I suppose it probably makes more sense if you read his original run on the book BEFORE reading his return with BORN AGAIN. For that matter, the graphic novel he did with Bill Sienkiewicz came out shortly after BORN AGAIN, but clearly took place some time (shortly?) before it. I wish they'd try to make sure stories are produced & released in the order they take place...
I'm almost embarrassed to say I missed the bulk of the Gene Colan run of the book (the man probably still holds the record for number of issues pencilled). In fact, I started reading DD right when Bob Brown became regular penciller. Steve Gerber always said he never had much of an idea what he was doing on it. Tony Isabella hadn't learned how to properly write yet and treated a 4-part Hydra story almost like a comedy. Len Wein did exactly ONE issue and traded it to his good buddy Marv Wolfman, who DID stick around for a good long haul-- if an uneven one.
Somehow between Marv & Klaus Janson (who debuted about the same time) DD, which had always been somewhat light-hearted (despite taking place a lot at night) took on a dark, nasty tone. Things lightened up by the end of Marv's run... but he'd introduced a lot of sub-plots which he'd allowed to go nowhere for far too long. Gerry Conway did-- maybe-- 2 issues, and Jim Shooter got his shot. DAMN. Shooter, Gil Kane & Janson were the trio who turned DD into a dark, viscious NIGHTMARE of a series. Jim seems to enjoy just too much putting characters thru hell and destroying their lives (the "nervous breakdown" scene where Matt smashes up his apartment in the movie came from one of the Shooter-Kane issues!). When Shooter became EIC, Roger Mckenzie finally finished the mess Wolfman had started and Shooter had escalated... then settled in to "level out" the tone of the book.
It was during Mckenzie's run they discovered "newcomer" Frank Miller. What many probably don't realize is, his debut was nothing radical-- the tone had been set by Wolfman, Shooter, etc. Miller just brought along the benefits of doing a nice, long, consistent run, good storytelling abilities, AND he was the first penciller who REALLY meshed well with the dark, ugly inks of Klaus Janson!
I was never too sure why McKenzie disappeared when he did-- perhaps it was having his "Child's Play" angel dust story vetoed. But Miller took his shot and REALLY ran with it! The thing is, I always got the impression that he was treating it as "the ELEKTRA series", rather than DAREDEVIL (in the same way Jim Starlin seems to turn EVERYTHING he does into a Thanos epic!). And I HATED Elektra-- and must be the only fan who was overjoyed when she got KILLED. (On the other hand, I didn't mind when he revived her-- because he redeemed her soul at the same time.)
Between Denny O'Neil & Miller (who both did worse things to BATMAN after leaving DD) it seems they really HATED anything bright & lighthearted. They treated Wolfman's character, Heather Glenn, terribly (O'Neil finally having her committ SUICIDE-- THANKS A HELL OF A LOT, Denny!!!) mere months before completely destroying Matt's life and ALMOST killing Karen Page. (I'll toss out the question-- what's the POINT of saving someone's life if some later writer is just gonna go KILL them off ANYWAY-- thanks to you, TOO, Kevin Smith!!)
I admit it. I LOVED the book when Miller was doing it originally. But now... I guess my tastes in "entertainment" have changed a lot over the last 20 years. Let's just say those early WALLY WOOD issues have become my favorite DAREDEVILs of all time-- and I never even read them until 10 years after Miller's initial run!
