Daredevil #92

Ed Brubaker // Michael Lark
February 2007
****

EB & ML’s first arc hits its climax, as their hero confronts the mastermind who’d killed his pal. It’s Vanessa Fisk, an avenging fury, cursing Murdock with her blessing. Her motives fit her character poorly & require much finessing, but on their own they’re great: evil & equivocal in Sopranos style.

last issue: Daredevil #91
next issue: Daredevil #93

also indexed for Feb. ’07
Annihilation #5 of 6
Astonishing X-Men #20
The Immortal Iron Fist #3
Nextwave, Agents of HATE #11

Daredevil #36

Brian Michael Bendis // Alex Maleev
October 2002
*****

Murdock denies his secret ID as DD; V. Fisk skips town, creating a power vacuum; ex-GF Black Widow visits the law firm incognito, where she’s treated like a superheroics enabler—not exactly inaccurate either! Incidentally, check Alias #15 for a Rosencranz/Guildenstern perspec of Matt’s bodyguards.

last issue: Daredevil #35
next issue: Daredevil #37

also indexed for Oct. ’02
Alias #13
New X-Men #130
New X-Men #131

Daredevil #31

Brian Michael Bendis // Alex Maleev
May 2002
****

Vanessa Fisk takes over by killing her husband’s killers, incl her own son! Bendis takes existing points—DD’s open secret of an ID, K’pin’s blindness—and spins an unexpected yet inevitable twist. Maleev advances upon the photo-tracing style of Alex Ross by scanning, inking, & smudging backgrounds.

last issue: Daredevil #30
next issue: Daredevil #32

also indexed for May ’02
Alias #7
Avengers #52
New X-Men #124

Daredevil #30

Brian Michael Bendis // Alex Maleev
April 2002
****

DD’s secret ID is common knowledge in the underworld. It’s a smart development, but the real plot engine is Kingpin’s blindness, a weakness that leaves him open to a generational coup. Bendis’ chronology leapfrogs all over; that & excellently structured scenes disguise the slow pace of this arc.

last issue: Daredevil #29
next issue: Daredevil #31

also indexed for Apr. ’02
Alias #6
Avengers #51
New X-Men #123

Daredevil #29

Brian Michael Bendis // Alex Maleev
March 2002
****

#29 spotlights a mob capo who wants a piece of the action & conspires to oust the Kingpin & kill Murdock for his shystering, which is hurting business. Bendis wears his cinema influences heavily, w/ Tarantino-style anecdotes & non-linear storytelling set atop a Scorcese setting of seedy NYC crime.

last issue: Daredevil #28
next issue: Daredevil #30

also indexed for Mar. ’02
Alias #5
Avengers #50
New X-Men #122

Daredevil #186

Frank Miller // Klaus Janson
September 1982
*****

Check out FM & KJ’s use of words as art elements! A fun A-plot has Turk (a regular goon) swipe Stilt Man’s armor. The longer arc has more substance, incl. an A+ bit of subtext: Matt’s built a case against a firm run by his innocent CEO g’friend—but is he wrecking her life just so she’ll marry him?

last issue: Daredevil #185
next issue: Daredevil #187

also indexed for Sept. ’82
The Fantastic Four #246

Daredevil #180

Frank Miller with Klaus Janson
March 1982
*****

To spoil the election of a corrupt mayor, DD unearths Kingpin’s amnesiac wife from NYC’s bowels. Miller’s drawing heavily on Jos Campbell: his hero challenges the underworld’s king, despite his broken leg (= castration, an effect of #179‘s showdown w/ Elektra). Oh & he wrestles a gator!

last issue: Daredevil #179
last issue: Daredevil #181

also indexed for Mar. ’82
The Fantastic Four #240

Daredevil #179

Frank Miller with Klaus Janson
February 1982
*****

Re-enter sad-sack reporter Ben Urich, with his ordinary-Joe POV.  He phones his pal DD after his snooping into Kingpin’s mayoral candidate brings a death threat from Elektra. And he not only snaps a pic of the long-awaited DD/Elektra match (victor: Elektra), he also glimpses Kingpin’s missing wife!

last issue: Daredevil #178
next issue: Daredevil #180

also indexed for Feb. ’82
The Fantastic Four #239

Daredevil #172

Frank Miller
July 1981
*****

Genius of the 1st degree: a pulpy ode to NYC with a ’30s Warner Bros. tone of seedy urban roughness. Fisk rises from the sewers to the penthouse, toppling the city’s crime bosses w/ a few deft strokes. DD plays second fiddle (a la the Spirit) to the Kingpin’s arc, till even he gets outmaneuvered.

last issue: Daredevil #171
next issue: Daredevil #173

also indexed for Jul. ’81
The Fantastic Four #232

Daredevil #171

Frank Miller
June 1981
*****

His pacing’s vigorous & his plotting’s smart… in only 2 years, Miller’s turned DD into a monthly must-read. His Kingpin has the body of a Kirby brute but an altogether unique cunning. The Pin gets suckered into a gangland vendetta, loses his wife, & dumps the Devil in a deathtrap cliffhanger!

last issue: Daredevil #170
next issue: Daredevil #172

Daredevil #170

Frank Miller
May 1981
*****

#170 suffers a bit from being a prologue but it promises much. The arc rehabs the Kingpin, a minor Spidey baddie that Miller turns into a diabolical powerhouse. Fisk, retired in Japan, cuts a deal to betray NY’s organized crime. Murdock gets sucked into the feud when Fisk’s wife retains him as counsel.

last issue: Daredevil #169
next issue: Daredevil #171