Daredevil Message Board

JoeBullseye · Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2012 9:40 pm Post subject: Favorite DD writer?

I have been reading Daredevil for about 15 years and have at least 350 in order. I find every time they change the writer I have to readjust my thinking a little bit about the character. I have my favorite runs like anybody else. So who is your favorite writer on DD? Miller, Bendis, Mack, Brubaker, Waid, or someone else. I am just curious what the general population of this site thinks who's best.

Solid_Payne · Flying Blind Joined: 03 Sep 2012 Posts: 16

1. Miller
2. Waid
3. Brubaker
4. Bendis
5. Nocenti (?)

The reason Bendis is put 4th is because he takes too many issues to tell a simple story. Yes, the story was quite good, but he was clearly writing for collected editions, and his writing reads like a scipt for a play, and I personally believe that it's not the right pace for a comic. Too much reliance on word balloons and he has trouble ending his arcs and his overall run. Brubaker has this problem too at times, but he understands pacing better. Stuff actually happens issue-to-issue, as well, which is a plus. Miller is of course the best no contest. Just very imaginative and inventive and took real risks and experimented with the art. Very different from say Michael Lark who's work I respect, but not because he innovates or pushes boundaries. (in fact, Lark really shouldn't be drawing superhero comics). Waid really is revitalizing the character and I couldn't be happier. He actually gets that just because Miller did something, doesn't mean he has to. He was the perfect remedy to get the taste of Diggle's run out of my mouth. Art has been perfect so far, and I love that the whole world has a cartoon feel while also being dark and seedy behind the scenes. Very cool.

Daredevil24 · Humanity's Fathom Joined: 06 Apr 2011 Posts: 367

1 Miller
2 Brubaker
3 Bendis
4 Mack
5 Smith
I despise Mark Waid's Daredevil series.

james castle · Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 1:35 pm Post subject:

Daredevil24 · Humanity's Fathom Joined: 06 Apr 2011 Posts: 367

Why won't I laugh?Because I don't find it funny, if I wanna have a laugh i'd read Spider-Man or Deadpool.I have alread discussed why I don't like Mark Waid's DD on another thread and I know the masses here love him so i'll just leave it at that.

james castle · Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 11:59 am Post subject:

Daredevil24 · Humanity's Fathom Joined: 06 Apr 2011 Posts: 367

It's ok bro,no worries.

Nightwing2001 · Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 5:14 pm Post subject:

Got to go with Miller for number 1 too, his early run plus Born Again, nothing anyone's done on the book will ever come close to the greatness of that stuff.

2. Ann Nocenti

3. Mark Waid

4. Denny O'Neil

5. Ed Brubaker

Crimson Cowl · Flying Blind Joined: 27 Sep 2012 Posts: 9

I'm way out of date and haven't read Daredevil since the mid 90s. It's something I'm hoping to catch up on a bit. The Chichester stuff didn't impress me.

Anyway, my first choice is probably against the grain as its not Frank Miller (gasp!).

1. Ann Nocenti
I adore her run on DD with Romita Jr. It's absolutely my favourite period. The supporting cast evolved into a real society around Murdoch with haunting portraits. Her takes on established Marvel characters were inspired too. The ones with the Human Torch and Ultron stand out particularly as the most brilliant insights I've ever seen into those characters.

2. Frank Miller
Groundbreaking, both in terms of writing and art. An amazing initial run followed by Born Again which is probably the best thing he ever wrote...but brilliant as it is I still prefer Nocenti.

I've read Brubaker's Captain Americas which I really liked so I'm looking forward to his DDs. I've also read Bendis's Avengers, which certainly have some merits but overall I'm not too keen on. I suspect DD (and indeed Luke Cage) are things he's better suited to so I'll have to see.
_________________
Do you think your petty concerns matter to such as I?

Pete · Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 1:28 pm Post subject:

In no particular order ...Nocenti, Miller, Shooter, Thomas, Lee, Bendis, Kesel....and Waid

ninjacop · Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2012 5:05 pm Post subject:

My reading of DD is limited to vol2 onwards, but i'm hoping to collect some of the essential DD volume collections. So here's my list

1) BMBendis
2) Waid
3) Mack
4) Brubaker
_________________
"Wait, it's about to rain, when it rains it's like I can see"

Ryu Murdock · Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2012 2:20 pm Post subject:

My list...

1. Brian Michael Bendis
2. Frank Miller
3. Ann Nocenti
4. David Mack
5. a toss up between Ed Brubaker and Mark Waid

"The King Of Hell's Kitchen" is my favorite storyline, ya see.
_________________
"I'm only a DEVIL to those who are demonic."

Solid_Payne · Flying Blind Joined: 03 Sep 2012 Posts: 16

I'm curious as to why Bendis's run is considered the best by so many. I agree that it has some amazing moments and storylines, but taken as a whole, I felt it really lost some momentum about halfway through. The stories became important because Bendis, while speaking through his chatty characters, won't let us forget that they are important, which is a criticism I have with a lot of his work. The sheer amount of dialogue leaves less space for subtlety and literally less space on the page for the art. Seriously there are times when reading it felt like a chore when after every turn of the page you're bombarded with word balloons. I feel that this style doesn't take advantage of comics as a medium. In a play or movie, those little conversational quirks, second guessing, back-and-forth exchanges are great because they can be done in stride while maybe raising the tension or keeping it the same (characters can be doing other interesting things onscreen while talking, and this makes their dialogue less tedious) In comics, when you hit those walls of dialogue, it doesn't do any favors for the tension or the pacing, it just slows everything down.
Obviously comics have different rules than movies or plays, but when you write the dialogue so similarly to one, I expect the same rules to be followed. Every panel is essentially a beat, so when you flood it with text, that beat overstays its welcome, especially when the artist isn't good. Fortunately Maleev is very good, so it's not as big a problem.
There's a lot to like about Bendis's writing, sure. When he's at the top of his game, he writes very witty dialogue, great grounded characters, and the right kind of darkness when it's appropriate to the story. There are also times when his characters talk in circles, or find 5 or 6 ways of saying the exact same thing, so as to make it seem like there is an actual exchange of ideas and character development when it might be lacking.

I'm not attacking anyone's opinion, but I am just curious to see how your tastes differ from my own. I love Miller, Brubaker, and Waid because they mix the street-level crime with actual fun concepts that don't just revolve around urbane depression and paranoia (which can be very interesting, but not for nearly every single issue). They have weaknesses: Waid has taken the increasingly stupid Omega Drive idea about as far as it can go and it doesn't look like he's done with it just yet. Brubaker had some issues that were just uninspired, especially compared to his Cap run. They did, however, know how to have fun, even when things got dark.

AP · Flying Blind Joined: 08 Jul 2010 Posts: 55

Solid_Payne, I couldn't agree with you more. You outlined just about all the problems I have with Bendis. Only thing I would add is how he sometimes forgets (some might say disregards) continuity. I still enjoy his work on the book, but not near as much as others.

Ryu Murdock · Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 5:32 pm Post subject:

I love Bendis' run because it's not a rehash of Miller's. I mean, a hundred and seven yakuza thugs was a welcome sight compared to ninjas. And Bendis took DD's fight to the streets (sometimes literally). I have loved DD way back since I was a kid. But say I'm a new DD reader that started with Smith's #1, yeah I will be intrigue with DD and Bendis will elevate the hero to being my favorite.

IMO, Bendis is not your typical comic book writer, or he does not write comics in a conventional way. He writes as if it will not be drawn later on, that's why he tends to be wordy. But I love it, love how he presents his stories.

Wordy or not, conventional or non-conventional...What he ultimately did is bring DD to heights that are different to the heights that other writers have put DD before. Well yeah, DD has been outed before but not to the level that he did it. Bendis made DD the Kingpin, he married him, he had him arrested. I don't want to list all of them, but like I said. The things that happened to DD are things that are new to him, and also new to us readers. So really, what's not to like?
_________________
"I'm only a DEVIL to those who are demonic."

The Message Board is currently in read-only mode, as the software is now out of date. Several features and pages have been removed. If/When I get time I intend to re-launch the board with updated software.