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Must Read: Daredevil: The Man Without Fear

It’s Miller time again, because this week in Must Read we spotlight Daredevil: The Man Without Fear.

In Short:

Frank Miller’s relationship with Daredevil was firmly established when, in 1993, he decided to shake things up a bit. The Daredevil: Man Without Fear miniseries is the result: an extended origin storyline where readers are introduced to the boy that would go on to be Marvel’s blind superhero, taking on underworld bosses like the Kingpin not only on Manhattan’s streets but also in the courts.

Why Is It So Good?

There’s a reason why I hold genuine affection for Daredevil in general and Man Without Fear in particular. In his entire 46 year history, his origin has only been focused on in a major way three times. Daredevil #1 back in 1964, which is fair enough – issue one seems like a good place to have an origin story, after all. Most recently, the Daredevil: Yellow miniseries did it too. Yet it’s 1993’s Daredevil: The Man Without Fear that redefined the horned one for the modern generation. Done at a time when reboots were rarities rather than the common reset button that’s used widely in contemporary comic books, reinventions of characters really mattered. They were stand-out, noteworthy events. A big deal in a comics lifecycle. And this one, written with flair and style by Frank Miller, stands out as one of the best, providing a perfect hopping on point for people who might be new to the story of this blind attorney at law.

Look! Up in the sky... or at least on the roof: Daredevil in training

Spread over just five issues, Daredevil: Man Without Fear takes readers right back to the catalyst for Daredevil’s creation. Miller takes the time to let the reader get to know the young Matt Murdock, his slightly punchdrunk but loving father, and the criminal underworld that they both find themselves being drawn into. Murdock Jr, much like his father, is a less than perfect character. He plays tricks on policemen, and gets up to what Miller describes as “mischief” in his neighbourhood of Hells Kitchen. Muchdock Sr, too, has his flaws. An aging boxer, Battlin’ Jack Murdock finds himself being getting tangled up in the criminal underworld, leading to something of a double life: a father and coulda-been-a-contender boxer by day, and mob enforcer by night. It’s when the two worlds start to bleed into one another, and mob bosses start using Jack to fix fights that things go really wrong. The Murdock family finds out the hard way that when a gangland bosses tells you to throw a fight, but you knock out the guy they’ve backed instead, the consequences can be very high indeed…

Violence you can feel in Man Without Fear

So in many ways, Man Without Fear is about dealing with the one-two punch of loss. Firstly, of Matt losing his sight, brilliantly handled by Miller who makes readers really empathise with the young Matt Murdock. We witness a selfless act of heroism by the young Daredevil, and feel the frustration, anger and depression that sets in when he loses his sight as a result. Ultimately, it’s also about the loss of his father – the one stabilising influence in his life. Yet it’s also about finding something else, something you never knew you could achieve. We watch Matt Murdock finding his way in a new world, just like when he first loses his sight – a world where he’s something more than a normal guy: one where he’s a hero – or a potential one, at least. Miller takes us through this rather awkward transition for Murdock patiently and carefully. We see how he’s mentored, guided and sometimes beaten into submission by the mysterious and equally blind Stick (think part Yoda / part Mr Miyagi to Murdock’s Luke / Daniel). It’s not until late in the story that he even takes on the Daredevil name (flashbacks to schoolyard taunts gives him the idea). Until then, he’s simply an unnamed vigilante. Miller gives the character time to grow, to make mistakes (one particularly tragic one thematically keeps on coming back to haunt Daredevil throughout the mini-series). Elektra, too, is presented in a much more human way than previously seen, and the way the two of them find one another, and where their relationship goes from there is all the more engaging and believable as a result.

A costumed hero, minus the costume

Man Without Fear has sometimes wrongly been called a costumed hero story minus the costume. That’s an almost accurate description, but not 100% so. It’s true that, for most of the series, Daredevil isn’t seen in his trademark horned, double-D logo emblazoned costume, but you will find that familiar outfit in just one gorgeous splash page across the entire story arc. For the rest of the time, however, Matt Murdock and company all dress as you’d expect real people would if they were found themselves in such a bizarre situation. His costume, such as it is, is pulled together from his wardrobe. For the superhero haters out there (you know who you are…), there’s little ammunition to feed their “he’s just wearing his underpants on the outside” jibes. This just goes to highlight how the art of John Romita Jr. works perfectly throughout the Man Without Fear series. He deserves real credit for holding the attention of readers and making Daredevil visually interesting without the hook of the iconic red outfit: it’s a big ask to demand of any artist. But look too closely or focus too exclusively on the characters, and you’ll miss a real gem: take some time out to soak up the detail in the backgrounds – it’s stunning. To this day, native New Yorker Romita breathes life into the Big Apple like few artists can. The run starts off as definitive, trademark Marvel stuff – bright, colourful and incredibly detailed – but slowly twists and turns into a grittier, much more Miller-fied version of the city as the storyline gets increasingly more convoluted and darker.

Wilson Fisk: Kingpin of crime

The Legacy

Man Without Fear originally started life as a treatment for a Daredevil movie script, with the tone and content of the extended origin story pre-dating darker edged comicbook movies like Batman Begins and Dark Knight Returns by some 12 years. It came 10 years before the Ben Affleck led 2003 Daredevil movie too, so provided the perfect blueprint for how a DD origin film could have been (should have been?) handled. Yet Hollywood’s loss is the comicbook worlds gain. Man Without Fear showed the industry how a reboot of a franchise should be handled: carefully, respectfully, but with enough new ideas to make the whole process worthwhile. Something that leaves the characters in a stronger position than the start, but stays true to the roots of the characters that attracted readers in the first place. Miller’s peers would do well to use Man Without Fear as an invaluable reference point, while the rest of us can just enjoy not just one of the best Daredevil stories ever written, but also one of the best origin retellings you’ll ever find.