Daredevil – The Man Without Fear

Matt Murdock is a man of many contradictions. He is a devoted Catholic, often tempted by the world of sin. He is a lawyer who often breaks the law he is sworn to protect. He is a blind man dressing up as a devil, running on rooftops and fighting crime. He is Daredevil – the Man Without Fear.

The heroes of the merry Marvel universe are often born in tragedy – their uncles die, their parents die, their wives and kids and parents die. Matt is not different, losing his father to mobsters. But Daredevil is born out of a selfless deed – helping a stranger and being affected by chemicals which took his sight and enhanced every other sense.

And while many Marvel heroes find fulfilling lives down the road, tragedy somehow never seemed to elude our Man Without Fear. It’s etched into every story, seeps into everything he does and, no matter how high Matt climbs, it is ready to pull him down.

The Dark Underbelly of Marvel’s universe

Perhaps this is why Daredevil stories have been so endlessly entertaining and endearing to everyone. While many of Marvel’s heroes are bold and bright, Daredevil’s stories are darker, grim, filled with death and despair. He is Marvel’s premiere street-level hero, fighting drug dealers, crooks and mobsters. Added to that is a mixture of ninjas, demons and corrupt politicians, and you have a mix that will shock and surprise you with every page turn.

It is important to note that most Daredevil stories are mature and often deal with heavy themes. While Daredevil had a start in the pulp and swashbuckling adventures, after passing through hands of Frank Miller, Daredevil was (pardon the pun) reborn. Miller was inspired by film noir and hardboiled crime fiction and leaned heavily into it – to spectacular success.

Every run that follows will deal with politics and have Matt make morally questionable choices. He will dash out violent blows during the night and then struggle with his Catholic guilt in the daylight. And somehow, along the way, he will draw in every attractive woman he meets, running his and their lives over and over again.

Do you dare to tread in Daredevil’s footsteps? Then these are some stories you will have to pick up!

The Early Years

Many creators worked on Daredevil in the early years – Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, Marv Wolfman and Jim Shooter are but a few. Sadly, Daredevil has always remained in the shadow of bigger Marvel properties during the 60s and the 70s.

Furthermore, Frank Miller will retcon a lot of Matt’s origin and early years, so people sometimes dismiss those earlier stories. Nevertheless, the true Horn-heads still love and cherish them as a fun showcase in what came before. And they are (mostly) collected in the Omnibus format – though Volume 1 is out of print (stories are also available in Epic Collection V1 and V2), Omnibus Volume 2 and Volume 3 are readily available. 

Daredevil by Frank Miller

Things started changing for Daredevil in 1979, when a young artist Frank Miller arrived to draw the issue #158, working alongside the current writer Roger McKenzie and inker Klaus Janson. From the get go, the sales didn’t change – but what did change was the new editor, Dennis O’Neil. In 1981, after reading a backup issue written by Miller, he moved McKenzie to another title and put Miller in charge – taking over from issue #168. 

From here, nothing will ever be the same for Daredevil as well as the larger comic book industry – and this era of the character made Miller a famous writer too. If you have heard anything about Daredevil, it probably came from his pen. 

It was Miller who pushed Daredevil into the more gritty, grimy side of New York City. Gone were the days of brightly colored spandex and wacky super-heroics – under Miller’s pen, Daredevil gained a darker focus to where he became an antihero – making risky decisions and severely hurting villains (physically and even mentally).

Miller cited Alfred Hitchcock, Fritz Lang and Orson Welles as his influences. He also grounded the characters in realism, having fights be influenced by martial arts and looking and feeling truer to real life. He also introduced the staples of every Daredevil story – Kingpin as a Daredevil villain, ninjas, the Hand, Matt’s Master Stick and the ever-elusive Elektra.

His art (which preceded his writing duties) was just as dark and gritty. Miller plays with shadows to great effect – dramatic angles and contrasting lightning will make characters’ faces hidden just when the moment demands it for added tension. Hell’s Kitchen also sprung to life under his pen, with rooftops cutting the sky like jagged teeth. The movement of characters was very dynamic – and grounding the fights in realism brought Daredevil closer to crime fiction over super heroics, a theme that remains to this day.

There is a reason why his stories The Man Without Fear and Born Again are still considered some of the best out there. Daredevil: Born Again (with David Mazzucchelli) was one of the first Marvel Premier Collections as well as collected in a Gallery Edition, while Daredevil: The Man Without Fear (with John Romita Jr.) should also be on everybody’s shelf.

If you want to fully appreciate Miller’s art in its original scale, enjoying the same black-and-white art boards the comic was drawn on, complete with every brushstroke, erased pencil mark, white-out correction, and margin note, you should definitely consider David Mazzucchelli’s Daredevil: Born Again Artist’s Edition. It's similar to the Gallery Edition, BUT this hardcover edition presents the pages at the exact size Miller originally worked on, offering an authentic and immersive experience.

The whole run is also collected across two omnis – Daredevil by Miller & Janson being the main crux of it, and Daredevil by Miller Companion collecting Miller’s shorts and later issues – including the two stories mentioned above. There is also a sister book – Elektra by Frank Miller that follows the titular Woman Without Fear.

Daredevil by Ann Nocenti

Ann Nocenti took over from Miller in 1987 and ran with Matt until 1991 – becoming the longest running writer Daredevil has had in almost 30 years. Nocenti’s stories feel like a great spiritual successor to Miller’s, tackling mature topics of alcoholism, feminism and animal rights among others.

It was Nocenti who also introduced Typhoid Mary to become an antagonist in both Daredevil’s and Matt Murdock’s lives. The first part of the run has been recently published in Daredevil by Ann Nocenti & Romita Jr. and has been selling like hot cakes! 

Daredevil by Bendis & Maleev

After Nocenti, a few writers took their swings at the Daredevil bat – first D. G. Chichester and J. M. DeMatteis, and somewhat later film director and screenwriter Kevin Smith and David Mack as a part of the Marvel Knights imprint. But it wasn’t until Brian Michael Bendis took over the title that Daredevil hit the spotlight again.

Coming off hot from the success of Ultimate Spider-Man, Bendis was joined by the artist Alex Maleev to shake up Matt’s life once again. I will try to refrain from spoiling anything because the run should be experienced firsthand. Know that you do not really need any prior reading – this is the perfect jumping on point for modern Daredevil. Just have a look at Maleev’s painterly art and pick up the books (while you still can!) Both Volume 1 and Volume 2 of Daredevil by Bendis & Maleev have been reprinted recently, and they are a must have!

Daredevil by Brubaker & Lark

A trend in Daredevil writing is that the current team will leave Matt in a preposterously tough position to get out of – and it’s up to the new team to figure out how Matt will overcome these challenges. Ed Brubaker does a terrific job of following in Bendis’ footsteps and expands on his work with his own dose of dark humor.

The whole run is a perfect continuation of what came before and should be consumed as a delicious four-course meal (since there are four big books published!) Both Bendis and Brubaker won the Eisner Awards for Best Writer while working on Daredevil, and this goes to show just how Earth-shattering these stories are. You can find Brubaker’s half in Daredevil by Brubaker & Lark Volume 1 and Volume 2.

Daredevil by Mark Waid

Things were getting dark for Matt Murdock – and they got even darker during Andy Diggle’s run collected in Daredevil: Shadowland, with Matt taking over the notorious Hand organization and becoming more and more erratic.

It fell down on Mark Waid in 2011 to bring Matt out of this darkness and into the light, with his fantastic run on the character. Waid pushed for a much more lighthearted tone that followed Daredevil in his pre-Miller years – and this scored him an Eisner Award as well.

The series then relaunched in 2014 with the artist Chris Samnee coming onboard, moving Matt to West Coast for a whole new set of (mis)adventures. The whole Waid run is collected in two books – Daredevil by Mark Waid (Volume 1) and Daredevil by Waid & Samnee (Volume 2).

Daredevil by Charles Soule

After Waid was done with the characters, Charles Soule brought Matt back to NYC with the artist Ron Garney. The team shook up the status quo that Bendis set up and slowly peeled the layers of their mystery to reveal the dark machinations behind it.

This is the run that introduced us to Muse who will make an appearance in long-awaited Daredevil: Born Again show, as well as focused on the implications of having superheroes as a part of the court system. Sadly, the omnibus is currently out of print, so we are all hoping we see it back on the shelves soon!

Daredevil by Chip Zdarsky

And finally, we come to the most recent finished run on Daredevil – by writer Chip Zdarsky and art (primarily) by Marco Checchetto. The team examined what Daredevil means for the community of Hell’s Kitchen as a whole after Matt decides to quit donning the horns. It also spanned the event Devil’s Reign in which Kingpin becomes the mayor of New York – a storyline that will be familiar to show-watchers.

While he didn’t win an Eisner for it, Zdarsky received a nod for writing on the series. This run was what introduced me to the work of Checchetto and launched him into my top 5 artists – and made me wish he worked on Spider-Man (a wish that came true last year with the launch of Ultimate Spider-Man!) It is collected in Daredevil by Chip Zdarsky Volume 1 and Volume 2 (whose non-DM covers match so well).

Dealing with the Devil - Where should you start?

To conclude, from Frank Miller onwards, there weren’t any huge misses in the life (and writing) of the Man Without Fear. Every run pushed the character further and added so many interesting ideas and layers to an already complex Matt Murdock. You can pick up any book (excluding perhaps Brubaker’s due to how closely he runs with Bendis) and feel right at home.

And there is a lot on offer here – from noir, gritty tales of misfortune to swashbuckling adventures in San Francisco, Daredevil really has done it all. Once you are done reading, make sure to also check out Daredevil: Born Again, the tv show. While it doesn’t have much to do with Miller’s original story (which was covered in Netflix’s season 3), it takes ideas from more modern runs – and I for one am excited to see them unfold. And how awesome is it that we get to see Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio sharing the screen again?