MARVEL
MASTERWORKS: DAREDEVIL
VOL. 3 (Marvel,
2012;
Softcover)
Collects
Daredevil
Nos.
22-32 and Daredevil
Annual No.
1 (cover dates November, 1966- September, 1967)
Writer:
Stan Lee
Artists:
Gene Colan (pencils) with inkers Frank Giacoia (Nos. 22-27), Dick
Ayers (Nos. 22 and 28), and John Tartaglione (Nos. 29-32 and Annual
No. 1).
God
damn Gene Colan was good! One of the things that I love about
these old school comic book artists is that the shading was done in
pencil versus using a computer nowadays. There is something more
realistic about this technique, even when coupled with the primitive
four color printing process of the day. Flatter colors tend to suck
me in, while millions of colors and bells and whistles can pull me
out when used wrong. This is not a slight against modern artists or
colorists at all. I'm just marveling at the artwork and craftsmanship
in the same way that a carpenter would marvel at woodwork in an old
house.
Stan
Lee's writing is great. People bag on ol' Stan, usually out of a
misguided loyalty to Jack Kirby. You don't have to hate Stan because
of Kirby's bad business dealings. And really, the business side of
things has nothing to do with where my head is at as a reader. Of
course I want the writers and artists to get a fair rate and/or
royalties, but at the end of the day it is really none of my
business, and unless you are a family member or heir, it's none of
yours, either.
Not
everything Stan Lee touched turned to gold here. There are a few lame
ideas thrown into the mix this time out. The first bad idea is Matt
Murdock's third identity, that of his “twin brother” Mike
Murdock, a silly Silver Age story convention if ever there was one.
Matt's co-workers, Foggy Nelson and Karen Page, have become
increasingly suspicious of his wafer thin reasons why he disappears
whenever Daredevil appears, and why things seem to center around
their law office for our hero. “Mike” is an obnoxious, arrogant
version of Matt who just happens to hang around the office when Matt
is nowhere to be found.
One
of the more interesting, yet unexplored, subplots is when Matt
decides that he is going to propose to Karen Page. He can't figure
out whether to do it as Matt or Mike. There are other points where he
almost falls out of character, confusing his alter egos with one
another. This is a precursor to the more schizophrenic Moon Knight
storylines that Doug Moench would write a dozen years later. The
worst scene is when Matt is supposedly Mike who is supposedly
Daredevil who dresses up as Thor to smoke Mister Hyde and the Cobra
out of hiding. This is almost as dumb as what DC was doing during the
Silver Age.
Stan's
second lame idea is Electro and the Emissaries of Evil in Daredevil
Annual No. 1. The story is nothing more than a weak retread of
the Sinister Six from Amazing Spider-Man Annual No. 1. Electro
was a member of both, but no mention is even made to this story. This
has to be one of Stan Lee's laziest scripts ever, as he phones this
issue in big time. The issue was more or less a bloated, let's bring
new readers up to speed affair. These were done time to time, and I
remember appreciating them in the olden days before the Internet made
researching the history of any title a piece of cake.
There
are jewels buried in this sand, though. The return of the Masked
Marauder, and the way that his identity was revealed was very clever.
Ka-Zar's trial. The introduction of the Leap Frog. The return of the
Stilt-Man. I love how villains talk when Stan Lee writes them. They
always return “more powerful, more deadly than ever”. I love it.
And of course the Mister Hyde and Cobra story is great, with
Daredevil hopelessly outclassed but coming out on top anyways.
So
while there are several more volumes available in hardcover, my
marathon has come to a screeching halt for the time being. I buy way
too many books, and have many more rotting away in my backlog. Since
Daredevil is strictly second or third tier to me in terms of
overall interest, I will only buy them when the softcovers are
released years down the road, or perhaps if an Omnibus comes
out. Either way, I can hold out, and I'm sure that the stories will
still be great. What's another few years to wait to read 45+ year old
comics, anyways?
Junk
Food For Thought rating: 4.75 out of 5.
The
OCD zone- I love these softcover Masterworks. Not only do they
provide state of the art restoration and colors faithful to the
original palette at a bargain price, but they lay flat in one hand
like a giant periodical.
Linework
and Color restoration rating: 5 out of 5. This is like a Blu-Ray
disc release. Daredevil in high definition.
Paper
rating: 5 out of 5. Dull matte finish coated stock, not too thick
but a fair weight.
Binding
rating: 4.25 out of 5. These softcover Masterworks have a nice
thick band of glue. They are wider than a standard trade paperback
because they are printed in the dimensions of the original comic
books, which were slightly wider than early '70s-on comics.
Cardstock
cover coating rating: 5 out of 5. Nice thick, waxlike coating
fills me with confidence that this book will look pretty for years to
come.
Join
my Facebook group, DC Collected Editions Fans Who Want Sewn Binding and Books That Lay Flat,
making the world a better place since 2012.
