Customer Reviews

Daredevil Vol. 3: Wake Up

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

 

 

DAREDEVIL: WAKE UP on the surface looks like the story of Leap-Frog, a second-rate costumed villain in a city filled with costumed heroes and villains. While battling Daredevil, Leap Frog disappeared and no one knows--or much seems to care--what happened to the criminal. The disappearance is a mystery that no one seems interested in finding the answer to. The story ultimately unfolds the truth of Leap Frog and how that truth affects his young son, Timmy. Ben Urich, reporter for the Daily Bugle, reports the story, tracking down the clues left in the comics pages Timmy constantly draws. Urich is also a good friend of Daredevil, who remains distant about what truly happened to Leap Frog. Besides the mystery that Timmy's drawings elicits, and the close-mouthed way Daredevil has, Urich also has to contend with J. Jonah Jameson, the toughest newspaper editor ever birthed. Jameson doesn't want the story, doesn't understand Urich's compelling need to ferret out the facts and report them, and threatened Urich with his job. Yet, Urich remains steadfast, seeking to understand Timmy's twisted thoughts, striving to break down Daredevil's silence, and to find out what Leap Frog was about and what truly happened to him.

Brian Michael Bendis is a two-time Eisner Award winner, one of the most prestigious awards in the comics field. His strengths are dialogue and maintaining realistic integrity to character and plot even in fantasy worlds that involve costumed superheroes and villains. He's currently writing POWERS, the monthly title he created that has been acclaimed and nominated for numerous awards, DAREDEVIL, ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN, ULTIMATE MARVEL TEAM-UP, and ALIAS. He's also written for the SAM & TWITCH series which spun out of SPAWN. David Mack is the creator, writer, and artist of KABUKI. He's won several nominations for Eagle and Harvey Awards, and is a comics writer as well as artist.

The graphic novel gathers issues #16-19 of the regular DAREDEVIL series. Readers should take a good look at Bendis' soul-searching through the character of Daily Bugle reporter Ben Urich. Urich tells the audience of his desire to be a writer of import, someone who has made a difference with the words he's chosen. Urich believes that the only way to bring a failing newspaper audience back to that medium is to offer them stories that they can't get anywhere else, reflections of their own worlds. An astute reader will recognize this as Bendis' own mantra to bring comics readers back into the fold. One of the amazing things about this story is how conspicuously absent Daredevil is from the pages and the action of the story, yet everything centers around the Man Without Fear. The sheer storytelling skill Bendis has with this medium, and with the particular story he's chosen to tell is almost overwhelming. DAREDEVIL: WAKE UP has everything a good comics story should have: character, suspense, mystery, and some of the deepest emotion human beings are capable of. In addition, David Mack's painted pages are outstanding. The painted panels jar and scream in a voice that is entirely their own, and they appear to punch out reality of Timmy and Ben and even Daredevil while carrying on the illusion of a well-developed comic book universe.

DAREDEVIL: WAKE UP definitely belongs on the shelves of any serious comics collector or Daredevil fan. If fans of Bendis' POWERS work or Mack's KABUKI think that costumed superheroes such as Daredevil are passe, this graphic novel is definitely one that could sway that judgment. With the Daredevil movie coming out in February, DAREDEVIL: WAKE UP is a great graphic novel to get into the whole superhero experience and find out who all the major players are going to be in the movie.

In Wake Up, Daredevil takes a back seat to one of my all-time favorite supporting characters in the Marvel Universe- Daily Bugle reporter Ben Urich.

The story is deceptively simple: Urich, assigned to cover the trial of The Kingpin (This story takes place simultaneously with the previous DD collection, Parts of a Hole, but is free-standing, and requires no knowledge of that story..), instead becomes obsessed with a darker, more personal story: Low-level career criminal Leap-Frog has vanished, and his young son, Timmy, has gone into a state of shock. He draws pictures of Daredevil, Leap-Frog, and a mysterious character, "Fury", battling each other...As Urich explores the connections between Timmy's condition, Leap-Frog's disappearance, and Daredevil, the shocking truth emerges....

David Mack's art is stunning, and Brian Michael Bendis contributes some of his most thought-provoking scripting ever. The only problem I had is Urich's flashbacks of Elektra and The Kingpin. I've been a fan of Daredevil since I was a child, so I got all of the refrences; Newer readers would just be confused. Maybe an afterword explaining these sequences would make the story more new-reader friendly. Otherwise, this is one of the best Daredevil stories, no, make that the best STORIES, I've read in a good long while. Highly recommended!

I got introduced to this comic through my interest in David Mack, I've been an avid fan of Kabuki for a few years now. The storyline and artwork in this comic are phenomenal. At first it just appears to be a story based around a child being traumatized, by seeing Daredevil dispatch a villain. But there is a very dramatic twist, and I was thoroughly immersed in this comic by the second issue. If you're a fan of David Mack, might I suggest the TPB Daredevil: Parts of a Whole. David Mack writes the story, and Joe Quesada and David Ross are the illustrators.

As someone who grew up on comics and then took a very long hiatus, this story arc was the one that got me back into them. The art in these books is breath-taking. It reminds me of the havok/wolverine stories from the 80's only better.

When I was a kid I thought Daredevil was pretty lame. I could never get into the characters (granted I was more into mutants and giant robots but...) This story arc totally converted me. I really enjoyed the art, particularly when Mack mixes media like watercolor, pen and ink, and what looks like acrylic. It's fantastic.

Moreover, the next run of several story arcs by Bendis and Maleev is amazing. If you like superheroes but want stories with a more mature feel you should get these books.

I will not deny that Bendis is my favorite writer putting material out these days for Marvel. Loeb,Pak, and Strazynski would have to be runners up. And these guys are Bendis's dust as runners up. This collection in Wake Up is Daredevil 16-19, which is out of print by the way. It's Bendis's first run on the series, and with the outstanding art by Mack, it is a brilliant start. It is a sad story, dealing with both Daredevil and Murdock, but it's much deeper than that. I don't want to give away a lot, but this isn't just superhero stuff here. This is real life tragedy that deals with kids and it is not lighthearted by any means. Way to go. I know that Bendis ended his run and Brubaker took over, but it was Bendis that really made Daredevil the book that it is today. Peace and Love, Jake.

Why would that be surprising? Well, for starters, it doesn't have a lot of Daredevil/Matt Murdock in it; at least not on the surface. Secondly, as a reader who usually goes more for the writing than the art, this is a story that I love more for the art than anything else. That's not to say that the writing is bad (good art usually can't save bad writing), but that the art is so stunning as to be a very rewarding experience in and of itself. As far as the writing is concerned, this is a very gripping and emotional story told from the perspective of Ben Urich who through his narrative really brings to life the "real" people of the Marvel Universe. Beautiful! Highly recommended.

3 and a half stars.
"Wake up" is the first, 4 issue, Daredevil arc that Bendis did before he got the regular job, with art provided by David Mack (who wrote the DD arc "Parts of a Hole", and then helped Bendis get this, and later, job's apparently).

Wake up is an interesting DD tale in that it really doesn't involve Daredevil, as a character, all that much at all, who doesn't appear until the third issue, and is featured prominently only in the last (so if your expecting lots of cool action/fighting, try some other recent DD tpbs like "Hardcore" or "King of Hell's Kitchen" or "The Murdock Papers").
Rather the story focuses on one long standing DD character, Ben Urich, an investigative reporter and long time friend of DD and his investigation into what happened to a traumatised little boy, who happens to be the son of (a new) Leapfrog. Thus it's a character exploration of Ben Urich, which is fascinating of your unfamiliar with the character or love the character or boring if you really don't give a damn about him (I'm about half of both).
The story itself of what happened to the little boy is strangely slim (ie. the mystery could have been set up and solved in one issue) and well trodden (ie. plenty of similar stories within comics and literature/films etc.) but manages to be individually compelling at the same time. Still the whole arc could have been shortened to two issues without losing it's strength, but this IS Bendis.
Overall this arc is a interesting piece on Ben Urich and a involving investigation into a boy (who I believe is meant to be parallel of DD character). They may be more to it, but I'm just too dumb to figure it out.

The art by David Mack is fantastic and features very unique layouts and many different styles such as pencils (to imitate Joe Quesada cartooney style) inks, paints, black and white, crayons etc. , however I found myself laughing at some of his realistic faces such as Peter Parker, the boy wonder (a youthful DiCaprio) and other's that look way too young. However his art I feel suits this particular story. Unique and different pretty much sums it up.

I myself kinda regret getting this, as I wanted some ninja kickarse DD action, but it stands well on its own, trust me.

They didn't make comic books like this when I was a kid. Coming back into the realm of comic book reading only last year, after a too-long hiatus in the serious world of "grown-ups", I was amazed and delighted to find how wonderful this genre could be. The Daredevil movie prompted me to seek out the title again, and one of the first I read was the Brian Michael Bendis/David Mack "Wake Up" trade paperback. The brilliant storytelling and the unmatched artwork had me spellbound.

The story that jumped off the pages at me was unlike anything I had ever seen between the covers of a comic book. Timmy's plight and the way the doggedly determined Ben Urich sought to find the hidden answers were graphically depicted in the most beautiful watercolor illustrations and child-like crayon drawings, interspersed with what I had always thought of as "comic book art".

David Mack's photorealistic renderings make the saga heart-wrenching, while Bendis's scripting takes the Man Without Fear to new heights, and gives us the ultimate moment of tenderness between a boy and his hero. Never thought a comic book could make me cry.

Bendis's prose and Mack's art are wonderful together. If you haven't seen this team in action, you are missing a treat.

I picked this book up at the tail end of a Brian Michael Bendis bender -- once I'd read all the "Powers" collections, what was left...? And having read it, I'm looking forward to the rest of his "Daredevil" stories...!

I think this was the start of his stint scripting DD (in issues 16-19) and while the overall story has a bit of a been-there, agonized-over-that feel to it (a child abuse victim goes into catatonic withdrawl, until the adults can catch up to what he's been through...), Bendis manages to hit the right notes to give this story some punch. Bendis and illustrator David Mack work together on many levels, with the art complimenting and commenting on the text and the story arc in various ways... Mack slips and slides between a photorealistic presentation and a more disjointed chicken-stratch style that accentuates the chaotic inner dialogue of Timmy, the little boy who's mental health is at risk. The artsiness of the illustration is distracting through most of the book -- Mack's work calls a lot of attention to itself, and you are frequently made aware of his Technique, with a capital "T", but in the revelatory climactic sequence, the interplay of the constrasting styles really pays off. The story is told from the vantage point of newspaper reporter Ben Urich, so there's not a lot of the Matt Murdoch/Daredevil character in here, which actually is fine; it's a nice change of pace.

Overall, this a good story, well worth checking out, and an appropriate entry point into the Bendis-penned DD storyline. Recommended!

If you look at my other reviews, it will be patently obvious that I am a big fan of BMB -- please excuse my simple taste. I will stray from that here by saying I am not a fan of this book.

The first reason is David Mack. I know a lot of people like him, and he does have a lot of talent for capturing light with watercolors. I understand his own books are really good, and I liked his covers for Alias a lot, but his angsty teenager style (like the way he writes words into his drawings) is a little hard to take for Daredevil. I also couldn't stand how Peter Parker looked EXACTLY like DiCap and their secretary bore a ridiculous resemblance to model Kate Moss. I mean, photo referencing is fine-- clearly, I excuse it of Maleev-- but could he use less recognizable faces please?

And I think Brian Michael Bendis' work is not as compelling here, either. I have a big problem with comics that do the "child in trouble" storyline. I mean, what is up with this city? Why are children always in some sort of contrived danger? This storyline has been done too many times. JMS did it, twice, on Spiderman, and that's unfortunately when I stopped reading that book. Bendis doesn't really find Daredevil's voice until "Out" with the help of Alex Maleev. I would pass on this one and start on volume 4.