Marvel's Daredevil (Netflix)

[Silver Nemesis]

Set pics from season 3.

And some season 1 concept art showing D'Onofrio in Fisk's classic comic book outfit.

[thecolorsblend]

I checked, double-checked and then, to be on the safe side, consulted with three different teams of experts.

But in the end, yes, those findings are nothing but awesome with a side of epic.

[Silver Nemesis]

Willow star Joanne Whalley is playing Sister Maggie.

"We are big fans of Joanne's work and are fortunate that someone of her caliber will be joining our already talented family," said Marvel TV boss and Daredevil EP Jeph Loeb today of Whalley joining the cast with Cox, a returning Vincent D'Onofrio plus series regulars Deborah Ann Woll and Elden Henson. "Joanne is a rare talent and a terrific creative collaborator," declared Oleson. "Watching her bring her role to life has the writers all pinching ourselves."

https://deadline.com/2018/01/marvels-daredevil-joanne-whalley-netflix-cast-series-1202269118/

Which means Matt Murdock's former stepdad is...

[Silver Nemesis]

Joe Quesada has released the first official poster art for season 3.

[thecolorsblend]

Daredevil is my favorite of the Netflix series. My hope is that the story doesn't go too far up its own @$$ the way, ahem, some of those Netflix shows do. It would be nice for one of these shows to adapt a story and explore it fully instead of being more superficial with it.

[Silver Nemesis]

Joe Quesada has unveiled some variant cover art for Daredevil #600, including a 'Charlie Cox convention exclusive' cover.

[thecolorsblend]

Fine by me, all of them. Apart from One More Day, the only real complaint I have about Joe Q's stint as EIC was how it took him off the table for art on a regular basis. For my money, he's one of the great artists of his generation. He's right up there with Jim Lee in terms of pure eye candy. Different styles, obviously, but to me they're very much peers of one another.

More Quesada art, especially of Daredevil, is automatically a positive thing in my book.

[Silver Nemesis]

I like the Jim Lee analogy. He and Quesada share a similar clear, precise consistency of form. Few artists are so dependable.

The importance of Quesada's behind-the-scenes contribution to Daredevil also cannot be overstated. He was the brains behind the Marvel Knights imprint which saved the DD comics from declining sales in the late nineties. He assembled a winning line-up of writers such as Mack, Bendis and Brubaker to ensure the title's longevity. He's executive producer on the TV show and helped update many of the classic costumes for live action.

A major weakness common to the other Marvel Netflix shows IMO is the lack of recognisable iconography translated from the comics. But DD has so far managed to skirt that issue, striking a satisfying balance between grounded verisimilitude and classic comic book visuals. Quesada deserves some of the credit for this.

It was also Quesada's idea to cast Charlie Cox in the lead role. And then of course there are the many classic comics he's illustrated over the years, such as Daredevil: Father (which he also wrote) and Guardian Devil. His love of the character is obvious. Apparently he even has framed art from DD Vol 1 #1 mounted on his wall at home. Without his guiding hand I fear DD might have slipped into irrelevancy many years ago, and perhaps even cancellation.

[thecolorsblend]

Quite true. My view is that any character of genuine merit will eventually get his day in the sun, given enough time. It bothered me for a lot of years that the character was so defined by Frank Miller to a lot of comic fans. Kevin Smith fell into that trap of thinking... at the same moment he was writing the first truly powerful Daredevil story in a long time.

People can love or hate Smith but he was a huge step in Daredevil being reevaluated by the public. Maybe there's more to this character than Miller's whims?

And you're right, Quesada gets credit for Marvel Knights in the first place and extra credit for drawing that Smith storyline. I sincerely don't believe Smith's story would be as highly regarded as it is if Quesada hadn't done the art. My hunch is that Marvel would've panicked and either thrown Mark Bagley or [insert first name here] Kubert on the book... and it wouldn't have that same quality to it.

MAYBE Scott McDaniel could've hit a similar tone as Quesada. But I don't know.

In the end, volume 2 started with the right writer and artist. It's undeniable. Quesada saved Daredevil... and I'm relatively sure he saved Marvel in general. The man is owed a tremendous debt of gratitude.

[Silver Nemesis]

It's often been said that Smith's run benefited from the works of his successors. Bendis in particular used the events of Guardian Devil as the foundation for several of his own story arcs, and did so in such a way that helped legitimise some of Smith's bolder creative choices. But even without taking into account what came afterwards, I still enjoy Guardian Devil on its own merits. It makes an earnest attempt to engage with ambitious themes and portrays developments that had a permanent impact on Matt Murdock's life. And of course the art is beautiful. It's very telling that the 2003 film begins and ends with visual nods to Quesada's work.

Smith has a rather fanboyish habit of retreading familiar ground when writing for established titles (see how he references Miller and Englehart in his Batman comics), and Guardian Devil is essentially his version of Born Again: a villain discovers Daredevil's secret identity and embarks on a crusade to break his spirit, Maggie features prominently, Matt's faith is tested, and Karen is caught in the crossfire with tragic consequences. It still retains enough unique qualities to distinguish itself as a separate story, but the reverence for Born Again is a little obvious in places. Even so, I rate it as one of the best Daredevil stories of the nineties. I'd definitely rank it above Miller's The Man Without Fear, though I expect many fans would disagree with me on that.