Customer Reviews

Daredevil Omnibus, Vol. 1

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
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Read the reviews carefully. Almost every review printed here is for the Daredevil Omnibus by Brian Michael Bendis, the volume that was published before this one, which is by Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark. A listing error on the part of Amazon is causing the reviews to be merged.

So, let me get into the Brubaker book. Daredevil has always been something of a bleak and tragic series. You don't need me to rehash the history- it's full of death and suffering. The arcs in this volume continue that fine tradition of torturing poor Matt Murdock. The symbolism of DD in a upside-down cruciform on the cover is not an accident. Matt is first in prison, then on the run, and finally caught in a devastating conflict with an old enemy. The book ends in a horrible and soul-crushing finale that rivals many other DD stories for sheer depressive power.

The writing and art style in this book is a bit more "old school" than the previous years by Bendis and Maleev. In fact, Mr. Lark seems to deliberately conjure and earlier age of comics storytelling by using smaller panels and very restrained compositions. Mr. Brubaker channels film-noir plot stylings of films such as The Maltese Falcon or Touch of Evil, as well as the comic books of the 1970s and 80s.

I considered the previous years by Mr. Bendis to be a major effort to challenge the boundaries of the genre by combining typical comics conventions with the idea of real-world consequences--that is, what would REALLY happen if someone was a lawyer trying to hide a secret identity as a crime fighter? (The inevitable answer, of course, was that JAIL would happen.) The Brubaker stories certainly rely on the new concepts and territory that Bendis laid out. But he doesn't deliberately try to push any envelopes himself. There's nothing particularly challenging about the style, concepts, or other storytelling techniques he employs. Rather, he spends his energy trying to craft a solid, highly detailed, nuanced narrative, inspired by noir and 70s comics.

The result is a gripping, intense, and suspenseful story, one that may work for some fans better than the envelope-pushing Bendis work. In fact, this run by Mr. Brubaker is so old-school, I'm tempted to see it as an effort to win back those who might have been alienated by the extremes of Mr. Bendis. This is a worthy change-of-pace for DD. While not reaching the artistic heights of the Bendis years, the book is extremely rewarding and is definitely one of the best Marvel comics of the past few years.

Don't get me wrong this is comics at its best, my only worry is this omnibus runs to just 24 issues and the the Brubaker/Lark run only has 15 issues left after this - let's hope marvel charge 40 bucks for it ala Mutant Massacre Oversized but I fear it will come with a 75 buck price a la Secret Wars Omnibus volume 1 with 16 issues and just a cent shy of a hundred dollars.

Back to the content - just great, from the two page spread at the start of the first issue this is a pure rollercaster of a run. Lark pencils are the best on daredevil since JRJR. Shame Brubaker/Lark have left the title, if you like this then I wholeheartedly recommend Scene of the Crime and Gotham Central for the same culprits.

Ed Brubaker's Daredevil run is just as excellent as his stint on Captain America. The innovation here is that Matt Murdock spends a good portion of the book in prison (suffering abuse at the hands of guards and villainous inmates) while another mysterious martial artist dons the Daredevil costume. The theme of Matt's loved ones being endangered is played up throughout the entire book, to the extent that it becomes a bit depressing at times. A little levity would have been nice, but these stories are all business. Still, it's compelling drama. And of course the art and action are fantastic. The Punisher, another favorite character of mine, makes an understated but enjoyable appearance too. Any fans of Daredevil or Ed Brubaker should get this book ASAP, before it goes out of print. Hopefully the issues after Daredevil #105 will be collected in an Omnibus too, as a few things remain unresolved at the end of this book.

What a fantastic book! I started reading Daredevil back when movie director Kevin Smith came on board to tell a story (back in the late '90's). Writer Brian Michael Bendis followed this up with five years of great stories that kept me hooked and pulled me in deeper to the character's history. Passing the torch to Ed Brubaker seemed a logical choice, as he has done fantastic work in similar stories over in the Gotham Central (Gotham Central Book One: In the Line of Duty, Gotham Central Vol. 2: Jokers and Madmen HC) books and in Criminal (Criminal (Deluxe Edition)). He did not disappoint! Though this book is so large, I read through it in a matter of days. Not one page was not thoroughly entertaining, and this book was worth every penny - especailly at the great discount price I got by purchasing this at amazon.com. If you've never read this title, you don't conceive what you're missing. Give it a try. You will not be disappointed!

A great, great book by my favorite comic author. I plan on purchasing the Daredevil by Ed Brubaker Omnibus volume 2, even though it seems to cost significantly more than the first and has fewer pages on content.

I always liked Daredevil. Frank Miller's Born Again is one of my all-time favorite comic stories and Brain Michael Bendis' run on DD is by far the best (in my opinion). Now Ed Brubaker takes over and it's no suprise he continues the very solid story-telling setup by Bendis and Miller. It's also one of the most depressing superhero stories in recent memory.

This omnibus collects the first 25 issues of Brubaker's run on Daredevil. The first (and best) story of the bunch starts with hero Matt Murdock in prison with other inmates he helped put there as Daredevil (Kingpin, Bullseye and eventually the Punisher). After this strong start the story piles on several convoluted twists involving the return of Foggy Nelson, Vanessa Fisk, Tombstone, the Hood and other antagonists that leads into another "villain from the past returns to destroy Matt Murdock's life" story. Per usual Matt/Daredevil is put through the emotional ringer only barely managing to save the day (sort of?) but at incredible sacrifice.

What I've always liked about (good) Daredevil stories is there's usually no easy solution for our hero and that everything Matt/Daredevil accomplish comes from great ammounts of effort and every small victory leads into bigger problems/conflicts. Unfortunatly at the end of these 25 issues I had a hard time seeing any victory for our hero, large or small. Some people will find this ending clever and edgy, others will find it lacking with no real pay-off. What's even worse is that the villain that does (unconvincingly) take Matt down is pretty lame. Brubaker continues his run with 'Lady Bullsey'e and 'Return of the King' so I'm hoping for more resolution (and maybe hope?) for our hero.

If the story's not your thing the art definitly will be. Michael Lark is easily one of the best Daredevil artists and every frame in these issues draws you into hero's gritty world (the collected covers and concept drawings are terrific too!).

Bottom line: Ed Brubaker's Daredevil is a very solid read and highly recommended for any fan (especially at Amazon's lower prices). Just be warned: the story's a downer.

To begin this review, readers perusing this review section should be aware (and, doubtless, many have already noticed) that a number of the reviews here are not for the Ed Brubaker "Daredevil" Omnibus, but for an earlier one written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by Alex Maleev. It would be nice if Amazon would correct this. Incidentally, spoilers are to be found in this review.

Anyhoo, this Omnibus collects the first 24 issues of Ed Brubaker's run on "Daredevil" (#82-105) (another fifteen would follow), all but one or two of those illustrated by artist Michael Lark (who collaborated with Brubaker on "Gotham Central" at DC). This was Brubaker's second major Marvel project, after his landmark ongoing run on "Captain America"; "Daredevil" presented its own unique challenge. Whereas Cap's book had been a creative wasteland for at least a decade when he took over, on "Daredevil" he was following immediately after the landmark work of Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev, who wrote and drew the title for more than sixty issues. Brubaker's run on "Daredevil" does not redefine the character in the way he did on "Captain America", largely because Frank Miller beat him to it; like Bendis and other writers before him, he furthers the Miller interpretation set down more than two and a half decades ago.

Brubaker picks up immediately where Bendis left off, with Matt Murdock exposed as Daredevil and locked up in Ryker's Island maximum security prison. It's quite a tight corner to be written into, as Bendis himself acknowledges in this volume's introduction, but Brubaker was interested in telling this story, hence, Bendis wrote it. Loosely, these 24 issues consist of two 12-issue mega-arcs (further broken up into two six-parters each). The first of these, consisting of "The Devil in Cell-Block D" and "The Devil Takes A Ride", sees Matt Murdock in and out of jail, clashing with several of his most notable villains while on the trail of the mastermind behind the ruination of his life. The second, "To The Devil His Due" and "Without Fear", sees Murdock attempt to reclaim his life as a lawyer in Hell's Kitchen (taking into account the 15 following issues, the broad course of Brubaker's time with the character could be said to be Matt trying to go back to how things used to be but finding that isn't possible).

"The Devil in Cell-Block D" stands out as one of the finest "Daredevil" stories ever told; its followup, "The Devil Takes A Ride", is less successful (probably the single-weakest story in his whole run), though it ends well. "To The Devil His Due" and "Without Fear" dragged somewhat in monthly publication, but read much better in collected format. Overall, Brubaker demonstrates a superb grasp of Matt Murdock as a character. Supporting cast such as his estranged wife Milla Donovan, longtime best friend Foggy Nelson, newcoming supporting cast member Dakota North (a PI hired by the law firm; her part in the story only grows in issues subsequent to this collection), and reporter Ben Urich are all characterized excellently. Matt's rogues, from big players like Kingpin and Bullseye (the latter gets a brilliant two-page introduction at Ryker's) to minors like the Enforcers are likewise handled with precision. All of this is superbly illustrated by Michael Lark, who may be my favourite Daredevil artist.

All in all, an excellent collection well worth the attention of any fan of Daredevil and noir superheroes.

Essentially, the run picks up immediately after Bendis' last story where Matt Murdock ended up in prison. The first half of this book deals with the aftermath of that event and is basically a gritty prison tale. To make things worse, Foggy Nelson "dies" and the Punisher gets himself into prison to aid in Matt's escape. Also, the Iron Fist dons the red costume to patrol the streets in Matt's absence. The second arc has DD touring the world and reminds this old reader of the classic run by Dennis O'Neil in the 1980s (collected in the "Love's Labour Lost" TPB) with a globe-totting DD as well. Bru and company gives us the return of the Gladiator and Mr. Fear. To me, the Gladiator is a parasite. He's been surviving on Matt's favours for as long as the DD comics have been published and every other year or so goes insane again. More than the Gladiator, Matt's estranged wife Milla Donovan is also several fries short of a Happy Meal and the book closes with her being confined to a mental asylum as well. All that was courtesy of a revamped Mr. Fear that appeared more terrifying here than all his previous appearances combined. The idea is so incredibly clever that you wonder why no one has done it so well before - pitting the Man Without Fear against Mr. Fear himself, who understood that Matt isn't really without fear at all because he is not without love or friendship. He may not fear for his own safety but what about that of his friends and family?

Classic DD artists such as John Romita, Klaus Janson and Gene Colan also contributed art to this volume. Pick it up if you like DD written and drawn well. While it may not have been as popular as Bendis' run, on a technical level, Brubaker's run is the superior one. However, that may've been the problem with the run as well - it is so technically perfect that it at times come across a little cold. A lot of Matt's angst and tensions are buried deep within his psyche that you wish he'd just explode like he did against the Kingpin in Bendis' "Hardcore" arc. On the other hand, maybe that's what makes Brubaker's take on the character so good as well. Matt is a thinking man's hero just as DD is a writer's book. The morality is not so clear-cut black and white. The characters are far more complex than your average spandex crowd. Throughout Bendis' run, Matt's life has been thrown to the dogs. Brubaker attempts to rebuild Matt from the inside out - with a hero who relies more on his sense of civility (he is a lawyer, after all) and duty than simply his fists and ninja-training.

I'd be remiss not to mention the reappearance of my favourite supporting character in this book - Dakota North, private investigator. I thought that Marvel had forgotten this wonderfully tough female from the 1980s already. She hasn't been seen for close to 25 years and suddenly Brubaker brings her back to the DD title. I was told that she later had a one-night-stand with Matt. To me, she'd make a better companion and lover to Matt than any of the other women that he surrounded himself with in the past. Also, thankfully, there's no hint of Elektra anywhere in this book save for an appearance on a cover image.