Been awhile since I posted. I realize I do most of my posting during work. My reading of Daredevil continues. I jumped back and read Guardian Devil and finished up Bendis's run as well as the "Devil in Cell Block D" story by Brubaker.
Other than a couple of good scenes at the end, I didn't think Guardian Devil was very good. The religious themes weren't very interesting and the baby/second coming plot device pulled the tone from a gritty street level story to a more high powered/high stakes one that just doesn't fit Daredevil. Overall, it felt like the writer's bad attempt at emulating "Born Again". The author might as well have been Mysterio. Maybe he was aware that he couldn't stack up.
Bendis's run on the other hand was very good. It never hit the same highs as Frank Miller's run did for me, but it was consistently good throughout. I really enjoyed Matt jumping off the deep end and becoming the Kingpin of Hell's Kitchen. Shows how terrifying an angry Daredevil can be. Bendis's writing is definitely different here than it is in his current work. Maybe it is the fact he's writing a solo character, but it generally feels like the quality of his writing has gone down over the years. During Daredevil, there were only a few times I noticed the conversation flow he overuses now and his humor was much more varied. I think it might have to do with Daredevil being a pretty serious character while the X-men are more lighthearted so he packs in too many jokes into X-men.
Haven't read much into Brubaker's run yet, but I do like that it is a direct continuation of Bendis's run. "The Devil in Cell-Block D" also makes me want to find all of the issues with Daredevil and The Punisher teaming up or interacting. I really like the dynamic between the two characters. Anyone know of any specific Daredevil/Punisher stories that are good?
Daredevil has become one of my favorite superheroes pretty quick. My only real exposure to the character was the movie and him showing up during Rucka's Punisher run. Those and those pages where Daredevil is tied up with the gun pointed at Frank gave me a different impression of the character than what I've experienced in his books. I thought he was going to be more lawful and in control of himself. Idealistic. Boy was I wrong. Matt is an angry man stuck in a tornado of shit hitting the fan. I can't wait to read more.
