Daredevil #116-#500 - "Return of the King" Story Arc Complete

This covers the five-part story arc titled above that began with issue #116 and concludes with the latest release, the landmark 500th issue. Lately Marvel has been renumbering a lot of its longest running comic titles to reflect their "original" numbering. Thor went from issue #12 to #600, and similar changes for Captain America and Hulk, the change specifically for milestone issues or "round" numbers. Like #500 or #600. So by the original numbering, Issue #116 would also be issue #496, issue #119, issue #499, and what better time to have a switch, than for issue #500. The story arc can be summed thus: With nothing to lose, Daredevil: The Man Without Fear makes a drastic moral compromise that will change the direction of the book for some time to come. As for the title of the story arc itself, it refers not just to the Kingpin, as you'll find out.

For his first decade or so as a character, Matt Murdock's alter ego was sometimes referred to as "the happy-go-lucky" Daredevil; he fought crime with a smile on his face and cracked almost as many jokes as his occasional ally, Spider-Man. It was only after Frank Miller took over the book and built upon a darker direction initiated by Jim Shooter that Daredevil became a tragic figure, as driven by his own demons as he was by his dedication to justice. "The Return of the King" confirms this. Daredevil's life is not getting any better in the future, that much is certain.

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Issue #500, as with other Marvel landmark issues of late, is filled with goodies. The lead story which also concludes the serial "Return of the King" is itself a 40-page accelerating runaway ride to the ending, in stark contrast to the deliberate, almost languid pace at the start of the story arc in Daredevil issue #116. Some would call this a perfect example of the stepladder approach to the story's conclusion. Others would call it too hurried. You be the judge.

This feeds into a preview of an upcoming storyline, "Dark Reign:The List—Daredevil" by writer Andy Diggle and Billy Tan, which reveals how this will tie in to the nefarious activities of vintage Spider-Man foe Norman Osborn, who's now running the Avengers. A backup story, "3 Jacks," returns writer Ann Nocenti to the book and pits Daredevil against his perennial enemy, Bullseye. It's little more than a vignette, but it's a good one.

The last of the stories is a reprint of Daredevil #191, entitled "Roulette," which was both written and penciled by Frank Miller. Another Daredevil/Bullseye encounter—even though Bullseye is confined to a hospital bed throughout—it's a reasonable nomination for the single best issue Miller ever did on the series, and it clearly illustrates that the Man Without Fear has long since recovered from being the "Happy-Go-Lucky" Daredevil by this point. We imagine a cross-company crossover where Batman wanders in and cheers him up.

Unfortunately the digital scan of issue #500 making the rounds, including the one in this post, includes "new material" only. Which means the above-said reprint of Daredevil #191 is not included in the scan.

Fear not, however, for yours truly added to Daredevil #500 the complete Daredevil #191 scanned from the original issue and also threw in a high-resolution (5750 x 2926 pixels) poster of the wraparound Marko Djurdjevic issue #500 cover and packaged all three in a rar archive.

A cover gallery with postage-stamp-sized reproductions of the comic's previous 499 issues (bring a magnifying glass) and a pinup gallery with art by Geof Darrow, Stefano Gaudiano, Rafael Grampa, David Mack, Alex Maleev, Joe Quesada, John Romita Sr. and Patrick Zircher round out the issue. Even Brian Michael Bendis, better known as a Daredevil writer, contributes a page.