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A review by crookedtreehouse
Daredevil: Guardian Devil by Kevin Smith
4.0
I'm not sure how long it's been since I last read through modern Daredevil, but I've always started with the Smith/Quesada run (yes, I've also done the Miller/Nocenti/other writers in the 80s run, but that's a separate project). The Mack and Bendis run is actually where both the story and the art get more interesting, but this is just a solid starting point.
If you've got a basic knowledge of Daredevil, then it's kind of cool starting with a long-winded prose letter from Karen before you get into the story proper. All the back story you need is there, everything else unfolds during the course of the story.
When the story begins, it's too ridiculous. Too over the top. Too religiously overtones. Too unbelievable. And when you eventually discover what the ruse is, and how the too ridiculous, too over the top, too unbelievable is deliberate, it seems forgivable. You can forgive the incredulity because it was designed to be that way. But. But you find out through what seems like a fifty page villain monologue that would exhaust even the most devoted comic fan. And while you can forgive the ridiculousness of the story, you still can't embrace it because the logic is way off, and the story becomes stupid in a completely different direction.
There are plenty of spoilery reviews that can tell you the precise problems, just know that I am giving this book four stars, knowing full well that it's hugely flawed. Smith's writing is verbose. You could cut half the dialog in this book and it would make just as much sense. There are entire scenes that are pretty much just Marvel continuity porn that barely helps move the story forward, but none of them hurt the story. There are a lot of little things that you could nitpick and I would agree with you. But the moments that land, land really well. Black Widow and Spider-Man are both used sparingly, and well. Foggy's story is necessary to move the story from Scott Lobdell's hacky fingers to Dave Mack and Brian Michael Bendis's.
I recommend this to anyone who loves Daredevil, just know that it's a bumpy ride that has a satisfactory ending.
If you've got a basic knowledge of Daredevil, then it's kind of cool starting with a long-winded prose letter from Karen before you get into the story proper. All the back story you need is there, everything else unfolds during the course of the story.
When the story begins, it's too ridiculous. Too over the top. Too religiously overtones. Too unbelievable. And when you eventually discover what the ruse is, and how the too ridiculous, too over the top, too unbelievable is deliberate, it seems forgivable. You can forgive the incredulity because it was designed to be that way. But. But you find out through what seems like a fifty page villain monologue that would exhaust even the most devoted comic fan. And while you can forgive the ridiculousness of the story, you still can't embrace it because the logic is way off, and the story becomes stupid in a completely different direction.
There are plenty of spoilery reviews that can tell you the precise problems, just know that I am giving this book four stars, knowing full well that it's hugely flawed. Smith's writing is verbose. You could cut half the dialog in this book and it would make just as much sense. There are entire scenes that are pretty much just Marvel continuity porn that barely helps move the story forward, but none of them hurt the story. There are a lot of little things that you could nitpick and I would agree with you. But the moments that land, land really well. Black Widow and Spider-Man are both used sparingly, and well. Foggy's story is necessary to move the story from Scott Lobdell's hacky fingers to Dave Mack and Brian Michael Bendis's.
I recommend this to anyone who loves Daredevil, just know that it's a bumpy ride that has a satisfactory ending.