Daredevil in the comics has always been as good as his supporting cast. In fact that's true of many of the classic superheroes: Superman and Batman have their sidekicks, love interests, colleagues and butlers, whilst Marvel took that template and ran with it. Spider-Man's origin is as well known as the characters he's surrounded by, from the doddering Aunt May to bolshy boss J Jonah Jameson to warring love interests Mary Jane and Gwen Stacy. Matt Murdock, too, benefits from not having the carry the whole thing on his shoulders. In fact Daredevil is rarely all about its titular character, with many of the early episodes involving him either off fighting random criminals or recovering from injuries incurred fighting random criminals, whilst Ben Urich and Karen Page's investigations further the main plot. It's a refreshing difference from the usual ONE HERO DESTINED TO SAVE THE DAY. Cap's been ably helped by Black Widow, Iron Man relies on Rhodey at times, but never has the story been mainly pushed forward by the entire ensemble. A lot of that's, admittedly, because a TV series is given more time to flesh characters out than a movie. But then that doesn't explain Agents Of SHIELD, does it?
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
