In the latest Drawing Crazy Patterns, where we spotlight five recurring themes in comics, we examine five times that Daredevil regained the ability to see.
A general rule of thumb in comics is that whenever a character is really known for a specific thing, then there is always a real draw for writers to then turn that thing on its head. A notable example is Captain America’s indestructible shield. It is iconic in its ability not to be destroyed, so, of course, comic book writers repeatedly come up with stories that involve the shield being destroyed.
Similarly, then, when Daredevil’s most famous attribute is that he is a blind superhero, you better believe that comic book writers have found ways to have Daredevil occasionally regain his sight. Here are five times that it has happend over the years, and how Daredevil went back to having no sight again.
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Doctor Doom’s Plans Involve Letting Daredevil See Again
In an epic storyline in Daredevil #36-37 (by Stan Lee, Gene Colan, John Tartaglione, and Frank Giacoia), Daredevil had a battle with Trapster to keep him from attacking the Fantastic Four, but in the process, found himself attacked himself by Doctor Doom. At the end of Daredevil #37, after Daredevil escaped from Doom’s custody a couple of times, Doom finally reveals his plan – he will SWITCH BODIES with Daredevil, so that Doom could easily infiltrate the Fantastic Four’s home in the body of one of their superhero allies!
In the next issue, Daredevil is shocked that he can see again, but he’s more worried about what Doom is getting up to in his body….
Eventually, Daredevil comes up with a way to FORCE Doom to switch their bodies back, as Daredevil declares war on Latveria’s nearest neighbors while impersonating Doom, and the real Doom has to get his body back so that he can cancel “Doom”‘s plans for war…
Daredevil then destroys the mind transferal machine, and there’s a great bit where Daredevil now worries that Doom will kill him, but instead, Doom just tells him to go home.
Daredevil Actually Turns DOWN the Ability to See!
After getting fired from Iron Man, Jim Starlin had some pages where he introduced the character of Moondragon, a heroic version of a character that had been introduced right before Starlin and Steve Gerber had taken over Iron Man (during which time Starlin introduced Thanos, and then got himself and Gerber fired from the book for doing an issue that Stan Lee hated) known as Madame McEvil. Starlin planned to redeem the character in the pages of Iron Man, but instead, since Gerber took over Daredevil after he and Starlin got fired from Iron Man, Starlin brought the pages to be used as Daredevil pages instead.
In Daredevil #106 (by Gerber, Don Heck, and Sal Trapani), Daredevil needs to press a specific colored button, but he can’t do it because of his eyesight, so Moondragon then decides to just use her powers to fix Daredevil’s vision…
However, when Daredevil is fighting a bad guy with Black Widow later in the issue, the hero realizes that with his vision fixed, his radar sense abilities don’t work anymore, and he is becoming useless in a fight. So he begs Moondragon to take his vision away fom him…..
I love how Moondragon is SO confused by Daredevil being willing to give up his eyesight.
The Beyonder Gives Daredevil Too Good of a Gift
In Daredevil #223 (by Denny O’Neil, David Mazzucchelli, and Kim DeMulder), to tie in with the crossover event, Secret Wars II, Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson are hired by the Beyonder himself, who has decided that he wants to try to take over the world LEGALLY, and wants Nelson and Murdock to represent his interests…
They agree to take the deal (their firm is falling apart, so they need the money), but then Beyonder also gives another part of his payment, he returns Matt’s eyesight!
Matt rushes over to visit his then-girlfriend, Glorianna O’Breen, and spend the day with her, seeing her face, and enjoying his eyesight…
However, Matt decides that this gift is too much. He is enjoying vision too much, and as a result, he fears he will become too indebted to the Beyonder, so he quits working for the Beyonder, and insists that the Beyonder take his gift back…
You have to love how sad Beyonder is about taking the gift back.
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The end of Daredevil’s First Volume Revolved Around Daredevil Regaining his Sight
In the final storyline of the first volume of Daredevil, Daredevil has plastic surgery, and goes undercover as a French operative named Laurent Levasseur in Daredevil #376 (by Scott Lobdell, Cully Hamner, and Jason Martin), who can SEE!
It turns out that Daredevil has gone undercover to help S.H.I.E.L.D. out, but the only agent who knows his identity was killed in an accident.
Foggy (who has learned Matt’s secret identity by this point) works with S.H.I.E.L.D. to help his buddy get his memory back. Luckily, a villain messes with Matt’s memory before that point, and so Laurent Levasseur became Matt Murdock again, but as he did, suddenly his vision started returning…
Amusingly, Kevin Smith was set to relaunch Daredevil in a new volume with artist Joe Quesada, and his first story idea WAS to give Daredevil his eyesight back. Obviously, with this being the last storyline of the previous volume (there’s one last single issue at the VERY end), Smith changed his mind.
The Uni-Power Returns Daredevil’s Sight
Marvel did an “event” about Captain Universe in 2006 where the Uni-Power (the cosmic power that turns normal people into a powerful cosmic being known as Captain Universe that typically just lasts a long as the mission needs it) possesses different superheroes in different one-shots.
In Captain Universe: Daredevil #1 (by Jay Faerber and Juan Santacruz), the Uni-Power selects Daredevil, and gives him his eyesight back (since he’s now a cosmic being)….
Just like with the Moondragon story, Matt notes that he can’t use his powers accurately, so he asks the Uni-Power to stop possessing him…
The Uni-Power agrees, and Matt is blind again. There’s a great bit where he pretends he can still see for a little bit, and acts like he can see a photo of his wife.
Remember, everyone, that these lists are inherently not exhaustive. They are a list of five examples (occasionally I’ll be nice and toss in a sixth). So no instance is “missing” if it is not listed. It’s just not one of the five examples that I chose. If anyone else has suggestions for a future Drawing Crazy Patterns, drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com!
