Graphic Novel Review: Daredevil Yellow

Author| Jeph Loeb  Artist| Tim Sale  Edition| Kindle eBook  Rating| 3 Stars

Buy Links| Amazon/Barnes and Noble/Book Depository*

This serves as an origin story for the title character.  I've been reading Daredevil stories for about two years (maybe more) now and can safely say he was one of the first real characters that really interested me in comics.  Unfortunately, this was one of my least favorite Daredevil books.

I've seen some really great reviews of this one.  People have praised it, and while I can see, from an artist standpoint, that it's really good and rather poignant.  However, it lacks depth and a darker nature that would really make it interesting.  While Daredevil isn't always a dark comic, I feel like it's better when it is.  The character doesn't really have superpowers and he's built around villains with complex morals.  I like that, and this really lacked all of that.

It's mostly written as if Matt were writing to Karen (now that she's passed away) and telling her about how he fell in love with her and how many mistakes he made, and how he became the superhero Daredevil.  It was a good concept, except that while Matt was busy explaining how he fell in love with Karen, I found myself doing the opposite.  I wasn't a fan of her and thought he was a big over exaggerating.  I know from my own experience that Karen is a pretty decent character, but this story doesn't actually show that.

What I did like was the character development between Matt, Foggy, and Karen.  As a character study this book does a great job.  Unfortunately, I was looking for a superhero story, and did not find it.

If you want a light version of Daredevil to ease you into the water I recommend this one.  If you're coming off the TV series and haven't read any Daredevil, you may want to stay away.  The tone is completely different and the origin stories will war with each other a little bit.  To add the book to your goodreads shelf, click here.