Daredevil By Chip Zdarsky Vol. 1: Know Fear

Daredevil: Know Fear, by Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto (Marvel) It was hard not to notice this series after it was nominated for the Eisner trifecta in 2020 (Best Continuing Series, Best Writer and Best Cover Artist) and again in 2021 (Best Writer, Best Penciller/Inker, and Best Continuing Series). Prior to picking it up, the only other thing I had read from either creator was Zdarsky's enjoyable "Stillwater". I'm a big fan of Daredevil and have read all the other seminal runs (Miller, Smith, Bendis, Brubaker, and Waid). I purchased this TPB for about $14 on Amazon. I noticed it received a 4.8 Customer Review score on Amazon, 4.29 on Goodreads, and an 8.7 Critic score on Comic Book Round Up. The first volume was spectacular! Daredevil is the epitome of the street-level hero that gets down and dirty in the grit, stink, and grime of the criminal underworld. He is also one of the more complex and cerebral of Marvel's characters. He has a great supporting cast and I particularly like it when the cameos feel organic and purposeful (which reminds me of the Bendis run). SPOILER - the second volume in this series falls off quite a bit from the first. I was disappointed in the direction Zdarsky takes it after Know Fear. However, this volume had some really great conceptualized story visuals by Zdarsky and equally strong renderings by Checchetto, accompanied by some beautiful covers. Anyone who enjoys the character should enjoy the quality of this first arc.

I bought because the artstyle is one of the best I've seen in a comics, and the story is actually fire.

My name is Michael J Florio. I myself write comics. Got my masters in entertainment writing. One of my first true loves in comics after discovering the OG TMNT was Dare Devil. The street level drama and the complicated human connection we try to mend as imperfect humans amongst the world that God had designed just for us. I loved the symbolism used not in just his suit but what he turned his life into to honor his father and his fellow people. I thought Chip wrote a very strong piece of character centric introspection. It was a graceful ending with Spiderman coming in with the old yeller speech; iconic. The tone on violence added some conversational topics to the forum of how heroism doesn’t always favor those who choose to be heroes. From some perspectives it’s an over reach or an even crazier bold position to anoint ones self above the law of man. What I don’t ever see enough of in Dare Devil is exploring how man’s law can’t possibly supersede God’s will. In this collected edition, the fear Matt discovered was God’s plan and how his own choice wasn’t to be Dare Devil but to learn from why he chose to become the Devil. To know you must become as you become you begin to say and only then can one say or hear the things they were meant to. This was a grandios series of events with lots of heart and passionate care for the character. Looking forward to see if Owl ever gets his and what Matt does next. Thanks Chip. Great work!

Truly spectacular! Chip Zdarsky has written Daredevil as he should be: a man that deals with his own violence, unsure if for justice or for the sheer pleasure of it. His moral world shatters when he is framed for a death, the man without fear fears himself. It is not a story written as endless fights, there is a lot of action of course, but there is also internal strife, and his interesting point of view as a blind man. The first part has this reflexive tone and in the last part of this volume (my favorite) Zdarsky shows us what it would be if Daredevil would embrace a lethal path; there appear other Marvel characters (as Punisher and Spider-Man) with the tone accord to Murdock's ordeal. They appear in a very mature way, it doesn't feel as unjustified cameos... I would say more but instead: You have to read it! The reason why I'm not scoring this volume with five stars is because the time to introduce a new character, a detective from Chicago, he wasn't that interesting to me... Maybe in the second volume the inclusion of that character will prove to be important for the story. Checchetto's art is very good, specially for the characters. It is modern, detailed and dynamic. But I am not sure about the backgrounds, they are so detailed and precise as 3D isometrics, makes me afraid of the use of digital tracing, a technic that usually takes the life out of drawings; I could be wrong, though. Sunny Gho's colors are professional although a tad luminous to my taste, but in the end it is a good work by all the artists involved in this volume.

Loved every bit of it, I can't wait to read the rest of the series by Chip Zdarsky. 10/10 great read

This collection puts Zdarsky in the top 5 of the many talented writers to contribute to DD's legacy (my personal ranking: 1) Bendis 2) Miller 3) Smith (Guardian Devil) 4/5) tough call between Brubaker and Zdarsky). Zdarsky furthers what these other other brilliant writers contributed to the series: Daredevil as a character who may not always win, and suffers more than the typical comic book hero, but will persevere no matter what. However, where Zdarsky differs from his predecessors is the portrayal of Daredevil as a Catholic that is trying to figure out and do what he thinks is right while struggling with the fact that he dresses like a devil and breaks the law. While Miller brought forth Daredevil as a "dark anti-hero" character by having him drop Bullseye off a building, Zdarsky shows Daredevil as someone that at his core is so good he is almost naïve. SPOILERS FOLLOW: Thus, when Daredevil sees his friends (Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Danny Rand) after he thinks he accidentally murdered someone, he assumes they're their to bring him in for the crime. He is subsequently shocked to learn that his friends had no intention of arresting him and that they have all killed someone at some point in their careers, leading him to the stunned realization that "you're all murderers." Even Spider-Man, typically portrayed as more or less joking and happy go lucky, tells Daredevil that he's killed someone before. Thus Daredevil is faced with the double whammy of 1) thinking he's killed someone and 2) finding out that everyone he thought was a fellow good guy has also killed someone at some point and didn't seem to think too much about it. Instead of reiterating the trope of Daredevil as a dark antihero, Zdarsky portrays Daredevil as the only hero so committed to doing what he believes is right that, while his friends can continue their vigilantism despite knowing they've killed someone, the volume closes with Daredevil quitting the costume and trying to atone for his sins.

Daredevil is an old food mine. I love a lot of the iterations over the years. The fun thing is because he’s not a flagship title you get Writers and Artists that are able to take chances that wouldn’t fly on say a Spider-Man. No spoilers but really solid start of the run, give it a read.

Daredevil has a lot of weighted history behind him and a lot of great creative teams that make tackling such a daunting prospect. How does someone deal with the character that Bendis, Miller, and Brubaker have all taken their excellent crack at? How do your own twist on a character that has such a set tone, location, and plot? Zdarsky hits the moral heart of Murdock and that’s what makes this story seem so important and so worthwhile. Zdarksy has always been great with bringing in the history of characters he has worked on to make a culmination of story (most notably with his recent Eisner award winning story with Spider-Man and his excellent series Peter Parker: Amazing Spider-Man). Here we see Daredevil and Matt Murdock facenthe consequences of his actions. It’s not an encompassing epic, it’s the sad eventual fall from Grace that can only happen with a character so wracked with guilt, who fights with their self as much as the crime in the streets. This is an unexpected tonal shift from Zdarsky and if this continues, it will be a truly legendary run for this character.

Holy moly cannoli Matt Murdock is the Goat

Cette reprise de Daredevil par Chip Zdarsky est incontournable. Je ne vous cache pas que depuis le départ de Mark Waid du titre, je n'avais pas accroché aux autres reprises. Ici, l'histoire et l'unité graphique qui est maintenu avec les différents artistes contribuent à garder le lecteur dans une bonne ambiance qui colle bien avec le personnage. En gros, si vous avez aimé la série TV c'est la reprise à lire pour vous replonger dans cet univers à la fois héroïque et mélancolique. FF

This is one of the best story lines I have ever read Comic - non comic -superhero - non superhero. The struggle within daredevil’s mind and the whole story line with the cops and then the punisher get involved gave me goose bumps. Can’t recommend this enough

Esta história se passa logo após a passagem de Charles Soule a frente do personagem, que trouxe a identidade secreta do personagem de volta, bem como alterou o status de advogado de Matt Murdock (que sai da defesa e vai para a acusação). No final daquele run, após uma experiência de quase morte, a parte humana tenta voltar aos atos heroicos na forma de Demolidor. Mas o tempo longe da Cozinha do Inferno parece ter “enferrujado” um pouco Murdock. E numa das primeiras rondas noturnas, quando tenta resolver um assalto a uma loja de bebidas, um aparente erro levará o personagem numa espiral de pensamentos e revisões de suas ações: a morte de um dos assaltantes. Coberto pela dúvida, teria ele falhado tão gravemente assim ou alguém teria conspirado contra ele em seu retorno? Tem início uma desesperadora corrida contra o tempo para o Demolidor provar que ele não tem relação com o óbito recente, enquanto um novo policial (transferido) está em seu encalço. Nem mesmo o Rei do Crime, Wilson Fisk, é descartado, mas agora em sua nova função (como Prefeito de Nova York) tem certos privilégios nessa má fase do herói. Zdarsky consegue dar um ritmo impressionante à narrativa, prendendo a atenção do leitor desde as primeiras páginas, levando o estado psicológico do personagem ao limite. Uma fase sensacional de um dos meus personagens preferidos da Casa das Ideias. Fica a recomendação!

Good story and absolutely amazing art