Opinion: Daredevil eye candy, Maleev style

As I alluded to earlier, this is a look at some of the more sizzling images of Matt Murdock to come out of Maleev's tenure as Daredevil artist. While Matt has always been portrayed as being at least moderately attractive, Alex Maleev's realistic style managed to convey the kind of images that lets the reader imagine what the character would realistically look like. And some of the art he produced is of the kind that would literally make you drool. I'll have to whip up some lady eye candy for the straight male readers too, but for now it's all about the title character.

The first image below is perhaps my favorite. It's the art from the cover to Daredevil #50 (vol 2), and I must admit to using this as the desktop background on my computer for a while. I removed it after doing some work-related stuff at my dad's house. He caught a glimpse of it and, of course, asked me what it was. I answered truthfully by saying that it was Daredevil, my new favorite superhero. I left it at that, and to this day no one in my family has any idea about the extent of my involvement with this character. I suppose a girl should be allowed some secrets, right?

There is so much to like about this picture. Aside from the near-pornographic posing (not necessarily sure that's a good thing, but it works here), it's just a very attractive piece of art. We have Matt returning from a night on the town with cuts all over, almost passed out in a chair (or whatever that is he's sitting on), but there's also a hint of a smile on his lips. It's like he's exhausted, but content at the same time. Personally, I just want to run over and give him a shoulder rub or something. Maybe pour some iodine on those cuts... Is it just me or is it getting hot in here? ;)

Okay, moving on to a beautifully drawn sequence of panels from Daredevil #35, where Matt goes out in costume to defy the journalists camped out outside his home. I like the detail here, and how his emotions come through so clearly. Nice job, Maleev!

There aren't enough good things I can say about this sequence. This is great work from Bendis, and Maleev captures what's going on in Matt's head perfectly. You can see how quickly defiance turns to fear. Modern Daredevil writers have done a pretty good job of debunking the "man without fear" myth to the point where fear has become a respectable and quite reasonable emotion for the most human of superheroes to experience. After all, you can't really be brave if you don't experience fear. But that's a discussion for some other time. Let's move on...

The next couple of panels are from the opening page of Daredevil #37 and shows a flashback to a younger Matt, lounging in bed with a certain college girlfriend turned assassin named Elektra Natchios. It's a nicely drawn college-age version of the character, and I happen to know this is a favorite of a friend of mine.

Wait! Don't turn that computer screen upside down or twist your neck trying to get a good look. Here's the panel turned the "right" way...

Yeah, I can think of a couple of guys who would like to be in that position. At least before there was a risk of a sai to the chest. Speaking of bodily injuries, let's turn our attention to another fan favorite. Below, from issue #48, we see Matt trying to heal from his close encounter with Typhoid Mary. Matt has the worst ex-girlfriends in comics.

Well, this journey into the smoking corners of the Daredevil archive isn't really over, but I do need to get going, so you hungry (drooling?) readers are just going to have to be content with this for now. I might update this post later. I will see you then.

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