Daredevil Message Board

[MikeMurdock]

Hey guys, I was hoping you could help me out with something. I’ve spent the last year or two catching up on Daredevil, thanks to the Ultimate Collections I was able to manhandle Bendis & Brubaker’s runs in 3 trades a piece. I’ll admit that this is by far my preferred reading method. I like having multiple story arcs in one place, with durability so I can bring it to work etc. and it seems to be the most bang for your buck. I’m skipping the Diggle and Shadowland stuff and moving right onto Waid and Volume 3 but I want to read the 36 issues sooner rather than later so I can start buying Vol. 4 on the shelves.

I know it’ll likely be sometime before Marvel trades all of Volume 3 together in one place so in the interim I should either pick up the smaller 5 or so issue trades or the hardcover trades that have 10 or more issues in them. Amazingly, if I pick up all of the smaller trades the Volume 7 TPB that has 31-36 doesn’t come out till Sept while the hardcover Vol. 3 that has 22-36 is out in July.

Now that I over explained everything, here is my question(s). How are Waid’s storylines written? Do the individual 5 issue trades cover things thoroughly? Is it like Slott’s Spider-Man stuff where each trade is a small arc that’s part of a more grander storyline? Also, do the hardcovers with 10+ issues only come in hardcover or is there a softcover version available? I don’t particularly like having hardcovers but I want more issues per trade….

Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

[Dragonbat]

Waid sets things up in early stories that get used in later arcs. I'm not familiar with Slott's Spidey, so I'm not sure, but from your description, it sounds like something similar.

What we have, for example, is in #3, DD goes up against Villain A. He knows that Villain A is not working alone and doesn't know who the big bad is. However, a few issues later, we run into the Omega Drive arc (i.e. other stuff to worry about). A couple more issues and then we get to more dangerous Villain B. There's a reminder that someone else is orchestrating all this. Something that comes all the clearer with Villain C. We find out who the mastermind is in #27, a full two years after we discovered that there WAS a mastermind.

The thing is, Waid does a very good job when it comes to keeping the title accessible and filling in readers who may be picking up a given issue for the first time, knowing nothing about the character beyond the basics (if that). My first DD ever (unless we count a reprint of Vol 1 #1 in Son of Origins of Marvel Comics) was Vol. 3 #18. I got hooked and went looking for back issues—not because I needed them to know what the heck was going on in the story, but because I wanted to learn more about this guy and catch up on the previous 48 years!

I'm not sure how cost-effective this is for you, btw, but if you join Marvel Unlimited, then for $69/year, you can browse their back issues for no additional charge. They add most new releases after 6 months. That could be an option if you just want to read but not own Volume 3.

Personally, I'm buying the new issues on Comixology, but using MU for Vols 1 & 2. Partly because I only found out about MU a few months ago and was already buying 3 on Comixology and partly because I want to support the current creative team and I worry that if I wait 6 months to read the titles for free, if enough people follow that line of thinking, it will affect the sales for the title. Stuff that's already in the back issue bins? Whole 'nother story.

[MikeMurdock]

Thanks so much for reply! Unfortunately, digital isn't an option for me at the moment. I only have a desktop and the idea of reading comics on there isn't very appealing. Perhaps in the future if I get an iPad I would totally go that route.