Going into Daredevil: Born Again, there was one thing we knew for sure: It would not be based on the actual comic called Daredevil: Born Again. That classic of Daredevil history had, in fact, been the inspiration for the last season of Daredevil, aired in 2018.
And now that Born Again is out and swinging into the back half of its season, we’ve got a much better idea of where showrunner Dario Scardapane chose his influences. If you’d like to see how the Kingpin became mayor of New York City in the comics — and especially if you’d like to see how he stopped being mayor (’cause this story’s gotta wrap up somehow) — here are three comics you should check out if you’re enjoying Daredevil: Born Again.
If you read 1 comic…
Read Daredevil #595-600, by writer Charles Soule and artists Stefano Landini and Ron Garney.
Disney Plus’ Daredevil: Born Again owes the lion’s share of its Daredevil lore to Charles Soule’s 2016 run on Daredevil, the comic that started Wilson Fisk’s career as the mayor of New York City and introduced the artistic serial killer Muse. Early episodes of Born Again have lifted scenes directly from the comic — like a Times Square celebration with Fisk’s face on the big screens.
Soule has a fun secret weapon as a Daredevil writer: He not only practiced law but ran his own firm, and that often comes through in his comics in fun ways. In his Daredevil, Fisk asked Matt Murdock to be his deputy mayor, a thankless appointed position he thought would keep a pesky district attorney from getting in his mayoral business. And Matt accepted, because as long as he was in a building with Wilson Fisk, he could use his senses to eavesdrop on Fisk’s plans and stop them as Daredevil.
This run is usually collected under the name Daredevil: Mayor Fisk, and you can nab it on Amazon, Bookshop, or Marvel Unlimited.
If you read 2 comics…
Read 2019’s Daredevil #1-5, by writer Chip Zdarsky and artist Marco Checchetto.
There’s another even more recent Daredevil series that the folks behind Born Again are clearly thinking about, and it’s Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto’s. Together, they crafted a story about Matt Murdock wrestling with systemic problems in New York in, again, a classically superhero-y way.
After accidentally killing a man while trying to stop him from holding up a bodega, Matt Mudock goes through several stages of denial and bargaining about it — Zdarsky and Checchetto eventually even had him turn himself in, stand trial, and go to jail, all in his Daredevil persona! They make him an orange mask to go with his prison duds and everything.
Born Again doesn’t seem to be winding up to those events exactly, but as of this week the show has introduced one notable character from the Zdarsky/Checchetto run: the righteous detective Cole North, who believes Daredevil and all other masked vigilantes need to be brought in.
This run is usually collected under the name Daredevil: Know Fear, and you can nab it on Amazon or Marvel Unlimited.
If you read 3 comics…
Read Devil’s Reign, by writer Chip Zdarsky and artist Marco Checchetto.
Daredevil: Born Again seems guaranteed to show us the fall of Mayor Fisk, if not in this season then in its second, which is scheduled to film this summer and premiere in 2026. And if you want to see how that played out in the comics, you’ll want to pick up a copy of 2022’s Devil’s Reign.
Charles Soule’s Daredevil run told the story of how Fisk became mayor, tried to institute a ban on superheroes, and how Matt Murdock got him to walk it back. In Devil’s Reign, Fisk says to hell with that, and uses his own crew of sanctioned supervillains, the Thunderbolts, to crack down on all of New York’s heroes, from the lowly Spider-Man to the famous Fantastic Four. Devil’s Reign is a big ol’ superhero crossover in which Fisk finally bites off more than he can chew, beautifully drawn by Checchetto.
You can nab it on Amazon or Bookshop for awful prices (it’s out of print) or on Marvel Unlimited.
The post 3 Daredevil comics to show where Daredevil: Born Again is coming from — and where it could be going appeared first on Polygon.
