Character Spotlight: Daredevil
He is known to many as the Man Without Fear. Matt Murdock, Daredevil has been a champion in Hell’s Kitchen, a part of New York City for many years now. Daredevil is a hero that just can’t seem to catch a break no matter how hard he tries. As a young child Matt’s mother suffered from postpartum depression and left him and his father to become a nun. Matt’s father told Matt that she had died instead to save him the grief of knowing his mother just abandoned them. Later a young Matt was hit in the face with radioactive waste as he tried to save an old man crossing the street. The event caused him to go completely blind but enhancing his other senses to superhuman levels and also give him a sort of radar sense.
While you would think that things couldn’t get any worse, Matt’s father Battling Jack Murdock, a prized boxer was murdered by a mob boss. Jack was paid to take a dive but ultimately refused to go along and he was killed for his insubordination. Matt was left alone to cope with not only being blind, but the loss of his father and his overwhelming heightened senses. A blind man named Stick would come around who would help Matt to control his heightened senses and hone his body into a weapon.This would bring Matt to University where he would meet his now longtime best and business partner friend Franklin “Foggy” Nelson. Also at university Matt would meet a woman who would become a long time, on-again-off-again girlfriend. She would also inspire him to don a black mask and black sweats and become a vigilante saving those who would need to be rescued. That woman is none other than Elektra.
Matt and Foggy would graduate from Columbia University and open their own Law Firm helping the underdogs and get them the justice they deserved. Karen Page would be hired on as their assistant and also cause some ripples between Matt and Foggy as Foggy would develop feelings for Karen, but she had eyes for Matt. Karen and Matt dated for a while but she ultimately left for Hollywood to become an actress.
Matt ended up leaving and moving to San Francisco to start a tenure in the bay. While there he would meet and subsequently start dating Natasha Romanova the Black Widow. Matt and Natasha would end their relationship shortly after but continue to work and be friends for some time until Matt decided to return to New York. There the Kingpin would hire two assassins to kill Daredevil. One of these assassins was Elektra, but feelings would return and Matt and Elektra would rekindle their relationship. The other assassin would become one of Daredevil’s deadliest foes, Bullseye. The ensuing battle resulted in Bullseye stabbing Elektra through the chest with her own sai, and she would die in Daredevil’s arms.
Later Karen Page would return from Hollywood. A failed actress and now addicted to heroin, Karen would ultimately sell Daredevil’s identity for a fix. The Kingpin used the information to destroy Daredevil’s life starting with hiring Typhoid Mary to tear Matt and Karen apart. Things seemed pretty bleak for the man without fear, but after a while Matt would restore his life and continue being Daredevil.
In true form Matt’s life would start to unravel again as a supposed infant anti-Christ has appeared. Daredevil drugged, his life gets crazy as he doesn’t know who to believe, even when he seeks the aid of Natasha he fears she may be in on it. Everyone in his life gets put in danger as Foggy is framed for murder and Karen Page is killed in a battle with Bullseye. The entire ruse was fabricated by none other than Mysterio. The one good thing to come out of these events, Karen Page left Matt a large sum of money which helped to restart Nelson & Murdock.
Matt would then meet Maya Lopez, a deaf woman who has photographic-reflexes. The Kingpin sent her to Kill Daredevil with the misinformation that he had killed her father, but in actuality Maya’s dad died at the hands of the Kingpin himself. When she learned the truth Matt and Maya ended their relationship and they went their separate ways and attacked the Kingpin blinding him.
The battle between Daredevil and the Kingpin would go on for a long time. Even after Daredevils identity would be revealed in a newspaper, he would win a big cash settlement proving he wasn’t Daredevil with the help of his current girlfriend Milla Donovan. Daredevil also managed to dethrone the Kingpin and step in as the new Kingpin clearing Hell’s Kitchen of the crime that seemed to engulf it. Things though would not go as planned and Matt went to jail for being the new Kingpin. Later Matt would be released but Daredevil and anyone close to him are always a target. Milla his now wife from a secret wedding would be attacked by Mister Fear and a mind breaking chemical would cause her to need to be put into an institution. The Hand have always been a huge thorn in Daredevil’s side. So in an attempt to stop them Daredevil would become their leader, hoping that with his will he could change them for the good. In a battle with Bullseye, Daredevil would kill him the same way that Bullseye had killed Elektra many years earlier. It turns out that Matt with all his good intentions failed, and was possessed by the Beast, the being the leads the Hand. It would take all of his friends to save Matt and free him from the Hand.
Later Mat would meet A.D.A. Kirsten Duffy and would eventually start to date her. Life for Matt was pretty tumultuous and he would end up telling the world that he is in fact Daredevil. Ramifications of this would cause Matt to lose his license to practice law in New York. Matt and Kirsten would move to San Francisco, the only other place Matt was able to practice law. Life still doesn’t go as planned and it may be the end of Matthew Murdock. As his autobiography is being written Matt’s life will forever be changed.
Some time has passed and Matt is back in New York, he’s a lawyer again but is now working for the district attorney. Daredevil is on the streets but how does no one remember that he is actually Matt Murdock? Somehow Matt managed to get his life back and put the genie that is his identity back in the bottle, but how? This revelations continues to unfold in the current series.
There are so many great stories to choose from but below are some books we consider essential reading from the crazy legacy that is Daredevil.
Daredevil Masterworks Vol. 1Collecting Daredevil (1964) #1-11
This is where it all began. Matt meeting Karen Page and going up against some of his earliest battles against the Fixer (the man responsible for the death of Battlin' Jack Murdock), Electro, the Owl, Purple Man, Matador, Mr. Fear's Fellowship of Fear, the Sub-Mariner, Stilt-Man, Klaus Kruger, and the mysterious Organizer and his operatives, who would later become the Ani-Men.
RECOMMENDED
Daredevil: Yellow
Collecting Daredevil: Yellow (2001) #1-6
Re-telling the origin of Daredevil and how he became the Man Without Fear focusing on the death of Battling Jack Murdock that pushed Matt to don the mask and protect the streets of Hell’s Kitchen.
RECOMMENDED
Daredevil: The Man Without FearCollecting Daredevil: The Man Without Fear #1-5
Matthew Murdock was raised by a single father, and his life irrevocably altered after he was blinded by radioactive materials while saving the life of an old man. Matt’s father is a prized fighter and decides not to throw a match and results in him losing his life. Devastated, Matt hones his skills and hunts down the man who killed his father
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Daredevil by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson Vol. 1
Collecting Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #27-28, and Daredevil #158-161 and #163-172.
Probably the most iconic Daredevil runs to date. Introducing Daredevil's mysterious mentor Stick, deadly ninja foes the Hand, and Matt's long-lost love Elektra.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Daredevil by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson Vol. 2Collecting Daredevil #173-184
In this volume the Elektra saga continues and someone doesn’t make it out of this epic story alive, or do they?
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Daredevil: Born Again
Collecting Daredevil #226-233
Karen Page, Matt’s former lover, has traded away his secret identity for a drug fix. Now, the Kingpin of Crime wastes no time taking him down as low as a human can get. This is the definitive Daredevil story that is a must read.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Daredevil Epic Collection: A Touch Of Typhoid
Collecting Daredevil (1964) #253-270, Punisher (1987) #10
The Kingpin knows that Matt Murdock and Daredevil are one in the same. In his campaign to break Daredevil he enlists the services of Typhoid Mary, a lethally seductive assassin. She's a "love-maker and a man-hater" with multiple personalities, one with her eyes set on Matt and one to target Daredevil.
RECOMMENDED
Daredevil: Guardian DevilCollecting Daredevil (1998) #1-8
A scared teenager on the run. An infant child some say is humanity's savior. A former lover whose life is now hobbled by a terrible secret. A law partner accused of a horrible crime. A city being overcome by an inscrutable menace. They need a guardian. Someone to protect them. Someone with faith in them. They need Daredevil.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Daredevil by Bendis and Maleev Ultimate Collection Vol. 1
Collecting Daredevil #16-19 & #26-40
The Kingpin's downfall and see how a down-on-his-luck FBI agent can change Matt's life forever. This is a character-defining run, a pulp-fiction narrative rich with psychodrama and a modern approach.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Daredevil By Mark Waid Vol. 1Collecting Daredevil (2011) #1-6
Matt Murdock is back and hoping to resuscitate his law practice, he takes on a police-brutality case, but someone is trying to silence the victim. Then, Klaw, master of sound, makes his deadly return! And the blind literally lead the blind as a visually impaired client targeted for assassination holds the key to a global conspiracy.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Daredevil: Back In Black Vol. 3: Dark Art
Collecting Daredevil (2015) #10-14
A serial killer who turns his victims into works of art is on the loose, Daredevil and Blindspot are no fans of his "masterpieces." The mysterious artist’s sadistic installations will hit close to home and someone’s life will be changed forever.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
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Dared Devil is the famous