Daredevil. The Man Without Fear. A dark and brooding hero plagued by Catholic guilt and bloody knuckles. But that’s not how he started out. When Daredevil first debuted in 1964, he was quite different than the hero we know today. Think less agonizing and more swashbuckling. Being more like Spider-Man, he smiled, joked, and went on adventures. This is the tone Loeb and Sale were interested in exploring, and they do it well.
Collected in this trade paperback are all six issues of Daredevil: Yellow by Loeb and Sale. Originally published in 2001, this story is sort of a retelling/remixing of the first few issues of Daredevil through a more modern lens. Not only that, but the narration is from a modern Matt Murdock as he looks back to those more innocent times. Being published two years after her death, the narrator of this book is Matt as he writes a letter to the late Karen Page. It’s an interesting idea, but one that may leave some confused. It was fun to see how Sale interpreted Matt’s first meeting with the Fantastic Four, The Owl, the Purple Man, and Electro.
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Interestingly, the previously mentioned narration and Matt’s burgeoning relationship with Karen are what can be considered the narrative through-line for this comic. There isn’t really an overarching story here as Matt and Karen take the wheel as the other events kind of float by. I only mention this because it could be a gripe for some. The only other part of the story that comes to mind as a through-line is Matt dealing with the murder of his father as he decides to become Daredevil.
Unlike in modern adaptations of the comics, Battling Jack Murdock isn’t killed when Matt is a child. Here, Matt was in law school when it happened. Heck, he and Foggy were even at the fight when Jack refused to take a fall. Speaking of Jack, he has an even bigger influence in this comic than he did originally. In the original Daredevil issues, Matt gathered some random clothes he had strewn about and sewed them into his original yellow costume. Here, Loeb made the decision to have Matt create this costume from Jack’s boxing robe/clothes from his footlocker. It may seem like a small change but it’s impactful to the story.
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Another big impact towards the end of the story is why Matt chooses to change his costume to the all-red one we’re all accustomed to. In the original run, there was no reason given – it just changed between issues six and seven. Wally Wood came on as illustrator and suddenly Daredevil wasn’t in yellow anymore. Here, Loeb decides to have Matt make the change for one simple reason – it’s Karen’s favorite color.
I’m not going to lie – I have never been blown away by Jeph Loeb as a writer. This book’s focus on an emotional relationship instead of a solid story doesn’t help that. Loeb has Matt dealing with his dad’s death in the first two issues to carry the story but from there, the book is carried by Matt’s letter to a deceased Karen Page as he looks back on his first outings as Daredevil. It’s an interesting approach, and not necessarily a bad one. Old comics focused more on one-and-done adventures while any character development took a backseat. Loeb decided to flip that focus on Matt’s emotional journey as the core of this book while his adventures weaved in and out of the issues.
Unsurprisingly, I think the late Tim Sale’s artwork is and always will be the big draw for anything he’s involved in. There are pages dedicated to showcasing his designs in the back and even some where his ink wash technique is explained. Sale’s work gives this book a dreamlike quality where his ink washes give both depth and an ethereal quality to the page. Look at the below image – it belongs in a museum! If you come across Sale’s work in comics, make sure you stop to appreciate it. In fact, find everything he’s done that you can.
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I think the biggest downfall of this book is that it relies on nostalgia. If you’re familiar with Daredevil’s early days, you’ll definitely get more out of this. However, those curious about Daredevil’s past may also come to appreciate it. Overall, I think Tim Sale is the reason to pick this up. Your eyes will thank you.
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