"Daredevil: Born Again"

            The following is a review of the Marvel Comics storyline “Daredevil: Born Again.” This review is of the fictional Marvel Comics character Matthew Murdock/Daredevil. It is not about any real-life daredevils. This review has no connection to the Marvel film “Daredevil” or the Marvel Netflix series “Daredevil.”

            Matt Murdock was a child when he saved a man from being hit by a truck, but the truck was carrying radioactive chemicals, which spilled onto Matt’s face, causing blindness. His father was a boxer. He never wanted Matt to be a fighter, rather a doctor or a lawyer. Matt’s father met an ill fate for not throwing a fight. Matt went on in his studies. He made it to law school. His roommate was Franklin “Foggy” Nelson. Matt and Foggy graduated from law school and started their own firm “Nelson and Murdock.” Matt may be blind, but his other senses were extremely, superhumanly enhanced: taste, touch, smell, sound, and create a 360-degree “radar sense.” He learned fighting techniques and took up the costume mantle of Hell’s Kitchen’s “Daredevil: The Man Without Fear.” Matt’s worst enemy is Wilson Fisk, Hell’s Kitchen’s Kingpin of Crime. (Pardon my language.)

            Matt and Foggy hired Karen Page to be their secretary. Foggy, Karen and Daily Bugle reporter Ben Urich eventually found out Matt was Daredevil, and Nelson and Murdock eventually went under. Matt has been dating Glorianna O’Breen. Unemployed, Karen traveled west and became a star of films I will not say as this is a G-Rated blog and also picked up another nasty habit. Karen got so desperate to sate her habit that she sold out Matt’s secret double life. This information made its way right into Fisk’s large hands. Now the Kingpin knows that Matt Murdock is really Daredevil. Fisk decides the ultimate revenge he can get is not only to destroy Daredevil’s life, but Matt Murdock’s life as well. To that end, Fish goes to the Bar Association and issues a claim so bad that Matt is disbarred and unable to practice law. But that’s not the end of that. Fisk also incriminates Matt with a crime he didn’t commit. Fisk goes to the IRS and gets Matt’s assets frozen. He also blows up Matt’s house. He hires Frank Simpson, the patriotic fanatic super soldier called Nuke to fight Daredevil. On top of that, Glori, feeling shafted by Matt turns to Foggy, and Foggy and Glori fall in love. Now Matt finds himself with no job, no money, and no place to live. His and Daredevil’s lives have completely unraveled.

            Hey there, thanks for reading From the Mind of One Tim Cubbin! My name is Tim Cubbin! You have been reading my review of “Daredevil: Born Again.” I’d like to share my personal thoughts about the story.

            First off, right from finishing the second issue, I felt there was potential there. It had the potential to be a great story. It doesn’t get any worse than having your entire life blown up around you. However, upon reading the final issue, I felt like it didn’t live up to that potential. Frank Miller, the “Daredevil” writer at the time, came up with such a great idea. However, the ending left a bitter taste on my proverbial tongue. This was a story published in 1986, which was before I was born. I have not followed much classic Daredevil stories from that time. Now, we all know that there are times when a super hero has their secret identities exposed. In this instance Fisk made the name “Matt Murdock” taboo within his organization and did not share Matt’s identity publicly. This was something Fisk could hold over Matt, the proverbial “if something happens to me, I expose you” kind of thing, and I felt this was a little cliché.

            As far as scoring this personally, based on my opinion of the story on a scale of one (being the worst) and ten (being the best), I’d score it as a five. As I said, to me, it had potential, but that potential just didn’t seem achieved to me. Now, I’m hard to please, but I feel that we all have our own personal opinions that no one else can change. So if you have, or if you do read the story, I’d love to hear your opinions.

            The most important point of any review is if the story is recommended. This story is a defining moment in the life of Matt Murdock/Daredevil. I usually like reading stories containing defining moments. Those are often the most enjoyable stories. For those long-time Daredevil fans that haven’t read this, I do give a recommendation. If you’re only into Daredevil from the movie or Netflix series, I still can recommend it. Who I can’t recommend this to would be people who have never read Daredevil of had not watched the movie or Netflix series. To me, I just didn’t feel it was a jump-on, too much history, too many loose threads.

            That will be it for now. If you enjoyed this post, share, retweet, comment, like, whatever you can do on this page. I have written dozens of reviews, and I am also a writer of short stories, poetry, essays, and editorials, so feel free to browse through this site if you so wish. I post frequently, so you can expect more from me soon. Until next Time, Tim Cubbin… out!