I think that is a great point. You read some of the characters' synopses and they are very short with not much featured aside from their origin. DD has his origin, then events 20 years later and again another 20 years later. Most characters don't have that much 'story' behind them.

I love Karl Kesel's take as much as I do Miller's.

For a superhero which is, technically on Marvel's "B" rooster (no space opera, no ultra-mighty superpower... Just a blind guy with enhanced senses, Radar and sound physical training), DD's got an impressive list of authors, some of which have done some of their best work in Ol' Hornhead's series, and generally, because they wrote about a character they loved, and this love sure has channelled to us readers.

Personally, I'd have liked Murdock to get the Silver medal... 'cause the Gold would go for Foggy ;D here's to you, Nelson, ol' hound-dog!

Then Frank Miller got hold of him, and turned him into a monster -- as he did with Batman, and will likely do with The Spirit in the film version.

I don't begrudge the fans who enjoy the dark, psychotic Daredevil. Everyone's entitled to like what they like. But I sure miss the old Matt Murdock.

The first Noccenti issue (I think) was drawn by Barry Windsor-Smith. Issue 236, IIRC. WEll-worth finding (and probably cheap, too!)

Most people who read this site probably know this, but Miller did an issue drawn by John Buscema (#219), featuring DD in a strange town and sans costume. It's great.

Harlan Ellison wrote a Daredevil story, I think it was in the low 200s.

I loved "Fall from Grace" when it came out. Outing Matt Murdock, changing his life around, brining back Elektra, Scott McDaniel's art (some of which was inked by Michael Avon Oeming)- as groan-inducing as it may be now, "Fall From grace" was one of the most exciting Event comics of the '90s. I haven't read the story in quite some time, and could not put it on a list of all-time DD best, but I was hooked in 1993.

Ann Nocenti is a Reason to Love Comics frankly.

Sure enough. Damn, can’t believe I forgot Spidey. Ha ha ha. But what order will they be in? I’m thinking Spidey is #1 becaue he’s got about 20 differnt variations and costumes and universes he’s in. I wonder if a vote for Ben Reilly counted as a vote for Spider-Man? Probably not.

He's the greatest superhero ever created. Plain and simple. No need for any funky justifications like 20 different costume variations or Ben Reilly votes to explain why Spider-Man will be #1. He will be #1 simply because he is the best superhero character on the face of the earth. Look at what his movies gross and you can see that the character resonates with people on an insane level.

Yep, that's my take on it. I find him only of middling interest as a character per se, but there sure have been a lot of good stories about him! Which, y'know, is pretty unlikely to happen if there's nothing there....

I might be biased by real life to some degree, as Matt Murdock's grasp of real-world legal ethics is, more often than not, abominable....

I like DD because of the respect he seems to get from the creators. Not only are his issues consistantly good from creator to creator, but he seems to be able to miss most of the major crossovers.

How many other titles that could be good (in either company) fail because they can't get their story told in between major company crossovers?

But, when DD is involved in a crossover (clairification: I didn't read Civil War) it still makes sense. When the Beyonder was going around granting wishes, he restored Matt's sight and left him his powers. By the end of the issue, Matt realized that this gave the Beyonder a "hold" on him. He compared it to organized crime saying, "remember this thing I did for you, now you do this thing for me." And, even though the Beyonder clearly didn't understand such a concept, the worry that he might was enough for Matt to not only refuse the gift, but to demand he take his sight.

That's a level of character and integrity that defines heroism and goes beyond mere super-powers, IMHO.

Theno

My only gripe is that I didn't know about this stuff in time to vote, which of course is no ones fault but mine. Aw well. Still a lot of fun to read.

Obviosuly Cap and Spidey are in the top 2 spots. Looking forward to seeing their point totals.