Daredevil: Reborn - Andy Diggle

While the Black Panther is back in New York taking Daredevil's place as the protector of Hell's Kitchen (which I wrote about earlier), where is Matt Murdock? Why, he's out wandering across the country, trying to find himself (as the result of events in a storyline that I didn't read). And where does every hero go to do all that soul-searching? A little town in the middle of nowhere, of course, often in the American Southwest. What does he find in that little town? Crime, corruption, danger, and a reason to reclaim his identity, naturally. Did you ever doubt it?

That came across a little snarkier than I intended it, but it's true you're not going to find anything in DAREDEVIL: REBORN that you haven't seen before. The familiar can still be very enjoyable if it's done right, though, and for the most part it is in this collection of the Daredevil mini-series from last year that sets up the current DD series. Andy Diggle is a good writer, and there are some nicely effective moments in these scripts, along with one fairly major plot hole. The artwork by Davide Gianfelice I'm not crazy about. He did the art for the Northlanders storyline I wrote about a while back, and he's illustrating another mini-series I'm currently reading called SIX-GUNS. I would have much rather seen this Daredevil story drawn by Gene Colan or Wally Wood, but we can't always get what we want, can we? (Hey, that would make a good song lyric.)

Overall, DAREDEVIL: REBORN is okay and worth reading if you're a long-time fan of the character. Since I bought DAREDEVIL #1 (with that great Bill Everett art) brand-new off the spinner rack in Trammell's Pak-a-Bag Grocery Store, I think I fit that description. And I'm glad I read it to fill in some of the gaps from the time when I wasn't reading comics.