Marvel Masterworks: Daredevil (Marvel Masterworks, V. 17) [Hardcover]

Stan Lee (Author), Wally Wood (Author)

Book Description

Series: Marvel Masterworks, V. 17

The epic adventures of Daredevil, the Man Without Fear, continue! We open with an epic adventure alongside Ka-Zar in the Savage Land against pirates and monsters! Then, manipulated by the Masked Marauder, Daredevil is pitted against the power of Spider-Man! And when Foggy Nelson dons the Daredevil suit, he's targeted for death by the murderous Gladiator! Plus: the return of classic foes the Ox and the Owl!

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 248 pages
• Publisher: Marvel Enterprises; 1st Ed. edition (September 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871358069
• ISBN-13: 978-0871358066
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,088,783 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gene Colan takes over as the artist for "Daredevil", March 31, 2003

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Marvel Masterworks Daredevil Vol. 2 HC ComicCraft Cover (Hardcover)

The theme of this Volume 2 collection of "Daredevil" comics for the Marvel Masterworks series ends up being not about the character but rather who was going to be the definitive artist for the series. These ten issues of "Daredevil" start with John Romita (Sr.) doing the illustrations over Jack Kirby's layouts and then his own pencils, but then we have the first appearance of Gene Colan, who I always considered the definitive artist for the Man Without Fear. Yes, Frank Miller has few peers when it comes to creative layouts and he redefined the character when he was writing and drawing the comic book, but nobody draws better looking women in the Marvel Bullpen than Colan. Actually, "Daredevil" was not his best work, which appeared when he drew "Dr. Strange" and "Dracula," but this was the comic book where he established himself as a first rate artist.

"Daredevil" was always one of my favorite comics, long before Miller gave it cult status. Part of it was Colan's distinctive artwork, but I also liked the character's secret identity of Matt Murdock, attorney for the downtrodden. I always thought this made DD the ideal Marvel character to have his own television series, which could involve equal parts courtroom drama and superhero action, but the movie pilot they did a few years back simply did not click. This particular collection of ten issues are dominated by a couple of team-ups between old hornhead and a pair of other Marvel heroes, Ka-Zar, Lord of the Jungle, and the Amazing Spider-Man (check out the classic cover on issue #16). I always liked the scene where Spidey figures out Daredevil's secret identity and tries to get Foggy Nelson to confess. In terms of villains there is a two-issue fight with the Gladiator (whose whirling circular saw blades on his gauntlets always struck me as a rather bad idea) and Colan's debut involves a two-part return engagement with DD's old nemesis the Owl.

On the interpersonal level the love triangle between Matt, Foggy, and Karen Page hits a low point when Foggy dresses up like a rather frumpy Daredevil to impress Karen and has to be rescued by the real article. The Spider-Man issues are above-average but you will not really find any classic "Daredevil" tales here. What you do have is the stage being set for the first period of glory days in the history of the comic book, when Matt had to create his twin brother Mike and the Jester first showed up to cause headaches for old hornhead.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but could have been better..., March 30, 2002

By 

King Ghidorah "jatocean" (North Hollywood, CA United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Marvel Masterworks Daredevil Vol. 2 HC ComicCraft Cover (Hardcover)

I see that some people criticsized the previous Daredevil Masterworks volume for the coloring -- i.e. coloring was too garish. Well, unfortunately that again is the case with this volume. The coloring is garish and simplistic. This really backfires on the Gene Colan issues since his rendering technique had a subtletly and style to it. That type of illustration really calls for a corresponding subtlety and style in the coloring. Unfornatunately that's not what we get with these reprints. And didn't Frank Giacoia ink issue #20? ...

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars awesome art, important stories, sub-par writing, September 22, 2010

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pig doctor (cali) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Marvel Masterworks Daredevil Vol. 2 HC ComicCraft Cover (Hardcover)

I bought this due to all the love I had for the first volume of the Daredevil Marvel Masterworks (collecting issues 1-11). Issues 12-21 (collected herein) are nowhere near as good. These stories have a very old-world adventure feel to them, with DD almost acting as an Indiana Jones type. For some reason, the writing just doesn't gel with me, and Stan Lee seems like he's going through the motions even more-so than he had in other books at the time (basically, all titles that weren't the Fantastic Four or Silver Surfer).

The art on the other hand is brilliant. John Romita Sr. was an absolute master of the craft. Every image jumps out at you with stunning pop sensibilities. His art was a visual forerunner to the amazing work that Gene Colan would provide for many years on the Daredevil title (Colan's first two issues are the last two in this volume). The art is even an unbelievable step above the work of Bill Everett, Joe Orlando, Wally Wood, and Bob Powell in the first volume.

The stories within are also important from a character-history standpoint. Ka-Zar's origin is discovered, the Gladiator is introduced (a villain who, second to the Kingpin and Bullseye, appears in every major DD writer's run), the Masked Marauder is introduced (a villain who later dies under the ink of Frank Miller), and Daredevil meets Spider-man for the first time. In fact, based on Romita's work drawing Spider-man in Daredevil, Stan Lee took Romita off of Daredevil and gave him penciling duties on the regular Spider-man title.

Even though Daredevil's my favorite superhero, if I knew the content of this book beforehand, I wouldn't have shelled out the money for it. But, due to the gorgeous art, there's no way I could ever get rid of it.

writing: [5/10]
art: [9/10]