PDF Daredevil Born Again Frank Miller David Mazzucchelli Books

Product details Paperback 248 pages Publisher Marvel; 12/21/09 edition (January 20, 2010) Language English ISBN-10 0785134816

Daredevil Born Again Frank Miller David Mazzucchelli Books Reviews

• For those of you who have been around the blog any time in the past year have probably noticed that I absolutely adore Daredevil. I've reviewed quite a few Daredevil graphic novels this year, and while some of them aren't that great, others are fantastic. This aligns with the latter and is probably the second best that I've read.
  
  Daredevil Born Again is one for the feels. When Kingpin learns of Daredevil's secret identity, he sets out to destroy Matt's life. And.... succeeds. Matt spirals into a pit of depression and madness and must find his way back out in order to save the city he loves.
  
  Born Again was dark and emotional. Many of the major characters are featured here, but with a focus on "real" people and not costumed ones. I like the change. I'm a fan of investigating both sides of superheroes and wish that more time was dedicated in other comics to show what their "normal" lives were like. But I digress.
  
  There isn't much I can say about this story, not because I don't wish to give anything away, but because it's not something that's easily told. Graphic novels function in a very visible way and can't always be described with only words, so I'm struggling to articulate.
  
  What I can say is this if you're a fan of Daredevil, whether from the comics or the show, you'll very much enjoy this story. It's a must read for any Daredevil fan, and very good even if he's not your favorite.
• Frank Miller had come on Daredevil and turned a floundering book around. This foreshadowed what he would later do for Bat man and even his creator-owned Sin City. Miller introduced and reinforced hard-boiled crime drama, tragedy, and pathos into the world of Daredevil. Miller also introduced Bullseye, Elektra, and Stick as part of Daredevil's milieu, as well as taking one of Spidermans' foes, The Kingpin, and making him a force to be reckoned with. Under Millers' stewardship, Wilson Fisk truly lived up to his description as "The Kingpin of Crime". Wilson Fisk went from being a C-list Spider-Man rogue to a truly terrifying, powerful villain. Unlike other supervillains, The Kingpin didn't wear a costume or have flashy superpowers His powers were the ability to manipulate, intimidate, corrupt, and destroy others. Under the pen of Frank Miller, The Kingpin was a cerebral and physical powerhouse who used his wealth and connections (legitimate and criminal) to accomplish his goals. When John Byrne revamped Superman at DC Comics in the late 80s, there's no doubt he used elements of Millers' Kingpin as a model for the revamped Lex Luthor. Frank Miller set the tone for Daredevil which is part of the character many decades later. David Mazzuchelli kept up the strong artistic tradition of Frank Miller without being a clone. From the second issue onward, Mazzuchelli inks his own work and one sees the evolution in his style. Along with Miller, David Mazzuchelli also left his mark on "Batman Year One". Whether you are a fan of Daredevil, Batman, Frank Miller, or Dave Mazzuchelli, this book should be a worthy addition to your collection.
• Born Again continued with Marvel collecting together all of Frank Miller’s run with the Daredevil character.
  
  Miller was no longer doing the artwork, and just focused upon the writing. His style had changed. In 1979 when he originally took over the series he adopted his predecessor’s hard-boiled writing style. He quickly gave that up and went minimalist focusing upon big fight scenes and the drawings in each issue. This collection starts with issue #226 and he not only brought back some hard-boiled writing, but turned these issues into a psychological thriller.
  
  The story is driven by four characters. First, Karen Page, Matt Murdock’s former lover who is in Mexico strung out on drugs and sells Daredevil’s secret identity for a fix. She then tries to make up for her betrayal. The information about DD/Murdock ends up in the hands of the Kingpin who successfully destroys him. Third, Murdock descends into the depths becoming homeless and derelict. Fourth, reporter Ben Urlich is trying to save Murdock from the Kingpin, but is threatened by the mob boss and becomes paralyzed by fear as a result. This is all a really incredible story and perhaps one of the best things Miller penned.
  
  The storyline has a second act as Murdock returns to be Daredevil and fights a crazed super soldier manipulated by the Kingpin called Nuke.
  
  There’s just one major drawback to this collection. The drawings are done by David Mazzucchelli. His pictures in the first couple issues are fine, but then they decline with softer and softer lines in the middle before going back up in quality.
• Born Again lives up to its name. A true character story, the Daredevil collection is a fantastic character-driven tale which showcases resilience as much as it does despair. Miller's usual "frankness" concerning the potential depravity of urban environments (and the souls of their inhabitants) blankets every page, but the end - though tastes vaguely of ash - is a hopeful one. I've read too many comics that sacrifice character and quality storytelling for blockbuster action; while Born Again isn't without the latter (the action here is copious, brutal, and beautiful), it's first and foremost a a story of man in metamorphosis - a re-origin story.
  
  Mazzucchelli's art here is pretty awesome. I read this collection on an iPad, so I really noticed his talent for building momentum across panels, be it physical or emotional. I liked his work here more than I did in Batman Year One, actually.
  
  On a frugality note, the content lasted me several hours, so - comparatively - the collection is worth the buy when compared to other volumes which offer less for a bigger price tag.
  
  Highly recommend for anyone debating whether or not they should get this book.