Daredevil Annual #1

All told, while it's nice to see these characters back in the pages, this annual doesn't make for required reading. Read Full Review

That's not necessarily a bad thing but it is odd and raises strange questions about why Soule doesn't let his authorial voice shine through here. Still, it offers a solid, easy read for lapsed Daredevil readers and a valid entry point for someone looking to try the current run on the character. Read Full Review

Two fairly tepid stories that seem unlinked to the prevailing narrative make for a pretty disappointing issue of Daredevil. This iteration of the character seems burdened by past versions and pays a lot of service to the Daredevil fanboy, but provides little in the way of interesting stories or characterization. I mean here, Matt Murdock is District Attorney of New York, yet the last time we saw him in his civilian garb was three issues ago--and then he was in a Chinese casino, not litigating at all! The whole thing seems like a missed opportunity, and as we head into another renumbering I wonder if I should bother being attached to this book at all.  Read Full Review

Annuals are usually the place for creators to stretch their legs and try new things, but Daredevil Annual #1 offers nothing new and stands as a fun, but flawed one-shot. Read Full Review

Much like the former storyline, Melvin Potter is a character who has been absent for years. His last appearance was in the shocking murder-mystery, Daredevil: End of Days from 2013. Even worse, Potter's last appearance as Gladiator was in 2007's Daredevil #99, but suddenly, without any sort explanation, he is back as Gladiator! Once again, readers can only hope this story will play a part in Soule's main Daredevil series, but until it does, the entire annual issue seemed misplaced. Read Full Review

Gizmo

Aug 16, 2016

I actually enjoyed this. I don't know anything about Echo, but this was a cool way to have a deaf and blind character play to each other's strengths. I'm assuming she was resurrected because the earth reformed after Secret Wars? I wasn't digging the art at first, but it won me over by depicted the sound waves in a interesting, surrealist way. The backup story was forgettable, but it was nice to bring a DD veteran back, if only for a few pages.

Spacey Medicine

Mar 05, 2019

This was alright.

TSMack

May 26, 2021

This was a tough one to read through. The artwork was subpar, and the story seemed like something from the 70s.

Ryan

Jun 15, 2019

Echo continues to be one of the most frustrating Marvel characters of all time, as I just can’t understand how she understands what people are saying when she’s deaf. Yes, she can lip read, but it’s impossible to lip read that well and sometimes Daredevil is obviously facing the other direction and Echo still understands him. The issue itself was boring and far to quick a read for an annual. I suggest skipping it

daddyT

Sep 04, 2018

crappy art, but an ok back-story. meh.

Demarcoa

Nov 23, 2025

The art leaves a lot to be desired, but I do at least love the premise. We open this story on Maya Lopez at a concert where everyone is being infected by these strange sound waves that clearly involve the villain Klaw. So she rushes off to find and save Daredevil before he hears the music and gets infected. It really works well to showcase a blind and deaf person working together to solve a problem nicely. I do wish the art were better though. A lot of plot points around the sound wave creatures people are turning into isn't well showcased because the art is often light on the finer details here. I'm just not sure the art style matches this kind of story. That being said though, the stylish, almost dream-like quality of the art is of ten very beautiful to look at and overall this book just isn't that bad. I just feel a different artist could have made this story's plot beats and the spreading sound infection more impactful. Also, Klaw's defeat is sudden and anti-climactic. Not a great read overall. more

Avanvolk

Feb 16, 2025

This was pretty trash. Poorly written, poorly illustrated...just all around bad. 4 is probably generous.

Nightmare of Solomon

Aug 06, 2016

i dont like that they are making potter a bad guy again, also... echo was supposed to be dead wasnt she? completely useless annual if you ask me

SavleCZ

Aug 04, 2016

Soule's current run is awesome and I honestly expected something great. This is just plain, uninteresting story with characters I don't care about and terrible artwork. Very disappointed.