Frank Miller’s 1993 Daredevil comic is the story that a lot of fans know for Daredevil today. It goes through the origin of Matt Murdock and what happened in his life that led to his decision to become a vigilante. It depicts his early life and college years as he starts his double-life, meeting all sorts of familiar faces such as his college roommate and best friend Franklin Nelson (whose friends call him Foggy), his combat and relational companion Elektra, and his childhood combat trainer, a gritty blind man named Stick.
The story then cuts forward a few years, as we see Matt returning to New York City after working at a law firm in Boston, for which he left his short-lived vigilante life behind, along with his friends. In his time away, a powerful mob-boss called the “Kingpin” has taken over the underground world of New York. When Kingpin’s kidnapping business ends up getting Matt’s new friend, Mickey, taken, Matt one again dawns his vigilante attire (which at this point is just black jogging clothes and a black blindfold wrapped over the top of his head) and investigates the trail that leads him to Kingpin’s warehouse. He takes down the guards stationed all over the building, and finally rescues Mickey. As he speaks with the final henchman, he thinks back to his childhood and the nickname that his schoolyard bullies gave him: “Daredevil.”
This comic is by far one of the most well-known Daredevil stories. It is relatively short, and it focuses mainly on Matt Murdock’s origin story, from his father’s boxing, to his accident that left him blind, to his training with stick, and all the way up to his official dawning of his red suit and name. Frank Miller’s impact on the character of Daredevil goes further than this 5 issue story, however, as this more grounded, dark and mature version of Daredevil is what the character has largely become today, as opposed to his more slapstick, light-hearted identity in earlier comics.
This impact can be seen very clearly in the 2015 Daredevil Netflix TV show, which was almost entirely inspired by this comic (particularly the first season). The show shares the same dark aspects of the comic, and most famously includes the black cloth suit that was first seen here in 1993. The show even has flashbacks to Matt’s childhood with his father and his college life with Elektra, as well as having Stick present throughout. Matt’s childhood origin story in the show is nearly identical to the comic, although it does lean more into his Catholic identity, which this comic only shows briefly. Most Daredevil fans enjoy the more serious and mature version of the character that was shown in this comic and in the show. Even other comic writers have used this look for Daredevil, such as Chip Zdarsky’s 2021 run.
All of this to say, Frank Miller and John Romita Jr.’s The Man Without Fear is one of the best Daredevil comics since the character’s debut in 1964. It defined Matt Murdock’s character and gave us an iconic version of his suit, as well as inspired one of the best Marvel TV shows that there is (all of this being subjective, of course). I highly encourage you to check out this story if you enjoy reading comic books. If ever I make a Top 5 or 10 comic books list, this one would definitely go on it!