TALES OF WONDER SPECIAL: Daredevil Vol. 1-3 HC combo: $39.99

DAREDEVIL (VOL. 2) #38-40: Out

Daredevil #38
22 pages + cover • December 2002

A couple two-bit thieves are ransacking a pawn shop when a beat cop enters and tells them to freeze. One kid is stunned and can't move, but the otheraggressively attacks the cop, catching him off-balance and grabbing his gun, firing a lethal shot into him. Local costumed hero the White Tiger enters the pawn shop to bring them to justice, and after a brief scuffle, the kids make a getaway, with one of them tossing a huge and heavy TV set into the armsof the White Tiger. At the exact moment the kids burst out the back door, some more cops pour in with guns drawn, yelling to freeze. The White Tiger turns, with TV set in hand, standing over the body of the dead cop.

Luke Cage and Danny Rand go visit Daredevil and beg him to represent their friend, Hector Ayala, aka the White Tiger, as attorney Matt Murdock. Matt explains to them this is exactly the wrong kind of case he needs to take during this time in his life, when the world expects he is a costumed hero in his own right. But he goes to Ayala's cell anyway with Foggy and meets with him. There, he determines that Ayala is completely innocent of the charges against him.

Luke and Danny, outfitted as Power Man and Iron Fist, go digging for some information in the neighborhood. They press on a bunch of young losers who admit that the kids responsible for shooting the cop ran off to Chicago and are content to let the White Tiger is taking the rap for their crime. Matt turns tothe matter of convincing Ayala's wife not to leave him because he once again donned his White Tiger outfit after two years of promising never to do it again. Matt explains to her that she must remain loyal to him at least through the trial, because his life is at stake.

After a jury is chosen, the judge gives Matt and opposing council District Attorney Delacourt strict orders not to turn the trial into a circus. Delacourt catches up with Matt in the elevator, promising him he's going to treat this as the "trial of the century."

Daredevil #39
22 pages + cover • January 2003

The prosecution presents its opening statement and makes the case that the White Tiger was a vigilante who was down on his luck anddecided to use whatever mysterious powers he had to use as a thief to help his downwardly spiraling finances. Matt Murdock builds his caseon the lack of forensic evidence that connects the White Tiger to the gun. He brings in Reed Richards and Dr. Strange as expert witnesses to help buttress the ideathat the White Tiger is likely not the perpetrator of this crime. After Luke Cage, Danny Rand, Jessica Jones and Robert Diamond, one of Hector Ayala'scomrades in the Sons of the Tiger, Delacourt asks the judge pointedly if it would be possible for Daredevil to also give personal testimony. The judgeadmonishes him for that outburst.

Once on the stand, Hector Ayala folds up under withering testimony from Delacourt, showcasing a very strong temper and causing his wife to runaway from the courtroom. Matt and Foggy shrink at this turn of events.

Daredevil #40
22 pages + cover • February 2003

After closing arguments, Foggy joins Matt on the rooftop for lunch, where Matt is able to sense that the jury is not going the way of Hector Ayala's innocence. Sure enough, they render the verdict of "guilty." Hector is shocked at losing the case, knowing he is totally innocent and that all he wastrying to do was help his neighborhood, and he snaps. He kicks at the bailiffs and grabs a loose gun that falls to the floor. Matt begs with himto stop now before it gets any worse, but he sees his life as completely crumbled and runs outside the courtroom. Matt chases him, but spots a sullenlooking young man sitting in the corner of the courtroom.

Just as he makes it out to the courthouse steps, a hail of police gunfire rains on Hector Ayala, still brandishing the pistol. Later that night, Daredevil tracks down the young boy he earlier senses sitting in the courthouse. It's the boy who was at the pawn shop when the White Tiger came in, theone who was shocked into intransigence by the cop's presence and didn't know what to do. He felt bad that the White Tiger was going to takethe murder rap for him, and returned to think about providing testimony but couldn't bring himself to do it. But now that Hector is dead, Daredeviltells him it's even more important to step up and do the right thing.

Later, he heads to the local police precinct and turns himself in.

DAREDEVIL (VOL. 2) #41-45: Lowlife

Daredevil #41
22 pages + cover • March 2003

A young blind woman named Milla Donovan and her friend, Lori, are having a conversation while walkingdown a busy New York City street. When Milla crosses the street, a huge truck bears down on her. Daredevilleaps down to push her out of the way, inadvertantly carrying the both of them through a window. A shardof glass embeds itself in her chest, but DD can sense she'll be okay. DD apologizes for the nasty rescue andis off. The woman sits up, dazed and not quite certain how she feels about the occasion.

At his office, Matt Murdock is greeted by Wilbur Day, who angrily tosses his Stilt-Man equipment at the blindattorney, telling him he's been driven crazy with the knowledge that his longtime foe was a blind man, as wellas the turmoil that this revelation has made in the underworld. This suddencase of costume-phobia is only made worse when he is escorted out of the office by Matt's bodyguard, Melvin Potter, the reformed Gladiator. At any rate, Matt is tipped off to a dangerous new escapade of crime led by the Owl, andhe dresses up as Daredevil to try to counter it. He rampages through a seamy collection of thugs to come up withthe whereabouts of Leland Owlsley, aka the Owl.

For his part, the Owl is interrogating one of his bag men who was pinched by Daredevil, who delivered a messageto the Owl that he's out to get him. The Owl is surrounded by the Kingpin's former lawyers, who take the lead in advisinghim to stay calm and play it by their rules to keep DD at bay, but the crazed Owl succumbs to his outrageous angerand rips into the bag man, ripping him to shreds with his owl claws.

Meanwhile, Milla Donovan cannot sleep. She can only think about Daredevil.

Daredevil #42
23 pages + cover • March 2003

Lori encourages Milla to follow her crush and reconnect with Daredevil however she can. Later that night, one of the Owl's drug dealers ispushing a new street drug called MGH- Mutant Growth Hormone- that allows users to get a high that includes temporarysuper-powers. Daredevil crashes the scene and gets the location of the Owl's hideout.

The Owl's lawyer, Anad, tries to get his boss into an easygoing mood, but the Owl is in a simmering temper. Anad tells the Owlthat when DD shows up, to play it cool and follow his lead, and the plan will take care of itself. Their spotters inform them that DD ison the way, and shortly he crashes through the window. The lawyer immediately protests Daredevil's vigilante actions, and DD realizes he'sbeing recorded at all angles by security and recording equipment. He realizes that his foes are countering his tactics now that they have a lead on his secret identity.

Rosenthal meets with his attorney about possibly settling with Murdock since they lost their initial FBI source. Rosenthal says he will consider it.

Matt returns to the office to be greeted by Milla Donovan, who only saw him as Daredevil. She brazenly walks up to him and strokes his face, telling him she just wanted to see him again.

Rosenthal is swimming in his pool when he realizes he's being watched. In short order, he is gruesomely beheaded by his unknown assailant.

Daredevil #43
21 pages + cover • April 2003

Rosenthal's attorney helps identify the body at the grisly murder scene. The police wonder if this is related to the Daredevil suit.

Matt and Milla talk, with Milla consistently speaking as if Matt is DD, and Matt doing his level best to thwart her assumptions. They agreeto go to dinner together. Foggy tries to influencehis buddy to ignore her advances, and suggests to Matt that he let someone else handle the Owl outings. Matt goes to visit Luke Cage about helpingtrack down the Owl, but instead of getting that help, he gets cold treatment from Cage, who accuses him of publicly lying about his identity. DDis forced to go it alone against the intransigent thugs in his neighborhood as the dealing of MGH rages on.

Later that night, he goes to meet Milla for their date. At the same time, Foggy Nelson is leaving the office and is greeted by police officers with a search warrant.

Daredevil #44
22 pages + cover • April 2003

Matt and Milla take an evening stroll where they get to know each other, sharing their familiarity and love of the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood they live in. Just as they arrive near his office, Matt senses the police with their search warrants. They serve him with the warrant, and embarrassingly begin askingMilla all kinds of questions. She has no idea what is going on, and their date ends with Matt going down to the police precinct for questioning in handcuffs.

There, he realizes the cops are grasping at straws trying to connect him to Rosenthal's death. He also learns that Milla had every chance to reveal him asDaredevil, but she chose to avoid their questions instead. Foggy arrives and the formal interrogation begins. The cops aren't getting what they want, and eventually they start to strong-arm him on his identity as Daredevil. Their leader rushes in and ends the interview, releasing Matt Murdock before her charges go too far and risk a lawsuit. On their way out of the precinct, Foggy and Matt are surrounded by media.

Anad confronts the Owl about Rosenthal's death. The Owl admits that he was possibly involved in the killing, and parlays this perceived admission into a threat that he's after Murdock and that it will send a clear signal to the underworld that he's in charge and means business.

Daredevil #45
21 pages + cover • May 2003

Sammy Silke is incarcerated in a minimum security prison in Pennsylvania where he brags to his poker buddiesthat he was the one who broke the story about Matt Murdock being Daredevil, and how he almost brought the Kingpin to his knees. He is called into the prison, ostensibly to see his dad, but winds up in a dark room face-to-face with the Kingpin.

Matt calls Milla back to try and make amends for the awkward position she was put in on their first date. He and Foggy talk aboutthe drug MGH that is running through the streets, as well as the Owl and his needing to be stopped. He encourages Mattto do whatever he needs to do as Daredevil, and he will support him as his friend.

The Owl is being scraped for DNA, the byproduct of which is the essence of the GMH drug. Just as the physician is scrapinghis skin for the third time, the FBI enters the premises with a search warrant. Agent Driver sizes up what's going on, and reads themthe riot act. The Owl's manic temper gets to him, and he grabs the drug synthesis, swipes at the agent with his claws and leapsout the window. He didn't count on Daredevil, however, and the Man Without Fear is there to apprehend him. The pair scuffle for a time,with DD eventually knocking him out and turning him over to an appreciative Driver for the collar. Driver agrees not to arrest DD, and promises to pretend he wasn't even there. But as Daredevil rushes off into the night, Driver wasn't able to pass on some big newsto him: the Kingpin is back in the country.

DAREDEVIL (VOL. 2) #46-50: Hardcore

Daredevil #46
21 pages + cover • June 2003

The Kingpin makes a visit to the dressing room of a soap opera actress, wherein he unnerves her witha strange discourse on multiple personalities and how they are kept in check by hypnosis. Before she canget away from him, he slaps her to the ground, jarring her mind and bringing back the flood of memories of her former life as Typhoid Mary.

Lori continues to encourage Milla to go after Matt/Daredevil, even though Milla is a little off balance from herinteractions with the hero's exciting and dangerous life.

The Kingpin pays a visit to his former top associate, Waldo Dini, who is drinking himself into a stupor downin Bolivia. Kingpin demands to know what Dini was thinking that would allow him to coordinate the murderof his son and the destruction of his empire with his estranged wife Vanessa. Dini gets a few choice words inabout the Kingpin's inability to assess his own problems before he is shot to death by his former boss.

Milla returns to Matt's office to reestablish contact with him. They decide to go to lunch, and with bodyguardJessica Jones accompanying them, they walk down the street to their restaurant of choice. But suddenly, Mattcan sense the presence of a long-lost foe, Typhoid Mary, as she causes him to burn.

Daredevil #47
22 pages + cover • July 2003

Two days previous, the path of the drug MGH is seen trafficking from a small-time street dealer, to the Owl's connection,all the way to the drug lab where it's developed. The bag man sees all his friends murdered in the lab and takes off running, and when he gets to the streets, he sees a rogue gang led by a Japanese thug named Sano who brandishes a sword. Sanotells the bag man that he owns this turf, not the Owl, but before he can do anything more, Typhoid Mary shows up and kills allof Sano's men. Then, the Kingpin shows up and tells Sano, as Mary stands over him with a sword pointed at his chest, thathe is to leave New York and never come back. Kingpin also tells the bag man to spread the word that there is a meeting atJosie's Bar where he will reconstitute his empire.

The next day, Kingpin meets with his old lieutenants and shames them for being led astray while he was gone, and promisesthem that his operation will be run a lot tighter in the future. One visitor is FBI Special Agent Harold Driver, who tells the Kingpinthat he's surprised to see him making a play for power again, after all the bad stuff that has happened to him. Kingpingand Driver have a showdown, each man making sure the other knows they won't back down. As a special surprise to the event,Turk shows up in a rage, determined to once and for all kill the Kingpin. While brandishing a pistol, the FBI special agents raisetheir guns to him and suddenly Turk's visionary plot to destroy the Kingpin is ended as quickly as it began. He is put in cuffs and hauled off.

As Driver and his men leave, Kingpin turns to Typhoid Mary and tells her that she must proceed with the distraction plan theyhad developed, and sooner than he thought he would need to.

Catching up to current events, Typhoid Mary accosts Matt Murdock and Milla, using her powers to "burn" Matt where he stands.

Daredevil #48
22 pages + cover • August 2003

As Matt is sent into a Typhoid Mary-inspired flame attack, Jessica Jones does her job as his bodyguard and tackles the crazedvillianess. There fight continues into the streets, with Mary eventually causing Jessica to start burning as well. Matt tries to figureon how he can help without revealing his identity. At first he goes to help Milla, who has been knocked down, then recovers and triesto help Jessica. Luke Cage comes on the scene and punches her out, with Jessica getting a slug in, but the last punch beingreserved for Matt.

With Mary taken care of, Matt passes out. Later, he is meditating in his home, recovering from the trauma of the day and the burnsfrom Typhoid Mary. Agent Driver shows up and shares some thoughts with Matt. He fills him in that the Kingpin is back in town, and that Mary was there with him, and seemingly serving at his behest to distract law enforcement and Daredevil while he sets his empireback up. Matt implies through some vague double-talk that he's willing to work with Driver if Driver will work with him. The arrangementseems to be taking shape. Milla has stayed over with Matt, recovering from her experiences that day, as well. She seems to be quite taken with Matt/Daredeviland willing to continue the relationship.

Kingpin meets with Bullseye and tells him that he's swept the drug MGH off the streets, as it was bad for business to deal drugs to people that would enable them to threaten their power. Bullseye offers his services to Kingpin.

Daredevil #49
22 pages + cover • September 2003

Matt dresses up as Daredevil and tells Milla he's going to go out to try and counter Kingpin's planned distraction of his time withsome pro-active adventuring. Just as he leaves, Milla is left alone in his bedroom, with Bullseye creeping up to her in the shadows. He slowlytells her what he plans to do to yet another one of Daredevil's girlfriend's. But DD has returned, obviously overhearing his presence insidehis home, and grabs Bullseye by the scruff of the neck and tosses him out the window. He lands on the street below, and DD follows him down, telling Milla before he leaves for her to call the police.

The two rumble in the streets while Milla calls Agent Driver. DD explains to Bullseye as he is beating the heck out of him that he knowsall about his troubled childhood as an abused kid, but he doesn't care. All he wants Bullseye to know is that he's a big nobody and thatno one cares about him, begging him to cut to the chase and end his own life so he'll quit following Daredevil around to do it for him.

Agent Driver shows up and passes another collar over to him, this time Bullseye- America's fourth most wanted criminal. He returns to Milla, who crawls out of the closet and holds him, thanking him for saving her yet again.

Daredevil #50
22 pages + cover • October 2003

All over the region of the underworld, hits are being made to reestablish the Kingpin's clear authority. He meets with his new inner circleof crime bosses and tells them the new terms of agreement. One man steps forward to challenge him, telling him that nobody is scaredof him anymore and that if he doesn't get off his high horse, he's going to be dead before the weekend is out. Just as Kingpin is about to lowerthe boom on him, a car crashes through the wall of the garage, knocking the Kingpin down to the ground. Daredevil climbs out and is readyto do battle; to end the distraction.

Kingpin fills DD in on the last few months of his life, recuperating from his injuries and recovering much of his sight. Daredevil tells himthat the time for placating each other is through, and that he's going to end the threat of Wilson Fisk once and for all. The two start whacking oneach other, with blow after blow from Daredevil landing all across the Kingpin's body, and the Man Without Fear dodging the one blow it wouldtake from Kingpin to knock him out. Kingpin manages to grab him by the throat and choke him, but DD boxes his ears in and karate chops his neck, then climbs on top of him and bashes and bashes away at his face. Finally, a kick to the head knocks him out.

Next, he loads the Kingpin's body onto the hood of the car and crashes through the wall at Josie's Bar. Kingpin's body comes spilling off the hood and onto the ground, and DD climbs out from behind the wheel of the car to address the rough crowd at Josie's. He rips his mask off, revealing his face, and shouts at them to tell everyone that Daredevil kicked the Kingpin's butt, and that he runs Hell's Kitchen now, and nobody else. He tells them to clean up or move out, because his rules are in effect from now on.