Daredevil #131 (1976) * VG * 1st Appearance of Bullseye * HOT Book * Real Scans

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Daredevil #131 (1976) * VG * 1st Appearance of Bullseye * HOT Book * Real Scans :
$14.50

Hi.I am cleaning out my collection.
Check out my other sales.
This is priced to move.
I will only sell / ship to winners in the continental United States.
Grab this now before it rises further in price.
I will combine shipping to save you money.
Payment is due within 3 days of sale's end.
Please view the 3rd photo to see how your comic will be shipped.Thank you art for Daredevil vol. 2, #65 (Sept. 2004), by Greg Land.Publication informationPublisherMarvel ComicsFirst appearanceDaredevil #1 (April 1964)Created byStan Lee
Bill EverettIn-story informationAlter egoMatthew Michael "Matt" MurdockTeam affiliationsS.H.I.E.L.D.
The Chaste
Nelson & Murdock
Defenders
The Hand
New AvengersPartnershipsBlack Widow
ElektraAbilities

Radar sense
Superhuman senses
Excellent athlete
Master martial artist, gymnast, and acrobat

DaredevilThe first issue of Daredevil (April 1964) features the hero in his original costume. Splash-page art by Jack Kirby (penciler) and Bill Everett (inker).[1]Series publication informationFormatOngoing seriesGenreSuperheroPublication date(vol. 1)
April1964– October1998
(vol. 2)
November1998– August2009
(vol. 3)
September2011– PresentNumber of issues(vol. 1): 381 (#1-380 plus #-1) and 10 Annuals
(vol. 2): 119
(vol. 1 cont.): 13
(vol. 3): 22Creative teamWriter(s)(vol. 1)
Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Steve Gerber, Marv Wolfman, Roger McKenzie, Frank Miller
(vol. 2)
Kevin Smith, Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker
(vol. 1 cont.)
Andy Diggle
(vol. 3)
Mark WaidPenciller(s)(vol. 1)
Bill Everett, Joe Orlando, Wally Wood, John Romita, Sr., Gene Colan, Bob Brown, Frank Miller, David Mazzucchelli, Lee Weeks
(vol. 2)
Joe Quesada, Alex Maleev, Michael Lark
(vol. 1 cont.)
Roberto De la Torre, Marco Checchetto
(vol. 3)
Paolo RiveraInker(s)(vol. 1)
Vince Colletta, Syd Shores, Klaus Janson
(vol. 2)
Jimmy Palmiotti, Danny Miki, Stefano GaudianoColorist(s)(vol. 2)
Brian Haberlin, Matt Hollingsworth
(vol. 3)
Javier Rodriguez

Daredevil is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby,[1] and first appeared in Daredevil #1 (April 1964).

Living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City, Matt Murdock is blinded by a radioactive substance that falls from an oncoming vehicle. While he no longer can see, the radioactive exposure heightens his remaining senses beyond normal human ability. His father, a boxer named Jack Murdock, supports him as he grows up, though Jack is later killed by gangsters after refusing to throw a fight. After donning a yellow and black, and later a dark red, costume, Matt seeks out revenge against his father's killers as the superhero Daredevil, fighting against his many enemies including Bullseye and the Kingpin.[2] Daredevil's nickname is "the Man Without Fear".[3]

Although Daredevil had been home to the work of many legendary comic-book artists — Everett, Kirby, Wally Wood, John Romita, Sr., and Gene Colan, among others — Frank Miller's influential tenure on the title in the early 1980s is particularly remembered, having cemented the character as a popular and influential part of the Marvel Universe. Daredevil has since appeared in many various forms of media including several animated series, video games, merchandise, and a 2003 feature-length film.

Publication history Further information: List of Daredevil titles1960s

The character debuted in Marvel Comics' Daredevil #1 (cover date April 1964),[4] created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett,[5] with character design input from Jack Kirby, who devised Daredevil's billy club.[1] When Everett turned in his first-issue pencils extremely late, Marvel production manager Sol Brodsky and Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko inked a large variety of different backgrounds, a "lot of backgrounds and secondary figures on the fly and cobbled the cover and the splash page together from Kirby's original concept drawing".[6]

Writer and comics historian Mark Evanier has concluded (but cannot confirm) that Kirby designed the basic image of Daredevil's costume, though Everett modified it.[1] The character's original costume design was a combination of black, yellow, and red, reminiscent of acrobat tights.[2] Wally Wood, a highly regarded artist known for his 1950s EC Comics stories, penciled and inked issues #5-10, introducing Daredevil's modern red costume in issue #7.[7][8]

Issue #12 began a brief run by Jack Kirby (layouts) and John Romita, Sr. The issue marked Romita's return to superhero penciling after a decade of working exclusively as a romance-comic artist for DC. Romita had felt he no longer wanted to pencil, in favor of being solely an inker. He recalled in 1999,

I had inked an Avengers job for Stan, and I told him I just wanted to ink. I felt like I was burned out as a penciller after eight years of romance work. I didn't want to pencil any more; in fact, I couldn't work at home any more — I couldn't discipline myself to do it. He said, 'Okay,' but the first chance he had he shows me this Daredevil story somebody had started and he didn't like it, and he wanted somebody else to do it.[9]

Romita later elaborated that,

Stan showed me Dick Ayers' splash page for a Daredevil. He asked me, "What would you do with this page?" I showed him on a tracing paper what I would do, and then he asked me to do a drawing of Daredevil the way I would do it. I did a big drawing of Daredevil ... just a big, tracing-paper drawing of Daredevil swinging. And Stan loved it.[10]

When Romita left to take over The Amazing Spider-Man,[11] Lee gave Daredevil to what would be the character's first signature artist, Gene Colan, who began with issue #20 (Sept. 1966).[4][12] Though #20 identifies Colan as a fill-in penciller, Romita's work load prevented him from returning to the title,[13] and Colan ended up penciling all but three issues through #100 (June 1973), plus the 1967 annual, followed by ten issues sprinkled from 1974–1979. (He would return again, an established legend, for an eight-issue run in 1997).[12]

Lee never gave Colan a full script for an issue of Daredevil; instead, he would tell him the plot, and Colan would tape record the conversation to refer to while drawing the issue, leaving Lee to add the script in afterwards.[14] Though Colan is consistently credited as penciler only, Lee would typically give him the freedom to fill in details of the plot as he saw fit. Lee explained "If I would tell Gene who the villain was and what the problem was, how the problem should be resolved and where it would take place, Gene could fill in all the details. Which made it very interesting for me to write because when I got the artwork back and had to put in the copy, I was seeing things that I'd not expected."[15] The 31-issue Lee/Colan run on the series included Daredevil #47, in which Murdock defends a blind Vietnam veteran against a frameup; Lee has cited it as the story he is most proud of out of his entire career.[16] With issue #51, Lee turned the writing chores over to Roy Thomas (who succeeded him on a number of Marvel's titles), but would remain on board as editor for another 40 issues.

The first issue covered both the character's origins and his desire for justice on the man who had killed his father, boxer "Battling Jack" Murdock, who raised young Matthew Murdock in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Jack instills in Matt the importance of education and nonviolence with the aim of seeing his son become a better man than himself. In the course of saving a blind man from the path of an oncoming truck, Matt is blinded by a radioactive substance that falls from the vehicle. The radioactive exposure heightens his remaining senses beyond normal human thresholds, enabling him to detect the shape and location of objects around him. In order to support his son, Jack Murdock returns to boxing under the Fixer, a known gangster, and the only man willing to contract the aging boxer. When he refuses to throw a fight because his son is in the audience, he is killed by one of the Fixer's men. Adorned in a yellow and black costume made from his father's boxing robes and using his superhuman abilities, Matt confronts the killers as the superhero Daredevil, unintentionally causing the Fixer to have a fatal heart attack.[2]

Daredevil would embark on a series of adventures involving such villains as the Owl, Stilt-Man, the Gladiator, and the Enforcers. In issue #16 (May 1966), he meets Spider-Man, a character who would later be one of his greatest hero friends.[17] A letter from Spider-Man unintentionally exposed Daredevil's secret identity, compelling him to adopt a third identity as his twin brother Mike Murdock,[18][19] whose carefree, wisecracking personality much more closely resembled that of the Daredevil guise than the stern, studious, and emotionally withdrawn Matt Murdock did. The "Mike Murdock" scheme was used to highlight the character's quasi-multiple personality disorder (he at one point wonders whether Matt or Mike/Daredevil "is the real me"[20]), but it proved confusing to readers and was dropped in issues #41-42, with Daredevil faking Mike Murdock's death and claiming he had trained a replacement Daredevil. Murdock reveals his secret identity to his girlfriend Karen Page in issue #57,[21] although she leaves the series after the revelation proves too much for her.[22] This was the first of several long-term breakups between Murdock and Page, who would prove the most enduring of his love interests.

1970s

18-year-old Gerry Conway took over as writer with issue #72, and turned the series in a pulp science fiction direction: a lengthy story arc centered on a robot from thousands of years in the future trying to change his timeline, and even long-standing arch-villain the Owl was outfitted with futuristic weaponry and vehicles. Steve Gerber came on board with issue #97, initially scripting over Conway's plots, but Gene Colan's long stint as Daredevil's penciler had come to an end. Gerber recollected, "Gene and I did a few issues together, but Gene was basically trying to move on at that point. He'd just started the Dracula book, and he'd been doing Daredevil for God knows how many years. I think he wanted to do something else."[23] After six issues with fill-in pencilers, including several with Don Heck, Bob Brown took over as penciller.

Tony Isabella succeeded Gerber as writer, but editor Len Wein disapproved of his take on the series and sent him off after only five issues, planning to write it himself.[24] Instead, he ended up handing both writing and editing jobs to his friend Marv Wolfman with issue #124, which introduced inker Klaus Janson to the title. Wolfman's 20-issue run included the introduction of one of Dardevil's most popular villains, Bullseye,[25] and a fondly remembered story arc in which the Jester uses computer-generated images to hoodwink the mass media. He was dissatisfied with his work and quit, later explaining, "I felt DD needed something more than I was giving him. I was never very happy with my DD--I never found the thing that made him mine the way Frank Miller did a year or two later. So I was trying to find things to do that interested me and therefore, I hoped, the readers. Ultimately, I couldn't find anything that made DD unique to me and asked off the title."[26] His departure coincided with Brown's death from leukemia.

With issue #144, Jim Shooter became the writer and was joined by a series of short-term pencilers, including Gil Kane, who had been penciling most of Daredevil's covers since #80 but had never before worked on the comic's interior. Shooter and artist Carmine Infantino introduced Paladin in issue #150 (Jan. 1978).[27] The series's once solid sales began dropping during this period, and was downgraded to bi-monthly status with issue #147. Shooter still had difficulty keeping up with the schedule, and the writing chores were shortly turned over to Roger McKenzie.[28]

McKenzie's work on Daredevil reflected his background in horror comics, and the stories and even the character himself took on a much darker tone: Daredevil battled a personification of death,[29] one of his archenemies was bifurcated by a tombstone,[30] and a re-envisioning of Daredevil's origin showed him using stalker tactics to drive the Fixer to his fatal heart attack.[31] McKenzie created chain-smoking Daily Bugle reporter Ben Urich, who deduces Daredevil's secret identity over the course of issues #153-163,[32] and had Daredevil using the criminal underworld of Hell's Kitchen as an information network, adding several small-time crooks to the supporting cast.

Halfway through his run, McKenzie was joined by penciler Frank Miller with issue #158 (May 1979),[33] who had previously drawn Daredevil in The Spectacular Spider-Man #27 (Feb. 1979).[34]

Daredevil moved to San Francisco for a time beginning with Daredevil #81 to live with his new love interest, the spy and superheroine the Black Widow.[35] From #92 through #107, the cover logo was retitled Daredevil and the Black Widow. She ends the relationship in issue #124, fearing that playing "sidekick" is sublimating her identity. Murdock returns to Hell's Kitchen. The lively but emotionally fragile Heather Glenn almost immediately replaced the Black Widow as his love interest. In a story arc overlapping Wolfman, Shooter, and McKenzie's runs on the series, Daredevil reveals his identity to Glenn and becomes partially responsible for the suicide of her father; their relationship would persist, but would prove increasingly harmful to both of them. Though the Black Widow returned for a dozen issues (#155-166) and attempted to rekindle her romance with Daredevil, he ultimately rejects her in favor of Glenn.

1980s

Sales had been declining since the end of the Wolfman/Brown run, and by the time Miller became Daredevil's penciler, the series was in danger of cancellation. Nor did Miller see himself as the series's potential savior; he disliked Roger McKenzie's scripts, and Jim Shooter (who had since become Marvel's editor-in-chief) had to talk him out of quitting.[28] Seeking to appease Miller,[28] and impressed by a short backup feature he had written, new editor Denny O'Neil fired McKenzie so that Miller could write the series.[36] The decision was made so abruptly that the last issue of McKenzie's run plugs a two-part story which never appeared though part one eventually saw print in Daredevil #183.

Comics artist legend Wally Wood, following kidney failure and the loss of vision in one eye, returned to the character he helped define, inking Miller's cover of Daredevil #164 (May 1980).[37] It was one of Wood's final assignments before his death in 1981.

Miller continued the title in a similar vein to McKenzie. Resuming the drastic metamorphosis the previous writer had begun, Miller took the step of essentially ignoring all of Daredevil's continuity prior to his run on the series; on the occasions where older villains and supporting cast were used, their characterizations and history with Daredevil were reworked or overwritten. Most prominently, dedicated and loving father Jack Murdock was reimagined as a drunkard who physically abused his son Matt, entirely revising Daredevil's reasons for becoming a lawyer.[38] Spider-Man villain Kingpin was introduced as Daredevil's new arch-nemesis, displacing most of his large rogues gallery. Daredevil himself was gradually developed into an antihero. In issue #181, he attempts to murder one of his arch-enemies by throwing him off a tall building; when the villain survives as a quadriplegiac, he breaks into his hospital room and tries to scare him to death by playing a two-man variation on Russian roulette with a secretly unloaded gun.[38] Comics historian Les Daniels noted that "Almost immediately, [Miller] began to attract attention with his terse tales of urban crime."[39] Miller's revamping of the title was controversial among fans, but it clicked with new readers, and sales began soaring,[28] the comic returning to monthly status just three issues after Miller came on as writer.

Miller introduced ninjas into the Daredevil canon, bringing a martial arts aspect to Daredevil's fighting skills, and introducing previously unseen characters who had played a major part in his youth: Stick, leader of the ninja clan the Chaste, who had been Murdock's sensei after he was blinded;[40] a rival clan called the Hand;[41] and Elektra, an ex-girlfriend turned lethal ninja assassin.[42] This was a drastic change for a character once called "the sightless swashbuckler". Elektra was killed fighting Bullseye in issue #181 (April 1982), an issue which saw brisk sales.[43]

With #185, inker Janson began doing the pencils over Miller's layouts, and in #191 Miller left the series entirely. O'Neil switched from editor to writer. O'Neil was not enthusiastic about the switch, later saying "I took the gig mostly because there didn't seem to be (m)any other viable candidates for it."[36] He continued McKenzie and Miller's noir take on the series, but backed away from the antihero depiction of the character by having him not only spare Bullseye's life, but express guilt over his two previous attempts to kill him. Janson left shortly after Miller, replaced initially by penciler William Johnson and inker Danny Bulanadi, who were both supplanted by David Mazzucchelli. Novelists Harlan Ellison and Arthur Byron Cover co-wrote two issues in 1984.[44][45] Miller returned with a story in issue #219 (June 1985)[46] and returned as the title's regular writer, co-writing #226 with O'Neil. Miller and Mazzucchelli crafted the acclaimed "Daredevil: Born Again" storyline in #227-233.[47] Karen Page, who had not been seen since Marv Wolfman's run a decade before, returned as a heroin-addicted porn star, and sells Daredevil's secret identity for drug money. The Kingpin acquires the information and in an act of revenge, orchestrates a frameup which costs Murdock his attorney's license. Miller ended the arc on a positive note, with Murdock reuniting with both Karen Page and Maggie, the mother he thought dead, now a nun. Miller intended to produce an additional two-part story with artist Walt Simonson but the story was never completed and remains unpublished.[48]

Three fill-in issues followed before Steve Englehart (under the pseudonym "John Harkness")[49] took the post of writer, only to lose it after one issue due to a plot conflict with one of the fill-ins. Ann Nocenti was brought on as a fill-in writer but became the series's longest-running regular writer, with a four-and-a-quarter year run from #238-291 (Jan. 1987 - April 1991). The shuffle of short-term artists continued for her first year, until John Romita, Jr. joined as penciller from #250-282 (Jan. 1988 - Jul. 1990) alongside inker Al Williamson, who stayed on through #300.

The team returned Murdock to law by co-founding with Page a nonprofit drug and legal clinic, while Nocenti crafted stories confronting feminism, drug abuse, nuclear proliferation, and animal rights-inspired terrorism. She introduced the antagonist Typhoid Mary,[50] and in issues #262-265 used the Inferno event as a backdrop for the collapse of Daredevil's life: The clinic was destroyed, Page went missing after learning of his affair with Mary Walker, and Walker revealed herself as the alter ego of Typhoid Mary. Murdock subsequently became a drifter in upstate New York, an especially controversial move in Nocenti's run, as it marked the first time he had been taken outside of an urban Environment. She ended her run with a positive turn in Murdock's fortunes: He returned to Hell's Kitchen, regained his sense of self, reconciled with Foggy Nelson, and resolved to seek out Karen Page.

1990s

New writer D. G. Chichester and penciler Lee Weeks continued from where Nocenti left off, with Murdock resuming his friendship with Foggy Nelson, struggling to re-win the heart of Karen Page, appealing the revocation of his attorney's license, and bonding more deeply than ever with Hell's Kitchen. Chichester's focus on Daredevil's relationship with New York City went so far as to have two issues devoted entirely to Daredevil defending New Yorkers from ordinary criminals and even simple accidents. The critically acclaimed "Last Rites" arc from #297-300 saw Daredevil regaining his attorney's license and finally bringing the Kingpin to justice.[51]

Frank Miller returned to the character and his origins with the 1993 five-issue Daredevil: The Man Without Fear miniseries.[52] With artist John Romita, Jr., Miller expanded his retcon of the life and death of Murdock's father, "Battling Jack" Murdock, and Murdock's first encounters with the Kingpin and Foggy Nelson.[53] The role of Stick in the genesis of Daredevil was expanded, as was Murdock's doomed love affair with Elektra.

The creative team of Chichester and penciler Scott McDaniel changed the status quo with their "Fall From Grace" storyline in issues #319-325 (Aug. 1993 - Feb. 1994).[54] Elektra, who was resurrected in #190 but had not been seen since, finally returned. An injured Daredevil creates a more protective costume from biomimetic materials: red and grey with white armor on the shoulders and knee pads. Revamped billy clubs could attach to form nunchucks or a bo staff. His secret identity became public knowledge, leading to him faking his own death and assuming the new identity of "Jack Baitlan". This new identity and costume lasts for several story arcs ("Tree of Knowledge", "Humanity's Fathom", and "Wages of Sin"), while Murdock finds a way to convince the world that he is not, in fact, secretly Daredevil (courtesy of a double). A short stint by J. M. DeMatteis returned Daredevil to his traditional red costume and Matt Murdock identity.

Under writers Karl Kesel and later Joe Kelly, the title gained a lighter tone, with Daredevil returning to the lighthearted, wisecracking hero depicted by earlier writers. Matt and Foggy (who now knows of Matt's dual identities) join a law firm run by Foggy's mother, Rosalind Sharpe. Gene Colan returned to the series during this time, but though initially enthusiastic about drawing Daredevil again, he quit after seven issues, complaining that Kesel and Kelly's scripts were too "retro".[55]

In 1998, Daredevil's numbering was rebooted, with the title "canceled" with issue #380 and revived a month later as part of the Marvel Knights imprint.[56] Joe Quesada drew the new series, written by filmmaker Kevin Smith.[57] Its first story arc, "Guardian Devil", depicts Daredevil struggling to protect a child whom he is told could either be the Messiah or the Anti-Christ. Murdock experiences a crisis of faith exacerbated by the discovery that Karen Page has AIDS (later revealed to be a hoax) and her subsequent death at Bullseye's hands.[58]

Smith was succeeded by writer-artist David Mack, who contributed the seven-issue "Parts of a Hole" (vol. 2, #9-15). The arc introduced Maya Lopez, also known as Echo, a deaf martial artist.

2000s

David Mack brought independent-comics colleague Brian Michael Bendis to Marvel to co-write the following arc, "Wake Up" in vol. 2 #16-19 (May 2001-Aug. 2001),[59] which follows reporter Ben Urich as he investigates the aftereffects of a fight between Daredevil and the new Leap-Frog. Following Mack and Bendis were Back to the Future screenwriter Bob Gale and artists Phil Winslade and David Ross for the story "Playing to the Camera". Mack continued to contribute covers.

The 2001 Daredevil: Yellow miniseries presented another take on Daredevil's origins using letters written to Karen Page after her death. Here Page believes she is in love with both Daredevil and Murdock, and Nelson with Karen Page, resulting in a silent rivalry between the two men. The supervillains the Owl and the Purple Man are the antagonists. In this story, Daredevil credits Page with coining the phrase "The Man without Fear", and she suggests to Daredevil he wear red instead of black and yellow.

Issue #26 (Dec. 2001) brought back Brian Michael Bendis, working this time with artist Alex Maleev. IGN called Bendis' four-year-run "one of the greatest creative tenures in Marvel history" and commented that it rivaled Frank Miller's work.[60] Developments in this run included the introduction of romantic interest and future wife Milla Donovan, the outing once again of Murdock's secret identity, the reemergence of the Kingpin, and Daredevil's surrender to the FBI.

The impact of his exposure as Daredevil continued to be used as a plot point by both Bendis and writer Ed Brubaker and artist Michael Lark, who became the new creative team with Daredevil vol. 2, #82 (Feb. 2006),[61] no longer under the Marvel Knights imprint.

Danny Rand as Daredevil. Art by Michael Lark.

Brubaker's first story arc had a new character masquerading as Daredevil in Hell's Kitchen.[62] Murdock later discovered the ersatz Daredevil is his friend Danny Rand, the superhero Iron Fist.[63]

The series returned to its original numbering with issue #500 (Oct. 2009),[64] which followed vol. 2, #119 (Aug. 2009). New writer Andy Diggle revised the status quo,[65]

[66] with Daredevil assuming leadership of the ninja army the Hand. Daredevil later appeared in the one-shot Dark Reign: The List - Daredevil.[67]

2010s

Following this came the crossover story arc "Shadowland",[68] in which Daredevil was possessed by a demon. Murdock then left New York, leaving his territory in the hands of the Black Panther in the briefly retitled series' Black Panther: Man Without Fear #513. Murdock finds himself renewed in the miniseries Daredevil: Reborn #1-4 (March–July 2011).

In July 2011, Daredevil relaunched with vol. 3 #1 (Sept. 2011),[69] with the creative team of writer Mark Waid and penciler Paolo Rivera. Waid said he was interested in "tweaking the adventure-to-depression ratio a bit and letting Matt win again,"[70] as well as emphasizing the character's powers and perception of the physical world.[71] In the premiere issue, Murdock finds he can no longer serve as a trial lawyer due to past allegations of his being Daredevil causing a case he represents in court to turn into a media circus. Two issues later, Nelson and Murdock have developed a new business strategy of serving as consulting counselors, by teaching clients how to represent themselves in court. Daredevil joined the New Avengers in a story written by former Daredevil series writer Brian Michael Bendis.[72][73] Daredevil appeared as a regular character in the 2010-2013 New Avengers series, from issue #16 (November 2011) through its final issue #34 (January 2013). Daredevil stole a device called "The Omega Drive", a hard drive that stores information on all organized super crime in the world. In the wrong hands, the drive can cause global chaos and criminal war, leading to Daredevil to play cat-and-mouse with those who desire it.[74] Teaming with Spider-Man and Punisher, Daredevil takes down the crime syndicates, only to be abducted by Latverian forces loyal to Doctor Doom. Upon escape, Foggy begins to questions Matt's sanity, ultimately leading to a fallout between the two.[75] They reconciled once the truth was discovered.[76][77] The Daredevil series officially joined Marvel NOW! when issue #23 was released.[78]

Powers and abilities

Although blind, the character's remaining four senses function with high levels of superhuman accuracy and sensitivity, giving him abilities far beyond the limits of a sighted person; few know that the hero cannot see. Daredevil developed a radar sense,[79] which is similar to echolocation.

When Frank Miller expanded most of Daredevil's abilities, he attempted to make them "extraordinary enough to be exciting, but not on par with Superman", noting Superman's distinctly unbelievable powers.[79] When Miller joined the title in 1979, the first thing he did to the character was "revamp" his radar sense and made it less distinct and more believable; he wanted Daredevil to have the "proximity" sense that most martial artists claim to have.[79] Because of this, he created an ability for Daredevil to hear the Hulk's heartbeat four blocks away. Due to the character's sensitive sense of touch, Daredevil can read by passing his fingers over the letters on a page[79] though laminated pages prevent him from reading the ink.[80] Daredevil has commonly used his superhuman hearing to serve as a lie detector for interrogation by listening for changes in a person's heartbeat. This ability can be fooled if the other person's heart is not beating at a natural rate, such as if they have a pacemaker.[81][82]

Just as Daredevil's other senses are stronger, they are also sensitive; his main weakness is his vulnerability to powerful sounds or odors that can be used to temporarily weaken his radar sense.[83] This weakness is often used to immobilize Daredevil if he were bombarded by too much sound, which will cause him great pain and disorient him.[84] Additionally Daredevil needs to detect something with his radar to know it is there or it will remain invisible to him, which makes it possible to have something get past his radar if he is unable to detect it. In one instance the hallucinogenic drug that Mysterio created was designed with no taste or smell so Daredevil could not tell he was drugged until he consulted Doctor Strange who was able to discover it from the small cross that Mysterio gave to Daredevil in disguise which contained the drug and magically cured him.[85] When Daredevil fought Psylocke during the war between the Avengers and the X-Men, he briefly gained an advantage when she tried to read his mind and found herself overwhelmed by the sensory input she received from his enhanced senses, reflecting the scale of psychological training required for Daredevil to operate as he does.[86]

Though he has no superhuman physical attributes beyond an enhanced sense of balance, Daredevil is a master of martial arts.[87] Having been trained by Stick, Daredevil is a master hand-to-hand combatant. His typical moves are unique blends of the martial arts of Ninjutsu, Aiki Jujutsu, Jujitsu, Kung Fu, capoeira, Judo, Aikido, wrestling and stick fighting combined with American-style boxing while making full use of his gymnastics capabilities.[88]

Daredevil's signature weapon is his specially-designed billy club, which he created.[83] Disguised as a blind man's cane in civilian garb, it is a multi-purpose weapon and tool that contains thirty feet of aircraft control cable connected to a case-hardened steel grapnel. Internal mechanisms allow the cable to be neatly wound and unwound, while a powerful spring launches the grapnel. The handle can be straightened for use when throwing. The club can be split into two parts, one of which is a fighting baton, the other of which ends in a curved hook.[1][83]

In his civilian identity, Murdock is a skilled and respected attorney with an encyclopedic knowledge of law, especially New York statutes. He is a skilled detective, tracker, and interrogation expert, as well as being an expert marksman.

Other versions Main article: Alternative versions of Daredevil

In addition to his mainstream incarnation, Daredevil has had been depicted in other fictional universes, including Marvel 2099, Marvel Noir and the Ultimate Marvel Universe.

Reception

Daredevil was named Empire's 37th Greatest Comic Book Character, citing him as "a compelling, layered and visually striking character".[89] Empire praised Frank Miller's era, and referenced Brian Michael Bendis, Jeph Loeb, and Kevin Smith's tenures on the series.[89] Wizard magazine ranked Daredevil 21st among their list of the 200 Greatest Comic Characters of All Time,[90] and comic book readers polled through the website Comic Book Resources voted the character the third best of the Marvel Comics stable.[91] IGN ranked Daredevil as the third best series from Marvel Comics in 2006[92] and in 2011 ranked Daredevil as #10 on their list of "Top 100 Comic Book Heroes".[93]

The series has won the following awards as well:

Daredevil #227: "Apocalypse", Best Single Issue - 1986 Kirby Awards
Daredevil: Born Again, Best Writer/Artist (single or team), Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli - 1987 Kirby Awards
Daredevil: The Man Without Fear, Favorite Limited Comic-Book Series - 1993 Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award[94]
Daredevil by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Alex Maleev, 2003 Eisner Awards (for works published in 2002)[95]
Daredevil, Best Writer, Ed Brubaker - 2007 Harvey Award
Daredevil #7, Best Single Issue (or One-Shot) - 2012 Eisner Awards (for works published in 2011)[96]
Daredevil by Mark Waid, Marcos Martín, Paolo Rivera, and Joe Rivera, Best Continuing Series - 2012 Eisner Awards

Supporting characters

Throughout the core Daredevil series, many characters have had an influence in Matt Murdock's life. His father, "Battlin' Jack" Murdock instills in Matt the importance of education and nonviolence with the aim of seeing his son become a better man than himself.[2] He always encouraged Matt to study, rather than fight like him. Jack forbade his son from undertaking any kind of physical training.[97] It is his father's murder that prompts the super-powered character to become a superhero, fighting gangsters.[97] He was trained by an old blind ninja master named Stick following his childhood accident.[98]

Matt Murdock's greatest friend is Franklin "Foggy" Nelson, his college roommate, sidekick, and law partner.[2] Their relationship in the early years of the series was fraught with tension due to Nelson's sense of inferiority to Murdock as a lawyer and as a target for the affections of their secretary, Karen Page. They frequently argued over Murdock's preference for defending supervillains, as Nelson's enthusiasm is for corporate law. The pudgy and fallible Nelson has often been used by writers for lightheartedness and even comic relief. As a superhero, one of Daredevil's best friends is the hero Spider-Man; with his ability to distinguish heartbeats, Murdock learned Spider-Man's identity[99] and subsequently revealed his.[100] Due to the events of the "One More Day" storyline, Murdock no longer knows Spider-Man's secret identity, and since then refused to relearn it due to the potential danger involved.[101] Iron Fist would later become one of his greatest friends, and at one point took on the role of Daredevil himself.[63] Jessica Jones, a former superhero turned private investigator acts as a bodyguard for Matt Murdock in his civilian life. Her husband, Luke Cage, is a friend of Daredevil as well.[102] Maya Lopez, a deaf woman and skilled martial artist, is a friend of Daredevil after he fought her and convinced her that he did not murder her father, because she was being manipulated by the Kingpin, who was responsible. Ben Urich, a reporter for the Daily Bugle discovered Daredevil's identity and eventually becomes his friend as well,[103] though during his identity dispute Daredevil decided to end his "secret professional relationship" with Urich to avoid getting Urich mixed up in his problems and being used against him.[104]

Daredevil has a convoluted and often tortured love life. Throughout the series, his girlfriends are often women who are traumatized, maimed, or killed, a narrative aspect some media critics refer to as "Women in Refrigerators" syndrome.[105] One of Daredevil's more notable love interests is Elektra, an assassin who would later be killed.[106] In the 2000s, Murdock marries a woman named Milla Donovan, although one of Daredevil's enemies drives her to insanity.[107][108]

Daredevil enemies Main article: List of Daredevil enemies

In his early years, Daredevil fought a number of costumed supervillains, the first of these being Electro, a prominent Spider-Man foe, in Daredevil #2. A number of recurring villains would be introduced over the years, such as the Owl,[109] the Purple Man,[110] Mister Fear,[111] Stilt-Man,[112] Gladiator,[113] the Jester,[114] the Man-Bull,[115] and Death-Stalker.[116] The supervillain duo of the Cobra and Mr. Hyde have frequently clashed with Daredevil, and Hyde has fought Daredevil alone on several occasions. The psychotic assassin Bullseye was introduced by Marv Wolfman in issue #131,[117] and was a frequent antagonist over the next six years of the series.

Beginning with Frank Miller's run on Daredevil, his traditional rogues gallery was used less often, and The Kingpin became Daredevil's arch-enemy. Like the Purple Man, Death-Stalker, Assassin, and several others, the Kingpin has long known Daredevil's secret identity. His run as the series's central villain ended with issue #300, but he continues to menace Daredevil on occasion. Elektra made her debut as a bounty hunter, and though her time as part of Daredevil's rogues gallery was brief (spanning barely a year of the series), her romantic past with him is an important part of the mythos. In Daredevil #254, Ann Nocenti introduced Typhoid Mary, an assassin for the Kingpin with an identity disorder became a prominent Daredevil foe. The Punisher, vigilante Frank Castle, is one of Daredevil's most prolific antagonists and at times a reluctant ally.

In other media Daredevil in the Spider-Man episode "The Man Without Fear".Theatrical poster for the live-action movie Daredevil starring Ben Affleck.Television

In 1975, Angela Bowie secured the TV rights to Daredevil and the Black Widow for a duration of one year and planned a TV series based on the two characters. Bowie had photographer Terry O'Neill take a series of pictures of herself as Black Widow and actor Ben Carruthers as Daredevil (with wardrobe by Natasha Kornilkoff) to shop the project around to producers, but the project never came to makes his first animated television appearance as Matt Murdock only in the Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends episode, "Attack of the Arachnoid" voiced by Frank Welker.[119]

In the 1980s, ABC had planned a Daredevil animated television series that would have featured a guide dog named "Lightning the Super-Dog".[120][121] Television writer Mark Evanier said in 2008 that he was the last in a line of writers to have written a pilot and series bible, with his including Lightning as a guide dog without superpowers.[120]

In 1983 ABC planned a live-action Daredevil pilot. Academy Award-winning writer Stirling Silliphant completed the draft of the program, but it was not aired.[122]

Daredevil, portrayed by Rex Smith, appears in the 1989 television movie, The Trial of the Incredible Hulk. When David Banner (Bill Bixby) gets arrested, Matt Murdock helps to prove Banner's innocence. Daredevil tells his origins to Banner, which in this version involves Murdock being inspired by a police officer to become a hero. Later, with the help of Hulk, he battles the Kingpin (John Rhys-Davies), called only Wilson Fisk here.[123] While remaining fairly true to the source material of the Daredevil comic books, the largest change was that Daredevil's traditional costume, including his horns, was replaced with a black ninja-like outfit.

Daredevil appears in the 1990s Fantastic Four episode "And a Blind Man Shall Lead Them" voiced by Bill Smitrovich.[124] He helps the powerless Fantastic Four get into the Baxter Building when Doctor Doom takes it over.

Daredevil appears in the Spider-Man: The Animated Series double episode "Framed" and "The Man Without Fear" voiced by Edward Albert.[119] J. Jonah Jameson hires Matt Murdock to defend Peter Parker when he is framed for industrial espionage by Richard Fisk. These episodes were later incorporated into the direct-to-DVD animated film Daredevil vs Spider-Man.

In the Iron Man: Armored Adventures episode "The Hammer Falls", Matt Murdock is mentioned to be representing Killer Shrike in a legal trial after Iron Man had apprehended him following Titanium Man attacking Killer Shrike and Unicorn.

Film

In Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, the title characters are being chased through a movie studio backlot and interrupt the shooting of a fight scene for a Daredevil film, which includes the title character himself.

In 2003, 20th Century Fox released the film Daredevil, written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson. Actor Ben Affleck starred as the title character.

A deleted scene in the 2005 Elektra movie, later included in the Director's Cut, has Affleck briefly reprising the role in a dream sequence.

Video games Daredevil as he appears in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance.

Daredevil made his first video game appearance in a cameo in Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety released in 1996.[125] The character had a more expansive role as an alternate playable character in Spider-Man: Web of Fire, released in 1996, voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.[126]
Daredevil appears in the 2000 Spider-Man video game again voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.
Daredevil's largest role was as the title character in the Game Boy Advance game based on the 2003 film.[127]
Daredevil later starred as a playable character in the 2005 Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects video game, voiced by David Kaye.[128]
Matt Murdock made a cameo in The Punisher voiced by Steven Blum. He appeared as the Punisher's lawyer.[129]
Daredevil appeared as an unlockable character in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance voiced by Cam Clarke.His costumes include his Classic, Original (alternate classic yellow outfit), Armored, and Marvel Knights.[130]
Daredevil is a playable character in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 voiced by Brian Bloom. In the Wii and PS2 versions, he is exclusive to the Anti-registration side and boss for the Pro-registration side.
Matt Murdock makes a cameo appearance in Chris Redfield's ending for Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, where he is shown acting as the prosecutor at the trial of Albert Wesker. In addition, on the Daily Bugle stage, there is an advertisement billboard for "Nelson & Murdock - Attorneys at Law." Daredevil appears in the Shadowland stage in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 in his black outfit. Additionally, a zombified version of Daredevil makes a cameo in Frank West's ending of Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3.
Daredevil is a playable character in Marvel Super Hero Squad Online, in his standard red outfit and his alternate classic yellow outfit. Brian Bloom reprises his role from Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2.
Daredevil is available as downloadable content for the game LittleBigPlanet, as part of "Marvel Costume Kit 1".[131]
Daredevil is a playable character in the Facebook game Marvel: Avengers Alliance.
Daredevil will be a playable character in the upcoming MMORPG Marvel Heroes.[132]

Toys

Daredevil is featured in the Marvel Legends (third series) toy line. The action figure was based on the film version Ben Affleck starred in.[133] The Marvel Legends Showdown 1/18th scale line featured Daredevil figures in both his red uniform and a chase version in his yellow-and-black uniform.[134]
The "Spider-Man Classics" toy line, which was a precursor to Marvel Legends, included a Daredevil figure, clad in his traditional red costume.[135] The action figure resembles Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada's representation of Daredevil; it is derived from Quesada's stint as an artist on Daredevil.[135] Accessories to the figure include the two billy clubs that the character uses. Unlike the mainstream comics, the clubs are white (rather than red). An expensive variant of the character included him in his original yellow and black garb, released in the same series.[135]
Daredevil is the 13th figurine in the Classic Marvel Figurine Collection.[136]
Daredevil was featured in wave one of the first series in the 3 3/4" Marvel Universe line.[134]

Thanks art by Mike DeodatoPublication informationPublisherMarvel ComicsFirst appearanceDaredevil #131 (March 1976)Created byMarv Wolfman
John Romita, Sr.In-story informationAlter egoLesterTeam affiliationsThunderbolts
Dark AvengersNotable aliasesBenjamin Poindexter, Leonard, Daredevil, HawkeyeAbilities

Expert marksman with perfect accuracy
Expert martial artist and hand-to-hand combatant
Peak-level human condition
Spinal column and various other bones laced with Adamantium

Bullseye is a fictional character, a supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe. A psychopathic assassin, Bullseye uses the opportunities afforded by his line of work to exercise his homicidal tendencies and to work out his own personal vendetta against Daredevil.

Although he possesses no superpowers, Bullseye is able to use almost any object as a lethal projectile, be it weapons like shuriken and sai or seemingly harmless objects like playing cards and pencils. His aim is uncanny, at a nearly preternatural level, but he has been known to miss moving targets.

In the Daredevil live-action film he is portrayed by actor Colin Farrell.

IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time ranked Bullseye as #20.[1]

Publication history

Created by Marv Wolfman and John Romita, Sr., he was drawn by Bob Brown in the character's first appearance, Daredevil #131 (March 1976).[2]

Bullseye's real name and origins are unknown. He has used the name "Benjamin Poindexter" on several occasions, but there are also instances where his name is given as “Lester.” The miniseries Bullseye: Greatest Hits (2004) developed the character's back-story, but also revealed that some or all of it has been fabricated, probably by Bullseye himself. In this series, Bullseye's name was Leonard.

Following Civil War, Warren Ellis took over writing Thunderbolts and Bullseye became one of the core members of the new team line-up.[3]

In the Secret Invasion aftermath storyline Dark Reign, Bullseye becomes a member of the Dark Avengers, under the alias Hawkeye[4] and features in a five-issue limited series Dark Reign: Hawkeye, written by Andy Diggle, with art by Tom Raney.[5] As a member of the Dark Avengers, he has a major role in the crossover Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia, written by Matt Fraction.[6] He appeared as a regular character in the Dark Avengers series from issue #1 (March 2009) through issue #16 (June 2010).

Bullseye is killed by Daredevil in Shadowland #1.

Fictional character biography Early life and back-story

Bullseye grew up in The Bronx, where he lived with his brother and his abusive father. His brother's main form of recreation was playing with rifles, leading Bullseye to become an expert shot. When he was 10 years old, his brother started a fire in their home in an unsuccessful attempt to kill their father. Shortly thereafter, Bullseye was placed in a foster home, and became a baseball player in high school. Bullseye was an extremely talented pitcher, and was offered a scholarship, but instead opted to enter the minor leagues. After three games, he was called up to play a sold-out Major League game. He had surrendered no hits the entire game, and in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, he became bored and requested the coach pull him from the game. The coach refused, and insisted that he finish the game. The opposing team's batter mocked him, accusing him of cowardice. Bullseye threw the ball at his head, killing him. As the ball struck, he said only one word: "Bullseye". He was barred from professional baseball and convicted of manslaughter.

This is a retcon of a previous origin story from Elektra #2, which depicts Bullseye growing up as a below average student in a trailer park with an alcoholic, physically abusive father. In this version of events, Bullseye fakes his father's suicide using a handgun set off by a toy arrow. None or all elements of this version may be true since it describes his father as possibly recovering from a recent divorce, fitting in perfectly with Daredevil's taunts in their confrontation during the "Hardcore" storyline.

His cold demeanor and unique skills, however, meant subsequent recruitment by the National Security Agency as an assassin was inevitable, and he was soon assigned to train Contras in Nicaragua. By the time he arrived, however, he claimed to have already been planning to leave the NSA. He had planned on robbing the Contras blind and fleeing, but soon discovered they were desperately poor. Bullseye made the best of the situation: within seven hours of being informed of their poverty, he had led the Contras in seizing a landing strip that the Colombian cocaine smugglers were using as a staging area before moving on to the United States. Without use of the airfield, the smugglers were unable to send new shipments. Bullseye set up Paolo, his hapless Nicaraguan translator, as the leader of the new force controlling the airfield, and let the word spread around. However, Paolo was nothing but a patsy. Bullseye planned to invite several organized crime heads to the airfield to broker a new deal with him as Paolo's supposed "right hand man". He would take their money and disappear, presumably leaving Paolo to suffer the wrath of the Mafia, Russian Mafia, Yakuza, and various other criminal elements. This outcome is unknown, as before the deal could be finalized, the Punisher (Frank Castle) arrived.

Castle killed all the organized crime leaders in a fiery explosion from which Bullseye barely escaped. The two engaged in a fierce battle in which Bullseye was able to wound the Punisher and evade or disable several of his weapons. Bullseye then used some blood-reddened mud to paint a bull's-eye on his forehead, mocking Castle's inability to hit him. The fight concluded when Drug Enforcement Administration agents arrived, and the Punisher fled. Bullseye turned himself in to the D.E.A. agents and soon was assigned to infiltrate the Kingpin's criminal empire. He obtained a costume, fled yet again, and became one of the most dangerous hitmen in the world.

All of the above information was given by Bullseye during a subsequent interrogation by US intelligence. Just prior to escaping from custody, Bullseye confessed he made up some or all of his story to amuse himself; for example, he claims that he was really the one who started the fire which burned down his childhood home. The whole capture was a plan by the assassin to gain access to the prison where his father was being held. The story ends with Bullseye finally getting revenge on his father, leaving him to burn as the prison's security systems torched everything inside.

Costumed criminal career

Bullseye battled (and defeated) Daredevil at a circus in order to establish his reputation as an extortionist.[7] Shortly after, Daredevil by chance heard him in the midst of an extortion attempt and captured him.[8] Bullseye was later hired by Maxwell Glenn to kill Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson, and Daredevil interfered. Although Bullseye defeated him again, Daredevil escaped with his life,[9] and Bullseye's professional reputation was damaged as a result. Seeking to regain his credibility, he challenged Daredevil on live television, but was soundly defeated.[10]

Smarting from this even harsher blow to his reputation, Bullseye hired Eric Slaughter's gang and kidnapped Daredevil's ex-girlfriend, the Black Widow, to bait him into a revenge bout.[11] Daredevil defeated him again, and the despair of this repeated humiliation drove him to a mental breakdown.[12] It is later revealed that this breakdown was in part caused by a brain tumor, which began causing migraines, paranoia, and hallucinations that everyone he meets is Daredevil.[13] He escaped from prison, but was recaptured by Daredevil, and the tumor was successfully removed.[13] The symptoms of the tumor quickly disappeared, and defense lawyers were able to have him freed on the argument that his criminal behavior was caused solely by the brain tumor. He was hired to assassinate the Kingpin, but met with repeated failure.[14] Inexplicably, this convinced the Kingpin to employ him as his chief assassin, but he fired him the same day when he witnessed his humiliating defeat at Daredevil's hands.[15] Bullseye's repeated failed attempts to regain this briefly-held position became a running joke of the Daredevil series.

Daredevil #181. Cover art by Frank Miller.

While in prison, he learned that the Kingpin had employed a new chief assassin: Elektra, Daredevil's former lover. After escaping prison, Bullseye attacked Elektra and impaled her on her own sai. This failed to convince the Kingpin, who said he would only rehire him if he kills Daredevil.[16] Bullseye then attempted to ambush Daredevil, but their battle ended with his arch-foe dropping him from atop a telephone wire. The multi-story fall broke Bullseye's back, paralyzing him.[16]

During Bullseye's extended hospital stay following the fall, Daredevil broke into his hospital room and forced him to participate in a two-man variation on Russian roulette. The revolver used in the game was secretly unloaded, but Daredevil had Bulleye take the even-numbered turns so that he would feel sure that the last shot was going to kill him.[17] Bullseye has repeatedly cited this incident as his greatest grudge against Daredevil.[18][19]

Japanese scientist Lord Dark Wind liberated Bullseye and had him brought to Japan, where he laced his bones with adamantium, thus restoring his mobility. Lord Dark Wind did this so that Bullseye will do assassinations for him in return, but despite the favor done him, Bullseye refused to work for free.[20] He instead made another play to regain the position of chief assassin for the Kingpin, who again said he would give him the position if he kills Daredevil, knowing he would fail.[18] Bullseye was imprisoned for several years.

Bullseye eventually escaped prison,[21] and then battled Captain America.[22] He battled Crossbones in an attempt to assassinate the Red Skull to regain his position with the Kingpin.[23]

Bullseye then encountered an amnesiac Daredevil.[24] He took advantage of Daredevil's amnesia by impersonating him and committing robberies in an attempt to destroy his image.[25] In one of his early heists he was caught by his mark's disillusioned trophy wife. He became enamored of her, and when she pleaded with him to take her away with him, he kept her in his derelict hideout as his lover, attempting to flatter her by showering her with stolen money and jewelry. However, she came to realize that he is mentally weak, and frightened by one of his psychotic outbursts, she left him.[26] Gradually Bullseye became so immersed in his Daredevil impersonation that he believed himself to truly be Daredevil, a confusion which the real hero took advantage of in order to defeat him.[27]

Bullseye later had another run-in with the Punisher when he is part of Frank's frame-up scheme that ends with Bullseye getting both of his hands shot and losing a finger to the Punisher's brutality. Bullseye encountered Deadpool [28] and Gambit [29] during another long interval in which the character is seldom used.

Bullseye was hired by the villain Mysterio to attack and confuse Daredevil. In the course of their battle, Bullseye killed Daredevil's longtime love interest, Karen Page, with one of Daredevil's own billy clubs.[30]

Bullseye was then recruited to steal the Identity Disc, purported to be in possession of AIM and have vital information on the world's superheroes, along with Deadpool, Sabretooth, the Vulture, and Juggernaut.[31]

Bullseye offered to kill Daredevil for Kingpin, later entering Daredevil's apartment and attempting to kill his old enemy's new girlfriend, Milla Donovan. Enraged and already near the breaking point, Daredevil attacked Bullseye and threw him out the window. During the fight, the hero revealed to Bullseye that he knows his origin: that his real name is Lester, his mother was a prostitute, and that he never knew his father.[32] He mocked the assassin's new 'Bullseye' tattoo and carved a new one over it with a rock.[33]

Bullseye from the story arc, "The Murdock Papers".

Bullseye sought purported documents confirming Daredevil's secret identity. After a brutal fight with Daredevil and Elektra, Bullseye fled into open traffic where he was hit by a truck, sustaining severe injuries.[34]

Thunderbolts Main article: Thunderbolts (comics)Main article: Secret Invasion

Bullseye, along with many other villains, is recruited into the New Thunderbolts by Iron Man and Mister Fantastic to hunt down anti-registration superheroes in the Marvel Civil War storyline.[35] Afterwards he is recruited by Norman Osborn into the reformed team led by Moonstone. He operates invisibly and is not seen by the public. He is used as a last resort and has a nano-chain fed into his system, so if he disobeys orders, he will receive an electrical shock.[19]

Bullseye fights American Eagle after having been deceived by Songbird and told that she has disabled his nano-chain. During the fight, he simultaneously receives an electrical shock from the nano-chain in his system on order of Moonstone and is attacked by American Eagle. American Eagle beats him severely, mocking him throughout for purposely avoiding fights with superpowered foes, and finally breaks Bullseye's neck. As a result of the damage sustained from both being attacked by a man with superhuman strength and being shocked by the nano-chain, Bullseye is paralyzed, is unable to speak, and has incurred severe brain injury.[36] Bullseye is later shown walking due to nanomechanical surgery, then goes on a killing spree using scalpels to "get some target practice in."[37] Later, he joins the Thunderbolts in their efforts to assassinate Moon Knight.[38]

Bullseye was with the Thunderbolts when they fought the Skrulls in Washington DC.[39] He took advantage of a recently apparently resurrected Andrea von Strucker being distracted by Moonstone to kill Andrea, and nearly kill Moonstone.[40]

Bullseye travels along with the other Thunderbolts to Central Park and joins the final battle against the main Skrull force. Obtaining a missile launcher from the Zeus, he fires a rocket through the right eye of the Yellowjacket Skrull, disabling him from engaging other heroes.[41]

Osborn orders Bullseye to kill Songbird, finally giving Bullseye the chance for revenge on her.[42] Bullseye nearly succeeds, but is incapacitated by the Swordsman, who helps her escape.[43]

Dark Avengers Main article: Dark Reign (comics)

As a reward from Norman Osborn for his role during the Skrull invasion, Bullseye is placed on the Dark Avengers and given the costume and codename of Hawkeye.[44]

Norman Osborn hires Bullseye to eliminate Deadpool, from whom Norman stole data about "how to kill a Skrull queen," but Bullseye is unsuccessful.[45]

On the Dark Avengers' first mission, he kills Morgana le Fey (who had just died by the hands of Sentry and returned) only for her to return yet again with an army of demons.[46]

The Dark Avengers fight a rogue Hulkbuster robot, and "Hawkeye" disables the robot after killing its pilot. The robot falls, killing thirty-six civilians. When Osborn reprimanded Bullseye for his part in the deaths, Bullseye demanded credit for his kills. "Hawkeye" then goes out and saves a woman from being attacked by three men. He kills them, and the woman as well. At this point it is questionable whether or not he intended to kill the woman as well as the criminals; originally he told her he is a "hero" and was there to help her. She apparently inadvertently infuriated him by referring to Norman Osborn as "his boss". After he killed her, he noticed a news crew in a helicopter who happen to be filming the action.[47] He then silenced the news crew by blowing the helicopter up.[48]

Bullseye has been used to take out his old partner, Deadpool. Although successfully incapacitating him and proving to be a worthy opponent, Deadpool eventually gained the upperhand and stabbed him through the chest with a meathook. He later woke up in a hospital and went after Deadpool again. Deadpool easily avoided Bullseye's attacks, including dodging an RPG fired at him while he was driving a vehicle by maneuvering the vehicle in such a way that the RPG passed through the open windows of the car without exploding. Deadpool then ran Bullseye down, stopping with the one of the vehicles tires on Bullseye's leg. Deadpool then jumped out of the vehicle, said "cool to park here?", and started a chainsaw, clearly intending to decapitate the helpless Bullseye. Bullseye then quickly paid off Deadpool (under the pretense that his boss, Norman Osborn, told him to do so) to save himself from death by chainsaw.[49]

Elecrtra stabbed Bullseye with his own arrow.[50]

Bullseye is later given the order by Osborn to eliminate Daredevil, who has been discovered leading the Hand.[51] Daredevil, who is going through the trials needed to join the Hand, and Bullseye clash, but it is inconclusive. At the end, Bullseye booby-traps a building with one hundred people in it. Daredevil continues to battle Bullseye unaware that the building is rigged and that Bullseye has the detonator. When the building explodes, Bullseye escapes and leaves Daredevil to his grief, mocking that if Daredevil had chosen to kill him the people in the building might have been saved.[52]

Molecule Man turned Bullseye into a pool of water to subdue him; however as a liquid he still tries to attack Molecule Man causing him to remark, "That is angry water".[53] He is restored by the Sentry.[54]

He is also part of the team when they go to Manhattan to look for Noh-Varr. Sentry has found him first but was distracted and left the battle later to find Noh-Varr gone.[55]

Norman Osborn later assigns Bullseye with the duty to kill Sentry's wife Lindy.[56] He takes her for a helicopter ride, and strangles her and dumps her body in the ocean. When the Sentry questions him about Lindy's whereabouts, Bullseye claims she committed suicide over the countryside by jumping out of the copter, and the Sentry flies off to find her.[57]

Shadowland

In the aftermath of Siege, Bullseye is incarcerated and sent to the Raft. However in the process of transferring him there, he manages to kill his captors and escapes. He makes his way back to Hell's Kitchen and arrives at Shadowland, Daredevil's fortress and is confronted by him and a legion of Hand ninjas. Bullseye effortlessly defeats the ninjas, and turns his attention to Daredevil. However, Bullseye is unprepared for his enemy's newfound ruthlessness as Daredevil dislocates both his shoulders and then stabs him through the heart with his own sai, in much the same way Bullseye had done to Elektra years ago.[58] Later, a group of Hells Bikers would put together a funeral service (unauthorized, as J. Jonah Jameson had expressly forbade it) for Bullseye. Ben Urich is dragged along, as well as Danny Deaver. Deaver however keeps getting visions of Bullseye, and it is not clear whether or not it is the real ghost, or just part of Deaver's psychosis. The funeral service is interrupted by Daredevil and the Hand, as a massive brawl breaks out, almost killing Urich.[59] Daredevil is later seen exhuming Bullseye's corpse, intending to resurrect him as a soldier loyal to the Hand.[60] The heroes interrupt the ceremony, preventing Bullseye's resurrection.[61]

Powers and abilities

While Bullseye technically has no superhuman powers, he has an innate ability to throw virtually any object as a projectile with incredible accuracy and with enough force to be lethal. He can accomplish many feats with thrown projectiles that are impossible outside of fiction. Some of his accomplishments include lacerating a person’s throat with a thrown playing card, spitting his own tooth through a human skull, tossing a paper airplane to a distant rooftop, and killing a person with a toothpick thrown through a window from a hundred yards away.[62]

Aside from his ability to throw projectiles with lethal accuracy, Bullseye is also an expert martial artist and is extremely talented in the use of edged/throwing weapons and conventional firearms.

Bullseye has exceptional physical conditioning, with the agility, reflexes, stamina, and speed of a professional athlete.

Due to injuries from a multi-story fall, many of Bullseye's bones have been reinforced with strips of adamantium.[63] This has increased his resistance to injury in unarmed combat. This reinforcement also allows Bullseye to utilize acrobatic maneuvers impossible for an ordinary human, as his bones are protected from fracture. While Wolverine's adamantium was implanted using only stolen, incomplete notes on the bonding process as a guideline,[64] and thus only his mutant healing factor allowed him to survive the process, Bullseye's surgery was performed properly by Lord Dark Wind himself, and thus included the special herb treatment which prevents the body from being destroyed by the implantation.[63]

Bullseye has a compulsive need to study his targets' histories, abilities, and relationships before engaging them. He employs this information to attempt to anticipate his opponents' movements in combat. This compulsion often crosses from the professional into the personal, such as Bullseye's obsession with Elektra.

Due to a mutual head injury, Bullseye was able to sense Daredevil's presence psychically for a brief time.[65]

Other versions Age of Apocalypse Main article: Age of Apocalypse

In the 1994 arc of a different timeline, Bullseye is seen as one of the humans' greatest soldiers. Using a machine gun and hitting every enemy target, he fights on the side of "good." He does not wear his original costume, and does not act insane.[66]

Mutant X

A version of Bullseye appears in the Mutant X continuity, Bullseye is still a notorious supervillain. Bullseye showed up at the courthouse where The Brute was on trial for murder charges of Man-Spider and The Green Goblin to assassinate The Brute. He was beaten by Elektra.[67]

PunisherMAX Main article: PunisherMAX

A version of Bullseye appears in Jason Aaron's run on PunisherMax starting with issue #6. This version of Bullseye is hired by Kingpin to kill The Punisher. In keeping with the realistic, non-superhero re-imagining of the this comic this version of Bullseye does not wear a costume or possess superpowers but is still be talented at marksman and has a bullseye tattooed on his forehead.[68] His real name is revealed to be Sheldon Pendergrass.[69]

This version of Bullseye is completely psychopathic/sociopathic to the point of having a calm lack regard for all life and extreme obsessive compulsion toward his targets. He is said to have gassed an entire elementary school when some children were witness to a mob hit and then killed the rest of the town with bombs at the mass funeral. Obsessing with getting inside the Punisher's head, Bullseye kills the father of a suburban family and takes the wife and children hostage, forcing himself as their new husband and father. He then arranges for gunmen to kill the rest of the family in front of him in a park to recreate The Punisher's origin. Lacking all empathy, he fails to feel why The Punisher was upset by this occurrence and says he'll have to try again.[70] Off-panel Bullseye repeats the same experiment with three more families, to the shock of Kingpin.[71]

Eventually Bullseye realizes what the last thing The Punisher said to his wife was. This realization sends the Punisher into shock and sends a near-death Bullseye into a smiling coma.[72] Many issues later Punisher finds Bullseye's coma bed and shoots him in the head.[72]

Marvel 1602

In the Marvel 1602 universe (Earth-311), Bull's Eye appears as an assassin/first mate for the villainous Captain Wilson Fiske (The King's Pin). He is heavily tattooed around the face and arms, and possesses the mainstream Bullseye's abilities.[73] He is sent by his captain with orders to kill Peter Parquagh aka the 1602 version of Spider-Man. However, before he could fire the killing shot, he is attacked by the 1602 version of the Lizard and presumeably perished.[74]

House of M

The Bullseye who appears in the House of M timeline is in the employ of Wilson Fisk, alongside several other assassins. He was tasked with killing Black Cat when the Kingpin decided to reveal the Black Cat as a traitor, though failed to kill the Cat. He also assisted the Brotherhood in taking out sapien groups throughout the city, specifically targeting Shang-Chi's Dragons, killing Swordsman in the conflict. He was last seen in the confrontation with the Avengers, where Hawkeye shoots him in his hands.[75]

Marvel Zombies

In Marvel Zombies, a zombified Bullseye appears alongside several other undead supervillains attacking and attempting to eat the invading Galactus. After the zombies were done eating Galactus, he was next obliterated by the zombified Daredevil.[76]

Ultimate Bullseye

In the Ultimate Marvel continuity, Bullseye appeared in Ultimate Elektra as an assassin named Benjamin Poindexter. He works for the Kingpin and was his prime assassin until Elektra beat him in direct hand-to-hand combat.

This version employs disguises on his hits (he was seen masquerading as a police officer when he first appeared) and at one point donned a variation of his regular Marvel Universe incarnation's classic costume, sans mask. He has a bulls-eye tattoo on his forehead, similar to the tattoo and later scarring of the mainstream Marvel version and the brand of the movie version. He also has a bulls-eye tattoo on his chest over his heart.[77]

Amalgam Comics

In the Amalgam Comics community, Bullseye was combined with DC's Deadshot to create Deadeye.[78]

Daredevil Noir

In Daredevil Noir, Bullseye is a woman named Eliza who is known as the "Bullseye Killer." She was Daredevil's love interest until her identity as the Bullseye Killer was revealed in issue #3. Daredevil did battle with her and the two fell into the sea where he was about to drown her, but was unable to due to the fact that he still loves her. Eliza was left on the docks unconscious and was taken into police custody.[79]

In other media Film

Actor Colin Farrell portrayed Bullseye in the Daredevil film adaptation. Bullseye has an Irish background, and his traditional costume was dropped in favor of a biker/metalhead style appearance: a reptile-skin duster (trench coat), leather pants, black tank top, dark goatee, tattoos, multiple earrings, and a shaved head with a bull's-eye branding on his forehead, although he does jokingly request a costume from Kingpin. Prior to the film's release, the comic book version of Bullseye adopted a near-identical appearance but has since reverted to the traditional look, retaining only the scar. Director Mark Steven Johnson credited Joe Quesada for talking him out of using the traditional costume.[80] In the movie, Bullseye uses shurikens carried in his belt buckle as his main weapon, although he uses many small objects, including peanuts, paperclips, playing cards, Daredevil's billy club, shards of broken glass, and a pencil as back-up. He is hired by the Kingpin to kill Nicholas Natchios. Bullseye kills him with Daredevil's billy club, causing his daughter Elektra to believe Daredevil is the killer. Bullseye begins to perceive Daredevil a personal challenge, because he is the only target he has ever missed. Later, Elektra attacks Daredevil, seeking revenge, but soon realizes Bullseye killed her father. Elektra and Bullseye battle, and he kills her with one of her sai (in the Director's Cut, Bullseye deals more injuries to her and while impaling her, gives her a kiss by biting down on her lower lip). Daredevil chases Bullseye to a church, and they battle until Daredevil maneuvers Bullseye's hands to be shot by a S.W.A.T. sniper, leaving him with wounds resembling stigmata. Daredevil grabs him and throws him out of a window, crashing onto the hood of Ben Urich's car. A final scene shows him hospitalized but still able to flick a hypodermic needle with enough force and accuracy to impale a fly. Colin Farrell was attached to the role in December 2001.[81] Farrell, who had adopted an American accent for most of his previous films, was encouraged to keep his Irish accent.[82] Farrell had to read Frank Miller's Daredevil comics to understand Bullseye "because the expression on the character's faces in the comic books, and just the way they move sometimes, and the exaggerations of the character I'm playing […] he's so over-the-top that you do draw from that. But it's not exactly a character you can do method acting for... you know, running around New York killing people with paper clips."[83]

Video games

Bullseye appears as a boss in the Daredevil game for the Game Boy Advance. In it, he waits for Daredevil at a construction site. Daredevil reveals to Bullseye that the bounty on Daredevil's head was a fraud. Bullseye believes him, but he reveals to Daredevil that he was in league with the Kingpin. At the top of the construction site, Daredevil defeats Bullseye. Unlike his movie and comics counterpart, Bullseye uses a handgun as his weapon.

Bullseye is a prominent villain in the 2005 Punisher video game for PC, PS2, and Xbox, voiced by Steven Blum. He appears during the Fisk Industries level. Bullseye is beaten by the Punisher and is thrown from high atop the Kingpin's building. He later appears after the end credits that play when the game is completed. He is in bandages and almost crippled.

Bullseye appeared as a boss of sorts in the video game Marvel: Ultimate Alliance voiced by Peter Lurie. He is a member of Doctor Doom's Masters of Evil and he attempts to launch a nuclear missile from the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier in the first level. He is a comic book mission villain for both Daredevil and Elektra. He also has special dialogue with them.

Bullseye appears as a sub-boss in the final level of the game The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin.

Bullseye appears in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 voiced by Brian Bloom. He is among the supervillains that end up under the control of the Control Nanites used by S.H.I.E.L.D. In the Anti-Registration campaign, the players assist Colossus in fighting Bullseye at Geffen-Meyer Chemicals. In the cutscenes later following that, Bullseye (alongside Green Goblin, Lady Deathstrike, and Venom) end up attacking S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents when something goes wrong with the Control Nanites in them. At Prison 42, he assists Moonstone in fighting the heroes when they come to rescue Firestar from being added to the Fold's ranks.

Bullseye appears as a villain character in Marvel Super Hero Squad Online.

Bullseye is featured as a boss in the Facebook game Marvel: Avengers Alliance.

Toys

The Marvel Legends toy line created 2 Bullseye action figures. The normal figure is scowling, while the variant has a sinister grin. The variant also features gray symbols instead of white. He is also featured in the new Marvel Universe toy line.