Daredevil Message Board

[The Overlord]

Haven't posted in almost two years, but I think recent events in the DD universe has convinced me to post again. Man that is a real downturn in the quality of the DD title.

Anyway is Andy Diggle the worst DD writer ever?

[Francesco]

I'm not going so far as to say that he was the worst writer ever only because I didn't like how shadowland turned out.

[The Overlord]

[Pete]

I can't vote 'yes' as I haven't bought any of his issues. I stopped buying the book early into Bru's run when it became clear to me that it had just become another of those books that looked pretty but had very little to say. The problem with writing Daredevil is that in it's long history there have been some very good writers, and some rather excellent ones, and I actually think some people are rather daunted by the prospect of following on from some of the greats.

From what little I've read, other bits I've only seen or glanced at, and reading through other comments here, Diggle has no grasp of the character, has only managed to destroy, not to create, (the easy option), and has only managed to mess around with other peoples toys in the sandbox ('Oh, I think I'll be clever and use Elektra, Oh, I think I'll get DD to kill Bullseye, that'll get 'em talking on the message boards for years') which all adds up to make him either a) a fool, or b) a bad writer or c) a puppet for the latest dictate from on high at Marvel. Either way, he has no place following on from some of the greats

A writer not giving his all, or a mediocre writer, or a writer not able to take full control of the book through being dictated by the latest 'big event' corporate whim, is not going to flourish on this book. Which is why I believe Diggle, Joe Kelly, Bob Gale or Chichester from #301 onwards to be among the worst DD writers ever. I have no interest in analysing their 'work' at any great length to decide which of them is 'the worst', but if I could I'd just stick them all in one vote labled 'crap'.

I loved it when DD managed to avoid the latest Marvel 'big event' as he is at his best when he is not involved in all that crap. We need a writer with both the vision and the guts to persevere with the title and create original, well thought out, character driven tales about Matt Murdock. Everything else is just window dressing.

[Francesco]

Thing is, I can think of worse writers than Diggle, but I'm not sure of who I could call the worst. If you take Brubaker's last 12 issues, in my opinion they were worse than the 12 issues Diggle has written.

[Dimetre]

I had to think about this, and I ended up voting yes.

I always thought that Chichester was the worst Daredevil writer ever. He needlessly got rid of the red costume, needlessly gave Daredevil an armored costume (even though he is the man without fear) and made the book unreadable. I have no idea what Tree of Knowledge is about to this day.

But Chichester never had Matt choose to kill, and I think the character is going to be negatively affected by that for years to come. Why would Diggle do that? That's inexcusable. It's one thing to do a bad job, as Chichester did, but it's another to come on to the job and arrogantly take the character places where he has no business going.

[DesignDevil]

In no way, shape, or form is Andy Diggle the worst Daredevil writer ever. Shadowland was terrible yes. Diggle deserves blame for that because it was born out of his ideas and yes he did write it, but it was "co-written" by Marvels editorial. That is the main reason it is such a creative failure. Diggle's Daredevil issues were all solid. Even the Shadowland tie-in issues were decent, they were just tied to a terrible "event" miniseries. Daredevil Reborn looks like its shaping up to be something good.

A better question would be: Is Shadowland the worst Daredevil story ever? Easily one of the top 10 worst DD stories ever in my opinion. Definitly the worst since the early 90's.

Overall the only problem I had with story Diggle wanted to tell, before editorial turned it into an "event", was the whole Beast possession. I'm fine with Matt finally killing Bullseye. It all should have been Matt Murdock's final fall from grace. Having him be possessed cheapens it.

[Pete]

[Darkdevil]

I don't consider Diggle the worst DD writer ever. He may have come up with the original concepts for Shadowland but it was Marvel who decided to 'up' it into an event that, overall, failed.

Now that things have calmed down somewhat, hopefully Reborn will redeem Diggle to some degree.

I didn't mind Brubaker either. In fact, I think he left the book with the greatest change in recent years with Matt taking over the Hand. Taking the title and character in a different direction that has always been hinted at over the years infused both with new energy. Shame the potential was wasted.

[Francesco]

Leaving the book with a great change doesn't imply being a good writer.

[Foggy's Pal]

[Darkdevil]

I give Brubaker huge credit for that change though. He left a bigger cliffhanger than Bendis left for him. It represented a monumental shift in the mythos that should've had a more lasting effect than this.

Brubaker may have had his problems, but his style of writing was more appropriate to this kind of comic than say, his run on X-Men. As it stands, I'd take his work over Diggle's at this time.

[The Overlord]

To be fair to Brubaker I did like the fact he tried to build up DD's rogues gallery.

[Darkdevil]

So does Chichester rank as second-worst now?

I'm digging out my issues of Fall from Grace and Tree of Knowledge to re-read them. I remember liking certain elements of these stories, but I haven't read them since their original release.

What about Joe Kelly's work? Like or dislike?

[baker]

Worst writer ever???? really? guess you've never read anything by chris claremont or roy thomas....