Interview With Alex Irvine and Tomm Coker
(April 2009)

The creative team behind the new Daredevil Noir limited series reflect on their first issue and why certain choices were made for this take on Daredevil.

Please note: This interview talks about issue #1... so SPOILERS ahead...

Kuljit Mithra: The first thing I noticed right on page 1 is how much it looks like a film noir opening shot, with dead bodies and an almost grainy feel to the art, like you're watching an old crime movie. I was wondering some of your thoughts on this establishing shot, in terms of writing the scene and the choices made in art (like using the "big dots" in old style comics).

Tomm Coker: I was trying to invoke the opening of films such as Sunset Boulevard or The Third Man where you open with gruesome shots while a voice over catches the viewer up to speed.

I think the quiet calm of the scene really adds to the tension. You know that something really nasty just took place here and you're being forced to look at the aftermath and wonder what's going to happen next. Pretty classic noir stuff.

Alex Irvine: I had these kinds of opening sequences in mind too, because they always create a frame narrative that then opens up into the main story. I wanted the reader to be, in a sense, in the position of the detective, coming in after the crime has been committed and trying to figure out how it happened and what's going to happen next.

Mithra: I found that there is a lot of focus on Matt's heightened senses... especially his hearing and smelling. Conscious decision to do this, or just using the character's existing traits fully?

Irvine: It has always seemed to me that Daredevil's enhanced senses would be as much a curse as a blessing, for some of the reasons spelled out in the first issue. And I wanted to dig into what it would really be like to have four senses so powerful that they not only replace the missing fifth, but generally improve on it? Daredevil has a better sense of the reality around him that his sighted opponents. What are the psychological consequences of that? How does it feel to know that no one can ever lie to you because you will know from the changes in their voice and body chemistry?

Kuljit Mithra: In terms of collaboration, how has it been? I've interviewed creators in the past who never spoke with the artist involved, but others were constantly in touch, refining some areas.

Coker: The scripts were written when I came aboard so there wasn't a lot of collaboration in creating the story but Alex and I communicated quite a bit while I was drawing the book. Most of my suggestions were art related - pacing and panels per page.

I ask tons of questions in order to understand the writer's intent and that allows me to make the best visual decisions I can based on that understanding. I also discuss any changes I might want to make before moving forward.

Irvine: Some of these communications were funny. We were talking about a big fight scene in issue 1, and I was explaining what I had been trying to do in the script, and there comes this long pause... after which Tomm says, "Sometimes people just write 'They fight.'"

Kuljit Mithra: While Daredevil is certainly a basis for this take on the character, there are several changes. First is obviously the costume. How many designs were "tested" and why did this design win out?

Coker: The mask was the first thing I worked out. I wanted something similar to the Vaudeville devil / Venetian masquerade Casanova. I'm not sure why but the longer horns felt more in keeping with the period. Originally the mask had a much bigger nose but it just looked silly so...

As far as the costume goes, I think there were two designs the only difference being the first had Daredevil's arms covered in the same gray material as his legs. Joe Quesada wanted bare arms so that was that.

Mithra: Another change (and please let me know if I read this the wrong way) was that this Daredevil kills. He has a mission and will not stop until the thousands of criminals in his city are gone. What's the fundamental difference of your Daredevil that makes him believe this is okay?

Irvine: This was deliberately left vague in the script, but from what I'm hearing a lot of people are reading it the way you are. Which, I think, is okay. From one perspective, why wouldn't a vigilante in Prohibition-era Hell's Kitchen kill? He doesn't know he's occupying a superhero archetype. I don't think I wrote a scene in which I said, "Daredevil kills Goon X," but that reading is certainly available. I'm okay with it.

Mithra: I guess this relates to the previous question... There's a two page spread where Matt is at his window at home and he's lamenting about his efforts to rid his city and he doesn't feel like he's "home". The reader is pulled in on multiple closeups of Matt's face, especially the look in his eyes. The line "Home is a prison I carry in my head" is quite powerful here. Here we see Matt's eyes, but when Matt is in costume, it seems he's drawn so that you can't see his face properly; it's in shadows throughout the issue. Both of your thoughts on this?

Irvine: From a story standpoint, I was working through what it would be like for a guy to call a place home when at times he hates everything about it, and it seems like the place is out to get him. It's noisy, and it stinks, and it's dangerous-and unlike us, Matt Murdock can't hide from it when he goes home because all of the stimuli follow him right into his living room. It drives him crazy sometimes, genuinely crazy, to the point where his vigilantism is catharsis as much as anything else. You see that happening in the first big fight scene in issue 2.

Coker: I don't know if it was ever specifically stated but I never wanted to light Daredevil's face. He's a scary blind guy who's moving in the shadows and using the dark to his advantage. He's the "devil" in a crime noir - Daredevil should never be lit for retail. It would defeat the purpose.

Mithra: It shouldn't come as a surprise that the artwork is being compared to longtime DD artist Alex Maleev. Tomm, are you producing your artwork in the same kind of way digitally that he does? The inking reminds me a lot of Bill Sienkiewicz.

Coker: I'm familiar with Alex Maleev and Mike Lark - but not with the way they work. I assume we're all using lots of reference, photos, models etc - but beyond that I don't know.

This is the first job I've done where there are no "original" pages once I'm finished and I love it. So much of the pressure has been relieved and the process sped up to an extent that I don't think I'll ever go back.

My method is to pencil and ink a lot of individual drawings (panels) that I scan and assemble in Photoshop to create a page. After that I add more black, splatter, razor-blade lines and half-tone (big dots).

As far as influences are concerned I'll run down a quick list - Al Williamson, Angelo Torres, Jim Holdaway, Mike Mignola, Bill Sienkiewicz, P. Craig Russell, Sergio Toppi, Dave Mazzucchelli, Attilo Micheluzzi, Jorge Zaffino, Creepy Magazine... etc.

Mithra: I like how the reader is tricked into believing Matt is a lawyer, but then we learn that Foggy is a PI and Matt is his helper. Why the change here? Just more believable for this time period?

Irvine: Yeah, I wanted to nod at his canonical origin but it didn't make any sense for anyone to pretend that he could have been a blind lawyer in 1930. Also, it wouldn't be a classic noir without a PI involved somehow- that seemed like a natural way to get Foggy involved.

Mithra: I also like how the Kingpin already has suspicions that Matt is DD. Was this something you felt should have been in place in the main DD title before he actually found out?

Irvine: All of the guys who have written the main Daredevil title have had their reasons for doing what they did. I thought this made sense for the story I wanted to tell, and the reasons for that will be a lot clearer at the end of the book than they are right now. It's always seemed to me that it would be awfully difficult for a guy as sharp as Wilson Fisk not to have any idea about possible identities for Daredevil, but that's part of the superhero archetype too, right?

Mithra: And finally, we can't spoil anything about the rest of the series, but can we get a hint of what to expect from the Bull's Eye Killer (costume-wise, character-wise)?

Coker: I plead the fifth on this one.

Irvine: If Tomm's bailing out on this one, I am too. But you'll dig it when you see it.

----------------------------------------------
(c) Kuljit Mithra 2009
Daredevil:The Man Without Fear
http://www.manwithoutfear.com
----------------------------------------------


Read more interviews!

40th Anniversary
Ben Abernathy
Jesus Aburtov
Richie Acosta
Martin Ahlgren
Alejandro Arbona
Jose Guns Alves
Mahmud Asrar
Dick Ayers
Jonathan Barron
Thomas Baxter
Brian Michael Bendis
Black and White
Haden Blackman
Randy Bowen
Alan Brennert
Chris Brewster
Chris Brewster (2)
Ed Brubaker
Steve Buccellato
Bob Budiansky
Danny Bulanadi
John Byrne
Harry Candelario
Joe Caramagna
Sergio Cariello
Karina Casiano
Don Castro
Bernard Chang
Marco Checchetto
Dan Chichester
Dan Chichester (2)
Holly Cinnamon
Gene Colan
Hector Collazo
Jason Copland
Matt Costello
Alan Cowsill
Charlie Cox
Greg Cox
Paul Crilley
Daredevil '83
Daredevil V3
Matt Deangelis
Keith DeCandido
Tom DeFalco
Roberto De La Torre
Rafael De Latorre
J.M. DeMatteis
Kim DeMulder
Brian Denham
Sunita Deshpande
Will Devokees
Netho Diaz
Jack DiFalco
Carmine Di Giandomenico
Cori Dioquino
Josie DiVincenzo
Chuck Dixon
Scott Dunbier
Kieron Dwyer
B. Earl
Tommy Lee Edwards
Elastic
Elektra Hand Devil
Steve Englehart
Fall From Grace
Tito Faraci
James Felder
Karin Fong
Tim Flattery
Justin F. Gabrie
Christos Gage
Ron Garney
Pat Garrahy
Stefano Gaudiano
Uri Geller
Matt Gerald
Steve Gerber
Eric Michael Gillett
Christopher Golden
Steven Grant
Devin K. Grayson
Peter Halpin
Larry Hama
Cully Hamner
John Patrick Hayden
Jason Henderson
Stephen E. Henderson
Glenn Herdling
David Hine
Matt Hollingsworth
Caleb Howard
Dave Hunt
Alex Huynh
Ray Iannicelli
Alex Irvine & Tomm Coker
Tony Isabella
Richard Isanove
Chris Ivy
John Jennings
Danny Johnson
Mark Steven Johnson
Dan Jurgens
Farid Karami
Joe Kelly
Karl Kesel
Lauren Mary Kim
Daniel Kish
Jim Krueger
Aaron Kuder
Chloë Levine
Ryan K. Lindsay
David Liss
Scott Lobdell
Jeph Loeb
Wes Louie
Tom Lyle
David Mack
Jed MacKay
Clay Mann
J. Mallory-McCree
Jason Martin
Vatche Mavlian &
Brett Matthews

Shane McCarthy &
Martin Redmond

Matthew McCurdy
Scott McDaniel
Luke McDonnell
Manny Mederos
Jon Mefford
Stuart Moore
Richard K. Morgan
Tony Naumovski
Yvonne Navarro
Eddy Newell
Fabian Nicieza
Nikolai Nikolaeff
Ann Nocenti
Cary Nord
Mike Oeming
Ariel Olivetti
Denny O'Neil
John Ostrander
Jimmy Palmiotti
George Papadimatos
Ande Parks
Seth Peck
Khoi Pham
John Pirkis
Joe Quesada
Ben Raab
Bill Reinhold
Graeme Revell
Madeleine Robins
Robert Rodi
Javier Rodriguez
J.G. Roshell
John Rozum
Matt Ryan
Reza Salazar
Tony Salmons
Salgood Sam
Chris Samnee
David Sarrio
#SaveDaredevil
Christie Scheele
Lalit Kumar Sharma
Nandita Shenoy
Peter Shinkoda
Jim Shooter
Bill Sienkiewicz
Thony Silas
Warren Simons
Walt Simonson
Marc Siry
Elsa Sjunneson
Suzanne H. Smart
Kevin Smith
Spoken Comics
Will Stout
Stephen D. Sullivan
Billy Tan
Chris Tardio
Scott Terra
Ben Torres
Tim Tuohy
Josh Turi
Kate Udall
Susan Varon
Ron Wagner
Mark Waid
Lee Weeks
Lee Weeks (2)
Loren Weeks
Zeb Wells
Phil Winslade
Arden Wolfe
Marv Wolfman
Gregory Wright
Paul Young
Chip Zdarsky
Chip Zdarsky (2)
Chip Zdarsky (3)
Chip Zdarsky (4)
Chip Zdarsky (5)
Zachary Zirlin



 
COMICS: Volume 1 | Volume 2 | Volume 3 | Volume 4 | Volume 5 | Volume 6 | Volume 7 | Volume 8 | Annuals | Appearances | Costumes | Digital Comics | Hardcovers | Key Issues | Logos | Origin | Price Guide | Recommended | Reviews | Secret Identity | Sales Data | Titles | Trades | Untold Tales

CREATORS: Cover Artists | Inkers | Pencillers | Writers

MEDIA: Actors | Books | Cartoons | Computer Fun! | Movies | Music | Pictures | Sightings | Sketches | Video Games | Wallpapers

FANS: Fan Art | Fan Costumes | Fan Custom Figures | Fan Fiction | Fan Films | Fan Guitars | Fan Tattoos
 

 

Daredevil (and other related characters appearing) and the distinctive likenesses are Trademarks of Marvel Characters, Inc. and are used WITHOUT permission.
Copyright © 2024 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Visit Marvel.com.
www.manwithoutfear.com is owned and operated by Kuljit Mithra. Web site is © Kuljit Mithra 1996-2024.

Keep up to the date with your trusted Daredevil source ManWithoutFear.com on and