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Excelsior! Daredevil - Marvel's hero of Hell’s Kitchen gets a lavish retelling of his origin.

Daredevil: Yellow

Originally a six issue mini series, the new graphic novel collection Daredevil: Yellow from the creators of Batman: The Long Halloween - Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale (Age of Apocalypse: The Chosen, Adventure of Superman - takes a new look at the origins of 'The Man Without Fear'.

Mutation

Ace attorney Matt Murdock was blinded as a child – and in true Stan Lee fashion this involved radioactive mutation - leaving his other four senses to function with superhuman sharpness. By day he represents the downtrodden from the desk of his New York law firm. By night he becomes Daredevil, a masked vigilante stalking the dark streets of the city, a relentless avenger of justice, feared by the underworld and by super-villains alike.

Focusing on the events leading up to his costumed debut, this deluxe hardcover edition presents an early days Matt Murdock full of youthful exuberance and unyielding optimism. It is the story of the man behind the mask; of his early work relationship with his law partner Franklin 'Foggy' Nelson and his beleaguered prize-fighter father 'Battling' Jack Murdock.

The book retells this part of DD’s origin - how his father is killed by an early villain called 'The Fixer' for refusing to bow to the small-time racketeers that control his fights – forever giving Daredevil his Batman-like personal stake in the fight against crime.

Light and Shade

But it’s not all grim by any means – in the usual light and shade storytelling technique familiar to readers of the original Silver Age comics - Daredevil: Yellow is a charming tale of a man and his relationships, rather than focusing on the criminal underground of his usual battlegrounds in Hell's Kitchen.

Stepping into the spotlight here are a few characters whose importance was set to grow in the comic’s original run - still going strong after 400 plus issues by the way! - in particular secretary Karen Page, a long-standing supporting character and love interest for Murdock. The book also reveals the story behind the eponymous hero’s switch of costume, from yellow – as he is seen here – to the more familiar crimson suit of the 1970s onwards.

Heroism

A lovely counterpoint to the more usual 're-imagining' of superheroes -which, since Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns has almost always meant a 'darkening', in style and tone - Daredevil: Yellow is a return to a more optimistic heroism for DD. Sale's artwork is both breathtaking and simple at the same time, with a subtle pastel-like palette of colours that capture well the raw energy of the early days of 1960s Marvel.

If this has whet your appetite for the continuing adventures of Marvel’s 'Man Without Fear', the hotly-awaited film version of Daredevil - starring Ben Affleck as the eponymous hero – and Jennifer Garner (star of TV’s Alias) as his sometime ninja love interest Elektra Natchios, is scheduled for release early in 2003. The film has been and written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson - best known for his hit pictures Grumpy Old Men and the sequel, Grumpier Old Men.

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