In the latest edition of Comics to Read Before You Die, Jessie Robertson looks at Daredevil: Guardian Devil….
Daredevil (Vol.2) #1-8 Nov 1998 – June 1999
Written by Kevin Smith.
Art by Joe Quesada.
Well, it’s October, the month where ghouls and ghosts come out to haunt, and Halloween, the time for dressing up in costumes, so this month I’m going to highlight some of the creepier great comic book storylines. You may be surprised to know that Daredevil, not always on the forefront of big comic book characters, has had as man, if not more, heralded comic storylines of all Marvel characters from the tales of Frank Miller to Brian Michael Bendis; gritty stories dealing with life, death and resurrection, reborn as something else entirely. This story, being near Halloween, and also being written by Kevin Smith deals with Heaven and Hell, and a reckoning from the Gates and Pits of those two places.
Our story opens on a young girl fleeing from a bad situation with a young infant in hand; she only knows she needs to get him to Daredevil. Her baby was born through immaculate conception; as in she’s never had relations so her baby was planted in her through powers we could not understand. Daredevil is extremely uneasy about this as he’s going through a breakup at the time; his long time love Karen Page has taken a job and ended things for good. Matt Murdock (Daredevil’s alter ego) has turned back to the Church for guidance. Shortly after receiving the baby, a series of tumultuous events takes place that throw his whole life into upheaval and start the genesis of the storyline.
Daredevil is approached by a mysterious man who knows the future and tells Daredevil that the baby is not a reborn Christ, but the Antichrist, here to doom all of the World and its wanton people. Matt’s partner, Foggy Nelson, was caught cheating with a woman who seemingly turned into a demon and was found murdered; he has been arrested and subsequently fired from their law firm. Matt calls in Black Widow for help to guide him with the baby, but he finds himself becoming ever increasingly angry and starting to believe the man’s story, even going so far as to almost tossing the child off the top of a roof. And lastly, Karen Page, the woman who just devastated him, returns to him with grave news.
If you’re not familiar with Kevin Smith (yes, that Kevin Smith) he’s directed several popular movies like Clerks, Mallrats, Clerks II and others; he’s the creator of Jay and Silent Bob (and Bob himself) and has a legion of devoted followers who worship his films and its universe. He’s also dabbled into comics from time to time and has generally been praised for his efforts. This story reads a lot more serious than some of his movie scripts but you still see flourishes of his sometimes juvenile humor; you also get a ton of cameos in this story, which is not surprising, because as a lifelong fan of comics, who wouldn’t want to have more toys in the sandbox to play with? The story has a lot of troupes about faith and not just believing it but using it to your advantage and it should be no surprise he wrote this while filming Dogma, a movie about two angels who feel they were cast from Heaven unjustly and want to undo a contingent that God himself sometimes makes mistakes; the movie also largely is focused on the Catholic church and how the world and it’s devout follow it’s beliefs.
The artwork feels very reminiscent of its time period, lush pages, with dialogue bubbles everywhere but Quesada does do a lot of panels justice, showing the darkness and pain in Murdock’s face, as well as Karen and Foggy’s. There are some nice multi page panels near the end as the final plot points are being pointed out and they come from a most surprising character which added a very interesting twist to the story.
I’m a fan of this book, and I read it a couple of times because, it is heavy-handed, Smith does get a bit wordy, and yes, Clark Kent is some reason drawn into this book, so my first read through I was compelled by the story, if not a bit confused, but I think it ties nicely together; and it’s not small; 8 issues gives you a lot of space to get comfortable with the story, and each issue adds another element to the growing story before you. It’s done in a really upward fashion that picks up momentum until the final conclusion is revealed. If you’re a Daredevil fan, its a must and if you’re not, pick it up anyways; it’s a great introduction to his world, his supporting characters and enemies with some great artwork depicting Hell’s Kitchen and all it’s grime and grit, as well as a well crafted story.
Jessie Robertson
