I love the Turtles and being that the original TMNT comic was a Daredevil parody, I felt I needed to get caught up on what was originally a major influence on Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird at the time. I’m not a fan of "superhero-y" comics which is why I think I enjoyed this book as much as I did. After reading a few of the essential 1964 Stan Lee issues, I jumped into the Frank Miller run head first with what are considered some of the best Daredevil stories ever.
Writer: Frank Miller
Artist: John Romita, Jr.
Publisher: Marvel
Age: Teen
Originally written as a possible treatment for a Daredevil film 10 years before the Ben Affleck 2003 film, Miller retells the Daredevil origin as well as briefly touches upon some of the major characters he wrote about during his run with Daredevil over a decade earlier. John Romita, Jr.’s artwork compliments Miller’s style and brings back that darker feel to the book. Marvel broke what was intended to be a graphic novel into a 5 part mini-series during the initial print run. The 5 issues show Matt Murdock as a boy and give some depth to the relationship he had with his father. Miller puts emphasis on everything that made Daredevil who he is, and does a nice job of introducing key characters into his origin.
The book starts out with Matt Murdock, before his accident. There is a lot more focus on this part of his life as opposed to Stan Lee’s original origin. Matt meets another blind man named Stick and they train together. Miller fills in a continuity gap that the original run had which did not mention until issue 176 the fact that Stick helped Matt develop his other senses and pushed him to his limits. If being blinded by a horrific accident was not bad enough, he then has to deal with the death of his father. Stick turned out to by a pseudo father-figure to Matt, which Miller attempts to show in this book. Matt decides that using the training he received after his accident, he would avenge his father’s death.
We then jump to Matt’s college years where Miller takes the liberty to introduce for the first time one of his best-loved creations, Elektra. Explained here are the foundations of their relationship and a nice backstory Miller did not write about during his run with the Daredevil title. Matt also meets Foggy Nelson who is a staple in the Daredevil issues, and with who Matt would later start a law firm.
Miller also introduces Kingpin, recounting his rise to power and how he became Daredevil’s arch enemy. Matt is working for a law firm in Boston but returns to New York on business and decides to stay. While reminiscing one night at the rundown gym where his father used to train, he meets a girl named Mickey and they begin to work together and train. Meanwhile, Kingpin starts to take over New York and in the process he kidnaps Mickey. Consequently, Matt creates the first Daredevil costume and sets his sights on Kingpin. This leads to Matt’s first fight with the Kingpin. In the end, he saves Mickey while exposing Kingpin’s operations. Kingpin is now fully aware of Daredevil and the two will meet again.
I appreciated the fact that we only saw Matt Murdock in his Daredevil costume at the end of the book. As I mentioned earlier, I don't usually read "superhero-y" comics; super powers, ridiculous origin stories, and tacky costumes don't really interest me. What I liked about this origin story was that it focused Matt training and working on bettering himself. Yes, his senses are heightened by the radioactive substance that he was exposed to but this story focuses on dealing with blindness and learning how to use the senses that he still has to become Daredevil.
Am I going to keep reading Daredevil after this? Yes. Next, onto Frank Miller's Daredevil: Gangwar.