Happy Darecember! What do you think of Ed Brubaker's Daredevil? Read the full essay on Comic Book Herald: www.comicbookherald.com/daredevil-by-brubaker-lark-the-downward-spiral-of-a-hero/

That shot at Charles Souel's run made me laugh.

Imo, daredevil is one of the most consistently well written characters in comics. I don’t think there’s a single terrible run. Mediocre? Sure. But straight up awful? No.

"A comic that looks like an old bruise.". A great line and observation!

Another SPECTACULAR Darecember kickoff! As someone who got into the character of Daredevil through the Brubaker run (specifically the Mr. Fear arc,) it was really cool seeing this run get the full Matt Draper treatment. I'm always a sucker for a great noir story, and the idea of Matt undergoing a corrupted hero's journey is endlessly fascinating. Can't wait to see what's next for Darecember!

I love Bendis's run a bit more, but I have to give all kinds of props to Brubsy for his take on Fisk. Both asked themselves how to do something new with Fisk that hadn't been done before by Nocenti, Chichester, Miller etc. It was a tall order for a 30 year rogue who is ultimately just a smart crime boss that can lay a beatdown.Brubaker took the reigns with all the relevant consequences from where Bendis left off intact, but still gave us a true Wilson Fisk character arc. Fisk trying to take control of THAT organization was both classic Kingpin-being-Kingpin, but ALSO completely new territory that honestly felt like the perfect "climax" for the Matt / Fisk rivalry.

Kill or be Killed is one of my favorite graphic novels of all time. Totally worth a read 👌 !!!

One Daredevil arc I really liked was the second Marvel Knights run by David Mack “Parts Of A Hole” which introduced Echo and had some amazing art by Quesada/Palmiotti

I was rewatching your older Daredevil videos yesterday, then, today, a new one appears! Happy Darecember! I've just finished Netflix Daredevil Season 3; and I loved it: focused, clean, with great characters and progression, no Hand, no boring drama (only good drama and motivation), great conclusion.

I can’t believe it’s already been a year since your last daredevil December. Can’t wait to see more videos on daredevil from you!

Babe, wake up, a Darecember video a full 20 days early

Brubaker daredevil run is super underrated in my opinion.

DARECEMBER BABYYYYYY LETS GOOOOOO

Darecember is back baby. Much ❤ as always Matt

DD by Ed Brubaker is one of my favorite runs of the character and while it may not be perfect it’s still one of the best reads of the character ever written. Great video as usual Matt

Brubaker's is a very talented writer and his run on DD was excellent and definitely needs more credit then it gets, along with Lark's artwork. He really brought a gritty and grimy vibe to the book. This is probably my second favorite DD run. Not really a fan of Waid's run

WE BACK BABY!! DARECEMBER!!!

Thank you Matt

Always wanted a video on Brubaker's run!

Darecember! Finally!!

Loved The Midnight songs in here 🙌🏾

Awesome video

I have been looking forward to this very very much

Perfect timing since I just finished Daredevil #36

I'd love a video on D.G. Chichester's run, which I think starts great and ends on a whimper (Fall From Grace is such a mess haha). It would also be fun to hear your thoughts on the 2003 movie, particularly the Director's Cut. As for the Brubaker run, I mostly agree with what you said. It is really, really solid and a worthy continuation of Bendis' run (which is my favorite chapter in DD history). However, it's missing some of the fun previous runs had. It's not one I remember quite as fondly just because reading Matt basically self destruct for 30 issues is kinda depressing. But I still cover it whenever I re-read my DD collection.

I always look forward to Darecember. Bought the Waid/Samnee omnibus’s after your video, and I’ve loved the character ever since. The dedication and research in these videos is always a highlight of the year now!

Hope you do a video on Guardian Devil. Loved that comic

Almost forgot what day it was until I saw the notification. Your Darecember vids are what got me into reading Daredevil. Can't wait for more!

Thanks for your hard work making these videos.

It's Darevember!!!!

Thank you Matt for giving us awesome DD content every year! You keep my love for the character alive!

I’m buckled up and ready for the ride that is Daredevil December! Bring it on Matt.

This is a run that I have GREATLY complicated feelings on. Devil in Cell Block D is one of my favorite arcs in the series, and Devil Takes a Ride, while flawed, I think offers a solid resolution to the storylines offered in the Bendis run. ... The moment Mr. Fear comes up is the moment the run starts to lose me. What happened to Milla is one of the cruellest fridgings I think I've seen in a comic. And the idea that Matt Murdock would then cheat on his catatonic wife actually got me to put the book down for a long while. I did come back and finish, and I'm glad I did. Some of the later stuff is honestly a lot better. But the run's integrity is heavily compromised by its incredibly bleak elements.

Each year I dive deeper in daredevil beaucause of you. Thank for your video

Can’t believe it’s Darecember already. Can’t wait for more videos!

Loved this.

i apriaciate not just the story but your analasyst. this video was amazing

You make December even better with daredevil videos all month

Another great video Matt! I think Brubaker's run felt quite bleak in comparison to what came before and after. It certainly felt like a logical direct continuation of Bendis' run for good or bad (although I think it's still a much better aftermath than End of Days). I could definitely see how hard it'd be to follow up on Bendis' ending. It's even more tough to think of how to handle Brubaker's own cliffhanger ending in a way that would've seemed adequate to the buildup from the previous two runs while retaining the core nature of Daredevil intact (with the importance of the status quo and all). I guess it goes to show how important it is for writers to create something distinct yet natural in their time on these characters.

Been waiting on darecember ngl

here in anticipation for the Netflix’s Daredevil season 3 video Happy Darecember Matt!

I hope you make a video about Daredevil End Of Days too. It's a perfect example of Matt accepting things won't change and embracing the devil inside.

You were truly a prophet making Darecember, knowing what’s gonna happen in a few weeks

Excellent video!

You talking about this arc makes me want to hurry and read so i can get to it and re-read it, i only read it when i was reading through civil war

And so it begins…

This realy made want a video about Greg Rucka's Wolverine run

I live for Darecember! I loved the video as usual. Since I started using Marvel Unlimited, I've been reading some old DD runs and I'm about to start Brubaker's. I read one volume of the trades, I believe. But I'm very excited to finally read the whole thing!

Thank goodness❤️❤️... This is awesome... Please do final crisis soon please 😁

I kinda miss the downward spiral Daredevil from this era, I wonder how they can bring it back in more original ways for other characters as well

The Devil in Cell Block D is my second favorite DD story. Excellent video.

And just like that, Darecember begins with a bang.

Great video! I liked brubakers run a lot but at the end of it I couldn’t help but feel like it suffered the most from being the direct follow up to Bendis’s run.

Love hearing your honest critical analysis of these stories. You don’t gush or allow your fandom color your critique. Very good assessment of highly acclaimed run.

I’d love to see you talk about the third season of the Netflix series!

main takeaway from this and Bendis' run for Matt is "wow. What a dick" and I feel like Bendis and Brubaker would chime in with "too right, fuck this dude" XD

Heck yeah Darecember !!!!!!

the 8th will be the 11th anniversary of Shadowland ending. Good moment to talk about Diggle's run, including the crossover, methinks, especially coming off of Bru's run.

The fact Matt had to work with Kingpin and Bullseye, his 2 worst enemies shows how desperate being in jail made him.

This Darecember: Matt Murdock and Willson Fisk are going to make their MCU re-debuts!

Awesome start to another Darecember. I really liked Brubaker's run, he definitely had the disadvantage of having to continue and wrap up what Bendis set up, but with Lark's amazing art he was able to me at least felt like a nice continuation, if not a bit messy in parts. I think Brubake would've been in a better place if he was just allowed to start his own run from the beginning with a focus on noir. But for what we got, I thought it was flawed but a good run (though the Mila stuff is a major oof). Much better than what came next in Daredevil's life (*cough* Shadowland*cough*). Can't wait for more Daredevil videos this month. P.S. Can't wait for the day when you get on the Charles Soule run's case for basically undoing Waid's run. (In all seriousness, I think Andy Diggle tried his best in his run and I don't hate it, but...ugh Shadowland >:( )

🎶It's the most wonderful time of the year When Matt Draper is sharing A December that's daring With the Man Without Feeeear It's the most wonderful time It's the most wonderful time It's the most wonderful tiiiiiime Of the yeeeeeeear!🎶 Happy DareCember, friends!😈🎄

Im currently reading this run and will be back to visit thisit in a few days when i finish it. Im on 110 right now

Finally darecember

I enjoyed Brubaker's run but I read it years after it came out so I enjoyed it more than other fans. I'd be interested in you covering daredevil season 3 and Netflix Defenders. The latter always felt like DD season 2.5 to me. Thanks for the videos. If you ever get around to Brubaker's other titles like Criminal or Kill or be killed, I'd check them out. I'm a big fan of his Vertigo miniseries Scene of the Crime.

Back at it again with Matt’s suffering

You should definitely cover “The Fade Out”, “Pulp”, and “Bad Weekend”!!!

As a complete devotee of the Bendis and Maleev run when I was a teenager, I approached Brubaker’s run with a great deal of excitement but also quite a bit of skepticism. The Devil in Cell Block D really was a spectacular story that accomplished the rare feat in comics of being a natural continuation but also feeling like a new creative statement. It was one of the best hand offs in comics history, especially after a widely loved and successful previous creative team. DD’s time in Europe was also a good palette cleanser and natural next step but by the end of it with Vanessa’s Deus Ex Machina, I realized something. For me, it sort of felt like I’d reached the natural conclusion of the story, with Daredevil’s legal problems mostly sorted out and returning to Hell’s Kitchen, after years of reading the book I moved on. Sometimes I wonder why I did that. Was it because I started college and life just became busier? Was it because it was only ever really Bendis’s arc that I was reading for and once it seemed resolved I was done? I’ll never truly know the answer. I do know Brubaker is a great writer, but it was always going to be a gargantuan task to follow up a creator that became so synonymous with Daredevil that by the end of the their run Maleev was literally drawing the Kingpin to look like Bendis. Great job, I’m a huge fan of your videos!

19:18 Just like how in Season 2 of the Daredevil show The Hand felt disconnected from the rest of the series. In a show where up to then the show was mostly realistic apart from Matt's enhanced senses since every other character was a normal human, the crime was more grounded and street level and the like. So magical ninjas who could resurrect themselves were out of place.

LET'S FUCKING GOOOO!

10:24 Mr Fear's costume looks similar to Andrea Beaumont's Phantasm one in Batman Mask of the Phantasm.

This actually makes me look forward to a video about Shadowland.

HAPPY DARECEMBER EVERYBODY!

When I got the notification I said YEAH out loud

I admit I’m not the worlds biggest Daredevil fan but I really like your videos. My favorite DD story is Daredevil vs. Punisher: Means and Ends by David Lapham. You should check it out if you haven’t already.

Hey everyone Matt dropped another banger!

Honestly the biggest flaw with the run is Brubaker basically redefined both Catwoman and Cap so anything that isn’t a masterpiece feels like a disappointment.

Obviously a video on Daredevil season 3 would make this Darecember even better.

I hope you manage to cover Waid’s run at some point!!

OH YES IT'S TIME FOR DARECEMBER!!

I wonder did anything else come of Mr.Fear after this storyline ended? As for the rest of darecember, you could cover the non-bendis marvel knights stuff, the frank miller story love and war, or the Elektra mini-series

WOOOOO THE TIME HAS COME FOR DARECEMBER

So will we a video covering Daredevil rivalries with characters like Punisher or Bullseye

Devil in cell block D is soooo good! The Hand and Lady Bullseye sometimes (sometimes!) give me a 80's flavor. Lady Bullseye/The Hand plot may not be the best, but if one reads from the very beginning from Bendis run up to that point....it kinda makes sense for Matt to let his trouble life go, and take the Hand's leadership.

And cover more brubaker he is awesome

Matt, can you do an overview of Soule's DD? I would love your thoughts!!!!!

Daredevil has that Paul Kersey curse.

Thank you for covering the Brubaker run. The first arc was great but I will admit the twist with Vanessa was a bit contrived.

Brubaker is my favorite comic writer ever (Tom King is close.) I still like Waid and Samnee’s run on Daredevil the most though and that’s saying something, considering how much I love Brubaker.

For me, Brubaker's run is a great example of how to fix a title after a writer who don't understand the medium. Brubaker restore Matt and Foggy relationship and focus DD into his real duty. It's just my opinion but the writing level between Bendis and Brubaker it's huge. Brubaker really knows the medium.

You should do the Soule Run next, would give you all the modern runs up to Zdarsky, and with Devil’s Reign coming up, it makes some sense. Or Do Season 3 of DD! I would say, that if Soule threw away stuff, then Waid also threw away some stuff or just willingly ignored stuff for the sake of telling stories. Seems like the norm when it comes to writer switches, but the consistency of the stories have always been maintained in some form. Milla Donovan never had a chance in my opinion, Bendis never really did anything except for put her in danger, Brubaker just took that idea and drove it to its invariable conclusion.

Out of all the Marvel characters that were created Daredevil has to be one of the most consistently good titles in Marvel's repetoire. Stan Lee , Roger McKenzie , Frank Miller , Ann Nocenti , D.G Chichester , Kark Kesel & Joe Kelly , Kevin Smith , David Mack , Brian Michael Bendis , Ed Brubaker , Andy Diggle , Mark Waid , Charles Soule and finally Chip Zdarsky put Matt Murdock through Hell and back (metaphorically) and usually came on top even in the darkest of time. That's because these writers understood Matt's psyche and managed to prove that you may break a man's body but you can't break a man's soul.

Man, Return of the King is one of the best Daredevil stories ever. Great video though.

I still love soules run

I really hope to see you tackle the rest of the Zdarsky run. Personally for me it fell waaaayyy off with inferno and has stayed that way since. I’m curious to see your take.

Will you do a daredevil season 3 video?

Would you be willing to cover Denny O'Neil's run?

I’m definitely the only person who’s favourite DD run is Brubaker’s. Whatever your thoughts on Without Fear, it stuck with me in a way most stories don’t

I know you don't like Shadowland but that would make for an entertaining video essay 😅

Great video as usual for one fine piece of Daredevil's stories. Just one thing: besides the Death arc and the Holy Knight shit... SOULE IS UNDERRATED JUST BECAUSE HE CAME AFTER WAID. Here, I said it. Everyone's bitching about the turning back to status quo with the Purple Children's arc... almost ten years had passed after the public identity coming out! What the hell was left to do? Plus, it was consistent with DD mythos (and kind of clever, especially if compared to Spideys'OMD). And we had Blindspot, we had Matt as a mentor, Matt as mayor, Fisk as Mayor... It was a fun ride until that kinghts crap and that rushed death arc. Zsdarsky's (sorry for misspelling) run has better character development, I'll give ya that, but it's a Miller-Bendis-Netflix rehash and because of this I find it (totally subjective pov) mostly boring.