The Man Without Fear
25 November 2013
Daredevil, while never the most popular superhero, was an important representation of the American Dream. Later on, he became the symbol of the rift between the good and bad of America: the hope and law on one side, and the decay and violence on the other. This marked a time period in the evolution of the comic book where superheroes began to toe the line between “good” and “evil”, creating a gray area that would influence the rest of comic book history. These steps in Daredevil's cannon are most exemplified in his original run, with Stan Lee, and his Frank Miller run later on.
The Origin Story
Matt Murdock was created as the ultimate flawed, tragic hero. His sight was lost when he was just a boy. This happened in a terrible accident where he jumped in front of a speeding truck to push an older man out of the way. The truck hit him instead and some of the radioactive waste it was carrying hit Murdock in the face, blinding him.
And surprisingly enough, that was not the worst event of his childhood. Later on, his widowed father was murdered by his own boss, The Fixer. This is what created the “devil” part of “Daredevil” and inspired Matt to fight crime.
“Battling Jack” Murdock had been a boxer. He was a single parent and did his best to raise Matt to make something of himself, unlike his father. When Jack began to age, he began to lose fights and opportunities. Fearing that he would not be able to send Matt to college, he signed a contract with “The Fixer”, as shady figure in the boxing world. He set up most of Jack's fights, but helped him become popular again and paid him good money. One night, Jack was ordered to take a dive, but refused to when he realized that Matt had come to “see” him fight. And that was the end of Jack Murdock.
But his father had inspired a strong motivation in Matt. Despite his setbacks, he attended college and became a lawyer. In the classic rags-to-riches American Dream story, he went from a poor, bullied, and outcast kid to a man who could run a successful business: his own firm that Matt opened with his best friend, Franklin “Foggy” Nelson (Hilyerd 173).
At first glance, Matt Murdock is the perfect American. He is even Christian. This, along with his literal embodiment of the law (he's a lawyer), drives his need for justice and “good”. This is another important point of American literature that stretches back to Puritan times: Good vs. Evil.
Everybody has a good and a bad side. Daredevil is the side Matt Murdock would rather not show. From the first issue, Matt admits he creates Daredevil as a separate identity so that he will not disappoint his father by resorting to violence (even in avenging his own father's death). At first, his two sides work together relatively well. Daredevil defeats the villains by night and Matt Murdock persecutes them by day.
Matt was the picture of conventional values that the Comics Code Authority (who censored juvenile comics) wanted: a self-made man, a good conscience, a simple love interest in Karen Page (his secretary), and a wise-cracking best friend in Foggy Nelson (Winterbach 115). Foggy also created a neat, cliché love triangle with Karen.
During this time, he faced villains like The Owl, Mr. Fear, Stiltman, The Gladiator, The Ox, Kilgrave the Purple Man, and Leapfrog. They all posed real threats, and would return later in the cannon to pose more. However, most of them were light-hearted, quick little stories over in a single issue.
But Matt went to greater and greater lengths to keep his identity as Daredevil secret and separate from Matt Murdock. He even invents an imaginary twin brother to keep Foggy and Karen in the dark. He occasionally impersonates this “Mike Murdock”. This eventually leads to an identity crisis as his two halves, one quiet, intelligent and reserved, the other violent and rambunctious, move further apart.
Daredevil's Rebirth
Frank Miller's run (as Daredevil's writer) is largely considered the most important turning point in Daredevil cannon; especially his Born Again series. This was written by Miller and drawn by Mazzucchelli. It was a comic book that carried symbolism and classic American myth. The Comics Code Authority was letting go of the last strands of their strict hold and censorship on comic book themes.
Miller explored the contradiction between lawyer and vigilante: his good and bad sides. How can you defend everybody equally, according to the law, as an attorney, but break laws and commit crimes, even murders, behind the scenes? It had always been a shaky contradiction, held together only by the positivity of the Lee’s comic.
For superheroes, the law is “at best a backdrop and at worst an impediment” (Bainbridge 458). The law is concerned with finding a resolution, and getting through the court system. Heroes are concerned with justice and the truth. This usually leads to a split between the two: true justice must exist “quite apart from the law” and “outside the legal system” (Bainbridge 460). Now that Miller was allowed by the Comics Code Authority to create a darker, tortured hero, where gray was more prominent than white or black, Daredevil began to make some questionable calls, as far as the law goes. He could do that, since he was a “super”-hero, and worked outside the law. He was not limited by jurisdiction, and could become more proactive (Bainbridge 462). For example, Daredevil could go after the Kingpin of crime, who was not considered a criminal in the eyes of the law. In fact, the Kingpin was even given an award from the Businessmen’s Association for “hard work” (Miller and Mazzucchelli 168).
Daredevil spends most of Born Again out of costume, as Matt Murdock. He is forced to face both of his lives as a just a person, emphasizing his humanity and vulnerability. Miller intended to “break down” Murdock’s double identity (The Men Without Fear). He couldn’t be Murdock when he had his cane and glasses, and Daredevil when he had his costume. As Weltzien pointed out, there has been a stigma created around superheroes that their costume creates a split personality (232). But neither one can be the “real” identity or the “alias” (241). Sometimes Matt feels like Daredevil is who he is, since it allows him to be free and unhindered by his handicap. But other times, he feels the Matthew Murdock, blind lawyer, is the identity he has worked for so many years. It is the one that holds his place in society (with Karen and Foggy) and keeps him safe (Lee). So Miller had Matt go through the hero’s journey, and be reborn, with his ultimate reward being the ability to unite his two identities.
Hougaard Winterbach defined this idea of Daredevil as the mythological hero in Joseph Campbell's hero's quest. Tim Blackmore delved even deeper, going as far as comparing him to Oedipus and the pointing out the symbolism around death/rebirth theme of the Old Testament (Blackmore 136).
Even in the first issues of Daredevil, he was an archaic hero. Most, if not all superheroes are drawn from the “collective unconscious”. As Winterbach and Jenette Kahn argue, superheroes are popular because they “embody childhood dreams”. They are ordinary people on the surface, but underneath, are “capable of the extraordinary” (Winterbach 114). This is basically the American Dream: the common man can achieve the extraordinary (Blackmore 135). The established a good based to build on.
The first stage of the quest is the Separation, or the departure from the known world (Campbell 1). In Born Again, Matt is still stuck in his world of duality. As Winterbach points out, Murdock is shown sleeping on the cover of the first few chapters, slowly returning to the fetal pointing, which “signifies the need for rebirth” (119). He comes from Hell's Kitchen (what a fitting place for a Daredevil) and must return there.
The first phase is the “Call to Adventure” (Campbell 1). Matt is drawn into the action by a chain of unfortunate events caused by the Kingpin that systematically destroys his life (he is accused of crimes and his accounts are frozen), and eventually an explosion, that destroys his entire apartment block.
Matt's “Refusal of Call” (phase two) occurs almost unconsciously (Campbell 1). He does not know who or what has caused his downfall, and begins to distrust everybody, drawing farther into himself. He considers not only common criminals his enemies, but also cops and even Foggy. At this point, the Kingpin, who has Matt under close watch, realizes “Daredevil is Matthew Murdock – and more – there is a rift inside him – a wedge – steadily weakening his reason – steadily driving him insane” (Miller and Mazzucchelli 25). This is quite true, and shows how the Matt/Daredevil ideals are warring inside of Matt. He is not ready to resolve them yet.
The “Supernatural aid” (phase three) comes in a memory (Campbell 1). After being beat up by the Kingpin and stabbed in an alley, Murdock passes out and remembers his childhood incident that caused his blindness. While he was in the hospital, a stranger (a protective figure) wearing a cross (an amulet) around her neck came to visit him. She reassures him, and makes him promise to tell no one about his special senses. This is a sort of guidance for his quest ahead.
Matt “Crosses the First Threshold” in his first fight with the Kingpin (as mentioned above) (Campbell 1). He realized that the Kingpin was responsible for his plight after his apartment building was destroyed and he found his Daredevil costume in the ruins. However, he does not realize that the Kingpin planned on his finding out, and is unprepared. He is nearly killed by the Kingpin, and then placed in a taxi, which is driven off a bridge. When he is immersed in the river, Matt also passes into “The Belly of the Whale” (Campbell 1). He is in the physically unknown and seen as dead by the rest of the world. This is the first phase of stage two: Initiation (Campbell 1).
In this stage, it is important to think about Miller's views. Miller was very concerned about the “erosion of society” in New York (Blackmore 138). In the comic, New York is revealed to be a decaying place. Homes are invaded and destroyed. people are too “desensitized” and “jaded” to be worried about a mugging with occurs in front of them, or concerned for human life (Miller and Mazzucchelli 61, 66). The American Dream itself is dying. People are very selfish and no longer consider “individualism, self-reliance, strength, mercy, liberty and responsibility” (Blackmore 156). As Karen Page says “Grow up. It's the eighties. You do what you have to do. And you have to do it.” (Miller and Mazzucchelli 7). She is casting off the traditional American values, as are many of the minor characters (drug lords, thugs, hired hands, etc.).
In fact, Miller feels this destruction of the American Dream is attacking the very nature of the hero (Blackmore 156), since the hero is supposed to personify liberty, responsibility, etc. During the Initiation, Matt is reduced to an ordinary Joe again, sleeping where ever and whenever he can and working in a fast food place for a living. He must rise again and re-fulfill the American Dream.
The next phase is the “Road of Trials” (Campbell 1). Matt frees himself from the underwater taxi, gets hit by a car, and faces two street thugs, one of which stabs him. His strength and courage are tested and he survives. He then meets up with his supernatural guide again, who turns out to be his mother. This could be considered the “Meeting with the Goddess”, since she gives him care and a home for a little while (Campbell 1).
By the time Born Again was written, Karen Page had changed from innocent secretary to porn star to heroin addict. Desperate for another “fix”, she sells Daredevil's secret identity. This information eventually reaches the Kingpin, and he orders everyone who knows besides his men killed. Karen, on the run, and suffering from heroine withdrawal, runs to Matt for protection. She serves as the “Temptress”: the woman offering/attached to material desires (Campbell 1).
The “Atonement with the Father” phase occurs when Matt enters his father's old gym (Campbell 1). This is the phase where the hero must confront what holds ultimate power in their life. For Murdock, this is definitely his father. Matt created Daredevil to fulfill his promise to his father that he would use his mind and make something of himself, rather than resorting to violence. He can fight crime as someone else and not disobey his father's wishes. So Jack Murdock, in a sense, created Daredevil. Matt still has unresolved anger around this and is able to confront the memory of his father.
The next phase is “Apostasis” (Campbell 1). After Matt loses consciousness at his father's gym, Maggie (a nun and his lost mother) finds him and brings him to the basement of a church to recover. Before healing, he has to undergo pneumonia. He passes close to death, and the nuns pray for him, afraid he will not make it. But he does, though afterward, he remembers that he attacked the Kingpin “and he killed me” (Miller and Mazzucchelli 58).
During his “death” and recovery, many religious symbols of the death and rebirth of Christ are used. Murdock appears lying unconscious in front of his supernatural guide and in the crucifixion position (Winterbach 125-126). There are also nuns around him at the crucifixion, symbolizing the three Marys. And there is the Trinity, symbolized by a triangle over Matt (Blackmore 150). In fact, each chapter has a title reminiscent of the death/rebirth theme: “the hero is caught in the Apocalypse, forced through Purgatory to become a Pariah, until he is Born Again, Saved, and in fighting for God and Country faces Armageddon” (Blackmore 136).
Daredevil's “Ultimate Boon” (Campbell 1) is that he can “continue providing justice . . . in an unjust world” (Winterbach 126). He does not have to have two separate identities anymore, having resolved his heroic status and the status of the American Dream. The Kingpin realizes that a “man without hope . . . is a man without fear” (Miller and Mazzucchelli 74). Having tried to destroy Matt Murdock/Daredevil, the Kingpin has brought him in a full circle, and helped with the rebirth process. Matt realizes that, like Christ, Oedipus, and other archetypal hero, he must act “as guardian, without thanks, without pity, without fear” (Blackmore 150). The hero is back in control and ready to confront the world and save his city.
However, he is still reluctant to return, completing the “Refusal to Return” stage (Campbell 1). Matt likes hanging out outside the action, taking things in, working a normal job. This is the beginning of the third state: Return (Campbell 1). Matt has to reenter society as both Matthew Murdock and Daredevil and continue to save New York.
During the “Magic Flight”, the hero must escape with the boon (Campbell 1). This can be an adventure in and of itself. For Matt, this occurs when Nuke hunts him down. Nuke is a symbol himself. He is a super solider like Captain American. However, while Captain America represents all of the traditional values of America, Nuke is everything corrupt and wrong in America. This further dying of the American Dream is highlighted in Nuke's conversation with his employer, the Kingpin. The Kingpin is literally the capitalism and corruption of America: “. . . the city's economy depends on the thieves, extortionists, and murderers at his command” (Miller and Mazzucchelli 36). He tells Nuke how he is not a criminal – it is America that has fallen. He is just “a corporation – in the conglomerate that is America” (Miller and Mazzucchelli 140). The Kingpin convinces Nuke to work against Daredevil.
This is also where the “Rescue from Without” occurs (Campbell 1). Matt is forced to again become Daredevil to save innocent civilians from the rampaging Nuke. He returns to his society. Matt eventually escapes, and the Kingpin orders Nuke killed. Daredevil tries to save his life, but he ends up dying anyway. However, Daredevil brings Nuke's body to the desk of a reporter (Ben Urich), so that his murder does not go unnoticed. This is how he “Crosses the Return Threshold” (Campbell 1).
The world “welcomes him back as a messenger of justice” (Winterbach 129). Murdock becomes a “Master of Two Worlds” in that he has mastered both his super-hero identity and his lawyer identity and reconciled them (Campbell 1). He can now move between them with ease.
Murdock is given the “Freedom to Live” (Campbell 1) in that he can continue helping humanity, having been reborn as a whole person: not a split one. He declares “I live in Hell's Kitchen and do my best to keep it clean” (Miller and Mazzucchelli 177).
Later Loves, Villains, and Story Arcs
In a perfect world, Daredevil's cannon would have ended there, at his resolution (The Men Without Fear). However, since comic books are serial narratives, the inner and outer conflicts of Matt Murdock can never be completely resolved (Bainbridge 475).
As if the tragic hero motif could not be any more established, Matt's life takes some even darker turns. As Miller said, Daredevil “should have been a villain” (The Men Without Fear). His childhood sucked, his love life went completely down the tubes, and he had faced some villains who had seriously personal issues with him (stemming from anger and numerous defeats) and made their fights personal (Marvel Database).
Matt and Natasha Romanoff (the Black Widow) dated for a little while, and that turned out alright. It ended on the best note any of his romances did: a simple break-up, with occasional teaming up later (Marvel Database).
Elektra, a deadly Ninja-trained bounty hunter working for the Kingpin, was introduced as Matt's first love (back in college). When they met again, they had quite a complicated relationship. Eventually, Elektra was killed by Bullseye, “the world's deadliest assassin”. He had a backbone made of unbreakable metal and the ability to turn anything into a weapon (Marvel Database).
Typhoid Mary was a “living embodiment of the Madonna/whore complex”. Mary was a former actress, sweet and frightened. But Typhoid was a cruel killer with telekinetic and pyrokinetic powers. The Kingpin hired her to get in with Matt and drive him insane. She succeeded: he cheated on his current girlfriend, Karen Page, with her and nearly died at Mary's hands (Marvel Database).
Later, Karen Page was tricked into believing she had AIDS and eventually committed suicide (Marvel Database).
Maya Lopez, born deaf, could recreate any physical motion she saw. The Kingpin tried to use her to destroy Murdock again. Tricked into thinking Daredevil killed her father, she became Echo and fought Daredevil. Once Matt got everything sorted out, she attacked the Kingpin (Marvel Database).
Milla Donovan was blind like Matt. He saved her life and they were married soon after. However, due to his mental breakdown and other problems, this did not work out. Milla was eventually poisoned with a psychedelic drug by Mister Fear. She was put into a mental institution, and Matt accepted the fact he had ruined her life. Later, pictures of Matt's drunken one night stand with Dakota North reached Milla's parents, and Matt, full of regret, had to sign for a divorce (Marvel Database).
This mental breakdown was caused because of the death of Karen Page, Matt's lies to the public (He had to publicly deny he was Daredevil every time he was outed, which lead to a shaky law practice and public appearance.), and Matt’s assuming the alias of his greatest enemy (He previously declared himself “Kingpin of Hell's Kitchen”.) (Marvel Database).
Foggy was accused of murder and faced hard times, usually being connected to Matt through their “Nelson and Murdock” firm that they started right after college. They had to stop and restart the firm many times throughout their careers. Foggy was believed to be dead for a while, but was eventually found injured and alive (Marvel Database).
Matt eventually teamed up with the Kingpin to take down The Hand, the evil Ninja cult that had originally trained Elektra. However, Foggy fired Matt from the firm for this. The Kingpin and his assassin, Lady Bullseye, tried to betray him, but Matt beat them and took control of The Hand. Lady Bullseye, following the Kingpin's orders, then killed two associates of Norman Osborn, H.A.M.M.E.R. Director and leader of the superhuman community. Osborne thought Daredevil was responsible and sent Hawkeye (the original Bullseye) to kill Daredevil. Bullseye trapped Daredevil and detonated a bomb in a family apartment building. Enraged, Matt rallied The Hand to send a message and take back New York from Osborne. After a trip to Japan, he returned and built a fortress over the destroyed apartment building and called it Shadowland (Marvel Database).
During the Shadowland storyline, Daredevil was possessed by The Beast due to the actions of Snakeroot. He went through a very dark time and truly became a devil. He killed Bullseye when Bullseye entered his fortress. Eventually, Iron Fist healed Matt of The Beast (Marvel Database).
Feeling that he had accomplished nothing but destruction of the lives of his loved ones, Matt wandered to Mexico to escape his life as a hero. However, after a few small heroics there, and the eventual prevention of a kidnapping at a Mafia Wedding, Matt was able to return to New York. He has continued his heroics and restarted a firm with Foggy, even though they have to keep it fairly secret (Marvel Database).
Powers
“How many superheroes are known for what they can’t do?” (The Men Without Fear).
That’s what sets Daredevil apart: he’s blind, and that’s where his “superpowers” come from. All of his other senses are heightened. He can detect heart beats by listening, and can even tell if people are lying. He can read by simply feeling the indentation of the print on a page. He can record remember olfactory and tactile input, like perfume. But perhaps most amazing, he gains a kind of “radar sense” that allows him to sense vibrations around him, and therefore his environment (Marvel Database).
Murdock was trained by the ninja master Stick when he was younger. Stick taught him a good deal about acrobatics and martial arts. Daredevil gets around through use of his acrobatic skills, his acute balance, and his billy club (Eury 529).
His lack of sight also makes him invulnerable to the blinding tactics his opponents sometimes use, like turning off the lights, throwing sand in his face, blindfolding him, etc. However, if Daredevil ever loses his other senses, he becomes truly blind. This can happen if his hearing is lost or overpowered or if he is strongly disoriented (Lee).
Production, Reception, Adaptation
In his early years, Daredevil was popular with many disabled kids and charities. Stan Lee had originally been worried about the possible offense the character could cause, and was relieved after the fan mail started pouring in (The Men Without Fear).
However, it took more than fifteen years for Daredevil to become popular with the mainstream comic-book crowd (Roach 161). It was Miller's first run that finally made Daredevil into a fan favorite, as Miller's art was “cinematic”, “atmospheric”, and passionate (The Men Without Fear). Daredevil became “unquestionably the most talked-about title in the United States” during the 1980s, and the dark, violent, explosive new direction was mimicked across the comics industry, in both DC and Marvel (Roach 161). However, this was a brief moment of glory. Miller's reinvention of the hero as a darker, unstable character has become so popular that comics from Batman to Aquaman to Green Arrow to Ghost Rider were adapting it, and Daredevil was fading back into the background (Roach 164).
Daredevil never really broke into the media. He made a few animated appearances in other superhero's shows (like Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Fantastic Four and Spider-Man), and a live-action appearance in Trial of the Incredible Hulk. In 2003, the feature film Daredevil came out, starring Ben Affleck as Murdock and scripted/directed by long-time fan Mark Steven Johnson. But the film met mixed reviews. Plans were made to continue with another movie, or a spin-off, but ultimately flopped (Mangels 165-166).
While still recognized in popular culture, Daredevil has not retained his status as a major hero. He is mostly remembered for Affleck's portrayal, which does not render him terribly popular. However, in the comic culture, The Man Without Fear will always remain the figure that first changed two-dimensional comic book heroes into darker, more complex characters, allowing them to represent more complicated themes.
Works Cited
Bainbridge, Jason. “'This Is the Authority. This Planet Is Under Our Protection' – An Exegesis of Superheroes Interrogations of Law.” Law, Culture and the Humanities 3 (2007): 455-76. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.
Blackmore, Tim. “Blind Daring: Vision and Re-Vision of Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrranus In Frank Miller's Daredevil: Born Again. (Cover Story).” Journal of Popular Culture 27.3 (1993): 135-162. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
Campbell, Joseph. "17 Stages of the Hero’s Journey." WordPress.com, 23 May 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.
Eury, Micheal. “Superheroes With Disabilities.” Superhero Book. 528. Visible Ink Press, 2004. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 18 Nov. 2013
Hilyerd, William A. “Hi Superman, I'm A Lawyer: Guide to Attorneys (And Other Legal Professionals) Portrayed in American Comic Books: 1910-2007.” Widener Law Review 15.1 (2009): 159-195. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
Lee, Stan. Essential Daredevil: Volume 1. New York, NY: Marvel Comics, 2005. Print.
Mangels, Andy. “Daredevil in The Media.” Superhero Book. 165. Visible Ink Press, 2004. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 18 Nov. 2013
"Matthew Murdock (Earth-616)." Marvel Database. Wikia.com. Web. 23 Nov. 2013.
Miller, Frank, and David Mazzucchelli. Daredevil: Born Again. New York: Marvel, 2010. Print.
Roach, David. “Daredevil II.” Superhero Book. 161. Visible Ink Press, 2004. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 18 Nov. 2013
The Men Without Fear: Creating Daredevil. Perf. Stan Lee, John Romita, Gene Colan, Frank Miller, John Romita Jr., Joe Quesada, David Mack, Brian Michael Bendis, Kevin Smith. Youtube, 2003.
Weltzien, Friedrich. “Masque-Ulinities: Changing Dress As a Display of Masculinity In The Superhero Genre.” Fashion Theory: The Journal Of Dress, Body & Culture 9.2 (2005): 229-250. Academic Search Complete. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
Daredevil, while never the most popular superhero, was an important representation of the American Dream. Later on, he became the symbol of the rift between the good and bad of America: the hope and law on one side, and the decay and violence on the other. This marked a time period in the evolution of the comic book where superheroes began to toe the line between “good” and “evil”, creating a gray area that would influence the rest of comic book history. These steps in Daredevil's cannon are most exemplified in his original run, with Stan Lee, and his Frank Miller run later on.
The Origin Story
Matt Murdock was created as the ultimate flawed, tragic hero. His sight was lost when he was just a boy. This happened in a terrible accident where he jumped in front of a speeding truck to push an older man out of the way. The truck hit him instead and some of the radioactive waste it was carrying hit Murdock in the face, blinding him.
And surprisingly enough, that was not the worst event of his childhood. Later on, his widowed father was murdered by his own boss, The Fixer. This is what created the “devil” part of “Daredevil” and inspired Matt to fight crime.
“Battling Jack” Murdock had been a boxer. He was a single parent and did his best to raise Matt to make something of himself, unlike his father. When Jack began to age, he began to lose fights and opportunities. Fearing that he would not be able to send Matt to college, he signed a contract with “The Fixer”, as shady figure in the boxing world. He set up most of Jack's fights, but helped him become popular again and paid him good money. One night, Jack was ordered to take a dive, but refused to when he realized that Matt had come to “see” him fight. And that was the end of Jack Murdock.
But his father had inspired a strong motivation in Matt. Despite his setbacks, he attended college and became a lawyer. In the classic rags-to-riches American Dream story, he went from a poor, bullied, and outcast kid to a man who could run a successful business: his own firm that Matt opened with his best friend, Franklin “Foggy” Nelson (Hilyerd 173).
At first glance, Matt Murdock is the perfect American. He is even Christian. This, along with his literal embodiment of the law (he's a lawyer), drives his need for justice and “good”. This is another important point of American literature that stretches back to Puritan times: Good vs. Evil.
Everybody has a good and a bad side. Daredevil is the side Matt Murdock would rather not show. From the first issue, Matt admits he creates Daredevil as a separate identity so that he will not disappoint his father by resorting to violence (even in avenging his own father's death). At first, his two sides work together relatively well. Daredevil defeats the villains by night and Matt Murdock persecutes them by day.
Matt was the picture of conventional values that the Comics Code Authority (who censored juvenile comics) wanted: a self-made man, a good conscience, a simple love interest in Karen Page (his secretary), and a wise-cracking best friend in Foggy Nelson (Winterbach 115). Foggy also created a neat, cliché love triangle with Karen.
During this time, he faced villains like The Owl, Mr. Fear, Stiltman, The Gladiator, The Ox, Kilgrave the Purple Man, and Leapfrog. They all posed real threats, and would return later in the cannon to pose more. However, most of them were light-hearted, quick little stories over in a single issue.
But Matt went to greater and greater lengths to keep his identity as Daredevil secret and separate from Matt Murdock. He even invents an imaginary twin brother to keep Foggy and Karen in the dark. He occasionally impersonates this “Mike Murdock”. This eventually leads to an identity crisis as his two halves, one quiet, intelligent and reserved, the other violent and rambunctious, move further apart.
Daredevil's Rebirth
Frank Miller's run (as Daredevil's writer) is largely considered the most important turning point in Daredevil cannon; especially his Born Again series. This was written by Miller and drawn by Mazzucchelli. It was a comic book that carried symbolism and classic American myth. The Comics Code Authority was letting go of the last strands of their strict hold and censorship on comic book themes.
Miller explored the contradiction between lawyer and vigilante: his good and bad sides. How can you defend everybody equally, according to the law, as an attorney, but break laws and commit crimes, even murders, behind the scenes? It had always been a shaky contradiction, held together only by the positivity of the Lee’s comic.
For superheroes, the law is “at best a backdrop and at worst an impediment” (Bainbridge 458). The law is concerned with finding a resolution, and getting through the court system. Heroes are concerned with justice and the truth. This usually leads to a split between the two: true justice must exist “quite apart from the law” and “outside the legal system” (Bainbridge 460). Now that Miller was allowed by the Comics Code Authority to create a darker, tortured hero, where gray was more prominent than white or black, Daredevil began to make some questionable calls, as far as the law goes. He could do that, since he was a “super”-hero, and worked outside the law. He was not limited by jurisdiction, and could become more proactive (Bainbridge 462). For example, Daredevil could go after the Kingpin of crime, who was not considered a criminal in the eyes of the law. In fact, the Kingpin was even given an award from the Businessmen’s Association for “hard work” (Miller and Mazzucchelli 168).
Daredevil spends most of Born Again out of costume, as Matt Murdock. He is forced to face both of his lives as a just a person, emphasizing his humanity and vulnerability. Miller intended to “break down” Murdock’s double identity (The Men Without Fear). He couldn’t be Murdock when he had his cane and glasses, and Daredevil when he had his costume. As Weltzien pointed out, there has been a stigma created around superheroes that their costume creates a split personality (232). But neither one can be the “real” identity or the “alias” (241). Sometimes Matt feels like Daredevil is who he is, since it allows him to be free and unhindered by his handicap. But other times, he feels the Matthew Murdock, blind lawyer, is the identity he has worked for so many years. It is the one that holds his place in society (with Karen and Foggy) and keeps him safe (Lee). So Miller had Matt go through the hero’s journey, and be reborn, with his ultimate reward being the ability to unite his two identities.
Hougaard Winterbach defined this idea of Daredevil as the mythological hero in Joseph Campbell's hero's quest. Tim Blackmore delved even deeper, going as far as comparing him to Oedipus and the pointing out the symbolism around death/rebirth theme of the Old Testament (Blackmore 136).
Even in the first issues of Daredevil, he was an archaic hero. Most, if not all superheroes are drawn from the “collective unconscious”. As Winterbach and Jenette Kahn argue, superheroes are popular because they “embody childhood dreams”. They are ordinary people on the surface, but underneath, are “capable of the extraordinary” (Winterbach 114). This is basically the American Dream: the common man can achieve the extraordinary (Blackmore 135). The established a good based to build on.
The first stage of the quest is the Separation, or the departure from the known world (Campbell 1). In Born Again, Matt is still stuck in his world of duality. As Winterbach points out, Murdock is shown sleeping on the cover of the first few chapters, slowly returning to the fetal pointing, which “signifies the need for rebirth” (119). He comes from Hell's Kitchen (what a fitting place for a Daredevil) and must return there.
The first phase is the “Call to Adventure” (Campbell 1). Matt is drawn into the action by a chain of unfortunate events caused by the Kingpin that systematically destroys his life (he is accused of crimes and his accounts are frozen), and eventually an explosion, that destroys his entire apartment block.
Matt's “Refusal of Call” (phase two) occurs almost unconsciously (Campbell 1). He does not know who or what has caused his downfall, and begins to distrust everybody, drawing farther into himself. He considers not only common criminals his enemies, but also cops and even Foggy. At this point, the Kingpin, who has Matt under close watch, realizes “Daredevil is Matthew Murdock – and more – there is a rift inside him – a wedge – steadily weakening his reason – steadily driving him insane” (Miller and Mazzucchelli 25). This is quite true, and shows how the Matt/Daredevil ideals are warring inside of Matt. He is not ready to resolve them yet.
The “Supernatural aid” (phase three) comes in a memory (Campbell 1). After being beat up by the Kingpin and stabbed in an alley, Murdock passes out and remembers his childhood incident that caused his blindness. While he was in the hospital, a stranger (a protective figure) wearing a cross (an amulet) around her neck came to visit him. She reassures him, and makes him promise to tell no one about his special senses. This is a sort of guidance for his quest ahead.
Matt “Crosses the First Threshold” in his first fight with the Kingpin (as mentioned above) (Campbell 1). He realized that the Kingpin was responsible for his plight after his apartment building was destroyed and he found his Daredevil costume in the ruins. However, he does not realize that the Kingpin planned on his finding out, and is unprepared. He is nearly killed by the Kingpin, and then placed in a taxi, which is driven off a bridge. When he is immersed in the river, Matt also passes into “The Belly of the Whale” (Campbell 1). He is in the physically unknown and seen as dead by the rest of the world. This is the first phase of stage two: Initiation (Campbell 1).
In this stage, it is important to think about Miller's views. Miller was very concerned about the “erosion of society” in New York (Blackmore 138). In the comic, New York is revealed to be a decaying place. Homes are invaded and destroyed. people are too “desensitized” and “jaded” to be worried about a mugging with occurs in front of them, or concerned for human life (Miller and Mazzucchelli 61, 66). The American Dream itself is dying. People are very selfish and no longer consider “individualism, self-reliance, strength, mercy, liberty and responsibility” (Blackmore 156). As Karen Page says “Grow up. It's the eighties. You do what you have to do. And you have to do it.” (Miller and Mazzucchelli 7). She is casting off the traditional American values, as are many of the minor characters (drug lords, thugs, hired hands, etc.).
In fact, Miller feels this destruction of the American Dream is attacking the very nature of the hero (Blackmore 156), since the hero is supposed to personify liberty, responsibility, etc. During the Initiation, Matt is reduced to an ordinary Joe again, sleeping where ever and whenever he can and working in a fast food place for a living. He must rise again and re-fulfill the American Dream.
The next phase is the “Road of Trials” (Campbell 1). Matt frees himself from the underwater taxi, gets hit by a car, and faces two street thugs, one of which stabs him. His strength and courage are tested and he survives. He then meets up with his supernatural guide again, who turns out to be his mother. This could be considered the “Meeting with the Goddess”, since she gives him care and a home for a little while (Campbell 1).
By the time Born Again was written, Karen Page had changed from innocent secretary to porn star to heroin addict. Desperate for another “fix”, she sells Daredevil's secret identity. This information eventually reaches the Kingpin, and he orders everyone who knows besides his men killed. Karen, on the run, and suffering from heroine withdrawal, runs to Matt for protection. She serves as the “Temptress”: the woman offering/attached to material desires (Campbell 1).
The “Atonement with the Father” phase occurs when Matt enters his father's old gym (Campbell 1). This is the phase where the hero must confront what holds ultimate power in their life. For Murdock, this is definitely his father. Matt created Daredevil to fulfill his promise to his father that he would use his mind and make something of himself, rather than resorting to violence. He can fight crime as someone else and not disobey his father's wishes. So Jack Murdock, in a sense, created Daredevil. Matt still has unresolved anger around this and is able to confront the memory of his father.
The next phase is “Apostasis” (Campbell 1). After Matt loses consciousness at his father's gym, Maggie (a nun and his lost mother) finds him and brings him to the basement of a church to recover. Before healing, he has to undergo pneumonia. He passes close to death, and the nuns pray for him, afraid he will not make it. But he does, though afterward, he remembers that he attacked the Kingpin “and he killed me” (Miller and Mazzucchelli 58).
During his “death” and recovery, many religious symbols of the death and rebirth of Christ are used. Murdock appears lying unconscious in front of his supernatural guide and in the crucifixion position (Winterbach 125-126). There are also nuns around him at the crucifixion, symbolizing the three Marys. And there is the Trinity, symbolized by a triangle over Matt (Blackmore 150). In fact, each chapter has a title reminiscent of the death/rebirth theme: “the hero is caught in the Apocalypse, forced through Purgatory to become a Pariah, until he is Born Again, Saved, and in fighting for God and Country faces Armageddon” (Blackmore 136).
Daredevil's “Ultimate Boon” (Campbell 1) is that he can “continue providing justice . . . in an unjust world” (Winterbach 126). He does not have to have two separate identities anymore, having resolved his heroic status and the status of the American Dream. The Kingpin realizes that a “man without hope . . . is a man without fear” (Miller and Mazzucchelli 74). Having tried to destroy Matt Murdock/Daredevil, the Kingpin has brought him in a full circle, and helped with the rebirth process. Matt realizes that, like Christ, Oedipus, and other archetypal hero, he must act “as guardian, without thanks, without pity, without fear” (Blackmore 150). The hero is back in control and ready to confront the world and save his city.
However, he is still reluctant to return, completing the “Refusal to Return” stage (Campbell 1). Matt likes hanging out outside the action, taking things in, working a normal job. This is the beginning of the third state: Return (Campbell 1). Matt has to reenter society as both Matthew Murdock and Daredevil and continue to save New York.
During the “Magic Flight”, the hero must escape with the boon (Campbell 1). This can be an adventure in and of itself. For Matt, this occurs when Nuke hunts him down. Nuke is a symbol himself. He is a super solider like Captain American. However, while Captain America represents all of the traditional values of America, Nuke is everything corrupt and wrong in America. This further dying of the American Dream is highlighted in Nuke's conversation with his employer, the Kingpin. The Kingpin is literally the capitalism and corruption of America: “. . . the city's economy depends on the thieves, extortionists, and murderers at his command” (Miller and Mazzucchelli 36). He tells Nuke how he is not a criminal – it is America that has fallen. He is just “a corporation – in the conglomerate that is America” (Miller and Mazzucchelli 140). The Kingpin convinces Nuke to work against Daredevil.
This is also where the “Rescue from Without” occurs (Campbell 1). Matt is forced to again become Daredevil to save innocent civilians from the rampaging Nuke. He returns to his society. Matt eventually escapes, and the Kingpin orders Nuke killed. Daredevil tries to save his life, but he ends up dying anyway. However, Daredevil brings Nuke's body to the desk of a reporter (Ben Urich), so that his murder does not go unnoticed. This is how he “Crosses the Return Threshold” (Campbell 1).
The world “welcomes him back as a messenger of justice” (Winterbach 129). Murdock becomes a “Master of Two Worlds” in that he has mastered both his super-hero identity and his lawyer identity and reconciled them (Campbell 1). He can now move between them with ease.
Murdock is given the “Freedom to Live” (Campbell 1) in that he can continue helping humanity, having been reborn as a whole person: not a split one. He declares “I live in Hell's Kitchen and do my best to keep it clean” (Miller and Mazzucchelli 177).
Later Loves, Villains, and Story Arcs
In a perfect world, Daredevil's cannon would have ended there, at his resolution (The Men Without Fear). However, since comic books are serial narratives, the inner and outer conflicts of Matt Murdock can never be completely resolved (Bainbridge 475).
As if the tragic hero motif could not be any more established, Matt's life takes some even darker turns. As Miller said, Daredevil “should have been a villain” (The Men Without Fear). His childhood sucked, his love life went completely down the tubes, and he had faced some villains who had seriously personal issues with him (stemming from anger and numerous defeats) and made their fights personal (Marvel Database).
Matt and Natasha Romanoff (the Black Widow) dated for a little while, and that turned out alright. It ended on the best note any of his romances did: a simple break-up, with occasional teaming up later (Marvel Database).
Elektra, a deadly Ninja-trained bounty hunter working for the Kingpin, was introduced as Matt's first love (back in college). When they met again, they had quite a complicated relationship. Eventually, Elektra was killed by Bullseye, “the world's deadliest assassin”. He had a backbone made of unbreakable metal and the ability to turn anything into a weapon (Marvel Database).
Typhoid Mary was a “living embodiment of the Madonna/whore complex”. Mary was a former actress, sweet and frightened. But Typhoid was a cruel killer with telekinetic and pyrokinetic powers. The Kingpin hired her to get in with Matt and drive him insane. She succeeded: he cheated on his current girlfriend, Karen Page, with her and nearly died at Mary's hands (Marvel Database).
Later, Karen Page was tricked into believing she had AIDS and eventually committed suicide (Marvel Database).
Maya Lopez, born deaf, could recreate any physical motion she saw. The Kingpin tried to use her to destroy Murdock again. Tricked into thinking Daredevil killed her father, she became Echo and fought Daredevil. Once Matt got everything sorted out, she attacked the Kingpin (Marvel Database).
Milla Donovan was blind like Matt. He saved her life and they were married soon after. However, due to his mental breakdown and other problems, this did not work out. Milla was eventually poisoned with a psychedelic drug by Mister Fear. She was put into a mental institution, and Matt accepted the fact he had ruined her life. Later, pictures of Matt's drunken one night stand with Dakota North reached Milla's parents, and Matt, full of regret, had to sign for a divorce (Marvel Database).
This mental breakdown was caused because of the death of Karen Page, Matt's lies to the public (He had to publicly deny he was Daredevil every time he was outed, which lead to a shaky law practice and public appearance.), and Matt’s assuming the alias of his greatest enemy (He previously declared himself “Kingpin of Hell's Kitchen”.) (Marvel Database).
Foggy was accused of murder and faced hard times, usually being connected to Matt through their “Nelson and Murdock” firm that they started right after college. They had to stop and restart the firm many times throughout their careers. Foggy was believed to be dead for a while, but was eventually found injured and alive (Marvel Database).
Matt eventually teamed up with the Kingpin to take down The Hand, the evil Ninja cult that had originally trained Elektra. However, Foggy fired Matt from the firm for this. The Kingpin and his assassin, Lady Bullseye, tried to betray him, but Matt beat them and took control of The Hand. Lady Bullseye, following the Kingpin's orders, then killed two associates of Norman Osborn, H.A.M.M.E.R. Director and leader of the superhuman community. Osborne thought Daredevil was responsible and sent Hawkeye (the original Bullseye) to kill Daredevil. Bullseye trapped Daredevil and detonated a bomb in a family apartment building. Enraged, Matt rallied The Hand to send a message and take back New York from Osborne. After a trip to Japan, he returned and built a fortress over the destroyed apartment building and called it Shadowland (Marvel Database).
During the Shadowland storyline, Daredevil was possessed by The Beast due to the actions of Snakeroot. He went through a very dark time and truly became a devil. He killed Bullseye when Bullseye entered his fortress. Eventually, Iron Fist healed Matt of The Beast (Marvel Database).
Feeling that he had accomplished nothing but destruction of the lives of his loved ones, Matt wandered to Mexico to escape his life as a hero. However, after a few small heroics there, and the eventual prevention of a kidnapping at a Mafia Wedding, Matt was able to return to New York. He has continued his heroics and restarted a firm with Foggy, even though they have to keep it fairly secret (Marvel Database).
Powers
“How many superheroes are known for what they can’t do?” (The Men Without Fear).
That’s what sets Daredevil apart: he’s blind, and that’s where his “superpowers” come from. All of his other senses are heightened. He can detect heart beats by listening, and can even tell if people are lying. He can read by simply feeling the indentation of the print on a page. He can record remember olfactory and tactile input, like perfume. But perhaps most amazing, he gains a kind of “radar sense” that allows him to sense vibrations around him, and therefore his environment (Marvel Database).
Murdock was trained by the ninja master Stick when he was younger. Stick taught him a good deal about acrobatics and martial arts. Daredevil gets around through use of his acrobatic skills, his acute balance, and his billy club (Eury 529).
His lack of sight also makes him invulnerable to the blinding tactics his opponents sometimes use, like turning off the lights, throwing sand in his face, blindfolding him, etc. However, if Daredevil ever loses his other senses, he becomes truly blind. This can happen if his hearing is lost or overpowered or if he is strongly disoriented (Lee).
Production, Reception, Adaptation
In his early years, Daredevil was popular with many disabled kids and charities. Stan Lee had originally been worried about the possible offense the character could cause, and was relieved after the fan mail started pouring in (The Men Without Fear).
However, it took more than fifteen years for Daredevil to become popular with the mainstream comic-book crowd (Roach 161). It was Miller's first run that finally made Daredevil into a fan favorite, as Miller's art was “cinematic”, “atmospheric”, and passionate (The Men Without Fear). Daredevil became “unquestionably the most talked-about title in the United States” during the 1980s, and the dark, violent, explosive new direction was mimicked across the comics industry, in both DC and Marvel (Roach 161). However, this was a brief moment of glory. Miller's reinvention of the hero as a darker, unstable character has become so popular that comics from Batman to Aquaman to Green Arrow to Ghost Rider were adapting it, and Daredevil was fading back into the background (Roach 164).
Daredevil never really broke into the media. He made a few animated appearances in other superhero's shows (like Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Fantastic Four and Spider-Man), and a live-action appearance in Trial of the Incredible Hulk. In 2003, the feature film Daredevil came out, starring Ben Affleck as Murdock and scripted/directed by long-time fan Mark Steven Johnson. But the film met mixed reviews. Plans were made to continue with another movie, or a spin-off, but ultimately flopped (Mangels 165-166).
While still recognized in popular culture, Daredevil has not retained his status as a major hero. He is mostly remembered for Affleck's portrayal, which does not render him terribly popular. However, in the comic culture, The Man Without Fear will always remain the figure that first changed two-dimensional comic book heroes into darker, more complex characters, allowing them to represent more complicated themes.
Works Cited
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Campbell, Joseph. "17 Stages of the Hero’s Journey." WordPress.com, 23 May 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.
Eury, Micheal. “Superheroes With Disabilities.” Superhero Book. 528. Visible Ink Press, 2004. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 18 Nov. 2013
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Mangels, Andy. “Daredevil in The Media.” Superhero Book. 165. Visible Ink Press, 2004. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 18 Nov. 2013
"Matthew Murdock (Earth-616)." Marvel Database. Wikia.com. Web. 23 Nov. 2013.
Miller, Frank, and David Mazzucchelli. Daredevil: Born Again. New York: Marvel, 2010. Print.
Roach, David. “Daredevil II.” Superhero Book. 161. Visible Ink Press, 2004. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 18 Nov. 2013
The Men Without Fear: Creating Daredevil. Perf. Stan Lee, John Romita, Gene Colan, Frank Miller, John Romita Jr., Joe Quesada, David Mack, Brian Michael Bendis, Kevin Smith. Youtube, 2003.
Weltzien, Friedrich. “Masque-Ulinities: Changing Dress As a Display of Masculinity In The Superhero Genre.” Fashion Theory: The Journal Of Dress, Body & Culture 9.2 (2005): 229-250. Academic Search Complete. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
Image Citiation
Daredevil. Digital image. Guide to Geekdom. Blogger, 6 Apr. 2011. Web. 11 Dec. 2013.