By Kulbir Mann
The women in his life do cause him a lot of stress, but lets face facts; his partners suffer significantly more.
The answer to this question is, of course, an unequivocal no. However the women in his life do cause him a lot of stress, but lets face facts; his partners suffer significantly more. He is one of the few characters that I can think of that has had a succession of women in his life, and they do play an important part in his development. This leads onto the commonly held aphorism, women in refrigerators, which essentially means that female characters are only used to progress the plot and character of the male protagonist. It is based upon Alexandra DeWitt who was found dead in the above kitchen appliance for Kyle Rayner to find on the day he received his powers. Is this plot device used in Daredevil? Is Matt Murdock a horrendous secret misogynist? Why do his women all seem to die?
Before Matt became Daredevil there was Elektra Natchios, who he met at Columbia university as a student. She was amazing, intelligent, strong, confident and daughter to a wealthy Greek ambassador. They had a sweet romance that appeared to blossom through their time together. As with most superhero romances it led to disaster. She was kidnapped together with her father, as part of a terrorist ploy. This was part of the evolution of Daredevil, as he donned the mask and attempted the rescue. Unfortunately this led to the death of her father and the end to their relationship. She left the United States in order to learn martial arts, empowered by her lust for revenge. Matt tried his best to stop her but they would not meet again until she returned an assassin. Their reconciliation was not as Matt would have hoped, as she was part of the ninja organisation known as the Hand; enemies of Daredevil. They had a difficult relationship and often fought together but never as one. Until the day Bullseye ended her life on a rooftop, using one of her own sai. It is one of the most horrific deaths in comic lore, and the image is recollected with ease to every avid reader. Matt would wreak vengeance for her death but it would not be the first lover Bullseye would kill. Elektra was the ideal woman and in her death, we saw Daredevil’s first great tragedy. In her resurrection we can see that she was not just a character device for Matt but continued to many a story as a loved deadly assassin.
Until the day Bullseye ended her life on a rooftop, using one of her own sai. It is one of the most horrific deaths in comic lore, and the image is recollected with ease to every avid reader.
Karen Page was as tragic as they come. Her relationship began as an infatuation for Daredevil, whilst being Matt’s secretary. After her father becomes a super villain and tries to kill Daredevil, he reveals himself to her and they begin a difficult romance. She struggles with his alter ego and the risk he puts on himself night in night out. She eventually leaves him unable to take the stress, and is lured by the bright lights of Hollywood.
Those lights turned out to be red and shady as she ends up working as a pornographic actress. Her jones for heroin leads her to sell the most precious of commodities: Daredevils secret identity. This leads to a very clever play by Kingpin to ruin Murdock’s existence. Slowly but surely he targets all aspects of his life and pulls the thread, leaving Matt a whimpering wreck. He falls into the hands of the church and his mother, a nun. Religion and redemption run thick through the born again storyline, as a resurrected Matt forgives Karen, and stitches his life back together.
They begin anew but Karen is forever in his debt. As strong as their love is, she struggles with her sordid past, even as Matt holds her tight. She leaves him again but only to return with…wait for it…AIDS!
Karen is a character used in a religious Daredevil book to represent the power of forgiveness. Unfortunately for her, the sins are too big to forgive as she becomes involved with Daredevil’s hallucinations, and caught in a massive church crossfire. A billyclub to the heart courtesy of Bullseye takes her from this world, and hopefully to a better place for her. I genuinely feel for Karen and her story is one of plight. Daredevil is distraught after she dies, as she was his most long-term and loved of companions.
Religion seems to leave Daredevil for the foreseeable future as he enters a world of low mood, depression and extreme social unrest. Bendis and Brubaker take him through a dark period, where he is sombre and only takes solace in Foggy. He meets Milla Donovan, who helps him through to the light; she is blind too. Milla was a lovely lady who liked Matt for whom he was and accepted his blindness in a way no one else could. In Milla, he found someone who was normal. She had a regular life, no traumas or strains but had to deal with her blindness, which she did very well. Her story takes her through many difficult Daredevil situations, revolving around his long drawn out struggle with his identity, and old enemies/girlfriends attacking at any time. She remained strong enough to actually marry Murdock but this was soon annulled, as she succumbs to the mental torture inflicted by hallucinogenics and Mr Fear. She was left hospitalised in a mental institution with no hope of recovery, leaving Matt alone once more. Milla was a true innocent who made no bad decisions, and had no major turmoil in her life except the day she met Matt Murdock. With all the damage inflicted to these three women, it is easy to envisage why Matt was a continuous grey cloud over a graveyard of ex-girlfriends.
Milla remained strong enough to actually marry Murdock but this was soon annulled, as she succumbs to the mental torture inflicted by hallucinogenics and Mr Fear.
Not all his relationships were troublesome, some women survived unscathed. He dated Black widow for a time and they parted without disaster or death, leaving a healthy friendship behind. He also had a brief romance with a girl called Echo who was deaf. She had the ability to copy any action and replicate it to perfection. Their jousting was beautiful and the relationship ended too soon. His latest romance was with Dakota North who was hired as an investigator with the law firm. That ended through circumstance more than genuine personal strife. His new optimistic attitude, that Mark Waid has provided, even saw a brief fling with Black Cat. However that was more a strategic position on behalf of Black Cat but Matt seemed relatively cheerful. So it is not all doom and gloom but the damage done from having two deaths and one mental breakdown is immeasurable.
With his new optimistic attitude that Mark Waid has provided, Matt even had a brief fling with the Black Cat.
If we look at the women in refrigerators argument, some of his relationships do apply. I feel Karen Page was a feasible character to begin with, as she spent a long period of time with Matt before embarking on a film career. It was then she became the turning point for Matt’s despair and then their resolution from religion. This was unfair on her, especially with the revelation of AIDS. Milla’s story was tragic and played a similar role, but without a religious theme. How did he move on from his guilt? He did technically date Dakota whilst still being married. His relationship with Elektra was different and she was not a plot developer, and this is not just because she returned from the dead. Her death was part of her own story and not just Matt’s. So there are clearly cases from Daredevil’s history of the use of women to develop his character.
Daredevil is not a character with many friends. He has Foggy Nelson who is his bungling dedicated law partner and companion. He had Stick who was his trainer and mentor for many a year, long gone. There is the odd character that does enter and leave his life but Matt is a solitary character. Recently he has joined the Avengers but this is in keeping with his new persona. With all the love interests in his life, are they key to his character? This may have been true of the past Murdock, and they certainly have been key to his happiness but at present this does not run true. After the Daredevil reborn series we saw a change in him, what this was, outside of a change in mindset, is unknown. It was much needed and welcomed but does this mean he is not interested in women? Can Waid Murdock have a relationship in Marvel Now, which is different to his previous ones? Is his character now independent of a romantic angle, and if this is true then what are we insinuating about the role of his female love interests? He may be less dependent and be able date someone on a more equal level, but there are few relationships that last in comics. Even Lois and Clark are not together in current continuity, and the biggest relationship disaster occurred in Identity Crisis many years ago. I think we are done with these storylines, and I think it is unfair on women that they are often bear the brunt in the aftermath. I would like to think the same fate would await the male love interests of female heroes but this has rarely been touched upon.
Daredevil and his “best friend” Foggy Nelson
I wonder whether a modern day big superhero can manage a decent relationship storyline with anyone. I can only think of Luke Cage and his family in recent times, which was an interesting reflection of a family man in the Avengers. Ultimately he left the helm and I wonder if this is the ultimate end to all superhero relationships. Someone dies, becomes maimed, kidnapped, mentally tortured or they both leave the hero world altogether, to keep themselves alive and in love. I feel that Daredevil is reflective of the issues involved in romantic love interests and their consequences in the comic world as a whole. I do not believe it is his character, or Daredevil persona, that is the reason for the ill fate begetting his girlfriends, outside the fact that they will always be targeted by enemies of Daredevil. It is a systemic problem in comics and I would welcome someone writing a new angle on these often depressing and sad stories.
For more comic views and reviews follow Kulbir on Twitter at @Kooliebear and check out his website over at houseofflyingscalpels.com
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Posted on December 31st, 2012
Category: DEVIL IN THE DETAIL, NEWS & VIEWS
Tags: Black Cat, Black Widow, Comic Review, Daredevil, DEVIL IN THE DETAIL #003 – “IS DAREDEVIL HAPPY BECAUSE HE DOESN'T HAVE A GIRLFRIEND?", Elektra, Karen Page, Kulbir Mann, marvel comics, Matt Murdock
It may be the devil you know, but this nostalgic look back at the origin of “The Man Without Fear” is a daring ride worth taking.
Daredevil: Yellow is a 6-part Marvel mini-series written by Jeph Loeb with art by Tim Sale that was originally published in 2001.
Daredevil: Yellow is a 6-part Marvel mini-series written by Jeph Loeb with art by Tim Sale (Batman: The Long Halloween; Batman: Dark Victory), that was originally published in 2001. The story concerns the origin and early days of Daredevil as told by The Man Without Fear himself through letters to his murdered former lover Karen Page.
Daredevil: Yellow focuses on the early days of Daredevil where he’s having fun being a hero.
The series begins with the death of Matt Murdock’s father, skipping the origin of Daredevil’s powers and blindness, instead focusing on the emotional trauma that led him to his heroic destiny. The story then follows Matt as he witnesses the miscarriage of justice at his father’s killer’s trial, his graduation from college, the starting of his own law firm, and his early adventures and battles as the yellow and red costume wearing Daredevil. The main focus of the story, beyond Matt dealing with the death of his father, are the relationships that develop between Karen Page, Matt Murdock, Franklin Nelson, and Daredevil. Daredevil: Yellow concerns itself with the death of Karen Page, but this is not an event actively explored within this story itself. Whilst there’s still plenty of action, Daredevil: Yellow is deep down a love story; between Karen and Matt, and also Matt and Daredevil. Daredevil: Yellow focuses on the early days of Daredevil where he’s having fun being a hero. Importantly, the whole story is told from Matt’s perspective as he looks back at these early, happier times through rose-tinted glasses.
It’s the emotional structure that underpins the plot that truly makes Daredevil: Yellow superb.
It’s the emotional structure that underpins the plot that truly makes Daredevil: Yellow superb. There’s enough action to keep things interesting, but ultimately these moments take a back-seat to the emotional story being told. It’s more than just a love story, or a re-telling of Daredevil’s beginnings though. Daredevil: Yellow is a story about Matt Murdock coming to terms with his father’s death, and forgiving himself for Karen’s murder. Daredevil: Yellow has to be considered in the wider Marvel Universe context though; the death of Karen is referenced throughout and is the reason for Matt writing the letters through which this story is told, but is never shown in this book. It’s clear as well that the “Yellow” of the books title not only refers to Daredevil’s original costume but also the emotions explored within the book; namely fear. Although Daredevil is The Man Without Fear, it’s clear in this book that Matt has to overcome his own fears, and grief, in order to finally come to terms with what happened to his father, and to Karen. As a whole, Daredevil: Yellow is an emotional ride, that ends on a hopeful note as Daredevil, complete with red costume, finds away to forgive himself for Karen’s death and honour his father.
There are plenty of bright and vibrant colours, and the artwork depicts an age where heroes were heroes, villains were villains, and this distinction was quite clear-cut.
The artwork is similarly superb and supports the emotional content of the book wonderfully. There’s a truly retro feel to the book, both in the love-story innocence, and the artwork. There are plenty of bright and vibrant colours, and the artwork depicts an age where heroes were heroes, villains were villains, and this distinction was quite clear-cut. Despite this, there’s still an element of modern comic book writing and artwork sneaking through with both the writer and artist unafraid to hint at darker things to come for Daredevil, and painting Karen not as the damsel in distress, but as a strong woman who just happens to get kidnapped and captured. Colour is also used cleverly throughout the book. The main characters are always brightly and vibrantly coloured and detailed, but backgrounds are often greyed-out or under-emphasised. This heightens the emotional relationships between characters, whilst also helping create a dream-like quality that congruent with the fact these events are being lived out through Matt Murdock’s memories as he re-tells this story in his letters.
The 2011 collected book also contains a foreword by Daredevil creator, and Marvel mastermind Stan Lee, as well a narrated sketchbook that examines the creation of Daredevil: Yellow’s themes and characters. Both are excellent additions, with Stan Lee’s passion for Daredevil and the Universe he birthed dripping from every word written on the page. Additionally these emotional and introspective examinations of the book cleverly mimic the emotional and introspective nature of the way the story of Daredevil: Yellow is told. Furthermore, Daredevil: Yellow acts as a perfect introduction point for people new to Daredevil or Marvel. There’s a retro feel that mimics the early days of Marvel, whilst not being too old-fashioned and possibly off-putting to younger or newer readers, as well as telling the story of the key emotional moments that made Daredevil into the hero seen in the Marvel Universe today.
Daredevil: Yellow is a brilliantly written, and excellently drawn comic book, that’s a worthy addition to any Marvel collection.
The first in a series of coloured books (followed by Spider-Man: Blue and Hulk: Gray), Daredevil: Yellow offers a brilliantly nostalgic re-telling of Daredevil’s early days, which manages both to feel retro in its innocence and vibrancy and modern in its emotional structure and through the hints at the greater darkness that lies beyond the story Matt Murdock is re-telling here.
Daredevil: Yellow is a brilliantly written, and excellently drawn comic book, that’s a worthy addition to any Marvel collection.
Written by Chris Orr, an Inter-Comics writer and Hulk impersonator. You can follow him on Twitter (@Orr_Man) and check out his back-catalogue of articles at www.dresslikethehulk.wordpress.com.
Posted on October 16th, 2012
Category: PROJECT COMICS, REVIEWS
Tags: Chris Orr, Comic Reviews, Daredevil, Daredevil Yellow Review, Foggy Nelson, Jeph Loeb, Karen Page, marvel comics, Project Comics, Stan Lee, Tim Sale
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