Scott McDaniel is my favorite comic artist of all time. Specifically his time with DC in the early 2000’s. He worked on Nightwing, Batman, Superman, Hourman, Richard Dragon, and Robin all during my heaviest reading days. As I got older I started to look at his backlog of work with Marvel and found his run on Daredevil. This specifically came about because of the Topps Marvel Legends 2001 card set. There was an insert set called Costume Changes and one of them was the Armored Daredevil. Once I saw this I knew I had to read the stories, and lucky me Scott McDaniel was responsible for drawing them.
While I started with just Fall from Grace (319-325), I since expanded to his first 13 issues (305-315 & 317-318), and the final 7 (326-332). Here is my review of the first half of his run, and I’ll have a follow up with Fall from Grace and Tree of Knowledge.
Surgeon General (305-306)
This is a fun story that sees Daredevil and Spider-Man team-up to stop an urban legend come to life. Basically an evil corporation is paying a team of surgeon’s for black market organs. While the plot is nothing special, there are a few moments that are really fun. Specifically Peter going undercover at a night club to try and bait the Surgeon General. The art is good, but very early 90’s in terms of style and the classic Scott McDaniel style isn’t there yet.
Dead Man’s Hand Crossover (307-309)
Dead Man’s Hand was a crossover through Daredevil, Nomad, and Punisher War Journal. This was a very good crossover, that especially works because you can read the 3 issues for each series without reading the full thing and not get lost. Also notable is that Chuck Dixon was writing Punisher during this event, creating the actual first time he and Scott would work together. There is also an awesome pin-up for this event, from Scott McDaniel, in Nomad issue 13.
Calypso’s Back (310-311)
Great art, weird and kind of pointless story. The only really great thing here is both the presence and look of Hellspawn, he would have more to do in Fall from Grace. The idea of Matt being controlled by Calypso could have used a few more issues. It would have made Matt’s life hell which would make for some great drama. Also the ending felt a bit rushed, and Brother Voodoo was criminally underused.
Into the Fire (312-313)
Daredevil is investigating an arson, and while the outcome is predictable (I watch to much Law and Order), both the art and the writing go a long way to humanizing the characters. Daredevil’s investigation is very believable, because as the reader I can see the ending coming, but Matt has a believable journey to the proper conclusion.
Shock (314-315)
Again another story that was shorted, and should have been 4 issues. As it was condensed into 2 a lot of needed characterization was skipped. Here I think is where the classic Scott McDaniel style starts to come into form. It started on Shock, the heavy dark lines and shading with the bright blues and reds for color.
Underground (316)
This isn’t a Scott McDaniel issue, but its a really good issue none the less, so wanted to give it a little praise. This is something you rarely see anymore and that is a standalone issue that is completely untied to previous or future stories. This is just a story about Daredevil going through the various subway tunnels and helping people.
Grease is the Word (317-318)
I love love love this story. This is like a 40’s style crime comedy in the vain of Larceny Inc. A dying criminal tells of a mountain of cooking grease worth $500K (yes this was a thing) and sets in motion several groups all trying to find out where this greasy treasure is hidden. All the while Daredevil is both helping and hunting them, and as you can tell by this cover, no one took it seriously. Great two issue story to bring the first half of Scott McDaniel’s run to a close.
One of the things that is fun to see here, is a great artist slowly go from the generic style of the time to developing their own personal style. By the start of Fall from Grace with issue 319 Scott has developed his Marvel style. He would refine it at DC and would fully cement his distinctive and instantly recognizable style. Next up will be issues 319-332 and the end of the Daredevil run.
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