Origin: Daredevil

First Appearance: Nurse Willow

Guest Appearance: Black Widow, Ben Urich, Nurse Willow, Battlin' Jack Murdock (in flashback)

Cameo: Avengers: Vision, Scarlet Witch, Captain America, Beast, Thor; Fantastic Four; Power Man: Iron Fist; KO, Fixer, Slade and Rocky Davis (in flashback); Hulk (photo in newspaper); Dr. Octopus (next issue blurb)

Innovation: Daredevil confesses secret identity to Ben Urich

Letters Page: No letters page published in this issue.

He then proceeds to share with Ben Urich the story of his life. He walks him through his young years, when his dad insisted he hit the books and make something of his life, but that led to loneliness because he couldn't play sports with his friends, and was taunted for being a bookworm. In his spare time, he honed his athleticism in private, while continuing to achieve high marks in school. Meanwhile, his dad's boxing career had hit the skids, so to juice it up, he went to get management from a slimy agent named Sweeney, aka the Fixer.

In a freak accident, Matt was caught in a traffic accident involving an army shipment of radioactive material. When the truck slammed into a lightpole, an isotope bar broke free and branded itself onto his eyes, blinding him. After recovery, he found that despite not having sight, he had heightened senses of touch, smell, hearing and taste. Too, he had developed a sort of "radar sense" that allowed him to "see" his immediate surroundings and easily navigate through them.

He tells Urich that his dad's career went up and up, as he beat many opponents, until finally he was contesting the heavyweight championship at Madison Square Garden. The Fixer told him to take a dive, but Battlin' Jack refused, as he wanted to make sure his son knew what kind of man he really was. Battlin' Jack went on to win the bout, but later that evening, was gunned down in retaliation for not taking a dive.

Sourcing his dad's killer through some detective work, he created the persona of Daredevil, and went after the Fixer. He chased down the gunman named Slade and took care of him in the boxing ring at Fogwell's Gym. Next, he chased Sweeney down into the subway tunnel, where the mobster died of a heart attack.

He tells Urich that if he prints this revelation to the public, his career- both as a lawyer and a crime-fighter- are over. Urich tells him he's a reporter, and reporting the news is what he does. Despite that, and in honor of all he's done, Urich buries the story.

Pin-Up: Unused cover for Daredevil #164

--synopsis by Gormuu

--panel images provided by Avengers Assemble

--letter pages provided by Aussie Stu

Issues Reprinted
Daredevil #158-161, 163-167

Click on cover image to learn more about each issue.