3. Brian Michael Bendis And Alex Maleev On 'Daredevil' (2001 - 2006)
There was a time, especially in the mid-2000's, when Brian Michael Bendis' name was synonymous with Marvel Comics, with the writer seeming to be involved in nearly every big story Marvel published. He has written a number of event crossovers, from Secret War in 2004 to Age Of Ultron in 2013, and has written over 200 issues of both Ultimate Spider-Man and The Avengers (spanning New, Mighty and Avengers Assemble variations). However, back in 2001 Bendis was known to fans and the industry as a 'crime guy', following a sequence of acclaimed independent noir comics including Jinx, Goldfish and Torso. This made him the perfect writer to take over on Daredevil, a character who has excelled in the past when based in a down to earth, gritty, crime oriented setting. Bendis was teamed with Alex Maleev on the title, and from their first arc Underboss, they set about putting Matt Murdock through the emotional and physical wringer. When The Kingpin, Murdock's main antagonist over the years, was seemingly killed in the first few pages of the very first issue of the run, fans knew they were in for something special. Bendis and Maleev's run is probably second in Daredevil history only to Frank Miller's iconic 1980's work. The thrust of much of it was the outing of Daredevil's secret identity to the world at large. Bendis goes into great detail about the legal and personal ramifications of this, all the while never forgetting to tell interesting crime stories as well. They introduced a new love interest, Milla Donovan, and updated classic Daredevil villains such as Bullseye and Typhoid Mary for the modern day. They also were allowed to end their story in the most logical, if unpleasant way for the character: Matt Murdock ends up in prison for lying about his identity as Daredevil in court. We would argue that Bendis and Maleev were one of the best combinations that Marvel have ever had, and their 50+ issues of Daredevil will stand as a remarkable achievement in comics history.
