Still, if I was forced to at least come up with a top five list from each company, Daredevil would undoubtedly make the Marvel list. He's been a heavy-hitter in my comic collection since I started getting serious about collecting. I still remember buying my first Daredevil comics during a family vacation in Canada, and I was able to get a huge lot of them at a super-low price on eBay when I was in college. Hell, I even like the 2003 movie with Ben Affleck - I saw it twice in theaters - and I continue to defend it, even while I acknowledge its shortcomings. (The director's cut was an improvement, but I admit it had its own issues.)
Despite numerous claims to the contrary, Marvel's Daredevil was not the first blind superhero. The pulp hero The Black Bat and DC Comics's Dr. Mid-Nite both beat him to the punch on that score. Then again, although they were both blinded by criminals, they were able to regain their sight (and then some) through scientific means, merely keeping up the charade of being blind to throw off the authorities and their enemies, so maybe they don't count? Also, Matt Murdock wasn't even the first superhero called Daredevil - that would by Bart Hill, whose exploits were recounted by Lev Gleason Publications in the 1940s. Interestingly, in his own way, the Lev Gleason Daredevil was one of the darker Golden Age characters I've come across - at least until his kid sidekicks, the Little Wise Guys, were introduced, eventually taking over Daredevil's book altogether.
After a brief stint at DC Comics in the late 1970s, Miller made the switch to Marvel, working as a fill-in artist. One of these fill-in jobs was a two-part Spectacular Spider-Man story that featured Daredevil, whose sales in his own series were pretty low at that point. Miller saw the potential in the character, particularly the chance to do crime comics that just happened to have a superhero in them, rather than straight superheroics. Initially serving at the artist on Daredevil beginning with #158 (May, 1979), he took over the writing duties as well with issue #168 (January, 1981) - the same issue that introduced Elektra, Matt Murdock's college sweetheart turned mercenary and assassin, who has remained popular over the decades. This was when sales on Daredevil really began to skyrocket, launching Miller's status as a top-tier writer and setting the tone for pretty much the rest of Daredevil's career.
This blog is also not meant to lavish praise on Miller, whose more recent works have been...controversial, to say the least. (I'd strongly recommend Atop the Fourth Wall's "Miller Time" episodes to see how badly the quality of Miller's work has fallen, not to mention his descents into racism and sexism.) I simply feel that too much of DD's pre-Miller history gets unfairly overlooked, and I want to give some personal favorites from this era a bit of attention for the benefit of modern-day fans, while also providing some context for Miller's influence for the benefit of non-DD readers. If I'm going to talk about favorite Daredevil comics from before Miller made his mark, I need to go into what his influence was and how it differed from what came before.
Stan Lee (writer), Bill Everett (pencils), Bill Everett, Steve Ditko, Sol Brodsky (inks)
Stan Lee (writer), Joe Orlando (pencils), Vince Colletta (inks)
Stan Lee (writer), Wally Wood (pencils & inks)
Stan Lee (writer), Gene Colan (pencils), Frank Giacoia (inks)
Roy Thomas (writer), Gene Colan (pencils), Dan Adkins (inks - #44), Vince Colleta (inks - #45), George Klein (inks - #46)
Roy Thomas (writer), Gene Colan (pencils), George Klein (inks - #54), Syd Shores (inks - #55)
Gerry Conway (writer), Gene Colan (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks - #80), Jack Abel (inks - #81)
Marv Wolfman (writer), Bob Brown (pencils), Klaus Janson (inks)
Jim Shooter (writer), Gil Kane (pencils), Jim Mooney (inks)
Daredevil #139 (November, 1976) - "A Night in the Life"
Marv Wolfman (writer), Sal Buscema (pencils), Jim Mooney (inks)