Daredevil Message Board

harryhausen · Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2008 4:24 pm Post subject: The Fall of the Axe......

Well, team, I know most of you will find this crazy, but I'm going to finish out this 'Lady Bullseye' arc and drop DD......

Shocking, huh?

I have hundreds and hundreds of issues and the last 114+ since the (wretched) K. Smith "re-invigoration," but I'm just not feeling it any more. I don't have the cash to drop on books that are just keeping the numbers sequential in my longbox, you know?

I recently re-read 'Born Again' and think I would rather just re-read classic DD periodically than buy the current run. I don't like the cinematic, "realistic" tone of the book. The art is not my cup of tea. Most importantly, though, I'm just so, so tired of this piling-ludicrous-woe-on-Matt trope. I almost hope someone kills him, just to end the cycle.

I'm not a fan of film (well, you know, Alphaville and whatnot) and don't own a TV. I am winning my personal war against the moving image. I don't like it when comics read like storyboards from mediocre TV shows. Come on - embrace the medium! I like the heady rush of a comic in all its ridiculous, garish madness.

Lastly, I have watched with dismay as I'm driven away from Marvel. Secret Invasion was very slight, at best. Brand New Day? No. The X-books are annoying (please give the flagship title to Mike Carey, you dolts! He's the only X-scribe who can write!). I was raised a Marvel Kid. Now I'm pulling 9 DC titles! What happened?

I think my distaste with Marvel in general has affected my tolerance for slogging along with this DD......

I know you can say that I'm denying the basic tenets of the character or the nature of comic characters, generally. Perhaps.

And so....I'll check in because I respect the opinions of all you fellow posters. I hope the worm turns soon and I can like it again, but for now, Make Mine uh, something else?

Oh, and I don't mean to presuppose that you folks should even care about my departure, I just thought some other readers may be feeling my frustration? Or at least understand my points. Or maybe someone wants to send me $3 a month to keep the numbers up for DD?

jumonji · Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2008 5:48 pm Post subject:

Well, I for one am sorry to see you go. I think you've been great to chat with on these boards, and you seem like a great guy. So please, do check in with us from time to time, okay? Wink

I can sort of see where you're coming from. Daredevil has ceased to be a classic superhero book. I personally think it's better for it (in fact, I'm enjoying Brubaker more than I think I've enjoyed any other writer, while still respecting the "groundbreakingness" of the Miller run), but I understand that not everyone agrees.

What I do agree with you on is that Secret Invasion was utter garbage, and I'm not one to toss words like that around lightly. But I always felt like Daredevil was the exception to some of the more questionable directions Marvel editorial has chosen lately, and I still feel that way.

I do wish Bru would light up on the guy though. I've said before that I feel that Matt Murdock is like an actor who's been typecast into only playing one kind of role, when he's really much more versatile than that. He's got a sense of humor (much better than Spidey's if you ask me), and having him smile in two consecutive issues wouldn't ruin the character nor the tension of the story. But I've lived in Seattle for two years, so I guess I can learn to appreciate even months of rainy days when well executed. Wink

All the best to you in your future journeys into narrative fiction! Okay, so that sounded pretentious, but you know what I mean. I hope.
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james castle · Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2008 11:10 pm Post subject:

Yeah, sorry to see you go. I'm really not feeling DD right now either. Haven't been since volume 1 of the Devil Inside and Out. At the same time I've been collecting it for so long that I will literally keep buying it out of habit until I die. If I could live through the Kesel run, etc., I can live through this.

In unrelated news is Carey's X-Men that good? I'm tempted to pick up his run but have never gotten around to it.
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JC

So why can't you see the funny side?
Why aren't you laughing?

Kirika · Flying Blind Joined: 05 Sep 2008 Posts: 57

I am always sad to see someone drop DD. Personally, Kevin Smith's run was where I started buying DD and Bru was the reason I got back into comics after a 2 year hiatus, so I can't say I feel the same way about the title that you do.

However, I agree that DC has been the better of the two lately. Every month it seems, I pick up another DC title and drop a Marvel.

Anyway, happy reading!

FatalRose · Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 12:53 am Post subject:

Why does Marvel totally outsell DC? Right now I think I enjoy more DC books, but last I read Marvel was owning DC in sales.
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james castle · Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 1:51 am Post subject:

Because Marvel puts sales first. They put potential sales ahead of quality over and over again. Hence, better comics from DC but more sales for Marvel.
_________________
JC

So why can't you see the funny side?
Why aren't you laughing?

Francesco · Underboss Joined: 08 Jun 2006 Posts: 1307

Stanley · Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 5:30 pm Post subject:

I am totally feeling this too.

I haven't bought a DD comic in...a year, maybe...?

I respect Brubaker, I think he does great work, and DD is always where my heart will reside.

But I think the idea that everything is a neatly constructed 6-issue arc just bugs me. I don't need a bunch of one-shots, but surely we can have something where his greater story is moving forward, but we're resolving something big enough in every issue...

I dunno. I think Bendis's lost year/Decalogue really took it out of me, so much so that when Brubaker simply came on and just piloted Bendis's run into his own, I was worn out.

I'm fighting the "wait 30 days for possibly marginal results" thing, I guess. I don't like thinking, "Oh, a six-issue arc about Taskmaster? Great. There's half a year of my life before I care again."

It's not an indictment of Brubaker, more the editorial decision-making.

Meanwhile, these characters aren't going to age, and the status quo really ISN'T going to change, so where's the incentive? The thought that you might actually die before your favorite character does kind of unnerves me. I want to know the end of the story, and all this 'act 2' stuff is wearing thin.

We've got more stories that just build on little bits of the past, making little revelations that add diminishing returns to the mythos. Honest question: do they even try to create new heroes anymore? I don't follow comics generally. Would anyone have the guts to retire the old guard and create the new?

This post is way more negative than my usual calling someone out. That's probably not a good thing.

james castle · Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 8:12 pm Post subject:

Well, some people try to create new heroes. A few of those people (mainly Robert Kirkman) succeed. Invincible is an awesome comic, in no small part because Mark/Invincible actually grows up and ages in it. Runaways is also a good example of new heroes.

At the same time, you can make good stories with existing IPs. Joss' Astonishing X-Men was awesome and was able to say new things about Cyclops. New things about Cyclops! That's crazy.

For me, Bru's just not that great a writer. Everyone loves him because he's "noir". And that's great as long as you think "noir" means "slightly more talk than usual combined with 'mysterys'".

Like I said, I'll buy DD until I die but for now I'll be over in a corner enjoying Fables.[/url]
_________________
JC

So why can't you see the funny side?
Why aren't you laughing?

jumonji · Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 3:34 am Post subject:

Acerbus · Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 5:48 am Post subject:

Gloria · Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 8:30 am Post subject:

james castle · Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 10:12 am Post subject:

james castle · Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 10:21 am Post subject:

Stanley · Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 11:06 am Post subject:

The Message Board is currently in read-only mode, as the software is now out of date. Several features and pages have been removed. If/When I get time I intend to re-launch the board with updated software.