I have made no secret of my love for Daredevil. I’ve written articles about him on this site before and even penned out three full-length feature films that fit into a trilogy for the character. And I feel like he’s a popular superhero who really and strangely lacks exposure. So, I’ve compiled a short list in hopes to change that. Here’s 15 reasons why Daredevil is the greatest superhero of all time.

And if you haven’t been reading Mark Waid’s current work, or Brian Michael Bendis and David Mack’s End of Days run, then you’re only hurting yourself.

 

15. He’s Severely Handicapped

We’ll kill off the obvious, first. When the conception of the character rattled through Stan Lee’s mind in the sixties, the “Walt Disney” of Marvel had a major fear, thinking that audiences would find Matthew Murdock’s handicap offensive.

“Strangely enough, I was afraid that there might be a negative reaction to a blind superhero, primarily among blind people. I felt they would feel, you know, ‘What’s this guy trying to do? We can’t do things like that! Is this some sort of a parody?’ And I was nervous about it. And then I was amazed to find that we got more fan mail in the beginning from charities for the blind. They said ‘The people that we’re involved with are so grateful that there is a blind superhero and that they love that idea!’ And, oh man, what a relief that was for me.” – Stan Lee

Murdock’s handicap isn’t just interesting in design, either, because it provides a plethora of story-telling options for whomever is penning the issue. It’s something Frank Miller realized to a “t,” that because this is a well-versed man who hasn’t seen the world in ages, he has to describe everything to himself to make constant sense of it. And he’s able to do it so poetically, which is a perfect outlet for a writer who is seeking a character and an outlet for beautiful language. Just in handicap, Murdock gives both the writer something new to talk about and the reader something new to read, but in a way that never comes off hammy or pulpy because of the nature of the character and story. It’s utilizing every aspect of the character instead of writing a dime-a-dozen plot and throwing a guy in spandex in the middle.

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