Murdock and Marvel: 2011 Part 2

2025-10-01

Episode 81 - Murdock and Marvel: 2011 Part 2 It was a quiet year in the comics world, but there were a lot of developments going on behind the scenes, and up on the screen. Oh, and we did get ONE new character worth talking about… This is part 2 of the podcast. that will feature the year in Daredevil, the Spotlight story and the Takeaway for 2011. The Year in Daredevil Appearances: Daredevil v2 #512, Daredevil v3 #1-5, Daredevil Reborn #1-4, Shado...

Episode 81 - Murdock and Marvel: 2011 Part 2

It was a quiet year in the comics world, but there were a lot of developments going on behind the scenes, and up on the screen. Oh, and we did get ONE new character worth talking about…

This is part 2 of the podcast. that will feature the year in Daredevil, the Spotlight story and the Takeaway for 2011.

The Year in Daredevil

Appearances: Daredevil v2 #512, Daredevil v3 #1-5, Daredevil Reborn #1-4, Shadowland #5, Ultimate Avengers #15-18, Ultimate Spider-Man #150, Bullseye: Perfect Game #2, What if? 200 #1, Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #15, Avengers #17, Vengeance #2, Captain America Corps #4-5, New Avengers #16, FF #11, Season One Guide #1 and the Spider-Man Chapter One graphic novel.

Writer: Andy Diggle (Reborn #1-4), Mark Waid (#1-5)

Pencils: David Gianfelice (Reborn #1-4), Paolo Rivera and Marcos Martin (#1), Paolo Rivera (#2-3), Marco Martin (#4-5)

Inks: David Gianfelice (Reborn #1-4), Marcos Martin and Joe Rivera (#1), Joe Rivera (#2-3), Marcos Martin (#4-5)

2011 begins with the final few issues of the Shadowland crossover event we talked about a couple weeks ago. In it, Murdock is the leader of the Hand and tries to use them for good in NYC but he’s corrupted by Snakeroot and “the Beast” and threatens to take down all of humanity before Iron Fist, Luke Cage and friends can stop him. Elektra smuggles Murdock’s lifeless body from the scene but who know he survives because Ben Urich gets a recording from Murdock saying he’s sorry for what happened and needs to get away to find the right path again.
In March, we learn what happened to Murdock in a 4-part limited series entitles Daredevil Reborn. In it, we learn he’s been wandering the country by foot and by bus and has found his way to New Mexico and proves to be the only story we get outside New York. We’ll cover it as this week’s spotlight story.
In September, we get issue #1 of Daredevil volume 3, a double sized issue from a new creative team. In this book we actually get 3 stories – “Here Comes…Daredevil” a 1-page recap of Daredevil history, “Man without Fear” in which Daredevil saves a mob bosses daughter from being abducted by the Spot during her wedding day but then Matt gets removed as lawyer from a case he’s working on because he’s Daredevil. Finally, in “Sometimes, in my dreams… I can See” Matt goes to his father’s grave site with Foggy.
As volume 2 continues, Daredevil has a talk with Captain America, Steve Rogers, about what he did in New York during Shadowland and convinces him it won’t happen again. Next Daredevil investigates why no one else was willing to work on the Jobrani case he was removed from. Turns out other lawyers who considered it were being threatened and supposedly Jobrani is hearing voices. After a run-in with the Klaw – who was the one causing Jobrani to hear voices, Murdock decides the best way he can help people is coaching them to represent themselves in court. After working with Jobrani, he wins his court case and Matt decides this is the new way forward for Nelson & Murdock.
Meeting with new potential clients under their new business model, Murdock meats with Austin Cao, a blind man who was working as a linguist for Midas Investments before he was abruptly fired. While that initially doesn’t look like much of a case, some men try to murder Austin and Matt while they are talking which causes Matt to take the case as Daredevil. Matt dispatches the mercenaries and he hides Austin at his apartment.
There he learns Austin overheard parts of a plot by Midas to broker a deal between Hydra, A.I.M., Black Spector, Zodiac and possibly other crime organizations. Daredevil confronts Austin’s old boss Mr. Randall who tells him he was only trying to protect Austin by firing him. More Midas mercenaries attack Randall who realizes what he’s done, and Daredevil must fight them off including Bruiser, an up-and-coming mercenary with powers trying to make a name for himself.
This story ends in early 2012 with a face-off between Daredevil and the 5 megacrime organizations using the threat of mutually assured destruction. He tells them they’re going to let him and his friends go, because in order for one of them to take the Omega drive, they’ll have to kill the other four agents and inevitably start a gang war. The agents lower their weapons and Daredevil walks out with Randall and Austin. He tells the terrorists that if their bosses want the Omega drive, they know where to find him.

This Week's Spotlight: Daredevil Reborn #1 from March 2011 “Reborn, Chapter One” through Daredevil Reborn #4 July 2011 “Reborn, Chapter Four”

Recap

Why We Picked This Story

Daredevil Rapid Fire Questions

The Takeaway

It's time for a reset at Marvel! New characters, new directions, etc.

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.