1
“The Origin of Daredevil,” Daredevil #1 (1964)
To anyone only familiar with Daredevil from the Netflix series, Daredevil #1 will come as quite a shock. Yes, “The Origin of Daredevil” tells the story of Matt Murdock, a lawyer who lost his sight as a child and gained extra sensory powers in response. And yes, he works alongside pals Foggy Nelson and Karen Page. But the tone is incredibly different.
Penciler Bill Everett and writer Stan Lee initially imagined Daredevil as an optimistic adventurer, a swashbuckler who lets loose with boisterous laughs and who vaults over his opponents. And then there’s the dreadful original costume, a hideous mixture of gold and brown that gets ditched after a couple of issues. None of this is to say that Daredevil #1 is bad. But it is very slight, compared to where the character would eventually go.
2
Marvel “Last Hand,” Daredevil #181 (1981)
For almost twenty years, Daredevil languished toward the bottom of the Marvel hero list. Sure, he’d get some crossovers with Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four, but he was no one’s favorite, constantly under threat of cancelation. Marvel hoped to boost the series by adding up-and-comer Frank Miller as the artist in 1979. As Miller started to turn the book around, he gained more influence, eventually becoming the series writer and completely reinvigorating the character.
Although he brought his love of hardboiled detective fiction and Japanese culture to Daredevil, Miller’s greatest contribution may be making Matt Murdock a devout Catholic. All of those qualities combine in Miller and artist Klaus Janson’s most famous storyline “Last Hand,” in which Matt’s old girlfriend Elektra returns to his life, only to reveal herself as an assassin, who dies at the end of Bullseye’s blade. The storyline has been adapted again and again, including in the Daredevil TV series. But none of those variations can diminish the power of Miller’s original telling.
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3
Born Again, Daredevil #227 – 231 (1986)
Yes, the Disney+ series is called Daredevil: Born Again. But make no mistake: it does not adapt the Born Again storyline that appeared in the comics in 1986. How do we know? Because Daredevil already adapted that storyline for season three of the Netflix show. Rather than dissuade you from reading the comics, that should only excite you more, underscoring just how important Born Again is to Daredevil’s development.
Written by Miller and illustrated by the great David Mazzucchelli, Born Again features Wilson Fisk at his worst. When Karen Page, who has fallen on hard times and become a drug addict, sells Daredevil’s secret identity for cash, Fisk has everything he needs to make Matt’s life miserable. Born Again pushes Matt to his lowest depths, but then also builds him back up, making him a stronger hero in the end.
4
Marvel Daredevil: The Man Without Fear (1993 – 1994)
Given how he recreated the character in the early 1980s, it’s remarkable that Frank Miller didn’t retell Matt’s origin until the mid-1990s. But the wait was worth it, as the miniseries Daredevil: The Man Without Fear condenses Daredevil to his essence, streamlining the character in such a way that integrates his earlier stories with Miller’s more radical additions.
Penciller John Romita Jr. helps bridge the gap between Miller’s approach and the traditional super heroics that preceded his run, making Daredevil feel at once gritty and larger than life. His blocky figure work adds weight to the characters, letting readers feel the depths that constantly pull Matt back down to Earth, while his expressive line work underscores Daredevil’s high-flying ways, never letting us forget that he is fundamentally an adventurous superhero.
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5
The King of Hell’s Kitchen, Daredevil #56 – 65 (2004)
With the exception of Frank Miller, the most influential Daredevil creator has been writer Brian Michael Bendis, whose early 2000s run led to a revamped Luke Cage and the introduction of Jessica Jones. Bendis returned the character to the hardboiled capers of the Miller era, moving away from the more fantastical stories of the late 1990s. Bendis added his signature dialogue to the mix, ensuring Murdoch remains a believable human being, despite the brutal stories he’s in.
Those qualities are on full display in the arc The King of Hell’s Kitchen, illustrated by Alex Maleev. The King of Hell’s Kitchen begins when Daredevil finally deposes Wilson Fisk, sending the Kingpin crashing down into a hideout for low-lifes and declaring, “I’m the new Kingpin.” Daredevil’s decision to create order through chaos pushes him to the brink, causing his closest friends to question him and tempting Matt to finally give in to the devil that’s always haunted him.
6
Marvel The Murdock Papers, Daredevil #76 – 81 (2006)
Generally, comic book creators have a rule they all follow when it comes to characters in a shared universe: “put the toys back in the box when you’re done.” In other words, writers and artists need to make sure other people can tell their stories with their favorite characters instead of ruining them for everyone else. Brian Michael Bendis utterly ignores that rule for The Murdock Papers, his and Alex Maleev’s final arc on the book.
In The Murdock Papers, Wilson Fisk gets his revenge by making a plea bargain with the government, one that gets him freedom and puts Daredevil in jail. The storyline pays off everything that Bendis and Maleev had built across their years on the title, heightening the legendary clash between Daredevil and the Kingpin by throwing Matt down his deepest pit yet.
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7
The Devil in Cell Block D, Daredevil #82 – 87 (2006)
Part of the reason Bendis’s extreme ending works so well is because writer Ed Brubaker and artist Michael Lark picked up right where he left off with their own extraordinary run. Brubaker shaves off the genre trappings of Bendis’s noir-influenced writing for a lean and realistic story, enhanced by Lark’s moody art.
The Devil in Cell Block D explores Matt Murdock’s experience in prison, after the Kingpin’s machinations put him in jail, alongside criminals that he helped put away as both Daredevil and as a lawyer. Making matters worse, Matt’s only hope comes in the form of Frank Castle, the psychotic Punisher. Brubaker and Lark use the setup to tell a compelling mystery that gets right at the heart of the Daredevil concept.
8
Devil at Bay, Daredevil #1 – 6 (2014)
Ever since Frank Miller’s run, writers have tried to make their mark on Daredevil by putting him through the wringer. Mark Waid and Chris Samnee go in the opposite direction for their acclaimed series, bringing Matt Murdock back to his roots as a smiling swashbuckler. Devil at Bay sends Matt to San Francisco, where he sets up a new practice and romances Assistant District Attorney Kirsten McDuffie.
Initially, the Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Again drew inspiration from Waid and Samnee’s series, both in terms of tone and in characters, casting Nikki M. James as McDuffie. The finished series will veer more to the hard edge of the Netflix series, but some elements of the original series remain, making Devil at Bay essential reading for fans of the show.
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9
Dark Art, Daredevil #10 – 14 (2016)
One storyline that remains in Daredevil: Born Again comes not from Waid and Samnee’s run, but from the series that followed it. Dark Art, by writer Charles Soule and artist Ron Garney, introduces the murderous Muse, a killer whose performance art leaves a bloody trail. Like the best Daredevil villains, Muse challenges the hero by undermining his heightened senses. Furthermore, Muse’s insane theories contrast with Matt’s faith in the law, attacking his personal beliefs and not just his superhero persona.
As of now, Daredevil: Born Again producers are keeping the identity of the actor who plays Muse under wraps, suggesting a mystery that will run across the season. For anyone who doesn’t want to wait for the show’s big reveal, Dark Art provides plenty of fearless action.
10
Living Hell, Daredevil #11 – 15 (2024)
Elektra has long been a fan-favorite character, but no creator has been able to advance the assassin beyond the first stories by Frank Miller. That changed during writer Chip Zdarsky’s run, which saw Elektra take over for a missing Matt Murdock by becoming the next Daredevil. She continued in that role when the current creative team, Saladin Ahmed and Luigi Zagaria, took the reigns, even as Matt returned to the role.
Living Hell brings Elektra’s time as the Woman Without Fear to a close, at the hands of Wilson Fisk, once again out of prison and hungry for vengeance. Ahmed and Zagaria reframe the ongoing struggle between Daredevil and the Kingpin against Elektra’s attempt to go straight, making her romance with Matt more tragic than ever before.
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