This is one in a series of collected trade paperbacks of Frank Miller's run on Daredevil that I'm reading to review his influential work with the character.

Daredevil was the first comic that I collected as a child, and I thought I knew the character well. I began reading after Miller's work, however, and didn't really appreciate until reading these volumes just how much he reinvented Matt Murdock. The influence on the recent Netflix series is unmistakeable.

This volume focuses on Matt Murdock and Elektra, and can be read on it's own, but will be better if read within the context of earlier collections. Miller takes Daredevil through unexpected journeys here, and uses these to give the reader a huge amount of insight into why the character thinks as he does. What's really surprising is how he accomplishes this when writing in that overly-explicit style for younger audiences that we all remember from the Comics Code Authority years.

Daredevil makes decisions here that aren't always heroic, and sometimes even quite the opposite. We see his fragility, his humanity....we see him as more of a vigilante than a hero. This is Daredevil's darker side as only Miller could tell it. A great read for any Daredevil fan, or if you just want to explore some of Miller's work outside of his more well-known writing of Batman, it's great to see how the Man Without Fear became who we know him to be today. ( )

I really like how Miller treats the character of Daredevil once he takes over from McKenzie. Right away, you get a level of honesty and realism that was completely absent before. More than his treatment of Daredevil, I think these comics are brilliant because of what Miller did with the side characters. He creates more depth for Daredevil through the ways the superhero must interact with a series of very well drawn (pun intended) villains and friends. Bullseye isn't as cheesy as he was in the McKenzie run (and Miller is able to push him to even more compelling ground in volume 3) and if you thought Bain was impressive in the third Nolan Batman film, wait until you read Miller's Kingpin. Same eloquence, same chilling pragmatism. This is the underbelly of capitalism and it's horrific effect on the everyman... or you know, a worthy adversary and stuff. The only problem with reading these comics is an increasing dissatisfaction with the crappy Ben Affleck movie, which, of course, builds to outrage after you encounter Elektra. Yeah, definitely not Jennifer Garner. One can always hope for a reboot. ( )

I really like how Miller treats the character of Daredevil once he takes over from McKenzie. Right away, you get a level of honesty and realism that was completely absent before. More than his treatment of Daredevil, I think these comics are brilliant because of what Miller did with the side characters. He creates more depth for Daredevil through the ways the superhero must interact with a series of very well drawn (pun intended) villains and friends. Bullseye isn't as cheesy as he was in the McKenzie run (and Miller is able to push him to even more compelling ground in volume 3) and if you thought Bain was impressive in the third Nolan Batman film, wait until you read Miller's Kingpin. Same eloquence, same chilling pragmatism. This is the underbelly of capitalism and it's horrific effect on the everyman... or you know, a worthy adversary and stuff. The only problem with reading these comics is an increasing dissatisfaction with the crappy Ben Affleck movie, which, of course, builds to outrage after you encounter Elektra. Yeah, definitely not Jennifer Garner. One can always hope for a reboot. ( )

This comic is a turning point in Miller's career, the Daredevil franchise, and superhero comics in general. The art and writing is gritty, invoking a noir-ish feel. While Bullseye is a costumed villain, the arc puts a strong emphasis on organized crime, with the mastermind crime lord The Kingpin (A Spiderman villain) becoming Daredevil's nemesis. A promising, high-quality series of comics that foreshadows elements in Miller's later work like the Dark Knight and Sin City, both of which have cemented themselves as cornerstones of the medium. ( )

Frank Miller came into his own early in his career with his work on "Daredevil", which singlehandedly revived a moribund character. This second volume of his work on this title is some of his best, introducing Elektra as his college love turned assassin. It also contains the climactic Daredevil No. 181, which may be the best single comic book story I have ever read. ( )