Daredevil is my favorite superhero and I feel that its high time he gets the recognition that he deserves. Welcome to the Thread Without Fear.
Why do I like Daredevil so much? Because he is the underdog of superheroes. He's a blind dude with extraordinary super senses. He lost his sight in a freak chemical spill which left him blinded and at the same time heightened his other senses to incredible levels. He also has radar, which doesn't get used very much in modern comics but is pretty freakin' cool.
Daredevil's origin story can be read in many different tellings. It is one of the most told origin stories in all of superhero comics. My personal favorite two are Frank Miller's "The Man Without Fear" and Jeph Loeb's "Daredevil: Yellow"
On a powers level, Daredevil is fairly weak. He has no super strength or special combat abilities. He's just a guy who has spent a lot of time training and studying martial arts. The thing that gives Daredevil his edge is his senses. He can hear heartbeats, smell perspiration, and sense even the slightest change in a person's demeanor, which allows him to read his opponents and predict their moves.
Daredevil is crazy. He's a blind guy who runs and jumps on rooftops, swings with his roped billy clubs, and isn't afraid to stand up to any foe, no matter the odds. Daredevil has fought the Hulk, one on one. Did he win? No. But he stood up to him when nobody else was around to do so.
Daredevil also has the most interesting (and complicated!) love life of any hero. Period. Between his psycho assassin girlfriend Elektra, to dating super-spy Black Widow, to his long and tragic romance with his secretary turned porn-star Karen Page, to his fling with Echo, the deaf Native American who wants to kill him, to his most recent marriage to Milla Donovan, Daredevil's personal life has been all over the map. And I'm sure I've forgotten some.
Back in 1998, Marvel relaunched the Daredevil comic as part of its Marvel Knights line, and it was by far the most successful of all the MK brand comics.
Relaunched by Kevin Smith, the story started out dark and has remained so ever since. Daredevil is not a happy comic. It is full of much pain and sorrow as the story follows the very tragic life of Matt Murdock.
Brian Michael Bendis wrote Daredevil for a good long while, and Marvel has recently released an Omnibus of the Bendis run. Volume 1 is currently available with more volumes to come. Bendis' run takes Daredevil from a post-Karen Page Matt, through him defeating his arch nemesis the Kingpin and declaring himself as the new King of Hells Kitchen to Matt getting publicly outed and eventually thrown into jail.
Matt Murdock is a lawyer by day, and hero by night. Scattered throughout the comics can be found some brilliant courtroom scenes and legal elements. It isn't always spandex and superpowers. Many of Daredevil's greatest battles have been fought in a courtroom.
UPDATE 08/20/09
Daredevil has just reached its 500th issue. As Marvel has done with several of its other books recently, it has converted the issue numbers from the relaunch to its total lifetime number. Issue 500 is on newstands at this time and contains the end of the final Brubaker arc, titled "The Return of the King."
Starting next month in issue 501, a new creative team will take over the book. It will be written by Andy Diggle and illustrated by Roberto De La Torre.
Everyone should be reading Daredevil because it is the best superhero comic there is, and now is a great chance to jump on board.
New creative team, new story arc begins next month on 09/09/09.
Here is a huge
spoiler to summarize what's been going on in Daredevil:
During the Bendis run, Matt met and married a woman named Milla Donovan. She is blind like Matt and their shared disability served as an immediate point of connection.
In the Brubaker run, a villain from DD's past named Mr. Fear poisoned Milla with a toxin that caused paranoia and delusions. The damage became permanent and Milla was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for care.
In the arc titled Lady Bullseye, a new villain is brought into play. She uses Matt's damaged relationship with Milla as a tool to coerce Matt to take the reigns of the ninja organization known as The Hand. Matt refused, so Lady Bullseye had to resort to plan B.
In the final arc of Brubaker's run, Lady Bullseye approaches Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin, to take over the hand. In what turns out to be a major game of lies and deceit, Matt's personal life is completely shattered. His relationship with his best friend, Foggy Nelson, is damaged and Matt Murdock is fired from Nelson and Murdock. His extra-marital relationship with Dakota North is also compromised and Matt is left with no remaining ties to New York City or Hell's Kitchen.
Matt accepts the role as leader of The Hand.
That is where the story will pick up next month with the new creative team.
Posts
there, I said it.
This thread is going places, big places, big fearless places.
Someone mentioned a run on Daredevil that had heavy religious overtones and had Matt living in a Church for a bit. Anyone ever hear of this or know who wrote it?
Edit: Oh okay nevermind
Also, in the DD movie he fights in a church.
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Believe it or not, that was my introduction to Daredevil!
I can't believe I -remember- that episode! I was so excited when I read in TV Guide that Daredevil was going to be on the Hulk! And then... wtf that guy looks nothing like DD!
It was still cool though.
Get the Bendis omnibus that just came out!
And then get both trades of The Devil: Inside and Out. It is absolutely fantastic.
I would personally start with Daredevil Yellow. Its a good primer. Another option would be to just jump right into the Marvel Knights run and get Guardian Devil, which collects issues 1-8 which are Kevin Smith's issues. As a general warning though, Kevin Smith is super wordy. There's a ton of text in the first book. However, its very good and is an excellent story.
Lol Hippie I haven't even seen that. The particular instance I was talking about was in an old issue I read of my roommates in college. I can't recall the issue number now, or where exactly its from. But he fought the Hulk and ended up in the hospital with a few broken ribs. And Steve Rogers came to visit him. It was cool issue because it showed that DD has the admiration of the big hitters.
Well I didn't know any better, so I thought it was great. I like that they tried to show his radar sense too.
DD was handled pretty well in the episode but as a kid I was all about appearences. If they didn't look -exactly- like the comic I was all pouty. I'm still that way sadly.
'Parts of a Hole' - I read it and quite liked it but good golly is it weird.
Best extended run on a major superhero in recent memory, perhaps.
edit- thus contributing to his Catholic Guilt
they still pale into comparison with a certain issue involving a certain robot and a certain stick.
Everything. Miller, Bendis, Brubaker... you might need a second mortgage or something to afford it all, but it'll be worth it.
"And this is his sofa, is it?" said Arthur.
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i have the entirety of of bendis's run and brubaker along with guardian devil, born again and yellow. i really should pick up the hard cover omnibus of frank millers stuff sitting at the shop.
And the handoff from Bendis/Maleev to Brubaker/Lark was perfect. One of the best creative team transitions I've ever seen.
I will admit right now that I've only been collecting DD myself for a few years. I started my issues on #71 which was the beginning of the Decalogue story arc. The bold and somewhat unconventional cover art is what drew me to the book. One of my college roommates was also a big DD fan, and I read everything he had. He collected the MK books from 1-35 plus he had issues of FM's Man Without Fear, and he also had the Tree of Knowledge arc and a few other random arcs. I devoured everything he had.
I've since picked up trades of the MK run from 1-70, so I have the complete story all the way through current. At some point (when I'm rich) I'd like to get back issues of the entire MK run and anything else I can get my hands on.
Oh and I also have Daredevil Father in issue form as well as the Battlin' Jack mini-series.
Yes, Truly Matt Murdock is the greatest hero.
There were 4 or 5 issues before Bendis took over that had really questionable art and a story that read like it was taken from before the relaunch. I don't think they've collected them, but I consider it a tiny, tiny blemish on a wonderful relaunch. (I don't know what else to call it since it relaunched forever ago, but whatever.)
I have the six Smith/Mack/Benids hardcovers, and I wish they'd make hardcovers of the Brubaker run, because they really are great. I think they're my most cherished comics.
I'm still upset they didn't put those out in a trade because I would love to read it. My MK run just feels incomplete, even though I have every TPB they've released, since they didn't include that story.
I know the game looks bad but I don't care. I buy all things DD.
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Do you remember what this story is called or any details about it? I just looked at my first few trades and sure enough, there's a gap between the "Wake Up" storyline that was Bendis/Mack and "Underboss" that starts the Bendis/Maleev run.
I know I've read the issues at some point because my roomie had all of the first 35 issues, but now that I try to remember it, I can't.
By chance is that the run where Spider Man covers for Daredevil in the courtroom? Matt Murdock goes to trial as DD's defense lawyer and Peter Parker is wearing his costume?