By Bruno Savill De Jong — It’s 2007. The first iPhone is released, the final Harry Potter books breaks worldwide publishing sales, and the collapse of the US Housing Market leads into a devastating global financial crisis. People are listening to “Umbrella,” watching No Country for Old Men and reading Daredevil.

Written by Ed Brubaker
Illustrated by Lee Weeks (94), Michael Lark (95-105), John Romita Sr. (100), Marko Djurdjevic (100), Gene Colan (100), Bill Sienkiewicz (100), Alex Maleev (100), Lee Bermejo (100), Paul Azaceta (104-105)
Inks by Stefano Gaudiano (94-105), Al Migrom (100), Paul Azaceta (103), Tom Palmer (104)
Colors by Matt Hollingsworth (94-105), Dean White (100), Stefano Gaudiano (100), Paul Monts (103)
Lettered by Chris Eliopoulos

Matt Murdock knew it wouldn’t be easy to put his life back together after it was ripped away from him. He understood having his secret identity exposed and ending up in prison could not be easily resolved. But at the same time such extraordinary events occur all the time to superheroes, and the status quo usually reasserts itself. Few could comprehend just how rough Brubaker’s second year on Daredevil would be. After spending 2006 gradually climbing out from the hole Bendis had left Daredevil in, Brubaker explained “The second year was about how after he’s been through, he can’t just hit the reset button. It was kind of a meta-commentary on how there’s no such thing as a reset button.”

As a result, 2007 may be one of the worst years in Daredevil’s life – which is really saying something. Outside events don’t help matters, as Matt’s FBI charges have been dropped just before Civil War introduces the Superhero Registration Act, making Daredevil an unlicensed vigilante hunted by the police. Plus, around this time The Hood was consolidating power in New York, creating a turf war that’s been tearing up Hell’s Kitchen since Matt was locked away. But 2007’s turmoil will be even more personal, as every storyline cascades into another for the stressful marathon of Matt’s existence, showing the futility of him trying to have a happy life.

Daredevil is a victim of his own psychology, unable to stay away from trouble. He knows it’s better to steer clear of Melvin Potter (aka The Gladiator), but after his old enemy gets framed for murder within prison, Matt tries to help exonerate him. Gladiator was one of Daredevil’s oldest foes, the buzzsaws strapped to his arms giving an immediate visceral danger compared to the relatively kooky Silver Age enemies. But during Frank Miller’s influential run, Melvin Potter was rendered into a childlike figure suffering from mental delusions, rejecting the “Gladiator” influence and uniform. Since then, Melvin has popped up as a timid man attempting to stay out of trouble, even if he frequently gets dragged back into the life (like when Alexander Bont’s blackmail in “Golden Age” leaves Melvin in Ryker’s).

Melvin becomes a victim even inside prison, as during “To The Devil, His Due” he is accused of assaulting and killing other inmates despite having no memory of it. The unsympathetic bureaucrats believe Melvin is “faking” his mental illness to avoid punishment, but Matt can sense the genuine confusion within his heartbeat. But the truth is even worse, as Melvin is both innocent and guilty. He did commit these attacks, flying into a blind rage he cannot remember, without being in control of his actions.

Gladiator increasingly acts like a wild animal, even escaping and committing a killing spree through Chinatown, the survivors struck by how brutal and senseless he was. The gruesome body-count means Melvin cannot be cleared despite the outside manipulation, and Melvin pathetically attempts to cling onto his mind even if it means killing himself. Matt manages to stop him, but Melvin Potter represents an absolute failure of his. “To The Devil, His Due” quickly dovetails into 2007’s other storyline “Without Fear,” as the mastermind behind Gladiator’s brutal rage is revealed to be Mr. Fear.

Mr. Fear is another of Daredevil’s recurring foes, but has not quite reached the same stature you might expect for a fear-gas villain fighting the “Man Without Fear.” Brubaker’s “Without Fear” achieves this with Larry Cranston absolutely decimating Matt’s life, systematically tormenting everything he holds dear. Indeed this renewed rivalry with Daredevil seemingly stems from watching him try to recover after his release from prison, enraged by the arrogance of thinking “like the world will just right itself for Matt Murdock.” Mr. Fear hates the idea of Matt hitting the “reset button,” and ensures there are things he can never recover from.

Creating the Gladiator’s killing spree was only the first step. When Daredevil finally catches up to Mr. Fear, he douses Daredevil with a vicious toxin that causes horrible hallucinations. This forms the frame of vol. 2’s 100th issue, using various artists to illustrate the past doubts and trauma which cling to Daredevil. Even after Matt makes it through the other side, the triumph of the anniversary issue is dampened by how Mr. Fear’s schemes are only getting started. Fear starts a gang war with The Hood seemingly just for the fun of vandalizing Matt’s precious Hell’s Kitchen. But his most cruel masterstroke is saved for Matt’s wife Mila.

Milla has it worse than Matt, and is 2007’s biggest victim. Although Bendis and Brubaker attempted to give Milla some independent personality, she mostly functioned as another love-interest for Daredevil to rescue and Matt to neglect. Milla often seemed unable to cope with the dangers of Matt’s double-life, but was rarely rewarded for her loyalty either. Matt is never around for dinner, and one of the few times they go out, Milla gets attacked and kidnapped by the Gladiator. Brubaker shows the toll of Milla being a bystander to Matt’s various trials during their relationship in “Our Love Story” (Daredevil vol. 2 #94), as well as the insecurity of being a “replacement” for Karen Page made during Mat’s alleged mental breakdown. On top of everything else, Milla is terrified Matt doesn’t really love her.

Mr. Fear preys upon this anxiety, secretly using a similar toxin upon Milla as Melvin Potter to make her more irritable and unstable. This is only exacerbated when Lily Lucca reappears, as the perfume used to manipulate Matt during “The Devil Takes A Ride” has gotten out of control. Milla understands this scent reminds Matt of Karen Page (her martyred rival) and eventually Lily’s presence leads Milla to try and kill her – accidentally pushing an innocent bystander in front of a subway train, leaving Milla charged with murder.

Of course, this is all due to Mr. Fear, who was responsible for Lily’s perfume in the first place and forced Lily to “provoke” Milla. Milla’s mental condition only worsens within a psychiatric prison, as despite Matt’s efforts to teach her meditation overnight, Milla is seen as a danger to herself and others. Even after Foggy Nelson organizes a miraculous release into protective custody, Milla assaults her live-in nurse and gets subjected to heavy sedation. As with Melvin Potter, Mr. Fear’s responsibility cannot save Milla from her victims, and she must be left heavily sedated. Milla’s fate is one of the worst in modern comics, an innocent woman ending in a poisoned catatonic state, with Matt utterly crushed by how being his wife has ruined her life.

Mr. Fear’s devastating cherry-on-top is that there is no cure for Milla (and Melvin). He despises Matt’s “reset button” after all, and ensures the chemist who helped him conduct this toxin is killed. Mr. Fear gleefully takes credit for all this, confessing to the police as if signing his handiwork. Daredevil cannot defeat him, as even in prison Mr. Fear can control those around him and is treated like a king, having created pheromones to become akin to The Purple Man. Indeed, “Without Fear” reminds me of when the Purple Man controlled Maxwell Glenn in 1978, or even Mr. Fear’s previous attempt to frame Karen Page for murder in 1998. Both cases pushed Daredevil to the limit through inescapable traps, but at least then Matt managed to save the day and his love-interests. This time, Mr. Fear gets everything he wanted, and Daredevil miserably fails without accomplishing anything.

Read classic Daredevil Comics!

Check out past installments from The Man Without Fear…By The Year!

Check out Bruno Savill De Jong’s last regular series, Gotham Central Case by Case!

Bruno Savill De Jong is a recent undergraduate of English and freelance writer on films and comics, living in London. His infrequent comics-blog is Panels are Windows and semi-frequent Twitter is BrunoSavillDeJo.