Mark Waid has written Daredevil's tales since 2011, and in March he will be launching Volume 4 with the team of Chris Samnee and Javier Rodriguez.

In this short Q&A, we discuss the almost completed Volume 3 and what's ahead for DD in 2014. Many thanks to Mr. Waid for this opportunity.

Kuljit Mithra: With the last issue of Volume 3 almost here, some news that Daredevil fans may not know is that editor Stephen Wacker has left editorial to join Marvel Animation. Back in 2011, he took a gamble on you and the direction of the title. You've spoken many times about the creative teams you've worked with on the book (Rivera, Samnee, Rodriguez et al), but I wanted to get your thoughts on the editorial team. What did Wacker and Ellie Pyle bring to your DD stories that fans might not realize?

Mark Waid: Confidence. A trust in us that we were willing to take chances as storytellers and that they'd back us. Not many editors would have been as encouraging as Steve and Ellie have been when it comes to taking risks, from doing that one-off story about blind kids that could have come off as schmaltzy, all the way to the big reveal at the end of this week's issue. Moreover, I don't think Steve gets enough credit for having a great eye for artists. I can't take credit for finding any of the fine illustrators who've lent their talents to the series; that's on Steve. I owe him forever for Samnee.

Mithra: Now that you've got about 3 years of stories written... do you think of them as "Matt Murdock" stories, or "Daredevil" stories, and do you even consider the two to be separate?

Waid: HA! Funny you should ask -- I realized as I was writing the most recent script that I was using their names interchangeably in the panel descriptions. I really do think of them as one and the same, just as I used to with Flash and Wally West.

Mithra: DAREDEVIL has a reputation as having a less-than-stellar rogues gallery... so in your research, what villain just makes you shake your head at how bad they are?

Waid: I contend that there is no such thing as a villain who can't be re-envisioned into something menacing by the right creators, but that said, I would have a very, very difficult time making a case for Angar, the Screamer or Ramrod.

Mithra: Obviously you cannot reveal anything about why Matt makes the move to San Francisco, so let's talk about DAREDEVIL: ROAD WARRIOR first with Peter Krause. Was this always planned to be part of the "grand story" and it then became a digital comic? Do you plan out your stories in advance like this?

Waid: "HA!" --Mark Waid, 2014.

Ideally, I plan them out, but I'm always surprised by them. ROAD WARRIOR wasn't originally part of the planning to get to San Francisco, but Peter and I knew we wanted to do some sort of Infinite Comics for Daredevil, and Marvel backed it once Steve made the case that it could be the perfect transition between New York and California.

Mithra: Once ROAD WARRIOR is done (4 comics, correct?), we've got the new Volume of DAREDEVIL with the same creative team. Now I know you have no control over how Marvel makes the decisions to stop titles and renumber/relaunch them, but what's your stance on it? Was it okay with you because you felt this particular chapter was done?

Waid: In this case, yes, because we were making such a huge paradigm shift for the character and his world and his entire method of operation. We'd actually been given the chance to renumber last year, around the time of issue 22-23, but we said "no" then because it truly would have been an artificial break. This time, it makes sense.

Mithra: And last question, since I know you're very busy... what would be one semi-spoilery word to describe the new series coming in March? (and hopefully it's not "Tenderloin" <laughs>)

Waid: Two words: consulting detective.

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(c) 2014 Kuljit Mithra & Mark Waid
Daredevil:The Man Without Fear
http://www.manwithoutfear.com
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