Daredevil Message Board

[james castle]

At the risk of being thought to have started a positive post at the behest of some people *cough, cough*, I'll just point out that my Omnibus Companion arrived from Amazon today and can report that it's the greatest thing ever. Unreasonable people might disagree but I'm pretty sure it contains the three greatest Daredevil stories ever. More than a few times people have asked what they should start with when coming to Daredevil and I'd say the answer is "the Omnibus Companion". Almost to the point where I think it's all the Daredevil you need. Everything else is a footnote.

The extras, are similarly, ridiculously awesome.

Just to be a bit negative:

The stories are weirdly out of order. It goes Born Again, Love and War and then MWoF. That's how they came out but storywise it's backwards. Which is kinda too bad because I already plan to give it to people and say "this is Daredevil". I think if you read MWoF and Love and War first the Kingpin's hate of Daredevil in Born Again would have a stronger impact.

I was ALMOST wrong. Previously I've argued that "Warriors" is not part of Born Again. Imagine my horror when I realized that "Warriors" is in the Companion right before Born Again. Then image my glee when I discovered a introduction to Born Again slipped into the Companion after "Warriors" and before Born Again. So I'm right.

While on the subject of me and right: there is no way on earth to read the Lark scene in MWoF that would lead one to believe that Matt didn't mean to kill him. He repeats, over and over and over again "I don't want to kill you. Let her go". Lark doesn't let her go and then Matt kills him.

My biggest complaint is the "dust jacket". Generally I hate dust jackets. I hate them so much. Hardcovers look so much better without them. The Uncanny Omnibus (everyone buy that too) looks awesome without it's dust jacket...it looks kinda silly with it. Yet, I can't bring myself to throw them away. Sigh. Well, the Companion has a half dust jacket (like the one on the limited edition Year One). What the hell am I supposed to make of that?
_________________
JC

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

[rgj]

The DD Companion is great. Having BA in this format is amazing. I wish they had included the letter's page (as they did in X-Men), though. Just to read some of the musings back in the day. Love and War is wicked cool. And, MWoF, other than the inclusion of Elektra is okay. And, yeah, like the helicopter pilot in BA, it's obvious Matt had to kill Larks. Self defense and the protection of an innocent really gave him no choice.

I look forward to the Elektra Omni. Assassin and Elektra Lives Again!! Should be great. I just pray the don't add Elektra Dancer and/or Elektra the Skrull stuff.

I really hope that Ann Nocienti gets an omni (or two!!). And, I would love to see Chichester's stuff too, I mean, Last Rites should be made available!!! It's a crime if it's not, as it ranks up there with the Miller stuff.

rgj

[Pete]

[rgj]

I think the only reason Warriors is included is because FM had a hand in it (Just as Bandlands is also included). Not because it has any relevance to Born Again. If anything, maybe it's just to remind readers who the heck Melvin Potter is, since he would play a minor role in the next arc.

rgj

[jumonji]

I's good to hear people are enjoying this book so much, I've heard the same from other people as well. I won't get my own copy until May since I ordered it with something else that hasn't been released yet (oh, well), but I'm really looking forward to it.

And yeah, dust jackets are something of a pain, especially since they're almost never in perfect condition when you get the book. Whatever protection they're supposed to provide usually isn't needed and they very quickly give the book a rather "worn" look.

So is the red/black version the one people have?
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The Other Murdock Papers

[Pete]

[rgj]

[Francesco]

[Pete]

[rgj]

[james castle]

Yeah, the transition isn't that seemless. There's a weird moment in Warriors where Matt declares he doesn't want to be a lawyer anymore which is obviously in contrast to Matt caring (a lot) about losing his license in BA.

Another weird thing is Foggy alluding to Elektra's death. One weird thing abotu BA is that there's zero mention of Elektra. There isn't even a hit of her existence. Yet in Warriors Foggy sort of implies she's a cause of Matt's mind state.

Speaking of which, in Warriors, Matt's mind state is that of a whiney baby. He's all like "oh, poor me, no one gives me a break". It's not at all the same as what he goes through in BA.

I think Miller obviously had a hand in it to sort of facilitate some transition (it is a monthly comic after all) but Warriors doesn't add to BA and might even detract a bit insofar as there's a feeling that Matt is on the edge because he's so hard done by.
_________________
JC

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

[blacktyphoid]

[Jim B.]

This looks really great but I didn't know if I wanted to spend so much to get something I already have the original issues for and the trades for already. Is the coloring and paper and the extras really make it really worth getting?

As for issue 226 Warriors. I think this is a great story and should be included because Frank did partially write it. But as for whether it is a real lead in to Born Again, I don't know. I don't really see it actually. If you read it and Born Again there are some big differences to how Matt is acting. Issues 220 to 226 are Matt dealing with the aftermath of Heather's death. He begins to feel very sorry for himself and unhappy with his life. He neglects his relationships with Glorianna and Foggy and his work as a lawyer (even to some degree before just Heather died, 215 comes to mind when Foggy gets mad at him for just taking off to Arizona ,which he tells him about in 221) Foggy does mention that why Matt is so unhappy is he never got over Elektra's death and this is a relevant thing to why Matt is acting why he is acting before Born Again. If you read 226 you see that Matt was probably going to come out of his funk though. He says something about coming out of his haze and fog for the first time since... at the end of the story. Also Denny O'Neil was supposed to keep on writing the comic, he had a another story planned that featured that Blackbird guy (or something like that I can't remember his name now) I have an old Marvel Age comic that shows a page of it that never made it to the comic. But Denny went off to DC to be the new Batman editor so his DD run came to an abrupt halt and Frank Miller went right into his story. I think if Denny had kept doing the comic Matt's life would have gotten better again. Matt was messed up in these days but crazy? I don't think so. It wasn't until the Kingpin destroyed his life in BA that he went over the deep end. But it could be argued that everything he went through before this helped him go over the edge a lot easier.

As for him not wanting to be a lawyer anymore in 226 but in 227 it was still so important for him not to lose his licence to practice law you could just chalk it up to how he was feeling at the time about everything. I mean how many of us have been fed up with our jobs or someone we care about and thought we wanted to walk away from it or them but when we got our mind and thoughts together we realized how important it was to us no matter the trouble it was giving us? It happens in life a lot.
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"This isn't hell, but you can see it from here." -The Crow

[Neilan]

[Syrinxx]

Re: "Born Again", this is justifiably thought by some DD fans as the best DD storyline ever. I would also have to add it may be the best comic book storyline of all time, period - I know that's a strong statment to make, but BA is so good, it's almost unbelievable.

I first read BA in TPB-form back in the mid-1990's, and was extremely impressed. I hadn't read DD for years at that point, and this story blew me away. In all, I've read it probably 3 times, and each time is better than the last. I like how Miller takes everything away from Matt/DD, so he has to literally build himself back from the ground up. The stakes in BA are probably higher for DD than in any other storyline. The incredible David Mazuchelli artwork really enhanced Miller's storyline as well, and I can't imagine another artist doing a better job.

Some sequences that especially stand out:

* The beginning scene with the Kingpin on the cruise ship, when he finds out DD's secret identity. Very intense, especially when you remember that at the time this story came out (late '80's), DD's identity wasn't known by half the Marvel Universe like it is today.
Artwork-wise, the panel that stands out the most here is when the Kingpin is standing on the ship, with the setting, red sun in the background and the smoke from his cigarrete trailing in the air - incredibly cool, and very cinematic!

* The scene when a disheveled/disoriented Matt Murdock confronts the Kingpin, and gets the tar beaten out of him - very disturbing, and though you have to give Matt credit for taking on the Kingpin, it's also sad because it's obvious he had nothing to lose, and probably didn't even care what happened to him at that point.