Daredevil: Yellow by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale

Daredevil: Yellow is one of a collection of Marvel “colour” books that Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale have done together, recounting some of the character’s early history in the form of a retrospective from the point of the view of the hero.  In this case, Matt Murdock reflects on some of the early events that shaped who he is, as he writes a letter to his now deceased lover, Karen Page in order to come to terms with her passing.

I am not a big fan of Daredevil, and really know very little about the character. Beyond the rare cross-over or guest appearance, all I have really read is Frank Miller and John Romita Jr.’s “The Man Without Fear.” This means I only have a passing understanding of his history. I know he is blind, his father was a boxer, and that he is a hero by night, lawyer by day. Therefore, going in, reading this book was not going to be a nostalgia trip, but would have to entertain me in its own right. To the credit of the creative team, they managed to weave a story that while mostly made up of isolated vignettes, is, at its core, a story about love and coming to terms with the events that affect our lives, making the themes of the story relevant to anyone regardless of their prior history with Daredevil.

Now, to be fair, I expected no less from Loeb and Sale. While I find Loeb’s work without Sale usually hit or miss (mostly misses), there has been very little that these two have created together that I did not really enjoy. They seem to have a strong, collaborative relationship, and they appear to have a similar understanding of the characters. Together they have done some great Batman books, and as I mentioned before, a handful of miniseries for Marvel, all based around the early years of a character. Of the colour books, I have also read Spider-Man: Blue, and loved it, although that story also uses the same thread of a message to a lost love, which for me, lessens the emotional connection as I feel like it has been done before and doesn’t really bring anything new to the formula.

Individually, Sale is an artist that I really love; he uses washes to create pages that look like they were done as watercolours once coloured, and he is a master of composition, be it panel, page or cover. The wash look he uses in this book sets the tone and gives a period feel that captures the 1960’s look that grounds the story in the silver age of comics. Furthermore, his covers for this series are all thematically excellent. Each cover features Matt Murdock at a certain point in his life –walking with his father, training at the gym, or in court- and hovering over each moment is an image of Daredevil. These covers skillfully represent what the book is about; the life of Matt as he learns who he wants to be, and who he wants to be with, and the persona of Daredevil, while always influencing his life, is never as important as those genuine, human moments.

There are a few moments in the interior artwork that really stand out to me as excellent examples of Sale’s work, and I wish I could scan them in as a demonstration. The first is a wonderful piece of composition for a double-page spread depicting Matt Murdock’s father, Jack Murdock, winning a boxing match that he was supposed to throw. In the ring we see Jack, standing tall yet battered on the left side of the ring, arm raised in victory with a look of bliss on his face. An overhead light casts a halo of yellow around Jack, giving him a saint-like quality, which intensifies the serenity and bliss that the man emits. On the right side of the ring is his opponent, beaten and defeated, collapsed in his stool as he is attended to by his coach. To balance the piece, Sale chose to place Matt Murdock and his friend, celebrating joyfully, Matt’s fist high in the air, on the right side of the page, so that they are paired with the defeat of the challenging boxer, and the bookie that demanded Jack throw the fight on the left, scowling at the rejoicing young adults as Jack stands triumphantly above them.  Jack is fully lit and coloured, while everything else scales to a dim-light blue hue as the eye moves away from Jack. This panel is lovely, as it shows the honest nature of Jack, who is surrounded by a halo of light, and shows the connection between father and son, both of them with arms raised in triumph.

The second piece that captivated me was one panel, in a sequence where Matt Murdock goes to witness the execution of his father’s killer. The image is left in grey scale wash, and is haunting in its depiction. Matt watches passively from behind glass with the rest of those who wish to witness the death, his black lensed glasses hiding any emotion that might appear on his face, to give him the appearance of an emotionless automaton, unmoved by the death of another. Cast against the wall, larger than life, is the shadow of the killer screaming in agony as an electric current is run through him; the wires in his hat appear as crackling bolts of electricity as they twist due to the man’s contorted position.  The haunting quality of this image is the only time you see a true lack of emotion from Murdock, as he channels his Daredevil mantra “the man with no fear”; it shows that even good men can be hardened.

The last image is a simple, full page panel of The Thing sticking his head through the window of Matt’s law office. It is a close up shot of The Thing, one eyebrow raised questionably, as he leans on the sill, asking which lawyer is which. It is a great example of Sale’s ability to draw expression. The Thing’s face, beyond its questioning expression, is one that is meant to be comedic. The tip of the head, angle of the jaw, and the haphazardly raised eyebrow all come together to make a look that brings a smile to a viewer’s lips. It’s a wonderful mix of ugly and enduring; which is a look that The Thing really deserves to have as a character. The fact that Sale can pull it off so well, with what appears to be with ease, is impressive, and showcases his talent.

Overall, I spent more time focused on the art of this book than the story, simply because it is so good. The story just could not live up to the images that were used to create it. The first issue, learning about Matt’s father, was the highlight of the storytelling for me, and while it was great to see his first interactions with the woman that his letter shows he clearly loved dearly, the nature of stringing the individual events together did not really make the story anything more than the sum of its parts, (although I can tell a lot of time went into ensuring the transitions were as seamless as possible). That being said though, the story is well told, and uses some strong core thematic elements to give the narrative a solid backbone to at least keep the reader involved and interested. For those who read the old Daredevil stories, I’m sure there is something about seeing old events retold in such a beautiful fashion, but without knowing the history, some of the impact was lost on me. I do recognize this as a good book, and the art will keep me coming back, but as a whole, it does not declare itself as a must-read title for those without a love of Daredevil, although there are a lot of great elements to be found within it if you do choose to read it.