Daredevil Vol. 1 by Mark Waid

Like a lot of people, I was pleased with the quality of Marvel's Daredevil series on Netflix. It was a gritty and violent entry into the usually bright and sunny Marvel Cinematic Universe. If you still haven't gotten around to it, don't worry, I won't be spoiling the show here. Instead I'm taking a look at some recent comics featuring everyone's favorite blind lawyer/vigilante.

This Volume 1 of Daredevil, written by Mark Waid, contains Daredevil issues  #1-10 and #10.1, and in the middle there's Amazing Spider-Man #677 because Matt Murdock teamed up with Spidey for a bit, which I'll come back to. Jumping right in, this run has almost nothing in common with the Netflix series. It was Waid's intention to move away from the dark and gritty tone started by Frank Miller, and this Murdock is so cheerful that it gets on the nerves of his longtime friend Foggy Nelson.

Here Daredevil battles less realistic foes than he had in decades, like one who can create portals for himself, one made out of sound waves, and Mole Man (the first enemy the Fantastic Four ever faced). Though despite the supernatural turn that the world has taken, there remains a dark underbelly to the adventure; The Spot breaks someone's neck after appearing from his chest, and the Mole Man's self-imposed mission is to steal caskets until he finds his deceased lover.

The main story arc involves an "Omegadrive" that is coveted by five different crime organizations, including AIM, Hydra, and Black Spectre. Murdock gets his hands on it and has all the leverage as the criminals fight amongst themselves. Black Spectre hires Black Cat to steal the Omegadrive from Murdock which is how Spider-Man gets involved. I appreciated that there was a continuing story element throughout this volume, except a harrowing sidestory in which Daredevil has to save schoolchildren after a bus crash.

This was not what I expected from Daredevil comics after experiencing some of Frank Miller's 80s run, but I enjoyed it and I look forward to checking out Volume 2.