The early issues collected in this huge omnibus are not very memorable, and only included because Miller is the penciller for these. But once he takes over writing duties as well, the book immediately starts improving, and while it never completely manages to escape the feel of the dated 1980s comic book sensibility, it gets very enjoyable indeed. And by the end of the tome it is very easy to see how this has become one of the defining runs of the Daredevil book. Two issues stand out in particular: the issue forming the high point of the Elektra arc, told brilliantly in its entirety from Bullseye's perspective, and the very final issue collected here, where Daredevil visits Bullseye in the hospital. If the early issues collected weren't pulling down the average quality so much, I'd give this five stars out of five, even with the dated nature of some of the storytelling and the assorted other problems (like a subplot Daredevil's downright horrifying treatment of his fiancée towards the end of the plot -- admittedly behaviour that's criticised by the other characters and is intended to be symptomatic of his grief and trauma at the time, but which still is so terrible as to feel unforgivable in a supposed heroic protagonist). ( )

I was concerned there would be a cornucopia of Frank Miller talking heads a la Batman Returns and I wouldn't find this terribly interesting. I'm happy to say my concerns were unfounded. The quality of the story is low in the first couple issues but soon Miller and Johnson start hitting their stride. The Kingpin under their pens becomes a powerful and interesting character. Bullseye and Electra are both well written and add some interesting story lines. This is a must have if you are a big Daredevil or Frank Miller fan. ( )

A huge whompin' chunk of comics, charting a pretty steady rise from the wince-inducing (Miller's first issue features Daredevil fighting Ape-Man, Bird-Man, and Cat-Man) to the canonical (the introduction, death, and resurrection of Elektra). A look into the creative development of one of the greats of comics. ( )