A
superhero created by
Stan Lee and
Bill Everett for
Marvel Comics. Daredevil first appeared in
Daredevil #1
published in 1964.
Matt Murdock was the only son of "Battling Jack" Murdock, a small time boxer from Hell's Kitchen. Jack Murdock raised
his son alone after his wife died. To help make ends meet, the elder Murdock became an enforcer for a mobster called the Fixer.
Murdock raised his son to abstain from violence. As Matt was bookish anyway, he became the target of other children,
who nicknamed him "Daredevil."
The younger Murdock's life changed when he saved a blind man who had stumbled into the path of a truck carrying radioactive
isotopes. A canister containing the isotopes struck Matt in the face, blinding him, but increasing his other senses to
incredible levels. Murdock was now able to hear a person's heartbeat, to taste the number of pieces of salt on a pretzel,
to "read" by feeling the impression made by type on a page, and to track people just by their smell. Murdock also gained
the ability to "see" his surroundings by a radar-like ability. All of these abilities Matt honed with the help of a
mysterious old blind man named Stick.
When the elder Murdock refused to thow a boxing match, his employer, the Fixer, had Murdock murdered. Matt created a costume
and calling himself "Daredevil" after the taunts of his childhood, went after his father's murderers. Armed with a billy club,
with extendable cable, he eventually brought the men to justice.
Murdock went to law school and there met "Foggy" Nelson, a fellow student. Nelson and Murdock graduated and later opened a
law practice together. Murdock became romantically involved with their secretary Karen Page for many years.