Daredevil by Frank Miller Omnibus Companion

Daredevil (1964) #227-233

by Frank Miller, Bill Sienkiewicz (Illustrator), John Romita Jr. (Illustrator)

Follow the fledgling Daredevil through his earliest adventures and errors at the dawn of the "Age of Marvels", then into the depths of desperation and back again after being cut down by the "Kingpin"! This book collects " Love & War GN", "Daredevil", numbered 227-233, and " Man Without Fear", numbered 1-5.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Superheroes, Fiction

480 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1994

About the author

Frank Miller is an American writer, artist and film director best known for his film noir-style comic book stories. He is one of the most widely-recognized and popular creators in comics, and is one of the most influential comics creators of his generation. His most notable works include Sin City, The Dark Knight Returns, Batman Year One and 300.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Drew Canole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collects:

Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man 27-28 (1978)
Published 1978 this was Frank Miller's first work with Daredevil who plays a supporting role in this story. This is really just for completionists. Frank Miller had yet to come into his own as an artist, this just looks like pretty standard Marvel house work. Working on this story is what got Miller interesting in the Daredevil character.

Daredevil 219 "Badlands" (1985)
Frank Miller's return to the character after wrapping up his initial run 2 years prior. This is a really cool one-off story drawn by the seminal John Buscema. The story is pretty simple, and the narration is a tad overdone. Very hefty crime noir text, Miller trying to channel his inner Raymond Chandler. He'd perfect this style of story later on with his Sin City books. It's a treat to have Miller and Buscema working together!

Daredevil 226 "Warriors" (1986)
This is Miller's first work with David Mazzucchelli whom he'd have an incredible run with on Born Again and Batman Year One. This story isn't typically included with Born Again as it's just wrapping up some prior storylines and getting the stage set to start fresh in the next issue. One of the issues I had with Born Again is that Daredevil cracks and sinks into a deep depression after Kingpin destroys his home and reputation. Here we see that Daredevil is already in a dark place, which makes his depression and collapse in Born Again feel more justified.

Daredevil 227–233 "Born Again" (1986)
My personal favourite Daredevil story!

Daredevil: Love and War (1986)
With Bill Sienkiewicz. It's a fine tale of the Kingpin. Sienkiewicz uses a pretty muted pallete which is unusual for him.

Daredevil: The Man Without Fear (1993)
Miller returns once again to Daredevil and tells the definitive origin story with John Romita Jr. and Al Williamson. Classic stuff.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great Daredevil book. The first two Spider-Man issues were cool. Spidey gets momentarily blinded and DD has to help him out. Nice thing they did with how Peter was using his Spider sense while he was blinded. Then we get the lone issue #219. Matt heads to this small town looking for vengeance. Pretty dark one and done story. Something different from the other stories in this book and the previous omnibus. Then we roll into the Born Again arc. Great stuff. Someone has sold out Matt’s identity. Who this person was and why they did it was crazy. I now want to read what came before this to see how they got into that position. Anyway, the wrong person gets this information and reigns down hell on Matt’s life. Took everything from him. Had him sleeping in a damn alley. But Daredevil figures out who’s behind it and gets to work. Some cool cameos pop up as the story moves to the finale. The Man Without Fear story I had read already. But with this reread, it still holds up. The stuff with Elektra and the part with Micky were my favorite. Awesome book.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is essentially a hodge podge of Miller's _other_ Daredevil work, but with its inclusion of Born Again, Man Without Fear, and (to a lesser extent) Love and War, it remains a must-read, definitely worthy of being right next to the main Miller omnibus.

Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man (#27-28). This is the sort of detritus you throw into an omnibus when you have space to fill. Yes, it's Frank Miller drawing Daredevil but ... so what? It's actually not a bad Daredevil crossover, since it's all about Spider-Man dealign with a temporary blindness, but in this era PP:TSSM was very much a soap opera, so we come in toward the end of his battle with the Maggia and we leave toward the beginning of his battle with Carrion, and there's lots of semi-comprehensible character subplot along the way. These stories would be perfectly OK in a PP:TSSM collection, but here they're just not necessary [3/5].

"Badlands" (DD #219). In between issues by Denny O'Neil, Miller writes a one-off that's not a particularly good Daredevil story: a totally silent man wanders into a town with problems that are eventually infodumped to him and beats some people up. (Why was Daredevil wandering as Matt Murdock at the tim, and not talking? I have no idea.) [3/5]

"Warriors" (DD #226). Miller returns for a longer arc with an issue co-authored with O'Neil. It's way too wordy (more a characteristic of O'Neil than Miller), but when you get through that you have a great emotional story about Melvin Potter [3+/5].

Born Again (DD #227-231). Born Again is easily one of the best stories ever in Daredevil, and probably surpasses Frank Miller's brilliant work on his original run, because this is more obviously the work of a mature storyteller. Part of that is the subject matter: Wilson Fisk discovering Matt's secret identity and destroying his life is a great concept. (The character assassination of Karen Page is a bit less great, but it certainly does something with a character no one cared about at the time and sets up the storyline.) However, it's the writing that really sets it apart. Miller makes magnificent use of this visual medium with his rapid-fire shifts across the viewpoints of a large cast of characters throughout the comic, creating something that's deep and meaningful. My only real complaint about "Born Again" is how much is left up in the air at the end. It feels like we're just to the first part of the story, but Miller only had two issues left. [5/5]

Nuke (#232-233). These last two issues, usually collected with Born Again, reveal Kingpin's attempt to kill Dardevil with Nuke. First up, we get a great new character in Nuke, who's been used well in the years since (including on the Jessica Jones TV show). Second, we get a tiny bit of closure on "Born Again" threads. But we also get a long fight with Nuke and a comic that quickly becomes more about Captain America than Daredevil. And alas, this was the end of Frank Miller's short-lived second run. [4/5]

(I believe there was some additional callback to Born Again in what will someday be Daredevil Epic Collection 16 or so, but that's not yet on Marvel's schedule.)

Love and War. A graphic novel contemporary with Miller's second run on Daredevil. It's beautifully illustrated by Bill Sienkiewicz and it's on an important topic: Wilson Fisk's attempt to revive his wife. By the time you get to the end, you even realize that it's a rather subversive superhero story. But along the way, that story is kinda' shallow: one kidnapped woman, one insane stalker, and that's pretty much it. [4/5]

Daredevil: The Man Without Fear. This one is a little hard to assess so long after the fact, because it's pretty much Daredevil's full origin story as we understand it today: his childhood with his father; his college days with Elektra; and his early days in black. It's pretty obvious that a lot of the recent Netflix series pulled directly from it. But, how much of it was regurgitation back in 1993-1994 and how much of it was original innovation?

I suspect that back in the '90s it was mostly the latter: Miller integrated his own creations, Stick and Elektra into Matt's backstory, he loosely linked the Kingpin, and I also suspect he told the first story of Matt in black. The fact that you can't tell what was new and what original shows both how effective and cohesive this story is, despite its variety of elements, and how powerful Miller's influence on Daredevil has become. Overall, this is a good story, with the depiction of Elektra being particularly strong, but it'll also be a familiar one. The art by John Romita Jr. is, as always, phenomenal [4+/5].

[Relstuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are several shorter stories here. The two key stories are the Man Without Fear story and the Born Again story. In Born Again Daredevil loses everything while the Kingpin manipulates his destruction from the background. The Man Without Fear story is a re-telling of the Daredevil origin story. This story will probably be familiar to most fans as it has become The origin story with elements making it into the movie and TV show starring the character.

[Benji Glaab · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

The Man without Fear mini series is a 5+ story for sure one of my favourite Frank Miller pieces I recall reading. The born again sequence was a nice return to the character for Miller and had many great moments as well.

This is required reading for any Daredevil fans

[Malum · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic collection of Frank Miller Daredevil. Included is:

The Man Without Fear: An updated Daredevil origin story that is very good. My only complaint is that Elektra is supposed to be around college age and she looks like a 60 year old with bad plastic surgery.

Love and War: This is a controversial one. The art is very strange. It has a dreamlike, surreal quality. I liked this one a lot, but many people do not.

Born Again: The main event and probably the reason most people pick this volume up. This has been called the greatest comic book story every written, and it just might actually be! The Kingpin attacks Daredevil-not with physical violence-but by destroying his life and driving him to near-madness. This is a pretty dark story, and Matt and nearly everyone close to him suffers dearly throughout.
I am not the type of person to get emotional over things like books or movies but I have to admit-I got a little verklempt while reading Born Again. This really is one powerful story that a review simply can't do justice to.

[Matthew Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Masterpiece.

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Omnibus is basically 3 stories put into one Omnibus.

So let's start with maybe the biggest one. Born again. This has gone down as one of the best Daredevil storylines of all time for a lot of people. And when I read it, least the first half, I actually agree it's great. To watch Matt's slow decent into madness after Kingpin finds out who he is. How he uses this information, and gaining it from one of Matt's old loved one, is perfect. And Matt actually becoming born again as a superhero. All of that was actually great, and I loved it. But then we get to the Nuke part. Nuke can be a great villain. Here though, as a dog for Kingpin, he feels lackluster. He just doesn't have the same interesting moments he does in some Captain America runs. I just didn't like how that storyline was handled much at all, since Matt had already overcome his sense of dread from being outed.

Then we have a love is war storyline. This one almost feels DREAM like, which has a unique feel to it. Saying that, it's not a very good unique feel. I was confused half the time, it's kind of a boring storyline as well with me. It has moments, towards the end especially, but this is easily the weakest part of the entire collection for me.

And for the final part we have Man Without Fear. And it's easily the best of the bunch. Matt's origin story is beautiful done, straight to the point. You get to cover when he becomes blind, loses his father, trains with his new mentor Stick, and learns to become a hero. The iconic black suit you see in season 1 of Daredevil takes from this storyline, and yes it looks that damn good. Daredevil uses fear to impose on his enemies, making sure they understand not to hurt the innocent. Between the badass fight scenes, the emotions of the characters, and the excellent art this is one classic superhero story you should not miss.

BUT saying that, this is a very flawed collection. Born again is uneven for me, Love is War is not very good, and then we get a awesome Man without fear. If I had to rate each it would be Born again at a 3, love is war a 2, and Man without fear a 4 or maybe even a five. So with that, I'ma go with a 3 out of 5, maybe even a 3.5 cause of how good Man without fear is, but it's not the strongest collection of stories since so uneven.

[Shazne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Omnibus Contains 3 Stories.

Daredevil: Born Again: 3.5/5
I want to give it a 4 so bad but it falls short of its promise and potential, which lowkey frustrates me cuz of how good the first 2 acts were. Still a classic though with stellar art and composition.

Daredevil: Love and War: 2.5/5
Underwhelming but liked the ending. Art is 50/50.

Daredevil: The Man Without Fear: 5/5
It's an absolute masterclass in storytelling, visually and writing wise. This truly transcends the medium. It leaves you on a such high note. It's almost like this is where Frank Miller fully realized himself as one of the definitive DD writers he measured to be. Also, this is peak John Romita Jr.

[Jorge Schumacher · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5 estrelas

[Ross Warburton · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

[Onur Kaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Born Again, Love & War ve Man Without Fear. Klasik öyküler, klasik Frank Miller. Zamanı için harika, bugün için güzel ama kafa patlamayan hikayeler.

[boofykins · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's kind of crazy that I enjoyed this Daredevil by Frank Miller Omnibus Companion ever so slightly more than the incredible Daredevil by Frank Miller & Klaus Janson Omnibus. Of course, this "Companion" is ostensibly Daredevil by Frank Miller Omnibus Vol. 2.

The book begins with Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #27 & #28 from 1978/79. Spidey gets blinded and teams up with Daredevil. These issues are drawn by Frank Miller but are written by Bill Mantlo. I respect the completionist attitude towards including these issues in this book, but they are ultimately filler issues in my opinion. Consider this the dark match.

Next up is Daredevil #219 written by Frank Miller and illustrated by "Big" John Buscema. It's a pretty interesting issue where Murdock fights crime sans Daredevil attire. Consider this issue the preliminary round.

Next on the docket is Daredevil #226. This issue basically demonstrates Melvin Potter's state of mind heading into Born Again.

We have now arrived at Born Again, collecting Daredevil #227, #228, #229, #230, & #231. Every character is wading through the muck in one way or another. This is a seminal piece of Daredevil lore and it's still incredible almost 40 years later.

Following that is a two issue arc, Daredevil #232 & #233, that isn't officially a part of the Born Again arc, but has been unofficially considered part of the event by fans, largely in part due to the fact that these two issues are included in the Born Again collected editions. These two issues are my favorite in this Omnibus. The story introduces Nuke, a drug-addicted, brainwashed right wing nutjob super soldier under the employ of the all-powerful Kingpin of Crime. These two issues symbolize the state of America in perpetuity, with the ruling oligarchy sitting above the law on their skyscrapers of cash, manipulating the unquestioning maleducated to follow them, despite serving the lower class's worst personal interests. We are witnessing perhaps the broadest demonstration of that bullshit right here and right now. The American Dream is dead. Perhaps it never existed and it has been an illusion all along.

Next up is Daredevil: Love and War and it is wonderfully illustrated by Bill Sienkiewicz. There is some pretty wild stuff in here. I found Victor to be a pretty interesting character. He hasn't lost all his marbles but they are definitely rolling around like a chaotic multi-ball pinball bonus level. He looks like a cross between a baboon and Tom Waits.

Lastly, we have Daredevil: The Man Without Fear, an out-of-canon but still kind of in-canon retelling of Matt Murdock's origins. This was really good. Seems like the original Netflix show borrowed a lot from this series.

There are tons of bonus pages at the end of the book such as scripts and art. Incredible Omni!

[Rocco Ricca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mazzucchelli finna make me act up

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hodge-podge of Frank Miller Daredevil stuff from after he'd left the comic the first time. First up is a couple of Spectacular Spider-Man issues that Daredevil shows up in and Miller drew. Then comes his short return to Daredevil. There's a one off return with a silent Matt Murdoch getting revenge in a small NJ town. Then the acclaimed .

One of Daredevil's quintessential stories, Born Again. Longtime daredevil girlfriend, Karen Page returns. She's at her rock bottom, doing porn and heroin in South America. The only thing she has left to sell is Daredevil's secret identity. And so the Kingpin finds out Daredevil's secret and wrecks his life. You can tell this was written in the Deathwish era. It feels very 80's at times but that works for me. My only complaint is that Daredevil seems to get off the mat too quickly. That last issue comes and ends with things being magically fine again (including a Karen Page who no longer looks like a washed-up crack whore out of the blue.)

Mazzucchelli's art does wonders. Back in this era, panels didn't seem to seem to come off a movie screen like they do here. I just love his artwork. It's so cinematic. I wish he had a longer comics resume but maybe that's part of what make this and Batman: Year One so special.

Then there's a graphic novel, Daredevil, Love and War by Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz. I can see why this doesn't typically get reprinted. It has some major repercussions for Kingpin but it's not a great story. Sienkiewicz's art is, of course, super weird but it's the story that doesn't work well for me. There's a lot of stuff with the Kingpin's wife, Vanessa, being unresponsive. That part was interesting. The weird story with the crazed killer speaking gibberish that Daredevil was chasing was terrible though. Most of it didn't make a lot of sense. This does explain why Vanessa was gone for so many years though.

Last up is an expanded version of Daredevil's origin or a Daredevil Year's 1 and 2 if you will, right up until he puts on the mask. All you really need to read is this to be able to pick up any Daredevil comic afterwards. You'll get who and why Matt Murdock is the way he is. This was written back in the 80's and released in 1993 after going though various format changes while John Romita Jr. fit this in and Miller wrote Robocop 2. It was originally released as a 5 issue miniseries. It's terrific.

[drown_like_its_1999 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of storylines covers Miller's most intriguing Daredevil work, developed in cooperation with several giants of comics illustration. "Born Again" sees Matt Murdock brought to new lows of desperation and paranoia after Kingpin discovers his identity as Daredevil and uses his criminal influence to destroy the young lawyers life. "Love & War" explores the Kingpin's attempt to awaken his comatose lover by criminal extortion. Lastly, "The Man Without Fear" serves as the quintessential origin story for Daredevil, covering his life from a rebellious youth up to the day he first dons his costume.

Outside of the two throwaway Spider-Man issues collected here, it's hard to find much to dislike about this omnibus. "Born Again" is undoubtedly the star of the show here with excellent prose, dynamic characterization, and tense plotting expressed expertly through Mazzuchelli's stellar composition and layouts. These two are one of the most celebrated creative teams in big two comics for a reason and not a single panel of this work feels anything less than gripping. While the other storylines don't reach the same dizzying heights, they are still quite engaging and deliver tension and drama in spades.

[Yusuf Shafi · Rating 4 out of 5]

9/10

Its difficult to rate this book because it isn't a continuous run on Daredevil, it's a collection of isolated stories that Frank Miller has written after his initial Run with Klaus.

To be completely honest, this book starts off with the most boring story which is an uninteresting Spider-man and Daredevil crossover, not even written by Miller but instead penned by him.

That being said, I found every other story in this book to be very engaging and interesting, especially 'Born Again' and 'The Man Without Fear', both of which I would consider 10/10 stories and worth the price of admission alone. After finishing 'The Man Without Fear', staring at the final panel of Daredevil leaping across the New York City skyline I couldn't help but find myself grinning and left with complete satisfaction. Daredevil is a very interesting character, and Frank Miller's contribution to Matt Murdock's legacy cannot go without praise!

[MannyLikesPie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This another case where the Omni has 4 works but only 2 are very crucial like my Batman Omni. Favorite is The Man without fear and for me the only great work here. Born again is cool but I don’t like how Karen gets owned, Love and War is very 80’s, and Spider-Man is cool but I wish I knew how it starts and end. Overall anyone interested in reading Daredevil, Man Without fear is a 5/5 and a must read, Born again is what you read once you’ve finished Miller’s run, which is what I’ll read next 😈 This rating is solely here for the goat book TMWF which I’ve mentioned a lot already 😭

Got 26 trades for $65 with my gf and we went to a parade with the pups 😝

[Angelo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite being the companion piece to Frank Miller's Daredevil Omnibus, they actually put all the best stories in this one. Naturally Born Again is a masterpiece, it's astonishing to me how well it serves as a conclusion to Miller's whole run when you read it in context. Then Love & War is a pretty great full stop, even if I'd prefer Mazzucceli had done the art for it. Lastly Miller takes us back to the beginning with Man Without Fear, which is every bit as good as Batman Year One. Dude really was on a fucking tear in the late 80's to early 90's.

[JohnIV · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific follow up to Miller's original DD run, collects the Born Again and Man without Fear books. Also along is the rarely seen Bill S. and Miller Kingpin/Daredevil, the requisite Spectacular Spider-Man issues that they double-dip with and a harrowing one shot with John Buscema. This was collection was reprinted somewhat recently so it's no longer the OOP partial whale that it was thankfully. Highly recommended along w/ its precursor and the Elektra Omni of course.

[Ekenedilichukwu Ikegwuani · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Born Again story arc is amazing and fantastic. There's a lot in it that are quintessentially Daredevil. The Man Without Fear miniseries is also good, but i feel like it loses its way a couple of times, particularly when it comes to Elektra. The way she was written there was way different than how she had been written before and how I've seen her written since. But it ends on a strong point, and the way Fisk is introduced is fantastic.

[Brian Gibson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection! Born Again is really good, but I found that the final few issues where they introduce Nuke weren’t as gripping as what came before. The Man Without Fear is absolutely perfect, though. Having read through Frank Miller’s entire run now, it wasn’t until there where it really felt like he was writing the Matt Murdock we know now, at least in how his inner monologue is presented. It’s great stuff.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

The issue drawn by Sienkiewicz is a fantastic issue and a memorable one. This collection also contains “The Man Without Fear” mini series that Miller created as a pitch/script for a Daredevil feature length film (that was never made). However, it was thankfully used as the blueprint for the brilliant Netflix series (thankfully).

[Tommy Pett · Rating 5 out of 5]

The born again story that makes up the majority of this book feels like the ultimate conclusion to everything Miller wrote in his run on the character. Sure, the end of his original run paints a broken picture of Matt, but it's never taken to its extreme like it seems to build towards: that all changes with this story. While some of the mental state spiraling happens between runs, every single issue feels like it's ultimately due to the compromises that are forced upon him in the Miller run, leaving him with almost nothing to start even before the kingpin decides to play his game.

The retelling of Daredevil's origin is also amazing from both an art and writing perspective, but born again is some of the best Frank Miller writing period.

[Colton Skaleski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got this omni companion due to the born again material and it was everything I wanted. Some great stories in this book with man without fear being a re-telling of daredevil origin. The only book I really didn't like was love and war. I just can't get past bill sienkiewicz art. It is so bad, i can't focus on the story. Completely takes you out of it, but otherwise this omni is a masterpiece

[Lino Matteo · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were parts that I really enjoyed, however over all I was disappointed.

Too heavy
Needed magnifying glass to read some of the stories.

The layout was a little confusing.

But parts were interesting and enjoyable.

Is Netflix doing a season 2?

[Will Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not the biggest fan of Love & War's art, but the Born Again and Man Without Fear stories more than make up for it. Probably DD's best story and an incredible origin story. Just impressive all around.

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know that this was actually good. A lot of things seemed pretty abrupt

But it brings an alternatively wild-eyes and steely intensity to the stories..

I read this before reading the main omnibus. I wonder if that affects how I appreciate it.

[eric garza · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent, quick read. More of the same great DD from Miller, who already had established a firm grasp on these characters and their world. Born Again and The Man Without Fear are staples of Daredevil’s legacy.

[Eric Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Born Again, which is an eight issue series included within this omnibus is a masterpiece. 5/5 stars. The rest of the stories are good, but not quite as amazing. Still, it's a great collection and one any fan of Daredevil should read.