In honor of the Daredevil's brand-new TV series, we're counting down your picks for the fifty greatest Daredevil stories.

Here are the next four stories on the countdown!

Enjoy!

3. "The Man Without Fear" (Daredevil: The Man Without Fear #1-5)

Frank Miller's last work on Daredevil was an examination into Matt Murdock's transition into becoming the hero known as Daredevil. The series (which was drawn by John Romita Jr. and Al Williamson) also gave us some insight into Matt's relationship with Elektra (in her pre-assassin days) as well as the Kingpin floating around there on the periphery.

Just like Miller's take on Batman, Matt's earliest vigilante days did not go according to plan...





Of all the various Daredevil comic books out there, it seems that (besides Bill Everett and Stan Lee, of course), the comic book series that the Netflix series is drawing the most content from is The Man Without Fear, right down to the costume Matt wears right before he gets his superhero costume...







Look at those Romita pages! WOW! Such dynamic art! So much energy!

Miller really knows how to weave a complex tale with interconnected characters and give everyone a chance to shine.

Read on to the next page for #2-1!

2. "The Elektra Saga" (Daredevil #168, 174-182)

Elektra was introduced in the first issue of Daredevil fully written by Frank Miller, as a former "love of Matt Murdock's life" in college who, after her father (a Greek ambassador)'s assassination, moved away from New York only to return years later as an assassin herself.

Throughout much of the next 14 issues Matt Murdock has to deal with Elektra's return, both in his personal life as Matt Murdock (seeing his first real love again after years apart) and in his superhero life as Daredevil as Elektra was, you know, an assassin, and Daredevil doesn't take kindly to assassins.

This duality came into play pretty early on, as the pair alternated between teaming up and fighting each other.

Things changed, however, when Elektra was chosen personally by Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime, to become his chief assassin.

There is a particularly brilliant sequence where she is sent to silence reporter Ben Urich. First by killing an informant leaking him a story about the Kingpin...







Now Elektra and Matt were definitively at odds - although when she was assigned to murder Foggy Nelson's, Matt's law partner (and former college roommate), she could not go through with it when Foggy recognized her, showing that there was still some good in her.

However, this epiphany did not last long, as her rival assassin, Bullseye, chose to prove himself to Kingpin by taking Elektra out, which led to one of the most iconic deaths in Marvel history.





Her death had a profound impact upon Matt.

This was Miller's first ongoing series as writer and artist, and it was quite impressive to see how adept he was at creating engaging, memorable characters with strong interpersonal relationships.

The great Klaus Janson began to share the art duties with Miller as the series went along (first as inker, but as time went by, Janson would take over more and more of the art on the title).

1. "Born Again" (Daredevil #227-233)

Born Again drastically re-shaped Daredevil as a character, in Frank Miller’s return to the book that made him famous.

This time, Miller was working with artist David Mazzucchelli, who was already doing very impressive work on the series with writer Denny O’Neil. However, Mazzucchelli was still growing as an artist, and in many ways, Born Again was his “coming out” party, as he at the very least equaled, and more likely SURPASSED the incredible artwork that Miller had done himself when drawing Daredevil years earlier.

The story is about what happens when Matt Murdock’s former secretary (and former love of his life), Karen Page, who had left the book to become an actress, was now a drug-addicted porn star. Desperate for drugs, Page sells Matt’s secret identity. Eventually this information finds its way to Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime, who uses it to systematically destroy Matt’s life (getting him disbarred, freezing his assets, etc.).

Then, in one of the best scenes you’ll see, Kingpin also blows up Matt’s brownstone – and then, Matt realizes, all of the terrible things that had been happening to him, they weren’t just bad luck, they were because of the Kingpin!



One of the greatest chapter one cliffhangers in comic book history.

That realization, however awesome, is not enough to make Matt “born again,” as he still has to fall to the gutters before he can rise above it all.

One of the most amazing things Miller does with this story is the way that he plays with the story beats. To wit, having the Kingpin slowly but surely unravel. He thinks he has Matt killed, but...



And as he begins to freak out more and more, he realizes that Matt may be more dangerous than ever, as after all...



Ben Urich has a tremendous arc in this series. He knows something is up but he is brutalized by the Kingpin's henchmen into cowering away from his responsibilities, choosing to not even say Matt Murdock's name out loud. This comes to a head when a crooked cop tries to come clean to Ben but is murdered while Ben listens on the phone. The way it is handled by Mazzucchelli and Richmond Lewis, who colored this series, is stunning. However, the effect of hearing a man murdered instead inspires Ben to bravery.



Miller introduces an interesting new character called Nuke, and becomes the first writer to extend the whole Super Soldier program into conspiracy theories, which leads Captain America to get involved. But Nuke’s involvement helps bring Daredevil back (after Matt and Karen reunite, as Miller redeems Karen), and his return is, well, amazing – Mazzucchelli and Lewis do SUCH an amazing job on the return of Daredevil. A totally iconic shot of Daredevil in front of flames.





Miller, Mazzucchelli and Lewis depict the Avengers in such a way that evokes how Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette and John Totleben handled the Justice League in the pages of Swamp Thing – and it’s the way you’d almost expect superheroes to be depicted in the “real” world.

And the whole thing somehow manages to end on an optimistic note. What a stunning story. Miller achieves so much in this storyline that you can't believe the whole thing is just seven issues long. And Mazzucchelli...wow. He was already good, but this and Batman Year One sent notice to everyone that he was a legit artistic superstar.

Okay, that's the countdown, folks! I hope you enjoyed counting down all of these great stories! Now let's all enjoy some cool TELEVISED Daredevil stories tonight on Netflix!