‘Daredevil Legends Vol 1. Daredevil: Yellow’ review
By Brittney MacDonald, Life & Style Editor
2/5
Daredevil has seen a boost in popularity as of late, thanks to the overall positive response to the Netflix original series. Whereas the online series is successful in portraying the duality of Daredevil—the angsty vigilante versus the good-natured lawyer—this graphic novel adaptation by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale is a little lacklustre.
Yellow is Loeb’s retelling of Daredevil’s origin story, told through a framing device of Matthew Murdock writing a letter to his first love Karen Page. This is typical for the Loeb/Sale Colour series, which includes Hulk: Gray and Spider-Man: Blue. The story recounts Matthew’s childhood accident which leads to his blindness, his father’s murder, and his rise to vigilantism, but its focus is on Matthew’s relationship with Karen.
Where this graphic novel falls apart is in the narrative. In Yellow, so much focus is placed on developing the emotional story that the action is treated as an afterthought. It felt as if Loeb was attempting to re-create Daredevil as the Marvel version of Batman, which just doesn’t work. Though the two characters parallel each other in a lot of ways, their moral cores (the most fundamental part of developing a superhero character) are radically different.
I’m also not a huge fan of the art. The first single issue for this series was published in 2001, yet the art looks as if it’s from the 1950s. I think it’s a missed opportunity on Sale’s part. The bright, clean pages seem to be in complete opposition to the darker, more emotional tone Loeb is attempting to achieve. It makes the series come off as disjointed.
Due to the issues with both the narrative and the art, I can’t recommend this series. But if you’re looking for good Daredevil fiction, I suggest picking up Daredevil: The Man Without Fear by Frank Miller and John Romita Jr.
