How Frank Miller Returned to Daredevil for Born Again

With galore of their all-time champion runs successful afloat swing, the mediate of the 1980s was a lucrative clip for Marvel, not conscionable creatively, but besides arsenic a business. With the unsmooth fiscal patches of the precocious ‘70s down them (thanks, Star Wars), the House of Ideas was acceptable to assistance everlastingly alteration the comic manufacture with the merchandise of 1984’s Secret Wars, for amended and for worse. The database of ramifications this had connected the Marvel beingness and the manufacture astatine ample are excessively galore to count, but it was a seismic displacement that would pb everyone’s favourite Marvel heroes and villains successful caller directions for years to come.

Other iconic stories from this play included Frank Miller’s Born Again arc successful Daredevil, the instrumentality of Jean Grey successful X-Factor, Walt Simonson’s Surtur Saga successful Thor, and more. Today, we’ll beryllium examining immoderate of those caller directions and different large stories from the aforesaid clip period. Join america for Part 8 of our look astatine the indispensable issues of Marvel!

Frank Miller's Born Again and Walt Simonson's Surtur Saga

For genuinely acclaimed storylines from this era, look nary further than Born Again, the expansive instrumentality of Frank Miller to penning Daredevil aft his archetypal landmark run, albeit with David Mazzuchelli handling creation duties. Taking spot successful Daredevil #227-233, this arc is simply a apical contender for the definitive Daredevil story. A horrifically addicted Karen Page sells Daredevil’s concealed individuality for heroin, with the accusation yet landing successful the Kingpin’s hands, who subsequently uses the cognition to ruin Matt Murdock’s life. Stripped of his home, career, and societal circle, Matt winds up astatine stone bottom, and is lone saved by being recovered by his mother, a nun named Maggie.

His dilatory instrumentality arsenic Daredevil, and Kingpin’s consequent descent into fanaticism successful his attempts to destruct Murdock, makes for a existent masterwork starring the Man Without Fear. The communicative was loosely adapted successful Season 3 of Netflix’s Daredevil show, and volition besides service arsenic an inspiration for the rubric of the Disney+ revival bid Daredevil: Born Again.

Daredevil: Born Again

But that wasn’t the lone iconic saga from this period. Walt Simonson took implicit writer-artist duties connected Thor starting successful 1983 with #337, which saw the debut of Beta Ray Bill, an alien who was worthy of lifting Mjolnir. Widely considered the definitive creator connected the property, Simonson returned Thor’s publication to the consciousness of due mythic fantasy, and delivered his champion communicative successful the year-long Surtur Saga, moving from #340-353. The occurrence demon Surtur, ruler of Muspelheim, seeks to bring astir Ragnarok with the Twilight Sword. As portion of his plan, helium sends Malekith the Accursed, a caller nemesis for the God of Thunder, to conflict Thor and bargain himself clip to forge the sword. The communicative culminates successful an epic showdown with Thor, Loki and Odin lasting broadside by broadside against Surtur. Although the circumstances were heavy altered, elements of Simonson’s saga were incorporated into the plots of some Thor: The Dark World and Thor: Ragnarok.

Secret Wars Changes Comics Forever

In Part 4 of this bid we discussed however 1973’s Avengers/Defenders War was a precursor to the lawsuit crossovers that would aboriginal go specified a prevalent portion of Marvel and DC’s output. Although it took a decennary and alteration for that displacement to happen, it yet did successful 1984 with the merchandise of Secret Wars, a 12-part miniseries written by past Editor successful Chief Jim Shooter, with creation supplied by Mike Zeck and Bob Layton. The bid came astir arsenic portion of a selling gambit with Mattel, who wanted a artifact enactment that would beryllium advertised by an in-universe Marvel story. As setups go, it’s arsenic basal arsenic it gets: A cosmic being known arsenic the Beyonder teleports a fewer twelve Marvel heroes and villains to a spot called Battleworld and demands they combat it retired to find whether bully oregon evil is stronger. What follows is 12 issues chiefly made up of large conflict scenes, setups for crippled threads that would play retired successful the ongoing books, and the X-Men being ridiculously retired of character. Also, Magneto hooks up with the Wasp. Really.

Secret Wars #1

Let's look it: Secret Wars is simply a mixed bag. It’s a fashionable communicative due to the fact that of the elephantine formed and the effects it had connected the wider universe, but it doesn’t truly person overmuch melodramatic meat. Shooter writes Doctor Doom rather well, but helium doesn’t person the champion grasp of wherever galore of the different characters were successful their arcs successful their ain series, starring to a batch of friction erstwhile trying to work the full play arsenic a coherent narrative. The 2015 iteration of Secret Wars from Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribić is simply a overmuch much satisfying instrumentality connected the concept, but there’s nary denying the original’s interaction connected comics arsenic a whole. The runaway occurrence of Secret Wars led to a nonstop sequel, Secret Wars II, taking implicit the full publishing enactment the pursuing year, and the astir concurrent merchandise of Crisis connected Infinite Earths implicit astatine DC was the one-two punch that cemented the lawsuit communicative exemplary arsenic the default mode comics would beryllium published by the Big Two for decades to come.

Spider-Man’s Symbiote Suit and Other Iconic Spidey Stories

After Stan Lee and Gerry Conway’s foundational runs, Amazing Spider-Man had to hold a portion for its adjacent iconic writer, but the publication yet received 1 with the accomplishment of Roger Stern. Having warmed up connected Spider-Man with a stint connected the Spectacular Spider-Man book, Stern took implicit Spidey’s main rubric with #224, penning the publication for conscionable implicit 2 years and returning it to the prime level fans expected from Marvel’s flagship hero. His biggest summation to the Wall Crawler’s mythology was the instauration of the Hobgoblin successful Amazing #238, who instantly became 1 of Spidey’s astir unsafe foes. Stern’s archetypal Hobgoblin saga is fantastic, but it was unluckily chopped abbreviated due to the fact that of him leaving the publication aft #251 owed to editorial interference, with the villain’s individuality inactive unrevealed. Later writers tried to wrapper up the communicative to mixed success, but Stern luckily did get to instrumentality to the quality and yet unmask the villain arsenic intended successful the 1997 miniseries Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives.

Right arsenic Stern left, different large Marvel landmark happened successful Amazing #252: the debut of Spider-Man’s achromatic symbiote costume. Although Secret Wars #8 would uncover the costume’s root connected Battleworld, the alien symbiote made its archetypal quality here, starting a long-running subplot that would aboriginal pb to the accomplishment of 1 of Spidey’s astir fashionable antagonists. The achromatic costume is astir apt the astir celebrated alternate look for Spider-Man, and the symbiote saga has been adapted galore times, including successful Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3, Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Spectacular Spider-Man, and Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2, though the Battleworld facet is astir ne'er kept. The different biggest Spidey communicative from this play is The Death of Jean DeWolff successful Spectacular Spider-Man #107-110 from Peter David and Rich Buckler. The darkest Spider-Man communicative published up to that point, this 1 features Spider-Man hunting down the Sin-Eater, who murdered Spidey’s longtime constabulary state Jean DeWolff, arsenic good arsenic getting into struggle with Daredevil implicit however to avenge her. It’s a large arc that feels similar an authentic Spider-Man communicative contempt however overmuch of a antithetic code it strikes for the character.

Spectacular Spider-Man #107

Jean Grey Returns, the Rise of Apocalypse, and Other Mutant Landmarks

Not to beryllium outdone, the mutants besides had their just stock of large moments successful the mid-’80s. Vision and the Scarlet Witch #4 yet revealed that Magneto was the begetter of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, paying disconnected a tease from Avengers #186 4 years earlier. This backstory was the default for decades until being retconned successful 2015, but for astir fans of the characters, Magneto volition ever beryllium Wanda and Pietro’s existent dad. X-Men #171 featured a large look crook with Rogue abandoning the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants to articulation the X-Men. She became 1 of the astir celebrated and beloved mutant heroines from determination connected out. Rogue being a leader is truthful prevalent that astir adaptations don’t adjacent fuss including her clip connected the acheronian side. X-Men #200 did the aforesaid happening for Magneto, with the Master of Magnetism going connected proceedings and subsequently being placed successful complaint of Xavier’s School for the Gifted, with his heroic crook lasting for respective years successful the comics. This communicative was adapted successful the 2nd occurrence of X-Men ‘97.

X-Factor #1

But the 2 astir important mutant landmarks of this play are the resurrection of Jean Grey and the instauration of Apocalypse. Half a decennary aft the Dark Phoenix Saga, Jean Grey made her triumphant instrumentality successful a two-part communicative crossed Avengers #263 and Fantastic Four #286, with the 2 teams recovering an underwater capsule containing Jean’s body. Jean had nary representation of her clip arsenic the Phoenix, with the mentation fixed that the Phoenix Force created different assemblage aft merging with Jean successful space. Future Marvel writer Kurt Busiek came up with this concept. The returned Jean would reunite with chap archetypal X-Men members Cyclops, Beast, Iceman and Angel and signifier a caller squad named X-Factor. X-Factor #5-6 would past diagnostic the archetypal quality of Apocalypse, created by Louise Simonson and Jackson Guice. An past Egyptian mutant merged with Celestial technology, Apocalypse would beryllium X-Factor’s main nemesis and endure past that team’s tenure arsenic 1 of the astir prolific X-Men foes. Apocalypse rapidly became a mainstay of X-Men cartoons and video games, and besides appeared successful 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse, played by Oscar Isaac.

Carlos Morales writes novels, articles and Mass Effect essays. You tin travel his fixations connected Bluesky.