Daredevil: Back In Black Vol. 1 - Chinatown Paperback – May 10, 2016

This is a really good story, if abit simplistic. Not that thats a real problem, since the focus on new character blindspot more than makes up for the rather lacking main story. Matt Murdock has undergone some rather radical changes himself, he's a prosecutor for new York city now, he's apparently lapsed in his Catholicism, and most noticeably he now has his secret identify back. That's right, the world, including his lovers and friends, lo longer know that matt murdock is daredevil. There are hints that he did something horrible to accomplish this as his best friend foggy Nelson wants nothing to do with him anymore. All this is rather interesting, but I can see myself quickly losing interest if they try and play the long game teasing the reveal for too long. The main villain of tenfingers isn't anything special, and by the end he's dealt with in a rather anticlimactic manner. Blindspot is great though, and his dealings with his mother are some of the highlights of the book. The art of this book is nice, but rather stylized, with heavy lines and a really muted copper palate. It might not be for everyone but I dug it.

I have never been a very big fan of Daredevil. I mean, the character is cool and all, but it is a weird thing I have with street level characters. Luke Cage, Daredevil, and all those Street Level Heroes have never captured my attention. With that said, this volume of Daredevil was amazing. It collects issues 1-5 of the new Daredevil series, as well as material from the ANAD Marvel Point One #1. I have never read much of anything by Charles Soule. Lately he has been doing a lot of Inhumans books and I don't really like the Inhumans, but he seems to really Have a handle on Daredevil. But first I want to talk about the art. Ron Garney handles the pencils and Matt Milla handles the Colors. Let me tell you, those two on a Daredevil book, oh it was a match made in a heaven. Garneys art is very gritty and the complete opposite of Samnee. And Millas colors are almost nonexistent, he colors everything to the point where it is almost Black And White much of the time. Now, if it was like that on any other comic then i would hate it. But it matches the tone of Daredevil perfectly. And it really makes the villain Tenfingers powers pip off the page with the Neon Green against almost Black and White. Now, on to the Writing. Soule basically undoes what Waid did to tell his own story. While this might be a problem for some it personally didn't bother me. I always liked good ol DD better with a secret identity. They avoid telling you how he erased it from everyone's mind though. Except for Foggy, Foggy hates him now (😭). Matt is also not a Defense Attorney anymore. He is a Prosecutor. Soule shakes up the board with all these new Status Quo changes for Matt. I personally liked all of them. I've heard some people say that it felt too short. That there wasn't enough story in this volume. I was surprised to disagree with them after I read it. I was very satisfied. The story was wrapped up well, written well, but left areas where you were uncertain and it set up later stories. As for Daredevils new sidekick, Blindspot. I really liked him. It's cool to see Daredevil training someone like Stick trained him (except nicer). And Soule really fleshes out Blindspot. You get some of his back story and his motives. He can go invisible. He's an illegal Chinese immigrant. And the villain was very interesting. But you get the sense that there is a bigger force at work. Overall it was fantastically written and the art matched the tone of Daredevil perfectly. I will be following this in trade paperback format from now on. I highly recommend it to any Daredevil Fan, Comic Fan in general, or good jumping on point for a new reader.

It’s been a while since I checked in with Daredevil. The last I’d read, he was out in San Francisco, and the scripts were by Mark Waid. I enjoyed the first graphic novel because Waid is always entertaining, but for some reason the story never quite came together for me. No reason in particular. The series at the time just wasn’t for me.So I was curious about the new “Back in Black” look that had Daredevil once more in NYC. The black and red costume really caught my eye, too. So I picked up the graphic novel and dug in.From the first page, Ron Garney’s edgy art and Matt Milla’s colors captured me. I was swept into the story as the action unfolded. Daredevil diving off the bridge into the water is spectacular, done in a cinematic way that completely immersed me. Yeah: an intended pun. Can’t help myself.Milla’s use of filtered color (sepia tones and monochromatic) is just awesome. I had to look a little closer to get all the detail, but when it came into focus, it was like getting slammed by 3D.Charles Soule’s take on Daredevil is really good, too. Daredevil “feels” right even in the midst of potentially breaking up with Foggy Nelson, the friend who has had Matt Murdock’s back throughout everything. The switch to the DA’s office is kinda cool, allowing both sides of our hero to merge, more or less, though pursuing felons who get off on technicalities is still illegal. So there’s a line to tread. Interestingly enough, that kind of comes up but doesn’t leave much of an impact in some ways.Daredevil’s protégé is interesting. Blindspot is cool and (after the reveal, one that I admit that I caught onto pretty quickly) comes with a lot of baggage of his own. I liked the two of them together in this adventure, but I don’t know if the duo has that much longevity. Training has pretty much come to an end when this adventure closes.I enjoyed the reappearance of the Hand as well. Somehow I’d missed some of the history so some of the story was new to me, and creepier than I would have thought. The whole Tenfingers thing was odd, and I couldn’t help counting fingers every time people showed up. Triggered my OCD, but the count kept turning up right.All in all, I enjoyed the book a lot, especially the art, but there were too many questions left unanswered. I know that in a series, especially an opening arc, there should be a lot of questions left over, but I felt like too much was left open. Murdock’s job with the DA seems to be on the line. His friendship with Foggy wasn’t really touched on again. And I wasn’t sure Daredevil had a clear focus in mind for his next moves. But when the next graphic novel shows up, I’m definitely picking it up.

Fun comic, Sets a new status quo for DD along with an interesting new supporting cast. The arc does feel a bit rushed as it sets up for later events but it's not bad by any means. Art is top-notch as well.Bought a used copy and was in great condition