Murdock and Marvel: 2004 Part 2

2025-06-10

Episode 67 - Murdock and Marvel: 2004 Part 2 2004 was a relatively quiet year in comics, but there were some critical developments that made waves into the future. Big movies, heroes back from the dead, and some important new faces! This is part 2 of the podcast. that will feature the year in Daredevil, the Spotlight story and the Takeaway for 2004. The Year in Daredevil Appearances: Daredevil #54-66, Daredevil: Father #1, Daredevil 2099 #1, Punisher #3...

Episode 67 - Murdock and Marvel: 2004 Part 2

2004 was a relatively quiet year in comics, but there were some critical developments that made waves into the future. Big movies, heroes back from the dead, and some important new faces!

This is part 2 of the podcast. that will feature the year in Daredevil, the Spotlight story and the Takeaway for 2004.

The Year in Daredevil

Appearances: Daredevil #54-66, Daredevil: Father #1, Daredevil 2099 #1, Punisher #35-37, Exiles #39 and #43, Spider-Man Unlimited #1, Elektra #35, Marvel 1602 #8, Secret War #2-3, Powerless #1-5, Ultimate Elektra #1-3

Writing: David Mack (#54-55), Brian Michael Bendis (#56-66)

Pencils: David Mack (#54-55), Alex Maleev (#56-64 and 66), Maleev, Michael Golden, Greg Horn, P. Craig Russell, Phil Hester, Chris Bachalo, Jae Lee, David Finch and Frank Quitely (#65)

Inks: David Mack (#54-55), Alex Maleev (#56-64 and 66), Maleev, Michael Golden, Greg Horn, P. Craig Russell, Phil Hester, Chris Bachalo, Jae Lee, David Finch and Frank Quitely (#65)

The year begins late in 2003, as we noted two weeks ago with our 2003 discussion, with the return of David Mack to writing and art and Maya Lopez in the book itself. She’s returned to New York and is looking to reconnect with Daredevil. After he shares he’s now with someone else, she instead visits with a chief her father knew and goes on a vision quest. There, with the help of a man shaped in the form of a wolverine, helps her understand a story her father used to tell her and helps her realize who she is. She goes back to Daredevil and bids him goodbye with a kiss.
From there, Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev return with a story called The King of Hell’s Kitchen. We learn it’s been a year since the confrontation between Kingpin and Daredevil and according to Ben Urich – Daredevil has been very busy cleaning up the kitchen while also taking some flack about his methods from other superheroes.
His latest dealings have been against the Yakuza and after a large battle Daredevil’s gone missing. Milla Donovan reached out to Urich to find him and during their discussion we learned that 4 months ago she and Murdock got married. Urich finds Murdock and reunited the married couple – but not before suggesting the events of the last year are all his way coping with the death of Karen Page. With a little help from some super powered friends, Daredevil puts a stop to the Yakuza plot to take over Hell's Kitchen. Milla confronts Matt about his problems over the death of Karen Page and before leaving her husband.
Next we get storyline featuring another of Matt’s love interests, the Black Widow, in a story called “The Widow”. Black Widow gets “called in” be SHIELD and realizing it’s a trap – instead goes to visit Matt Murdock in New York hoping she can hide in plain sight. The pair take down Jigsaw and upon making bail – he goes back to Murdock asking permission to run crime through Hell’s kitchen (since he’s the new Kingpin). Matt isn’t amused.
Turns out the hiding in plain sight didn’t work as the two get shot at by a hired assassin while having lunch. The pair go after the assassin and after that Natasha finally shares the reason for her visit. Though the conversation is cut short as Jigsaw and his men have entered Murdock’s home and Matt can’t fight them as daredevil and revealing his lie. In the end, we learn a Bulgarian minister and Natasha’s ex-husband were behind the ordeal and Matt begrudgingly gives Milla the annulment to their marriage.
In November, we get a HUGE 40th Anniversary Special issue. This story backtracks over the 1 year time period that Matt Murdock was outed as Daredevil that Ben Urich told us about during the King of Hell’s Kitchen story earlier this year. To do so, the Bendis and Maleev called on a host of other artists to tell the story. This seems like the perfect book for this week’s spotlight.
There is one more book this year, But it starts another storyline – so we’ll save that for our 2005 discussion.

This Week's Spotlight: Daredevil #65 November 2004 “The Universe”

Recap

Why We Picked This Story

Daredevil Rapid Fire Questions

The Takeaway

Reading Marvel is great, but when you see Jean Grey die for the second time, Marvel has told you its story, and its time to start looking into other publishers.

Questions or comments

We'd love to hear from you! Email us at questions@comicsovertime.com or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime.

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THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES

Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm. You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/.

The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts.

Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data.

Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History

DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_based_on_English-language_comics

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Marvel_Comics_superhero_debuts

https://comicbookreadingorders.com/marvel/event-timeline/