This is based on the email I sent to Marvel, after I dropped Daredevil from my pull list.
I read Daredevil for quite a while. His guest appearance in a Spider-Man story ("The Death of Jean DeWolff"
) was one of the first American comics I read, and I really liked the character. I think this is partly because of my anosmia - I can identify with someone who has to compensate for a missing sense. Also, he's like Batman, in that he's a normal human who's trained himself to be fit, rather than actually having super-powers (beyond his hyper-senses). So, his strength etc. is stuff that I can aspire to, rather than something that's completely out of reach. After that, I bought a few issues here and there, particularly Frank Miller's Man without Fear mini-series, and his "Born again"
arc in the regular title. I then bought Daredevil each issue, starting with volume 1, #341 (back in 1994). I stuck with it when it didn't even pretend to be a monthly title (there were several gaps of 3-4 months during volume 2).
I cancelled my subscription, after finishing the Leapfrog arc (volume 2, #16-19), in July 2001. It was hardly a Daredevil story, since he didn't appear in it much. The thing is, it wasn't a Leapfrog story either. Or at least, not the Leapfrog I know. Take a look at Spectacular Spider-Man #185. Leapfrog (Vinnie) reformed a long time ago, and his son Eugene (who is probably about 18, much older than Timmy) has a similar suit, and bounces around as the inept, would-be hero, Frog-Man. They live with Vinnie's sister Marie, since his wife Rose is dead. All in all, they are a loving family, which has no resemblance to that portrayed in the relevant issues of Daredevil. Yes, I realise that it is fictional, but that's hardly the point - if Daredevil flew home one day to meet his parents, I'm sure you would hear a few objections! After the whole mess with Mysterio, I'd hoped that there would be better communication between the Daredevil and Spider-Man creative teams... For future reference, I recommend the Marvel Chronology Project to the creative team.
The thing is, I like Mr Bendis' writing (I've bought all the Powers and Alias TPBs so far, and I'm looking forward to the next ones); he writes his own characters very well. However, it seems clear that he is either unable or unwilling to do the necessary research to write existing characters. In which case, I recommend that he doesn't write them. Maybe I'll pick up another issue in a few years time. For a long time, Spider-Man was a hero that I liked, but couldn't read about, and for now, Daredevil is also in that category.
This page was last updated on 2003-12-29 by John C. Kirk