Daredevil Message Board

[jumonji]

While everyone is waiting for the next issue, how about we talk about least favorite writers? While I may be one of the few who really didn't like Ann Nocenti (even before the whole Mephisto business), I can't deny that she's a great writer, so she's not my pick. I also really didn't like Kevin Smith (don't get the whole Kevin Smith hype, although I know a lot of people on this board agree with me), but I'm not going to pick him either.

In both of these cases I've mentioned, I don't have problems with the writing itself but with their handling of the characters. Seriously, Kevin Smith lost me as early as the "Matt threatening Karen with hell if she didn't go to church with him" reference. Yuck! Personally, I've never seen Matt/DD as a character who would push his personal beliefs on anyone, and that whole story arc is way too religious for me. Then again, I grew up in the most secular country on the planet so maybe it's just me. Hey, maybe this means I'm going to hell.

Okay, so who is my pick for worst writer? Drum roll please... Okay, here goes: Steve Gerber. His first two issues (Vol 1 #97, #98 ), Gerry Conway worked out the plot and Gerber did the scripting, so they don't really count. Not that I'm a huge fan of those two issues either (the Dark Messiah arc). The issues he wrote entirely by himself were #99-101 and #103-117. I don't know what the heck that guy was smoking, but his stuff is just weird.

His first issue (#99), features Hawkeye and isn't too bad I suppose, but #100 is just crazy. On the first page, we see DD flying in over San Francisco at the helm of the Avengers' jet (I wonder what their insurance company would have to say about that, but that's a different story...). The weirdness continues from there as DD actually uses the word "yonder" (yes, that alone strikes me as weird), goes through some odd origin story flashback during an interview with a reporter, goes back and forth between realities in a very LSD sort of way and is introduced to Angar the Screamer. All this in one issue. And, yeah, he manages to meet all his favorite foes during that LSD trip with the Jester and Leap Frog making notable cameo appearances. The story continues in the next issue, which comes off as a tad bit more normal. Favorite quote? "Death at Angar's hands here at the center of the mind-storm! In a psychic wasteland! Here -- where sanity means nothing -- 'cause nothing is all there is!" Yeah, that's some deep stuff right there...

Anyway, all his other issues all seem completely random to me, and I have no idea what he's trying to say with any of it (if anything at all). The fact that the stories featuring Moon Dragon come off as the most sane of them all says a lot. Well, that's my pick! What's yours?
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The Other Murdock Papers

[Francesco]

Quesada in DD:Father really wrote an atrocious Daredevil/Matt Murdock.

[jumonji]

[Gloria]

[Francesco]

[jumonji]

[Neilan]

You know, I always thought that Steve Gerber was my least favorite DD writer, as well. It wasn't that he was a bad writer, it's just that although I loved science fiction, I didn't think that injecting such a heavy dose into DD was appropriate for the title. Now, after looking through some of the old issues, I see that it was really Gerry Conway who started DD down the cosmic path of ridiculous experiments gone awry and the confusing time travel conspiracy. For me, it starts with the Man-Bull. Not the worst villain ever created but alot closer to the worst than to the best. He was working for the mysterious Mr. Kline, who we found, about 14 issues later, was some kind of futuristic robot assassin. The whole thing just never totally made sense to me and seemed like it should have been in the Fantastic Four or some other book where one would expect that type of story. DD wasn't exactly the "street" hero he went on to become, but it was all too Kirbyesqe for DD, to me. When Gerber came along, he kept that same feel, unfortunately, ratcheting up the conspiratorial, ridiculous, scientifically suspect villains. From the Indestructible Man to Terrax it just went so in the wrong direction for me. But given that he was actually following the pattern set by Conway and the fact that Gerber created Nightstalker, my vote goes to Gerry Conway. I liked his Spider-Man, hated most of his Daredevil.

Dishonorable mention goes to (I'm really going to hear it now) D.G. Chicester, who wrote some excellent issues and then fell victim to Scott McDaniel's voodoo. Chicester's the only writer who I would put in the top 10 and the bottom 10.
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It's never too late to have a happy childhood!

[Dimetre]

My least favourite period on Daredevil was when Chichester was on the book, so the brown excrement award goes to him as far as I'm concerned. Yes, yes, Last Rites was great, but Fall From Grace and Tree of Knowledge were complete trash. I didn't care for Scott MacDaniel's art, but it's not all his fault. Chichester got the writer's credit, so the plot and dialogue and characterization is all of his fault.

As for Quesada, Daredevil Father started out promisingly enough, then it got bizarre and by the time it ended it all added up to absolutely nothing. Worst Daredevil writer of all time though? I don't think he was as bad as Chichester.

I've never read any of Gerber's Daredevil stuff, so I can't comment directly on the issues. But was Daredevil really defined stylistically at that time? Before people like Wolfman, MacKenzie and especially Frank Miller came along, was there really a firm set of guidelines saying, "This is how Daredevil talks, and this is the flavour of the book?" I don't think Lee, Thomas and Conway had done much in the early days of Daredevil to really distinguish the book from the rest of the Marvel books.

[jumonji]

[james castle]

Smith. Killing Karen in such a pathetic way would have won him the award all on its own but Smith really went to the wall to pack as much bad writing into Guardian Devil as he could. On the wider scale, GD is a plothole filled mess that makes no sense whatsoever. On the smaller scale, so much of the dialogue was just painful. I remember actually sighing in disgust when I read the hacky Dazzler name drop. Oh! Dazzler! Wow. Yeah, Smith sucks.
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JC

So why can't you see the funny side?
Why aren't you laughing?

[Pete]

There are a couple of names that spring to mind, but Gerber isn't one of them.

Admitedly, his run isn't up there with the greats on this title. In the early days especially, he seems content to carry on the sci fi silliness of his predecessor, but later efforts, with particular note to the Man Thing/Gladiator/Deathstalker issues, are fine.

Chichester is the immediate name that finds a home in a thread like this. All writers have bad days, I know. Even Miller, Nocenti etc produced issues that were below par. But Chichester held the reigns during the worst time to be a DD reader, being responsible for the longest run of duff stuff in the titles history (IMO, the good issues from between #301 to approx #340 can be counted on one hand, and the travesties that were Fall From Grace, Tree Of Knowledge, etc don't even make a shortlist). I stop short of making him the worst DD writer ever, however, as I honestly believe #292 -#300 to be a great little run, with #300 still, after all these years, still up there with the best issues ever.

No. Only one person could ever qualify (so far) as the worst. I don't care if he was 19 or 90 when he began writing the title. His run actually coincides with one of the best penciller/inker teams on the title. I never tire of looking at Colans stuff, especially when inked by Tom Palmer. But even the stellar artwork can't hide the fact that the writer is, at this stage of his career, bereft of ideas, (just look at all the resurected DD foes from the early early days, one after the other) or inspiration ("I know, I'll relocate DD to...San Francisco!! Why? Um, because I once went on vacation there and anyway all the other Marvel heroes are in New York").

Gerry Conway went on to do some OK things in the industry. I really like some of his Spiderman stuff, and I've never read, but heard good things, about his JLA.

But, whether he was learning his trade or not, he is still the Worst Ever Daredevil Writer.

[Neilan]

Wow, Pete, you just poured my heart out. Thanks for expressing my own feelings, but much more eloquently.
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It's never too late to have a happy childhood!

[Jim B.]

No question for me it's got to be Kevin Smith.
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"This isn't hell, but you can see it from here." -The Crow

[comic boy genius]

I think Kevin Smith really had a bad run with his Daredevil arc.Killing Karen Page was that just a cheap shock tactic to gain readers attention ? But in the Marvel universe the golden rule was Only Bucky and Thunderbird stay dead! Well Ed Brubaker bring back Karen to further complicate Matt /DFaredevil's personel life? Ok some Im getting a little off track, back to Kevin Smith.I like his movies but his comic writting I am not a fan off ,so my choice of least favorite writer goes to Kevin .(Sorry Mr Smith)

[Gloria]