Matt's had a rough life. Between all the dead exes, raving lunatics hell bent on removing his head from his neck, and lingering identity problems, it's safe to say it hasn't always been all sunshine and rainbows for everybody's favorite red-garbed legal defender. But when Mark Waid came onboard, something new and exciting happened; Matt Murdock started having fun again. After decades of wallowing in misery, Mark Waid decided the guardian of Hell's Kitchen deserved a a break from the nihilism and delivered a fantastically fresh take on the Man Without Fear. Gone is the downpour of gloom of previous decades, replaced with a wide-eyed sense of lightness and fun reminiscent of the Silver Age. Taking on a diverse array of colorful crazies such as Mole Man, Bruiser, and the Spot, Daredevil breezes through the occasional spot of fist-meets-face violence with a spring in his step and a smile on his face. Mark Waid doesn't forget or ignore what came before either: occasionally touching on the question of whether or not Matt's new-found love for life is genuine or merely a facsimile, part of the appeal of Waid's run is wondering just how long Matt's happiness will last. Readers have grown to love Matt's ability to endure pain yet somehow come out on top and Mark Waid's work is a gleeful celebration of the character's optimism and resiliency.
