Daredevil: Marvel's underrated hero

A comic book fan's life is one of extraordinary circumstances. We all look forward to a Wednesday when most look to Friday for salvation, we are very particular when it comes to our hobby, and we are forever on the hunt. It's this hunt that is a better high than any chemical or liquid could ever even hope to replace: the hunt for comics we're missing in our collections. 

The other day I was perusing an online auction site for some Daredevil comics for the run I'm trying to finish. It amazes me how underrated the character was for years and still seems to be passed over by many fans. The #1 of the initial Daredevil run, which came out in April of 1964, sold online the other day for $107 in Fair condition. I can't even get a Hulk 181 in fair shape for under $400! In a new world of overpriced, CGC-riddled comics commanding over-guide prices in many cases, it's a vastly underpriced run when compared to the runs of other comic book characters.

I've always wondered why such an interesting character (and one of very few Marvel books that has stayed consistently well-written) has been handled with reticence at best.

Daredevil's alter ego is a lawyer named Matt Murdock from Hell's Kitchen in New York City. He's one of the better lawyers in the city and has made it his mission to fight crime through the system by day and take up the slack as Daredevil by night. His acrobatic prowess leaves many a criminal wondering what hit them after a tangle with him.

Oh, did I mention he's blind?

Yes, through an accident as a young buy where a truck carrying toxic waste nearly hits a blind gentleman crossing the street. Young Matt pushes the man out of harm's way and gets a face-full of the toxin, blinding him for life. Through the wonderful mind of Stan Lee, the toxin steals young Murdock's eyes, but the rest of his senses become sharpened tenfold. for example, he possesses the very tool all lawyers wish they had in real life: by listening to a person's heartbeat he can tell if that person is telling the truth or lying. His sense of smell is also so acute he can identify a man's hair tonic from down the street; his taste is heightened and his amazing radar that helps him walk without bumping into things is second-to-none. He is one of Marvel's more interesting heroes.

His rogues gallery reads like a who's who of villainy in the Marvel universe. His two main foes are the Kingpin, a well-feared mobster that is a behemoth of a man, and Bullseye, a Vietnam vet who had a promising career in baseball as a pitcher until the war left him to fend for himself in the jungle with only homemade weapons to sharpen his skills. Other villains include the Owl, Purple Man, the Gladiator and Elektra, who was once Murdock's college sweetheart, now a brutal assassin for hire with a ninja corps.

Over the years since he was first introduced Daredevil has seen his share of miseries. He is forced to battle Elektra, his one-time love on a few occasions, only to have their love rekindled just before she is killed by Bullseye. His best friend and law partner, Foggy Nelson, shared an office with Karen Page, a secretary who knew Matt Murdock's secret identity as Daredevil. Page was Murdock's lover for a time before she became hooked on drugs and worked as a porno actress. She was so strung out that she sold the Kingpin Matt's secret identity for heroin, whereupon Kingpin made life for Murdock a living hell. She was forgiven by Matt, but was eventually tricked into believing she had AIDS by the villain Mysterio, a Spider-Man villain. The ruse proved to be for naught as she was yet another victim of Bullseye's insane murder spree. So when the ever-tortured hero comes to mind, Daredevil has had his fair share of hell to endure.

Over the years some great writers and artists have honed their respective skills on the Daredevil pages: the aforementioned Lee, Bill Everett, John Romita Sr., Gil Kane, Gene Colan, Jack Kirby, Joe Sinott, Frank Miller, Klaus Janson, Vince Colletta, Marie Severin, George Tuska, Barry Windsor-Smith, Herb Trimpe, the list is amazing. With the exception of the early-to-mid 90s stuff (which is almost universally mediocre) the run has been consistently good and remains so to this day.

There was also a 2003 film made with Ben Affleck as Daredevil, his wife Jennifer Garner as Elektra, Michael Clark-Duncan as Kingpin, Jon Faverau as Foggy Nelson and Colin Farrel as Bullseye. It was a fine film that people's reactions seem to always be mixed on, but I personally thought it was great (and I'm very hard on comic book movies). It was a solid film that, dollar-for-dollar, stood up well against the big-budget films like Spider-Man and Fantastic Four.

The book has just hit it's 500th issue, so if you need to find a new book to try, give Daredevil a shot. If you're in my area of southwest Chicagoland, why not stop here to get it?

Keep reading those joke books.           

Daredevil: The Man Without Fear

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