On April 10th, time will stand still…….okay, maybe that’s a bit of a stretch. April 10th is a very special day for those of us out there who are Fans Without Fear….and have a Netflix accout. All 13 episodes of Marvel’s Daredevil, the Netflix Original series about blind lawyer/vigilante Matt Murdock will be available for binge watch consumption. While it’s only a few weeks away, it’s hard to wait when you’re this excited. To help tide you over, I will be showcasing some great DD comics and history right up until the week the series premieres, featuring a look at the greatest comic stories, hidden gems and an in depth look into the characters from Hell’s Kitchen! Come join me on this journey and find out why Daredevil may just be the best street level hero that comics (and fandom in general) has ever seen.
Last week, I gave you a list of the top 5 writers to work on The Man without Fear. This week, we look at the other side of the equation. Daredevil is a title to have been blessed with a wealth of great artists. Some great pencilers have cut their teeth drawing Matt Murdock jumping off rooftops. Frank Miller and Klaus Janson, John Romita, Gil Kane, Todd McFarlane…..and many more. Even today we’re treated to some of the best art in the industry as Chris Samnee gives us issue after issue of gold. What follows are my picks for the 5 BEST artists to handle DD.
David Mazzucchelli
Here’s an artist who made his mark on the character in a very short amount of time. Starting out with Denny O’Neil at the wheel, David presented DD with some very heroic visuals. It’s some beautiful artwork but only scratches the surface of the Devil’s character. His work on Daredevil becomes more impactful upon Frank Miller’s return to the title. The Born Again Storyline takes Matt, Karen Page, and the Kingpin to some very dark places and this darkness is felt on every page.
Here we get a moodier style from Mazzucchelli, with more shadow and mystery. The classic hero style gives way to a gritty realism that’s present in his work going forward. Born Again stands at the definitive Daredevil story to this day. It takes some skill to present a villain like Nuke and have him not look goofy but as an actual threat. He’s the only one to ever pull that off in my book.
John Romita Jr.
Daredevil is the character where J.R. Jr. perfected his style. When he started in comics, his work looked very much like a tribute to his father, John Romita. As time went on, Romita Jr. experimented with his line work, creating a boxy, exaggerated look that he would become synonimous with. This style took several years to hone and it’s in the pages of Daredevil where it truly takes shape. One of John Romita Jr.’s strengths is his ability to tell a story and to give it motion. He’s one of those artists that lays out a page in a way that keeps the eye moving from image to image, ready to turn the page to find out what happens next.
The urgency in his pacing coupled with very stylized pencils gave Daredevil a book where the action never stops. There’s also a humanity to his pieces that pulls you into some fantastical stories (like Hell’s Kitchen ablaze due to the work of demonic forces….you know, typical crime comic stuff) and still gives you a sense of the real person at the heart of the story.
Lee Weeks
Weeks was the perfect artist to take up the mantle after Romita Jr. left the book as he shares the same strength of pacing. He’s comfortable with both action adventure and “slice of life storytelling”, giving both Daredevil and Matt Murdock their time to shine. Whether it’s a knock down, drag out fight or a simple drink at Josie’s bar, Weeks makes you feel at home with the character.
Last year saw Week’s return to the character for the Daredevil: Dark Nights miniseries in which he tells the story of an injured Daredevil attempting to hunt down an organ needed to save a child’s life. The emergency courier copter bringing the organ crashed in a blizzard and now Matt’s the kid’s only hope. This story put everything that a Lee Weeks drawn Daredevil is made of: high stakes drama with a hero who has the cards stacked against him. Week’s proved with this book that he still knows the Devil inside and out.
Joe Quesada
I’ve said previously in these Countdown to Daredevil pieces: Marvel Knights saved Daredevil. The character was suffering low sales and had fallen completely out of public interest. Part of the reason for that was a lack of enticing artwork. When Quesada and inker Jimmy Palmiotti took over the character, they breathed new life into him. When I think of Daredevil, a lot of the time I’m thinking about some of the iconic covers and splash pages that Quesada produced for the title in the late nineties. There was a lot of jumping out of windows and off rooftops during his run, not to mention surprise killings, stabbings and general mayhem.
What stands out most is Joe’s vibrant take on what’s essentially a darker character. The Guardian Devil story is quite dark but the artwork for it is very rich and lively. I remember feeling satisfied when I came to the end of a Daredevil comic drawn by Quesada because the art was dynamic and felt larger than life. He brought an energy back to the character that had been missing for quite some time.
Michael Lark
Kind of an unsung hero, Michael Lark is one of the artists on Daredevil during it’s renaissance period. When Ed Brubaker took the writing reins from Brian Michael Bendis, Lark took over art chores and got to play with the toys that Alex Maleev had left him. Much like his previous work on Gotham Central, the world of Daredevil was a perfect fit for his storytelling style. What’s great about his time on the title is that it payed homage to both the current look of the title as well as the classic style that fans of Daredevil in the late 70s/early 80s could appreciate.
Lark’s visuals have an instant grit to them. You feel like you’ve been thrown into the seedy underworld of Hell’s Kitchen made famous by Miller and Janson. But you also get the grandiose stylization that Maleev was known for with fast, sweeping shots. It didn’t matter if it was a cellblock or a city street. Lark’s layouts made you feel like you were running with the Devil on his adventures into some dark and scary places.
So there’s my list of the best of best to draw Daredevil. Next week, I’ll be taking a look at the supporting cast of the blind vigilante and see how the characters stack up. Be sure to come back for more.
Marvel’s Daredevil debuts on Netflix April 10th.
If you’re gonna geek out, GEEK HARD!
Daredevil hits Netflix April 10th.