For this installment of 616 Things we are going to explore 6 things you should know, 1 thing you may not know and 6 things we’d like to see happen with Daredevil. However, I want to give you a little bit of history about my fascination with Daredevil.
I love Daredevil. I remember the summer of 1990 very well. It was a rare occasion that I had the television all to myself. NBC was playing a movie called The Trial of the Incredible Hulk. Little did I know at the time how this movie would change my life. This was Daredevil’s first live action television appearance, and my first encounter with the character. The movie isn’t great but 12 year old Johnny Coughlin was hooked. The very next day I took my sweaty sock money down to the local comic shop, a place I had only been to previously to pick up the latest issue of G.I.Joe because they got it two weeks before 7-11. I dug through the back issues and found Daredevil #257 – John Romita Jr.’s cover featured DD squaring off against the Punsher and I had to have it. I would soon come to know and love the rest of the Marvel Universe through crossovers and events that lead me to many other wonderful characters, but it all started with Daredevil.
Here are 6 things you should know about Daredevil
- As a young boy Matt Murdock was blinded by a radioactive isotope while saving a blind man who was almost killed by the truck carrying the substance.
- Matt Murdock is a lawyer by day. He has worked both sides of the courtroom as a prosecutor and a defense attorney.
- Daredevil’s fighting style is a mix of boxing and ninjitsu. He trained at his father’s boxing gym and was taught by master Stick in the ways of ninjitsu.
- Daredevil is blind but his remaining senses are heightened to superhuman levels. He also possesses a radar sense that allows him to form images of everything around him.
- Daredevil hasn’t had it easy. He’s had everything taken from him, been betrayed, beaten, had his secret identity revealed, but he always comes back. Like a boxer taking a beating, Matt Murdock has been knocked down but never out.
- The love life of Daredevil has always been eventful. Daredevil has been romantically involved with Elektra, Black Widow, Typhoid Mary, and briefly the Black Cat as well as a dozen or so non-super ladies.
1 thing you might not know about Daredevil
- Frank Miller’s Daredevil run in the early eighties had a huge impact on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Eastman and Laird took the three most popular comics of the day to create the TMNT. Teenage was the Teen Titans, Mutant was the X-Men, and Ninja was Daredevil. Splinter even got his name as an ode to Stick while the Foot Clan is a clear reference to the Hand. It’s been said that after the isotope blinded Matt Murdock it drained into the nearby sewer where it affected the Turtles.
6 things I’d like to see In Daredevil’s book
- The classic red costume needs to come back. Designed by Wally Wood fifty years ago this timeless and simple costume is Daredevil’s signature look.
- Daredevil has a fantastic rogues gallery and we need to see it. The Owl, Mr.Fear, Gladiator, Mr.Hyde, the Eel, Mysterio, Typhoid Mary, and so many more villains have plagued DD over the years. We’ve seen the ninjas and faceless thugs enough, Daredevil needs to face a foe that can bring out his best.
- Color. Charles Soule and Ron Garney have recently taken over the book, and they’re not doing a terrible job, but they seem to think they’re making Sin City comics – mostly black and white with little bits of color. Mark Waid showed us that it’s OK to see sunshine and color in a Daredevil comic once in a while.
- More courtroom drama. Matt Murdock is a prosecutor now so let’s see him prosecute. Some of the greatest books, movies, and television shows have revolved around a courtroom. Most of those shows didn’t even have a guy dressed as the Devil running around the city collecting evidence, but Daredevil can.
- Old Friends. Guest appearances by characters like Iron Fist, Spider-Man, and Luke Cage keep Daredevil involved with the rest of the Marvel Universe without placing him deep in events or crossovers that interrupt his own story arc.
- A love triangle. Daredevil has always had a complicated love life. He’s fallen for bad girls like Elektra and Typhoid Mary, and he’s loved good women like Karen Page and Karen McDuffie. He can fall for one of each in a good old fashioned love triangle to keep him on his toes.
Whatever the future brings for ol’ hornhead you can bet that I’ll be following every step, because I love Daredevil.
