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TITLE-Daredevil Born Again
SOURCE-Marvel Premier Collection TPB
Ahh Born Again the Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli Daredevil run that is now becoming the newest season of the Daredevil TV show. And I'm guessing that show is why I found this TPB from 2024 in a local Walmart. Couldn't pass it up for 15 bucks.
I was 11 when Daredevil vol 1 #227 came out. I had read most of Miller's first run on DD. But by this time I was deep into other Marvel titles and a few indie books. Thankfully the comic shop owner talked me into adding Daredevil back to my pull list.
Sat down the day after buying this TPB and unlike most comics I didn't just toss it into a stack and leave it unread for months/years. Nah those first 3 pages of issue 227 caught my attention and about an hour later I had read Born Again for the first time since I'm guessing 2003.
So what is Born Again? This was when Frank Miller decided to revamp Daredevil. He lost everything,his law firm,his license to practice law,his home. Lost it all. And all because his old girlfriend Karen Page had sold him out. She had moved out west years before to do movies. Ended up doing adult films. Got on drugs and in the first 3 pages we see her desperate for a fix. Telling her dealer "I know Daredevil's real name" handing this man this info. Then over the course of a week seeing this info make it's way up the chain to Kingpin. A man who wants to destroy Daredevil. And armed with this info will do that.That first issue ends with Matt Murdock at his now blown up home. Holding the tattered remains of his costume.
The next issue titled Purgatory has Matt going and confronting Kingpin getting beaten almost to death. Then placed in an old car and thrown into the river. He escapes barely. And Kingpin finds out the car was found but no body in it. Which haunts him.
3rd issue has Matt homeless living with the bums in the alleys. He gets knifed by a guy in a Santa outfit. Ben ,a repoter at the Daily Bugle that knows Matt is Daredevil,is told to not investigate the Kingpin's war on Matt Murdock. After the knife attack a badly wounded Matt ends up being taken to the care of Sister Maggie.
4th issue Karen makes it back to NYC,thanks to a dealer that takes an interest in her. Ben after having his life threatened almost kills the story on Kingpin. Kingpin has a Daredevil costume made for a violent mental patient. And Matt learns Sister Maggie is his mother. Who he had been told died when he was born.
Issue 231 has Matt fighting the fake Daredevil in a brutal fight for a code approved comic in the 80s. Ben keeps working on his story which almost cost his wife her life. And a somewhat happy ending with Matt and Karen re-uniting.
232 Karen kicks heroin. And Kingpin uses his connections to bring in the semi failed experiment on the Super Soldier project,this time a Nam era soldier known as Nuke. Who is a upper addict and being used by a black ops group to go fight battles the US proper can't be in. Sent to Hell's Kitchen this super soldier might be more than Daredevil,who is just healed from the beating in the second issue,can handle.
233 is just perfect. The Avengers show up and take care of Nuke. Daredevil delivers Nuke to Ben's desk at the Bugle and a few people that helped Kingpin take down Matt Murdock flip on Kingpin. Sure Kingpin will not do time but he lost a major amout of power. We end with Matt and Karen in Hell's Kitchen celebrating they made it through all this alive.
If it was just those issues ,and they are recolored,it would be worth the 15 bucks. Nah we get more. We get layouts from Mazzucchelli. Then the complete script to issue 233. Plus the covers of all the TPB collections of this. Every cover in this collection without the logos and stuff.
Just a loaded collection. Sure it is a tiny bit smaller in height and width than a normal TPB. Still for this cheap price it is worth grabbing.
Daredevil Born Again Marvel Premier Collection TPB gets a A.
