Daredevil Message Board

[tmckenna]

The topic pretty much says it all -- what are your favorite Daredevil "What If" stories that Marvel has put out over the years?

If you can, could you please give a brief synopsis and explanation of why you like it?

Daredevil-related is OK, too.

(I'm looking to pick some up and want some advice from the experts and the peanut gallery.)

Thanks,
Tom

[Dimetre]

I like "What if Elektra Had Lived," because it's heartbreaking. The Watcher tells Matt that everything would have turned out exactly as he would have liked. Frank Miller was firing on all cylinders with that one.

I also liked "What If Nuke Had Lived," because Matt found a way to make Nuke work for him.

[AP]

I always liked "What If... The Punisher Killed Daredevil?"

It's been awhile since I read it but I think this is how it goes: DD gets shot by the tranquilizer dart like in DD #183 or #184 but falls off the roof. The death is accidental but the superhero community doesn't react well, especially Spidey. Many attepmt to hunt The Punisher down and in the end a lot of heroes and villains end up dying.

I like it because is shows how the superhero community really feels about Ol' Hornhead, especially Spidey. I also like it because it shows what would really happen if Spidey's identity was made public. Stupid Civil War.

I also like "What if Elektra Had Lived" a lot as well. I haven't had the chance to read a lot of the other What If DD issues unfortunately.

[tmckenna]

All of the issues you guys mentioned above are going to my "to buy" list.

I'll post back when I get a chance to read them.

in the meantime -- thanks!

Tom

[baker]

I think What if Elektra lived again is the best too. It's typical-strong Miller DD. Another good one is Daredevil vs. Elektra, which came out last year. It's influenced heavily by Miller too. A really bad one would be What If...Featuring Daredevil by Rick Veitch. Veitch is one of my favorite writers, but its atrociously bad.

[AP]

Oh man! I completely forgot to list Daredevil vs. Elektra! Yeah, that one is awesome! Definitely one of my favorites. I love The Advocate's costume.

I'm so glad you mentioned it baker. Any time I mention that issue no one knows what I'm talking about or they seem ambivalent about it. I loved it. What would Matt be like as a villain? Yeah, too bad Shadowland didn't take a few pointers from this issue.

[baker]

Oh yeah, I never realized how much the premise of DD vs. Elektra is like Shadowland. That's really weird!! Maybe they released it to see if a demon-possessed DD would work before they did Shadowland (or maybe they stole the idea!!). Too bad DD's called Lord Daredevil instead of the Advocate. I swear, every time in Diggle's run where they had the choice between doing something cool or dumb, they'd do the dumb thing.

[theunrealstudios]

i've always liked "what if Karen page had lived". Not the best "what if" story out there mind you but it was one of those stories that shows all the horrible stuff that would've happened to Matt had he killed the Kingpin and been convicted of being Daredevil.

not really a "what if" story but i also liked the day dream Matt has in the court room of 81 (i think that's the issue?) at the end of the bendis run, where he imagines going on the run, suffers another horror at the hands of Bullseye and has a heart to heart with Elektra.

[hardboiledzombie]

I'm going to go out on a limb here with the radical choice of "What If Elektra Had Lived". Like Dimetre said, it's definitely heartbreaking. Therefore, it fortifies the tragedy of Elektra's death, making her resurrection all the more gratuitous.
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"When it comes to that one final, fatal act of ending you...my gun has no bullets."

- Daredevil, DD #191