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The helicopter pilot hits the trigger, unleashing a deluge of lead from the mounted mini gun. The target is Daredevil, but the pilot doesn’t care who else might get hurt. Picking up the weapon that had killed dozens today already, Daredevil takes aim. And shoots. The helicopter explodes, instantly killing the pilot inside. Daredevil asks for forgiveness.

It is dark. It is unforgiving. It is Frank Miller gritty. It is of course, Daredevil Born Again. Miller teamed up with the incredible David Mazzucchelli in 1986 to create one of, if not, the greatest ever Daredevil stories. Winning over readers and critics alike, it is widely acclaimed, but it is worth breaking down what makes it such a great Daredevil story and an interesting part of the Marvel world. 

Daredevil is generally perceived as the Marvel character and series who has had the best writers. It takes a special story to standout amongst them but Miller and Mazzucchelli achieved it with Daredevil Born Again. Looking back now, both are at very different stages of their careers. This was long before Miller’s descent into madness, this is the year that the Dark Knight Returns is published, turning an already popular writer into a legendary one. 

Mazzucchelli is still early into his career, a long way off finding his style, or completing his magnum opus, Asterios Polyp. This was when he was doing his more traditional comic book style, which by no means was rough or unrefined, it looks amazing. Paired up with the seasoned and loved Daredevil writer, they made something truly special. 

Daredevil Born Again can be read in full in issues 226-233, or in a collected edition graphic novel which can be purchased here (UK shop)* https://uk.bookshop.org/a/15480/9780785134817

Betrayed

The story has the familiar trope of the villain tearing down our hero, but the way it was executed here, it felt like it was the first time a writer had done this

The downfall of Daredevil starts with Karen Page, the former secretary to Nelson & Murdock and Matt’s ex-girlfriend. Karen had fallen on hard times and the actress became addicted to heroin and very susceptible to abuse. Like other addicts, Karen was willing to do anything for the drug and gave up Daredevil’s secret identity in exchange for cash. This information made its way to Kingpin, the feared crime lord and long-time foe of Daredevil. With this information, Kingpin destroys Matt’s life.

It is here that Miller really gets the story right. Firstly, for not just having a henchman kill Matt or those around him, but really having Kingpin take his time to ruin Matt. Fisk gets Matt’s accounts frozen, bribed a cop to testify against Matt and got the bank to foreclose on his apartment. Kingpin kept tabs on Matt’s deterioration by having lackeys follow him. He noted that, as Daredevil, Matt was getting more and more violent with criminals.

Things could have been a lot worse for Matt had Foggy not defended him in court and saved him from prison. Even that friendship seemed finished though as Foggy starts dating Glorianna who had recently broken up with Matt. Kingpin’s efforts were creating an increasingly paranoid Murdock, who thought everyone was conspiring against him.

Kingpin

There is one notable scene which fully represents Miller’s Fisk. A lieutenant speaks out with a suggestion, nothing outlandish or aggressive. Kingpin calmly orders his legs to be broken. He is meticulous, he is specific and he is violent. One thing he is not however, is overly patient. 

Kingpin is a man with an incredible amount of wealth, power, and influence. When things do not go his way, frustrations can show. Fisk’s original plan was to see Matt in prison. To have the crime fighter, both on the streets and in the courtroom, locked away with other criminals would have been a delicious outcome for Fisk. The fact it would have been an environment where Fisk could dispose of him at whim was a bonus.

When that plan was thwarted by Foggy, Kingpin upped the ante – he firebombed Matt’s apartment. He does not use some hair-brained deathray or scheme, Fisk straight up uses some cartel-level terrorism in the heart of the city. This aggression and little regard for anyone else in the city will come up again later in the story, but it leaves readers genuinely worried about what Kingpin is capable of. There is a solid argument to make about his being a Kingpin story as much as a Daredevil one.

Broken

The firebombing made Matt realise that Fisk was behind it all, but is left homeless, and his mental state started to deteriorate. He got more aggressive and paranoid. Matt made the decision to confront Kingpin directly and except… Except he never reached the door to leave his run down hotel room. He never even made it out of bed. He became increasingly delusional, thinking Foggy was conspiring against him and even violently attacked a hotel manager thinking he was sent by Fisk. An altercation on the subway sees him take down some criminals, but also knockout a police officer. Not as Daredevil, but as Matt. 

Miller does a fantastic job of demonstrating how debilitating a mental health crisis can be. It left Matt paralysed, delusional, and irrational, leaving him a shell of the man he was. Mazzucchelli needs a lot of the credit here too, as his artwork brings that distress to life, the fear and frustration visible in every panel. 

Angry, at his wit’s end and with no plan, Matt walked into Fisk’s tower and attacked Kingpin. With a righteous rage, Matt… gets absolutely annihilated, with Fisk battering him. Matt’s unconscious body was covered in booze and then thrown into a taxi, before being pushed into the river. Kingpin did this knowing that Matt’s tarnished image would make it look like an unfortunate accident. 

Matt managed to regain consciousness and save himself at the last moment. He stumbled to his dad’s old gym, only to be discovered by a nun who then cares for him. That nun turns out to be none other than Maggie, Matt’s mother. She nursed him back to health, denying that she is his mother, but Matt’s hearing detected the change in her heartbeat’s rhythm. 

Faith & Christianity

Here is a good place to point out the excellent full page panels by Mazzucchelli for each of the main five issues. The first three feature Matt lying down, in increasingly more painful poses. He curls up further until his knees reach his chest. In the fourth, Matt lies on the bed in the nunnery in a Christ like pose. In the fifth he has risen, standing tall, gloves on and ready to fight. 

Ignoring the boxing at the end, this has very strong Christian connotations. The resurrection of Matt, coming back from what he describes as his death at the hands of Kingpin, has similarities to the resurrection of Christ. And didn’t Santa stab Daredevil? Maybe Miller was making a point about consumerism taking away the original, religious meaning of Christmas? Probably not though.

There are other links though. The titles of the issues are all words or phrases with strong links to Christianity: Purgatory, Apocalypse, Pariah, Born Again, Saved, Armageddon. These titles outline the path of demise and redemption that Matt follows. 

Matt’s Catholic faith is one of the pillars that his character is based around. In this story, Matt reached the bottom, having lost his home, job, friends and standing in the community. To then be rescued and nursed by nuns must have been an incredibly inspiring time for a religious man. For that nun to then be his mother, it would be hard pressed to see how Daredevil could not have seen this as a sign from God – his faith rewarded. 

Miller is not some sort of genius for including this religious aspect to the series, as it had been done before with Daredevil. However Miller handled this fundamental part of Matt’s character really well, building the story around that resurrection arc. Even then of course, Miller was well acquainted with Daredevil. This was a return to the series for him having previously penned a legendary run on the character. 

Obviously though, the story did not end here, with a lot left to be resolved like how will Matt be after his resurrection? He won’t be a Christ like figure who turns the other cheek. This Daredevil is an avenging angel. Although one with patience, something he lacked earlier in the story when he rushed to face Kingpin.

The Nuclear option

With the taxi discovered, but no body found, Fisk knew that Matt survived. He was still intent on having Matt killed, hiring assassins and thugs to try and draw him out. Matt faced a would-be killer of Foggy, dressed up as Daredevil. This hired killer had just been released from an asylum. Matt defeated the doppleganger, an analogy of him overcoming his poor mental state which almost destroyed him earlier in the story. He stripped the fake of the costume, his original being lost in the apartment explosion.

What is interesting though, is how Matt at this point had not donned the Daredevil costume since facing Kingpin. He does not put it on again until a new threat appears. Kingpin had been quietly working in the background, pulling strings with high-ranking officials in the military to get a contract with Nuke – a US super-soldier. This super-soldier is quite different from Steve Rogers, despite being a part of the Weapon Plus programme and similar capabilities. Demonstrating a warped sense of patriotism, armed to the teeth, and chewing pills, this was the man Kingpin uses for his next plan. Kingpin orders Nuke to drop-in via helicopter and indiscriminately attack New York, all to get a response from Daredevil. His gun, Betsy, kept score as he kills dozens of Americans.

This is the moment that Matt donned the Daredevil costume for the first time since Kingpin targeted his home. Even in the midst of it all, Ben Urich corrects himself – it was not Matt in front of him, it was Daredevil – the man without fear. Daredevil took the fight to Nuke, but Nuke’s enhanced physique was difficult for Daredevil to manage, his usual moves ineffective. In an epic struggle he did eventually manage to weaken Nuke by kicking him into powerlines, before dropping from a height into him, slamming Nuke through a car and setting it ablaze. Daredevil broke Nuke’s gun Betsy on his face, dazing him. 

As we saw earlier, in an effort to save further lives, Daredevil shot down the helicopter. Taking a life is something he said earlier in the story that he would never do. But this is man pushed to the limit and in a desperate situation to protect his city. The death toll stood in the hundreds.

The Avengers

As he seeks answers from the barely conscious Nuke, the Avengers show up. This is one of the best bits in the whole story. Captain America arrives ‘with a voice that could command a god’, followed by Thor and Iron Man. 

How they are shown here is important. Thor was a silhouette and Iron Man a masked sentinel. Surrounded by fire and lightning, they appear incredibly powerful but cold too, something you could be afraid of. This must be how most people see them. This was not the arrival of Daredevil’s allies or friends. This was the most powerful team on the planet coming to take Nuke away from Daredevil. And, as Iron man’s raised palm and voiced threat showed, they would take him by force if necessary. Daredevil relinquished the person that could prove that Kingpin was involved.

Supporting cast

In the aftermath of the attack, the church and nuns who treated Matt, now focused on those injured during Nuke’s onslaught, among them Glori and Karen. Despite the fact the supporting cast have been ignored in this write-up so far, they are one of the main reasons for this being a great story, as there are so many interesting side plots that link in so well with the main one.

Firstly, Glori and Foggy falling for each other is really heartwarming. Despite the part this played in Matt’s mental state, you can’t help but root for them. Matt’s story undoubtedly effected them too. You can see this with the anxiety they have waiting for him to call, not sure if he will or if they will recognise the Matt on the other end. 

Ben Urich’s story involved him investigating the links between Matt, the police officer who took the stand against him, and Kingpin. One of Fisk’s associates, Nurse Lois, who is an incredible villain, terrorised Urich in an attempt to halt his investigation. With bones broken by Nurse Lois and having listened to her murder the cop, Ben was broken; terrified of what Fisk will do to him. Despite an attempt on his life and that of his wife, Ben recovered, finding the courage to continue his investigation to help clear Matt. That fear affected him deeply though, as he even bludgeoned a man to death who had tried to kill him. His was a dark story.

Karen has probably the darkest story of all though. Her addiction to heroin was what started this whole mess, causing her to sell Matt’s secret. Her vulnerability saw her taken advantage of, particularly physically, in her journey back to New York. Along the way, she was hounded by Fisk’s men who were trying to kill anyone else with knowledge of Matt’s alter-ego. She survived all of this to be reunited with Matt, the man she betrayed. And he forgave her. 

You can find elements of rebirth within a lot of the main cast, but other than Matt, it lies strongest with Karen. In the stranglehold of addiction, she was nothing like her former self. Karen, for all intents and purposes, was gone. There was a scene where she tried to escape her abuser, only to accept her inevitable death if she could get that one last hit. Truly, she had given up on life. Her resurrection occured when Daredevil rescued her. Matt’s strength and support got her through withdrawal and addiction. He revived her.

Matt was able to do this and forgive, not only because of their past relationship, or for being a good Catholic, but because of his own recent trauma. His own dalliance with madness gave him empathy to what Karen might be going through. Their stories mirrored each others. 

Prologue

Back to the story though, and there is a prologue to it all. Captain America was disturbed by what he witnessed with Nuke, particularly as Nuke wears the American flag on his face, and he goes looking for answers. He discovers that Nuke was the survivor of a super soldier programme, based on the one that created him – Project Rebirth.

If there was one character to really fit into the born again narrative, it is Cap. He was essentially born again after going through Project Rebirth, but also when he was revived after being thawed from ice into a strange future.

As Cap did a little light treason breaking in those files, Nuke, held in the same S.H.I.E.L.D building, cracks. After being told his antics in New York will see him moved abroad, he broke free of his constraints and attacked the soldiers around him. 

Hearing the alarms, Captain America rushed to confront and subdue Nuke. At the same time, a general, taking orders from Kingpin, sent helicopters to assassinate Nuke, firing on him and Cap on a rooftop. Daredevil arrived to get Nuke out of there but not before he got shot. Daredevil does not make it to a hospital before Nuke dies in the back of a borrowed taxi. Instead, Daredevil changed course and dropped Nuke’s body in front of Urich at the Daily Bugle.

The resulting story published in the Bugle sees Kingpin hurt badly. His name is dragged through the mud, he lost legitimitate business ventures and his lawyers earned their money keeping him away from prison. Even his underlings displayed disaffection. Fisk planned revenge.

Final thoughts

The last page and panel of the story is reserved for a happy Matt and Karen walking in an embrace. It is quite the turnaround from the Matt we saw in the first issue. One who was incredibly self-centred, angry and dishing out blame to those around him. Interestingly, he was even considering his own mortality. He became increasingly detached from those he called friends and associates, ignoring Glori and laughing at Ben. Crucially, Miller had Ben describe Matt’s voice as an echo – like it wasn’t the original self, almost an imitation. Karen too had that sense of no longer being herself but they both are born again, finding one another.

Kingpin’s story was almost the reverse to theirs. Before the very end, he was plagued by the name Matt Murdock, experiencing some of the paranoia that Matt was made to feel at the height of his mental health crisis. The damage done to his empire in the end is akin, although not as extreme, to the losses Matt was made to experience too.

So is it the best Daredevil story ever? It could definitely be. Miller’s gritty sense of realism is perfect for a Daredevil story. It makes the impact of Nuke in the end even more shocking as the escalation hits a fever pitch. That realism also works with the breaking of Matt’s sanity, only for it to be restored by faith and family – not through arcane magic or some serum. It makes the resurrection feel more earned. 

As mentioned earlier, there are other great stories going on, as Miller fleshed out characters, giving them agency and not just having them as decoration to Daredevil’s story. There were loads of great additional characters created like Nurse Lois and Nuke, but also the wise-talking henchmen. Each character is unique and added their own flavour to the story.

Mazzuchelli of course, brings it all to life, illuminating the blossoming romance of Glori and Foggy and cranking up the adrenaline in the fight scenes. His depictions of the low points of Matt, Ben and Karen are equally memorable. 

Add your thoughts in the comments of what you think of the story and where you see it in the list of best Daredevil stories.

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