10 Incredible Comic Book Panels That Changed Everything

8. Daredevil Rises From The Ashes

Daredevil Born Again
Marvel Comics

Daredevil: Born Again has been a hot topic as of late, what with all the teasing between the character's second solo web series and that final episode of The Defenders having foreshadowed a live action adaptation of the seminal Miller/Mazzucchelli work. It's a storyline audiences will become (all too traumatically) familiar with no doubt, but one thing hardcore DD fans will be looking forward to is the prospect of seeing all those lovely Mazzucchelli pencils getting a nod in live action.

The artist would collaborate with Miller later in Batman: Year One, and, while his work on the Bat-project is equally formidable, Born Again's imagery really is something to behold. Its use of religious symbolism to portray Matt Murdock's own veritable resurrection - an aspect made all the more ironic by the Devil motif - is particularly iconic, but no panel bears more significance than the one above.

His life systematically dismantled - his identity in ruins - Matt finally reclaims the red suit and puts an end to a murder spree engulfing Hell's Kitchen. It's a true moment of clarity and rebirth for the character, who, quite literally, had come from Hell and back again to rebuild his life.

Obviously there are other panels in the book that deserve mention; Maggie Murdock's embrace of her son is one of them, but having Daredevil emerge from the fires of Hell's Kitchen isn't just a thematically brilliant moment to convey; it's seminal in every regard, and a moment every comics fan should cherish.

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WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.