level of script and art can pay nothing but homage to Miller and Mazzucchelli. Most attempts have been but poor imitation; the truly good ones must acknowledge their indebtedness to this collaboration.

As a collection, this book succeeds on so many levels. Miller's technique of using internal monologue to insightfully reveal the characters is now much imitated but was revolutionary in those days. Its skillful use underlines here the terrible isolation of Matt Murdock/Daredevil and Wilson Fisk/Kingpin. In the first chapter, "Apocalypse", the Kingpin learns that Matt Murdock is Daredevil and systematically deconstructs Murdock's professional, financial and personal life. Kingpin reflects that Murdock is "an efficacious opponent...Still I am not satisfied...I should leave him to the misery that awaits him. I must deny myself the exquisite pleasure of a killing stroke..."

Later, as Matt Murdock retrieves his Daredevil costume from the rubble of his destroyed apartment, Murdock thinks, "I never would have connected it to you. Nothing about it said gangster --- until this. It was a nice piece of work, Kingpin. You shouldn't have signed it."

Later still, in "Pariah!", the Kingpin arranges for an "accident" for Murdock. Weeks later, the crime scene is discovered but to the Kingpin's consternation "There is no corpse. There is no corpse." The man he thought he'd murdered is alive. "And I ----I have shown him...that a man without hope...is a man without fear."

Miller's pacing is breathtaking. Not a word is wasted, there is no filler. In the wrong hands, the appearance of the Avengers would have been a stunt; here, it is a thrilling plot device, with a depth of insight offered about Captain America that is unexpectedly fulfilling. Yes, it's a story about costumed superheroes, so there are fight scenes, skillfully plotted and staged...

Which brings me to the art. David Mazzucchelli (two Z's, two C's, two L's, thank you very much) matches Miller here, stroke for stroke. Hyperbole or no, his effort here is genius. (Miller actually has the most cogent analysis: in the Afterword of this edition, he writes that Mazzucchelli "creates actors whose dramatic range is startling, whose best and most compelling moments are wordless.") Throughout, he expands the genre of panel art, using the page in ways little seen before (but oft-imitated now, as is Miller's scripting). His innovative composition blows up the panels on occasion, ignoring the tightly prescribed limitations of the typical comics page. He uses narrow horizontal panels to terrific effect, as motif. The fight scenes are some of the best you'll ever see; check out the fight in Ben Urich's apartment. It's brutally visceral: the change-up is that it's between a hulkingly violent nurse and Matt Murdock! This is but one example. The art is so skillful, so detailed, that panel-for-panel, it is some of the best you'll ever see. (I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the incredible work of the colorists, Christie Scheele and Richmond Lewis.)

My favorite panels are the six full page ones that serve as the title pages for each chapter. Five of the six are views from above and exemplify the Biblical motif used throughout. The cover of the paperback edition is stunning; the stained-glass in the background is nothing short of beautiful, and cleverly executed to boot. A treat for those of us, like me, who have read and re-read this brilliant story dozens of times.

Remember that Mazzucchelli's resumé includes both "Born Again" and "Batman: Year One". Right after you finish reading "Born Again", buy the other. I envy you if you haven't read either of them yet. You are in for a truly transcendent experience.

Now that the Daredevil feature film is out - and it's got some great moments, but suffers from cramming years of much comic book continuity into 90 minutes of action with a nu-metal soundtrack - it's well worth revisiting this, the greatest Daredevil story ever told.

Frank Miller's writing and David Mazzucchelli's art are career bests in this eight-issue story. Like so many great superhero stories of the modern era, this one interrogates a fundamental aspect of the comic book tradition - namely, what would happen if a hero's worst enemy discovered their secret identity?

The story is laden with Frank Miller's usual grit, but this feels integral to the story, rather than tacked on. In the hands of other comic book writers, themes such as prostitution, destitution, pornography, drug addiction and US military intervention abroad are often used to give superficial stories a faux-profundity. But in `Born Again' these themes are served well, and not wallowed in any more than they need to be - Matt Murdock, Karen Page and Ben Urich may be sent to Hell in the story, but all three are then redeemed. The blossoming romance of Foggy Nelson and Murdock's ex Glori O'Breen is a corrective to all the misery as well.

As well as being Daredevil's finest moment, this is also the Kingpin's. No artist has made the Kingpin's bulk look more imposing than Mazzucchelli does, whether big baldie is seen on a yacht at sunset, in his trademark suit, working out with weights, or sitting in a sauna. Another beautiful artistic touch is that several issues of the story open with a page showing Matt Murdock waking up, each one a snapshot of the state of his life at that point. And in one sequence, where Ben Urich listens to a murder on the telephone surrounded by the chaos of the the Daily Bugle, his face becomes progressively less naturalistic in each panel to reflect his growing horror - eventually, he looks like a Picasso.

The godlike cameo of the Avengers towards the end of the story is a great example of the `less is more' approach to comic books. And it's a pleasant surprise, in the last couple of issues, when Miller decides that since he's writing the best ever Daredevil story, he might as well have a crack at writing the best ever Captain America story at the same time. Cap Ap's tortured role in `Born Again', torn between his patriotic ideals and US injustice, is exactly the same as Superman's role in the Batman story `A Death in the Family' - but the set-up works better here.

Daredevil is taken apart and put back together in `Born Again', which is what makes the story so good. It contains an important revelation concerning Matt Murdock's family - typically, Miller delivers this bombshell with a light, blink-and-you'll-miss-it touch. And the story's final page, which shows Matt Murdock and Karen Page walking down a sunlit street in Hell's Kitchen, is immensely satisfying - a clean slate for the character. As the accompanying text says: `My name is Matt Murdock. I was blinded by radiation. My remaining senses function with superhuman sharpness. I live in Hell's Kitchen and do my best to keep it clean. That's all you need to know.'

Frank Miller... the words fail me. I'd have to say that anyone who reads Miller just once is more than likely missing half the story! There're just too many instances when you're reading one of his masterpieces (The Dark Knight Returns, Batman Year One, Daredevil Born Again, Sin City , 300) for that second or third time, when you stop, read back through three or four of the prior issues, and come face-to-face with the fact that you've been set up!!!

Miller subtly drops these apparently irrelevant scenes on you halfway into the stories, which serve as a preamble to some of his most powerful lines/images... [among my favorites: In DK Returns, Commisioner Gordon's speech to Captain Yindel "Roosevelt knew about Pearl Harbor but didn't stop it because 'it was too big'" only to have Yindel return in that single frame on the last book to say [about Batman]: "He's too big" - [she finally "gets" Gordon!] second-favorite: The splash page in every issue of DD Born Again, showing Matt's sleeping journey, from the lap of luxury down to the gutter, and then back to the most comfortable bed any of us will ever know - must've took me three reads to click, and realize what Miller was doing (you just don't see that too often in this medium, and by all means NEVER as masterfully executed!). I won't even go into Sin City, "it's just TOO BIG")

Do yourself a favor. Pick up Daredevil Born Again and read it at least twice, then pick up Dark Knight Returns, Batman Year One, Sin City (all of 'em), and 300, and READ THEM SLOWLY, cause, believe me, when you're done with them, you'll be sad... because you'll have to wait, like the rest of us... patiently... for Frank's next work of art. And make no mistake, this is art of the highest form!

In Daredevil: Born Again, Frank Miller shows a hero turned in a commom person, when the only power that can helps him is his own will. Also notice the impressionist art of Mazzuchelli, a simple, clean art which makes you pay attention to the very good storytelling, and the marvelous caracterization of The Kingpin, that is the second most interesting villain participation in a comic book, losing only for The Joker in Alan Moore's Killing Joke. For another good work from this team, check out for Batman:Year One.

Daredevil's identity has been discovered by his most powerful enemy - the Kingpin, and life will never be the same. Frank Miller, a man who revolutionized the comic industry, wrote this story in Daredevil #226-232.

The story focuses, smartly, on what would happen if a superhero's arch-enemy discovered his true identity? The answer, is a cat and mouse, mental torture game, as Kingpin tries to destroy Daredevil's will. He takes almost everything, until Daredevil is "Born Again"(one of the chapter titles in this graphic novel).

The psychological and religious symbolism is obvious, yet, not preachy. The comic is fun while still asking the meaningful questions about our hero, and if we read close enough, maybe these same questions are asked about us. A must have for any comic collection!

Frank Miller's renowned storyline tells the tale of the destruction and rebirth of a super-hero. This is a story that has never really been seen before in comic books so Miller deserves kudos just for attempting it. The storyline is mired in realism with the protagonist facing all too human villains and all too human inner demons, which makes it far more satisyfing than the usual superhero vs. supervillain fare. Organized crime, drug addiction, rekindled love, and heavy religious imagery are all skillfully layered into this one of a kind comic book. Yes, Miller's "Dark Knight Returns" and "Batman: Year One" are superior but that may be because Batman has had a longer, richer legacy for Miller to draw from and play with than DD has had. Let's face it: Miller pretty much re-invented Daredevil, evolving the character from another Stan Lee wisecracker in a union suit, to a morally-conflicted, fully realized character who just happened to be a superhero. "Born Again" is a wonderful, adult interpretation of this rediscovered Marvel icon.

The comics masterpiece that is truly Frank Miller's zenith in four-colour art form is not the overrated tale of an elderly Caped Crusader, but rather that of a blind hero whose life is stripped bare leaving him a shell of his former self, only to crawl out of the pit of despair in triumph. Miller's collaboration with David Mazzucchelli is the single greatest story in the history of Marvel Comics (including Marvels). "Born Again" is more about Daredevil's alter ego, Matt Murdock, as the Man Without Fear's worst enemy discovers the dual identity of Hell's Kitchen's guardian devil from a desperate drug addict from Murdock's past. The Kingpin systematically dismantles Murdock's life, piece by agonizing piece, as Murdock's is rendered bankrupt by the IRS, his livelihood of practising law taken from him, and his home destroyed. This turn of events provokes both Murdock as himself and Daredevil to gradually become so violent and paranoid to the point he teeters on the brink of insanity. Adandoning all his social ties, Murdock lives on the street and his attack on the Kingpin leaves him dying in a cab at the bottom of the Hudson River. On the edge of death in a church shelter, a nun nurses him to health as Murdock returns from the lowest depths of damnation to rescue his loved ones, as well as himself. This is the most personal tale of a superhero ever, you are dragged into the alleyways of Hell's Kitchen by Mazzuchelli's art and leap across the rooftops of Manhattan with Miller's writing. A truly underrated work that deserves more recognition than it gets.

Issues 227-233 of DAREDEVIL are a joyous example of the potential of the comic book medium. If the timing, marketing push and presentation were a little different, and, if Hornhead was a household name like The Caped Crusader, BORN AGAIN could have had the impact of the classic DARK KNIGHT RETURNS or the equally amazing BATMAN: YEAR ONE. It's that good. Miller is a storytelling genius. He respects the intelligence of the average comic reader and the rich tapestry that is the Marvel Universe yet, at the same time, a newcomer can pick up the storyline and be just as entertained. Never are the words "Captain America" or "Iron Man" or "Thor" mentioned. Either you'll know who they are or you'll have a sudden urge to find out. The story is fantastically hard-boiled with a street level New York feel and a wealth of great lines and scenarios. Who can forget.. "A man without hope is a Man Without Fear." "5B...5B....5B..." "It was a nice piece of work Kingpin...you shouldn't have signed it." Brilliant stuff. Stan Lee + Raymond Chandler=Framk Miller. Oh yeah, WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO DAVID MAZZUCHELLI? He is, in my opinion, one of the industry's greats even though he hasn't done a large amount of work. WHERE HAS HE GONE? Imagine him applying his refreshingly realistic and influential style to, for example, Spider-Man or The Fantastic Four? Its just too bad he's faded away. With the kiddie-friendly, card-trading, heavy-merchandising, irrelevant-storyline, resurrection-happy, 6-books-for-each-character era of comics upon us, its good to be able to pick up well crafted, restrained, and fantastic piece of work like BORN AGAIN.

This book ranks among one of the greatest graphic novesl ever. It is, along with watchmen, one of the best told stories about superheros. Without giving too much away, it embodies everything that is good about Frank Miller's Daredevil and the reason for the reemergence of the horned one. A classic story of good and evil and the triumph of an ordinary man over his arch nemesis. The way Frank Miller develops the characters of Kingpin, Matt Murdock, Karen Page and the dramatic introduction of other super heros is wonderous. This book, especially the final chapter, is all the more relevant after the events of last year. Any fan of the comic book genre will love this book.