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GHM Online Columnist - Steve Higgins |
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| LATEST NEWS .: |
.MAY 2003.
Steve's Column Debuts! |
| COLUMN PICS & LINKS .: |
.Daredevil.Legends.Vol.2.
.Born.Again.
by Frank Miller
and David Mazzucchelli
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Feedback is always appreciated!
E-mail me at vacuumboy9@hotmail.com
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September 5, 2003
"DAREDEVIL LEGENDS VOL. 2 - BORN AGAIN"
Frank Miller didn't create Daredevil, but he may as well have. His additions and revisions to Daredevil's mythos have become sacrosanct, the kind of untouchable iconic imagery that no one would ever dream of changing or messing with and that everyone draws from in future stories. (These stories of course are reprinted in Daredevil Visionaries: Frank Miller, volumes 2 and 3.) His name has become synonymous with everything right about the character; he is the gold standard. Every writer to approach the hero since has lived in Miller's shadow.
Even Miller himself has had to combat his own reputation on the book. When his monumental run on Daredevil ended in February of 1983 with issue 191, it seemed he had done everything he could ever do with the character. He had added Elektra into Matt Murdock's life right before he painfully tore her right back out. He had created true nemeses for Daredevil in both Bullseye and the Kingpin, making them into the kind of archenemies that forever are associated with one and only one hero. He had beefed up Daredevil's supporting cast, making Foggy Nelson and Ben Urich into vital parts of Matt Murdock's life while also making them fully come to life on their own for the first time.
And then, just short of three years later, Frank Miller came back to Daredevil. The questions on everyone's minds at the time were what he could possibly have left to say with this character and if he could relive his own glory on the book. The answers? He had plenty left to say, and in fact he could surpass what came before.
Miller's return to the title ran from issue 227 to 233 (a short eight months from January to August of 1986) and proved to be a landmark tale for the "Man Without Fear." This story is quintessential Daredevil; if you read no other Daredevil story in your life, this one shall be enough. Entitled Born Again, this story arc is today available in trade paperback form as Daredevil Legends Vol. 2: Born Again. Other volumes of the Legends series, including the first volume, Daredevil: Yellow, and volume three, Miller's own origin tale, The Man Without Fear, are similarly worthy of note, but they simply cannot reach the heights found in Born Again.
In this story, Miller in a way deconstructs everything he had built up around Matt Murdock and takes him back to his roots. He literally tears apart Matt's life, leaving only what is central to defining who Matt is. Miller accomplishes these tasks by doing what at the time was unthinkable: he allowed Daredevil's greatest foe the Kingpin to discover his true identity. A down-and-out Karen Page, drug-addled and looking to score, sells the one thing she has left; after years of selling her body and soul on the streets, she sells her secret, or more appropriately the secret Matt entrusted to her, that he is really Daredevil.
Once that secret reaches the Kingpin's hands, he springs into action, finally having an advantage over his foe. He attacks his heroic counterpart's personal life, taking away everything of value: his money, his apartment, and his law firm. At the same time, the Kingpin systematically eliminates everyone else who might also have this same information, eventually working his way back to Karen Page. What comes next is the fight of Matt Murdock's life, as he must work through his personal crises and also rescue the former love of his life from certain death.
It is a tale in the mode of the classical hero about a man who rises above incredible hardship and adversity, who goes through a trial by fire and emerges on the other side better prepared to face down evil and be victorious. Brilliantly filled with religious symbolism, exploring the depths of these characters' personas while also including action-packed suspense, Born Again is everything a Daredevil story should be, and it will long stand up as the mark by which future creators will measure their success with the character.
All Content ©2003 Steve Higgins, All Rights Reserved.
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| :. ABOUT STEVE |
Steve Higgins is an English instructor who loves comics so much he offers a class on them in the spring. His wife Sarah hates comics with a passion and wishes Steve would stop spending so much money on them each week.
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| :. ABOUT STEVE ( CONTINUED) |
Favorite Comics: Doom Patrol, Y the Last Man, Alias, Queen and Country, X-Statix, 21 Down, Paradigm
Favorite Movies: The Fisher King, Heavenly Creatures
Favorite Bands: Radiohead, Counting Crows, Weezer
Favorite Writers: Kurt Vonnegut, John Irving, Russell Banks
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| © 2003 - Gray Haven Magazine & All Authors. |
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