With many big issues coming out this week, Daredevil #29 is my Pick of the Week! Batman, Detective Comics, and Flash all have annuals, but paled in comparison. Series such as The Wake, Pandora, and Uncanny X-Men all come out this week, but fell short of what was needed for this week’s Pick of the Week. None could compare with the connection I had with Daredevil #29.
Daredevil #29 is my Pick of the Week!
When Did Larry Start Reading Daredevil?
For weeks, Steve (from our Detroit area comic book store) has laid little hints and nudges here and there for me to give Daredevil a chance. Over and over again, I told him that I had never been able to connect with Daredevil. There was nothing wrong with the character; I just never had an interest in him. I never made a connection with Daredevil. The fact that Daredevil is being written my Mark Waid finally led me into picking up issue #28. Luckily for me, it appears to be the beginning of an arc.
Larry Likes Mark Waid?
This might come as a shock that I really like the work of one of the greatest proponents of digital comics. I have talked with Mark Waid a few times this year, and disagree with his stance on digital comics, but that does not take away from the fact that I respect his work, and I respect him as a person. I put aside my disagreement with him on this major comic book market topic because his body of work includes many of my favorite storylines. He is a down-to-Earth guy who wants the best for the comic book industry, readers, and collectors.
Sons of the Serpent
Some of you know that I was a big fan of the Defenders when I was a kid. One of the memorable storylines from that title was when they faced the Sons of the Serpent, the Aryan organization which had placed agents in all walks of life. As I got older, I sought out other comics in which the Son of the Serpent were used (The Avengers, Captain America, etc.). I have always liked how Marvel used an Aryan group as an enemy to teach that racism is wrong, but thought they fell short. The problem is that the creators never used them as the long-term menace the group could have become. The Sons of the Serpent would be declared as far-reaching and powerful and then gone in a few issues. The organization ended up not being as powerful as the creators originally suggested, and I felt this was a disservice to the readers who wanted their favorite superheroes to battle the most powerful of foes.
Back to Daredevil #29
If you read Daredevil #28, you know that the Sons of the Serpent are back. The come back in a big way in Daredevil #29, and the organization shows how it can infiltrate society. There is even a reference picture to the Defenders fighting the Sons of the Serpent from their first arc with them many years ago. In this issue we find Daredevil battling against the Sons of the Serpent, and find ourselves asking how powerful the organization really is, and wondering what struggles he will face in attempting to cut the serpent’s head off once and for all. Daredevil #28 and Daredevil #29 appears to be the start of the first Sons of the Serpent storyline in which the organization is shown as a powerful force to be reckoned with.
My Connection
Connecting with a comic is the most important factor in choosing my Pick of the Week. Maybe I connected with Daredevil #29 because of the Defenders reference which took me back to my youth. Maybe it was because it used an evil organization which I always believed Marvel creators came up short with. Either way, the issue kept me turning the pages with anticipation. As I read the last page, I found myself looking forward to the next issue. This is all due to Mark Waid’s writing and the ability he has which I just discovered. Daredevil #29 made me realize Mark Waid has the ability to get me to care about Daredevil for the first time in my three decades of reading comics.
Non-Traditional Pick of the Week
