World Famous Comics: Daredevil Visionaries Vol. 1: Guardian Devil
Daredevil Visionaries Vol. 1: Guardian Devil
By: Kevin Smith Publisher: Marvel Comics Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Marvel Comics Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 192 Publication Date: October 01, 2001
Great stuff...... First off, I was'nt in tears, as one reviewer has claimed, but I was in awe of the great writing and artwork!
I read "Daredevil: Guardian Devil Vol. 1" for one reason, because Kevin Smith wrote it. I like his comedy and movies, figured his first attempt at writing the entire story for a graphic novel was worth reading!
This novel has a nice (intro) written by Ben Affleck and a nice (afterword) written by Kevin Smith!
The story is excellent, I'm not a huge comic fan, so I was'nt fully aware of Daredevil's backstory, but I didn't need it, the novel explains it easily!
Along with Kevin's great story, this novel also features alot of classic characters such as: Spiderman, The Thing, Bullseye, Black Widow, Mephisto, Dr. Strange, Kingpin and Mysterio
Good stuff, recommended!!
almost made me a Daredevil fan I admit that I'm not much of a fan of Daredevil. I don't know why, but for some reason he never drew me in. But I saw Kevin Smith wrote it (and Queseda was the artist), and since I love his writing in his movies, I thought I'd check this out. It's really good. Though I'm still not a 'devil fan.
I don't think so... I noticed that most of these reviews were written shortly after this arc came out. Now, almost ten years later, I think it deserves to be looked at again with fresh eyes. After having read what came after, with Bendis+Maleev and Brubaker+Lark, this just doesn't measure up. And quite frankly, it doesn't measure up to the last couple of years of Volume 1 either. I'm glad Kevin Smith came in and created a lot of hype since it meant getting Volume 2 off to a good start, but I think the hype is bigger than the quality.
Smith's material comes off as needlessly preachy in the "Catholicism department," and the plot is a little wacky. I also have problems with the pointless death of Karen Page (I guess that's a bit of a spoiler, but I guess most people picking this up in 2007 would know about that). I also can't stand Joe Quesada's art, but that's just a personal preference.
Daredevil is an amazingly versatile character that works as both fun and upbeat (like under Kesel and Kelly, respectively), and as dark and gritty (Miller, most of the people that followed Miller, Bendis, and Brubaker). I wouldn't say that Smith doesn't get the character - he obviously loves the character - but I think many other writers understand him better.
If you're completely new to DD, you might as well skip this whole chapter. At the very least, it doesn't add anything important to the mythos.
Graphic SF Reader Not bad, but not as good as people say, I think, this tragedy of Mysterio. A loser supervillain builds up an elaborate revenge and other fantasy around Daredevil. This is in large part due to the fact that is dying of cancer. As a consequence, Daredevil has a lot of problems, and loses a long time lover to AIDS, as she was an ex-junkie.
Daredevil's other tragedy Everybody is always ranting about DD and Elektra's star crossed and doomed love. And it's wonderful . They also talk about his Dad's tragedy and his mother's absence. Also great. (You get that I am talking, from a storytelling standpoint? Don't you?)
But Guardian Devil is right there with those, and in my opinion, beats them by a nose.
The best Daredevil story ever. Shows us DD and Co. as human beings full of angst, hopes and contradictions. You feel for DD as he deals with his issues with Karen Page, his upbringing and Bullseye. Cameos by Spiderman, Dr. Strange and the lovely Black Widow help a lot. Who turns up to be the bad guy --his motives & behavior-- are just right for the story. Gorgeous view of a sad place where love and doing the right thing still matter.
(Did I say the Black Widow is gorgeous in this?)
Don't mean to put down Frank Miller's Born Again. Or Loeb & Sale's Yellow. That is simply impossible. But this is great. I always liked DD, but this was the story that put him over the top for me. After reading this, I couldn't stop rooting for Matt Murdoch's life to get better. He now gets to share living quarters with Bruce Wayne and Peter Parker in my Hall of Fame for Most Interesting Super Hero Alter Egos. This is the graphic novel that got him there.
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