Superhero Sundays: Daredevil
By Ian T. Wilson
Rating: PG
Word Count: 329
Summary: a brief biography Marvel comics’ Daredevil.
Greetings, ladies and gents. This is Ian Wilson, Fellowship and Fairydust’s comic and superhero expert, here to bring you another Superhero Sunday. This week, I’m going to discuss one of my favorite heroes; Marvel’s Daredevil.
If you’ve watched the Netflix TV series, you’re probably already familiar with Daredevil’s origin story. Matt Murdock was born and raised in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of New York City. when he was a young boy, he pushed a man out of the way of an oncoming truck carrying some kind of chemicals. The chemicals cause Matt Murdock to lose his vision; however, they heighten his other senses.He now has superhuman touch and hearing, giving him the ability sense his environment in a way that ordinary humans can’t.
Matt’s father, Jack Murdock, a prizefighter, made young Matt promise never to get into fighting. After Jack was murdered for refusing to throw a fight, Matt dedicated his life to justice. He started studying to be a lawyer. In the intervening period, Matt was trained in the fighting arts by the mysterious Sensei Stick. Stick was a harsh coach, and Matt eventually quit training with him. Either that, or Stick dropped Matt as a student. The stories change with the writer.
Matt completed his law studies, and formed a partnership with his law school friend, Foggy Nelson. Matt and Foggy practiced law together; however, Matt grew weary of seeing good people fall through the cracks in the law. He decided that there was more than one way to find justice. That’s when he donned the red mask and took up the club of Daredevil.
Using his heightened senses Daredevil is able to operate in the dark in a way that no other hero or villain could do. He uses this to his advantage on many occasions, in addition to his martial arts training.
Part of the reason I love Daredevil is his clear sense of justice and duty, and his desire to do what needs to be done, with or without the help of the law. He does his best to stick to his Christian faith, and honor Jesus’ admonition to defend the least of these.
Daredevil was created by Stan Lee and Bill Everett (with input from Jack Kirby) and first appeared in Daredevil #1 in 1964.