2015 was a turning point for the American comic industry in a number of ways, and seems to be a satisfying place to wrap up our look at over 50 years of American comic books. This year is in many ways a fulcrum that links the insular comics world that I grew up in with the fast-moving media-entwined and politically-charged environment of recent times.
This is part 2 of the podcast. that will feature the year in Daredevil, the Spotlight story and the Takeaway for 2015.
The Year in Daredevil
Appearances: Daredevil v4 #10-18, She-Hulk #10, Superior Iron Man #1-2, Marvel Free Previews Scret Wars #1, Deadpool #45, Night Nurse #1, Secret Wars Journal #5, All-New, All-Different Point One #1
Writer: Mark Waid (#10-18)
Pencils: Chris Samnee (#10-18)
Inks: Chris Samnee (#10-18)
We kick off the year with the big Purple Man arc that rolled over from 2014. Kilgrave is having a full-on existential crisis—he wants genuine affection for once—so he rounds up his five kids, each of whom has a piece of his mind-control powers. But teaming them up backfires spectacularly: the kids turn on him and literally toss him into the street… where he gets smoked by a train. Classic family bonding.
With dad out of the picture, the kids go wild—stealing a cop car, causing mayhem—until Daredevil shows up to contain them. But these kids aren’t like Kilgrave alone; together they’re a psychic wrecking ball and Matt ends up curled under a bridge in a full panic response. Kilgrave, very much alive, shows up to beat him senseless… until one magic word—“fear”—snaps Matt back into fight mode. Still, Kilgrave and the kids slip away.
After regrouping with Kirsten, Daredevil tracks the whole purple family to a mall arcade (which is honestly a perfect place for a mind-control clan). With some strategic help from police, Matt gets the kids separated so their powers weaken, and everyone—including Kilgrave—gets taken into custody. And the issue closes with a surprisingly tender moment of Matt finally letting Kirsten in—on every level.
Meanwhile, there’s a running side plot: Kirsten’s father offers Matt eight million dollars for a Daredevil autobiography. So throughout the year we see Matt and his ghostwriter Foggy chipping away at the book.
Next up: the Stunt-Master saga. A new, young, daredevil wannabe is stealing the identity of the original Stunt-Master and pulling off death-defying stunts all over San Francisco. The original, George Smith, wants to sue and goes to Matt—but legally, he doesn’t really have a case. When the new Stunt-Master publicly challenges Daredevil to join his next big stunt on the Golden Gate Bridge, Matt refuses… until he hears that Smith has apparently committed suicide.
Daredevil accepts the challenge and instantly realizes something is off. He discovers that the rider at the stunt is actually Smith himself—and that the “new” Stunt-Master’s whole trick is murdering stand-ins to survive his stunts. Matt gives chase in a wild car/motorcycle sequence, only for Kirsten to be the one who cracks the final twist: Smith faked the suicide and played everyone. His goal wasn’t fame—it was immortality as the world’s greatest “death cheater.”
Then we get a really fun twist: Kirsten gets her own arch-nemesis. Matt’s worried that their relationship is putting her in danger… and then she’s kidnapped. Except it’s not one of Matt’s villains—it’s the Lilac Killer, a serial killer Kirsten has been investigating. She’s thrilled, shouting, “I have my own arch-foe!” while Daredevil rescues her. It’s great.
In Issue #14, the Matt/Daredevil identity line really starts blurring. Matt’s now showing up in court in a full red suit with a giant DD belt buckle, handing out Daredevil business cards—subtlety is dead. He’s asked to investigate a “bird-man predator,” which sends him into a team-up with Jubula Pride, the Owl’s daughter. They eventually discover the Owl himself has been kidnapped and wired into a massive surveillance system run by the Shroud, who is spiraling emotionally and spying on everyone through any electronic device.
Daredevil and Jubula try taking the Shroud down but get overwhelmed. When they go to the deputy mayor for help, things get worse—Jubula gets mistaken for a child kidnapper because of events going all the way back to Issue #1. So now the cops are after both of them, and Jubula drops the bomb: there’s only one person who can help… Wilson Fisk.
Then we get an out-of-order Issue 15.1—a couple of standalone stories from Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, and Marc Guggenheim—but we’ll save that one for this week’s spotlight.
Back to the main story: Matt meets with Kingpin and asks for protection for himself and his friends from the Shroud. Fisk loves every second of this and demands payment. Matt gives him the wildest offer possible: “I offer you the death of Matt Murdock. Interested?” Meanwhile, Foggy and Kirsten are ambushed and kidnapped by Ikari—the hyper-sensed assassin from Volume 3—now working for Fisk. And Kingpin has also secretly captured Julia Carpenter, the woman the Shroud is obsessed with.
Jubula tracks Julia to the airport and tries to hand her over to the Shroud as a bargaining chip for her father, but Daredevil crashes the meeting, Julia refuses to go, and everything explodes. Matt returns to Fisk to negotiate but finds Ikari holding Foggy, Kirsten, and Julia hostage. Fisk wants to ditch their original terms and just watch Ikari kill Daredevil. The fight spills across San Francisco until the Shroud intervenes and kills Ikari—realizing Fisk has Julia. He proposes a truce with Matt to save the people they love.
In the big finale, Daredevil disguises himself as Ikari to infiltrate Fisk’s stronghold. The ruse works… for about 30 seconds. Foggy starts fighting a guard, chaos erupts, and Fisk realizes Ikari is dead. But just then the Shroud broadcasts Fisk’s secret business dealings to the world—mirroring what he once did to Matt—and police storm the building. In the chaos, Daredevil gets the hostages free and escapes.
The dust settles: Julia Carpenter takes down the Shroud with a poisoned kiss. The deputy mayor rescinds the arrest warrant and helps clean up Matt’s legal fallout. And Foggy and Matt share a grounded heart-to-heart about what it means for Matt to be “living in the light”.
This Week's Spotlight: Daredevil Volume 4, Issue 15.1 July 2015
Recap
Why We Picked This Story
Daredevil Rapid Fire Questions
The Takeaway
Its always dangerous when your hero is happy.
Questions or comments
We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@comicsovertime.com or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime.
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THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES
Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm. You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/.
The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts.
Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data.
Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History
DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_based_on_English-language_comics
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Marvel_Comics_superhero_debuts
https://comicbookreadingorders.com/marvel/event-timeline/
https://www.comic-con.org/awards/eisner-awards/past-recipients/past-recipients-1990s/