Blind hero Daredevil takes on new life with audio

[August 17, 2011]  PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The Man Without Fear has a voice for fans unable to see him.

Marvel Comics' Daredevil -- a blind lawyer who protects the streets of Hell's Kitchen in New York -- has had his new adventures brought to life as a free digital audiobook.

Senior Editor Stephen Wacker told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the audio version of "Daredevil" No. 1 came about after he and series writer Mark Waid thought the Matt Murdock/Daredevil character, blinded as a child, might appeal to visually impaired fans.

The series came out last month with Waid, Paolo Rivera and Marcos Martin as the creative team for the character who first appeared in 1964.

Wacker said he's received several letters since editing the character. Many spoke of being visually impaired or sharing the character with friends who were.

"Daredevil, he's such an odd superhero in that he has a disability," Wacker said. "People who share that disability will gravitate toward him."

So he thought it be a good idea to gravitate back to those fans with an audio version, taking advantage of the publisher's in-house multimedia team to make the project a reality.

"I just sort of threw it out (there) and the next thing I knew, it was happening," Wacker said.

Waid read his script, offering descriptions of the panels in the book, and Marvel editors Tom Brennan, Ellie Pyle and Jordan D. White voiced Murdock, Foggy Nelson and Kirsten McDuffie, among others. Marvel.com video editor Todd Wahnish recorded the piece while Ben Moese, associate editor of marvel.com directed it. White then edited the final recording.

The finished product was posted online as a free download.

"It was never meant to take the place of a reading experience, but for fans who either have sight impairment or know someone who does, I thought it was a fun introduction to the new book," Wacker said. "It was an extracurricular activity for us. It's us sitting around and reading."

___

Marvel Entertainment is owned by The Walt Disney Co.

___

Online:

Daredevil Audio: http://bit.ly/pmesHb

[Associated Press; By MATT MOORE]

Follow Matt Moore at http://twitter.com/MattMooreAP.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.