Daredevil has been a mainstay in the Marvel Universe for 50 years, but it took nearly two decades for this iconic superhero to get a legitimate arch nemesis to call his own. When Frank Miller and Klaus Janson first incorporated Wilson Fisk, aka the Kingpin of crime a villain previously associated with Spider-Man into Daredevil in 1979, it dramatically changed the course of the series. Fisk was unquestionably the missing piece of the puzzle bringing a physically and intellectually imposing villain into a world that was getting darker and grittier thanks to Miller and Jansons film noir-inspired sensibilities. In the years that followed, Daredevil and Kingpin evolved into one of comics very best hero/villain pairings. The two have engaged in a long-term game of cat and mouse that has featured brutal beat downs, cerebral mind games, heartbreak, betrayals and unlikely alliances. And these storylines have been crafted by a whos who of award-winning and critically acclaimed creators, including Miller, Janson, Brian Michael Bendis, Alex Maleex, Ann Nocenti, John Romita Jr., and Ed Brubaker. To celebrate Daredevils 50th anniversary this month, here are 10 of the very best Daredevil/Kingpin storylines. These are the arcs that have helped make this hero and villain dynamic such a highlight of the Marvel Universe even if it took Marvel 15 years to get them together.
Mark is a professional writer living in Brooklyn and is the founder of the Chasing Amazing Blog, which documents his quest to collect every issue of Amazing Spider-Man, and the Superior Spider-Talk podcast. He also pens the "Gimmick or Good?" column at Comics Should Be Good blog.
