SuperSearnold - Comic Book Reviews

Greetings from your friendly neighborhood Searnold [Shár- Nŭhld]. Welcome to my comic book review blog - thanks for tuning in. Today is Monday, September 15th, 2008.

Today’s Issue:

Daredevil Saga - a super free one-shot published by Marvel. This is a sixteen page book chronicling the last 25 or so issues of Daredevil. It also includes a 3 page preview of Daredevil #111, “The perfect jumping on point for new readers!” (Their words, not mine.) It was written by frequent Marvel chronicler Anthony Flamini (Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, Civil War Files) with all of the art being taken from the actual pages of Daredevil.

Premise:

I pretty much covered that up top. I don’t want to say much more and I’ll talk about why in the next section.

The Awesome Parts:

I truly enjoyed reading this book. I hadn’t been reading Daredevil, so I was only vaguely aware of what has been happening in his book. Anthony Flamini did a great job of telling an interesting narrative. It didn’t read like a handbook - it read like a bedtime story. While 13 pages for ~25 issues may not seem like enough space, I think he did a perfect job of explaining only the most interesting/ important events and unfolding them in such a way as to engage the reader. Of course I’ve got to give due credit to Ed Brubaker - the genius who has been responsible for Daredevil’s most recent adventures. Also awesome - FREE!

Not-So-Awesome Parts:

Marvel does not in any way explain what this free thing that they have handed to you is. Someone who’s been a bit behind on Daredevil but planning on catching up in the trades may accidentally open this expecting a free Daredevil comic and get major spoilers thrown into their face. A little warning that this is a summary issue might have been nice. Also, the preview for Daredevil #111 tells us so much nothing that it’s pathetic. We learn from the cover that there is a female Bullseye. We learn from the actual preview that this Lady Bullseye is standing on a rooftop looking over New York City. Boy - doesn’t that make you want to buy the issue? <—(sarcasm)

My Recommendation:

Most of you are probably comic book readers - which means most of you probably already acquired this on one of your recent trips to the store. Now read it. Definitely. The only person I would NOT recommend this to is someone who would like to read the ACTUAL stories (something I HIGHLY recommend - because Daredevil Saga made them look awesome and I do know that Brubaker ALWAYS delivers.) Even if you know NOTHING about Daredevil, this “summary” will absolutely make you care about him as a character. I put “summary” in quotes because it really does read like an actual story. But there are MAJOR spoilers in Daredevil Saga, so don’t read it if you’re planning on getting around to the actual stories anytime soon.

That’s it for today. Be sure to check back soon for my review of Daredevil #111 - I’ll let you know from the perspective of a new Daredevil reader whether or not it’s actually a good jumping on point. Also - as per your request - tomorrow will feature a review of a really bad Gumby comic. Still coming soon as per your requests: Earth X, Universe X, and every Deadpool issue EVER. Make sure to let me know if there’s an issue you want me to review before you spend your hard earned money on it. As always - thanks for reading - see you next time.
-Searnold