When filmmaker Kevin Smith took on Daredevil, things weren't looking too good for the Man Without Fear. Facing cancellation, the title was relaunched under the Marvel Knights banner, and nobody was quite sure where things would go. Smith expressed doubts about taking on a character made legendary by Frank Miller, but powered through in the end and the result is one of the best stories in the history of the character. Spinning out of a plot featuring the possible arrival of the antichrist in the form of a newborn infant, Smith really puts the character through his paces, and Daredevil's longtime feud with Bullseye culminates in the shocking murder of Karen Page, Matt Murdock's first love. Death is more or less a revolving door in the colorful world of flights-and-tights, and characters come and go, but Karen Page's demise is that rarest of rarities: a death that, to this day, has stuck. Humorous, energetic, tragic and heartfelt, Guardian Devil is a truly amazing read.
