8. The Return Of The King (Daredevil vol. 2 #116-119, 500)
Its difficult to sympathize with a man who has caused as much misery and despair in the Marvel Universe as Wilson Fisk, but Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark manage to pull it off in one of the most epic opening chapters to a storyline in Daredevil comics history. In the Return of the King prologue, Kingpin is overseas and madly in love with a woman and her two young children. Kingpins happiness is snatched away from him by the Hands hired assassin, Lady Bullseye, who murders the woman and her children in cold blood in order to lure Fisk back to New York. The Return of the King marks the second time in the Brubaker/Lark run where Kingpin and Daredevil unite against a common foe (more on that shortly). Kingpin convinces Daredevil to join his side in an effort to take down the Hand. But, once that union is formed, thats when the double-crossing begins. Kingpin attempts to stab Daredevil in the back during the final confrontation with the Hand, but Murdock one-ups him, convincing the ninja gang to join his side and kick Fisk to the curb. Its a stunning reveal that demonstrates that Daredevil has certainly learned a few things from his time going toe-to-toe with the Kingpin.
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.
