BIOGRAPHY -- Page 4
While on patrol, Daredevil encountered the Fellowship of Fear. Mr. Fear and his associates, Ox and the Eel, had hired a movie crew to film their daring daylight robbery, misleading the public into seeing it as an innocent stunt. Daredevil wasn’t fooled and attacked the thugs, but he was overcome by a blast from Mr. Fear’s fear gas pellets. The Man Without Fear was overwhelmed with terror, and his cowardly departure from the fight was unfortunately caught on film by the crew. The film clip made it to the media, and soon everybody knew about Daredevil’s lapse in courage. Unfamiliar with the fear gas’s effects, Matt Murdock even began to doubt his own abilities.
The Fellowship of Fear decided to set a trap for Daredevil to prevent him from interfering in the future. Mr. Fear’s secret identity of Zoltan Drago owned a wax figure shop, and he unveiled a new wax statue of Daredevil, hoping the real Daredevil would come see it. Matt, Foggy and Karen did visit the statue, and Matt detected the Fellowship’s presence with his super-senses. He planned to come back later that night alone as Daredevil, but what he couldn’t know was that Foggy visually 
spotted the Ox dipping into the backroom and came to the same conclusion. That night, Daredevil was amused when Eel and Ox pretended to be wax statues in the shop, oblivious to how useless their ruse was against a blind man. His fight with the Fellowship turned serious when Foggy arrived and struck Mr. Fear in Daredevil’s defense, ripping free the villain’s mask. Daredevil had succumbed to the fear gas again, and Foggy was left alone as the Ox struck him with enough force to send young Mr. Nelson careening against the far wall.
Matt recovered and found Foggy injured and the Fellowship in retreat. He detected a concussion in his best friend and rushed him to the hospital. Matt returned in his civilian identity along with Karen to watch over Foggy. Meanwhile, Drago was concerned Nelson might identify him, and so the Fellowship of Fear tried to abscond with Foggy from his hospital room. Daredevil confronted them and, finally, recognized that Mr. Fear’s gas was irrationally inducing his fears. Daredevil chased the Fellowship back to the wax museum and used an industrial exhaust fan to turn Mr. Fear’s gas back on the villains. The Fellowship of Fear were tied up and turned over to the police, while Foggy Nelson awoke and was soon on the road to a full recovery. [Daredevil (1st series) #6]
Nelson & Murdock had another surprise walk-in when Prince Namor of Atlantis came through their door. The Sub-Mariner wanted to sue the entire surface world on behalf of Atlantis for the many wrongs he perceived done to his people over the years. Matt and Foggy were interested in the notoriety this case might bring them, but they had to explain to Namor that no one court had the 
jurisdiction to speak on behalf of the surface and hear his claim. Undaunted, Sub-Mariner went on a light rampage before surrendering to the NYPD in order to ensure his day in court. Daredevil tried to interrupt Namor during his ruckus, but foolishly chased Namor off a pier and nearly drowned fighting the Sub-Mariner. Matt only survived because Namor deliberately returned his foe to the surface before surrendering. Matt appeared on Namor’s behalf and announced a counter-suit by Namor against the air-breathers as justification for his crimes against the city.
Unfortunately, Namor had a royal impatience, which kept matters from moving smoothly in court. The inevitable delays of the judge’s trial calendar would have irked the prince under the best of circumstances, but he also received word from Lady Dorma that Warlord Krang had used his absence from Atlantis to engineer a coup. Namor rashly forced his way out of custody rather than let Murdock arrange his release legally. Matt changed into Daredevil to pursue Sub-Mariner and convinced the Armed Forces rallying to oppose Namor to let him strike first in order to avoid casualties. Daredevil did his best to keep Namor off-balance, battling him on the ground and even engaging him in mid-air with his grappling line. Still, unloading an entire construction site on the Sub-Mariner barely slowed him down. Battered and bruised, Daredevil risked the protection of his 
own insulated gloves to tie Namor to the electrical wires of a fallen lamppost. Namor was staggered by the charge, but Daredevil was far worse off. As Namor prepared to fight his way through the Army to reach the sea, a barely conscious Daredevil could do nothing but grab at the prince’s ankles in a desperate attempt to save the innocent. The sightless swashbuckler’s sheer courage touched Namor’s heart. Out of respect for his fallen foe, the Sub-Mariner flew over and around the military, returning peacefully to Atlantis without causing further harm to the city or its people. [Daredevil (1st series) #7]
Matt Murdock had remained on retainer for the Fantastic Four and was summoned by Reed Richards to discuss his Power of Attorney. The FF had lost their powers, and Mr. Fantastic feared their many opponents might learn of this and eliminate the foursome. As it happened, Doctor Doom did stage an attack on the Fantastic Four, seizing control of the Baxter Building while they were out and sending Reed’s own inventions to destroy the Four. Murdock changed into Daredevil to help the weakened FF defend themselves. Daredevil helped distract Doom’s devices so the Fantastic Four could re-enter the Baxter Building and regain their powers thanks to Reed’s stimulator 
device. Daredevil not only survived a one-on-one battle with Doctor Doom, but he also proved himself a friend of the Fantastic Four in both of his identities. [Fantastic Four (1st series) #39-40]
At Nelson & Murdock, Karen was pressing Matt again about seeing the eye specialist Dr. van Eyck when a new client arrived named Wilbur Day. Meek Mister Day claimed he invented a new kind of hydraulic ram on his own time at home, but his boss Carl Kaxton of Kaxton Laboratories stole the patent from him. They tried to negotiate a settlement with Kaxton, but the hot-headed owner came to Nelson & Murdock to confront Matt and Wilbur. Kaxton tried to strong arm Day into dropping his suit, claiming he was the real inventor of the hydraulic ram. Meanwhile, Daredevil had been dealing with a crime spree by the armored Stilt-Man, and Matt began to suspect the hydraulic device was being used in the criminal’s mechanized stilts. The greased, hydraulic legs and sudden height changes of Stilt-Man stymied Daredevil’s efforts, so he decided on a new tactic.
Matt Murdock and Wilbur Day paid a visit to Kaxton’s home and found Stilt-Man’s stilts on the property. Kaxton confronted them at gunpoint for trespassing, but mild-mannered Day suddenly 
struck Kaxton down with a karate blow. He tried to convince Matt that Kaxton must be the Stilt-Man before striking his attorney too, when Murdock didn’t seem to buy it. Matt rolled with the punch and changed into Daredevil as Day invaded Kaxton’s home laboratory. Wilbur was the real thief and Stilt-Man, and he wanted Kaxton’s experimental molecular condenser as well. Daredevil failed to stop Day from reclaiming his stilts and making off with the condenser. A blast from the ray gun would reduce any target in size until it fell into microscopic space. Daredevil pursued Stilt-Man on a speeding train and tricked him into aiming the condenser at himself. Wilbur Day shrank out of sight and Matt Murdock placated Carl Kaxton by telling him his client would no longer be filing charges. [Daredevil (1st series) #8]
The final word on Dr. van Eyck came when the eye specialist relocated to the small European country of Lichtenbad. Karen reached out to Duke Klaus Kruger, the ruler of Lichtenbad who was also Matt and Foggy’s classmate at law school. Klaus and Karen both pressed Matt to journey to Lichtenbad as the duke’s guest. Matt finally agreed, but only because he could sense Klaus was lying when he claimed Dr. van Eyck moved voluntarily. Once the plane set down in Europe, Matt quickly learned Kruger was a tyrant facing active revolts by his countrymen. The insane duke used robotic palace guards to enforce his will and had no compunctions about kidnapping famous doctors (and lawyers) to make Lichtenbad stronger in his eyes. As Daredevil, Matt helped the revolutionaries stand against Kruger and fought the duke hand-to-hand. As he began losing, Klaus triggered the release of a radioactive cobalt cloud that would sweep over Europe. Dr. van Eyck sacrificed himself to disable the atomic pile, and Kruger fell to his death atop the castle’s parapets. [Daredevil (1st series) #9]
Nelson & Murdock got involved in city politics after Foggy was tapped by the Reform Party to run for District Attorney. At a yacht party to kickoff the campaign, Matt, Foggy and Karen met the rest of the third party’s candidates for office. In particular, the borough president candidate Bernard 
Harris made sure to re-introduce Foggy to Harris’ daughter Deborah, his old childhood flame. During the party, mayoral candidate Abner Jonas was nearly killed by Frog-Man, one of the criminal Organizer’s Ani-Men. Daredevil intervened, but it seemed the Reform Party was being targeted by organized crime. Further, Matt’s suspicions were aroused because his super-hearing detected the Organizer’s radio signal to Frog-Man coming from the yacht, meaning the Organizer might secretly BE a member of the Reform Party.
In the days that followed, the Organizer worked Daredevil’s interference into his schemes, as the Scarlet Swashbuckler had encounters with Cat-Man, Bird-Man and Ape-Man in turn. The disguised Ani-Men tricked Daredevil into opening a bank vault by posing as the manager and claiming someone was trapped inside the time-locked vault. Once Daredevil’s super-sensitive fingers helped him set the tumblers, the criminals made off with the loot and left Daredevil wanted on suspicion of robbery. At another Reform Party mixer, Debbie Harris was kidnapped by Bird-Man in order to gain leverage on Mr. Harris and Foggy. Daredevil caught Cat-Man but failed to prevent the kidnapping. Ape-Man tried to kill Cat-Man with a grenade at the police precinct, but Daredevil stepped in. He tailed the Ani-Man back to their hideout and discovered Debbie Harris was actually a co-conspirator with the Organizer. [Daredevil (1st series) #10]
Daredevil “saved” Debbie without letting on that he knew of her involvement, hoping she would lead him to the Organizer (who still only appeared to his minions by video screen). When Debbie just ran back to Foggy to keep manipulating him, though, Matt was in a bind. He tried to get Foggy 
to question the Reform Party, but Nelson quickly became defensive and assumed Murdock was jealous that he was finally in the spotlight. Despite their animosity, Matt got Foggy to agree to set a trap for the Reform Party bigwigs to prove whether he was right or wrong. Nelson & Murdock told the party they had uncovered evidence of the Organizer’s identity and locked it in their safe. Naturally, the Ani-Men soon arrived and ransacked the office. Foggy was convinced that Jonas, Harris or the Assemblyman candidate Milton Monroe was guilty.
As Foggy and Karen began to tail the suspects, Daredevil made a return visit to Debbie Harris. He overheard a meeting with the Organizer where Deborah refused to go so far as to help with the murder of the current mayor. Playing on Debbie’s remaining principles, Daredevil convinced her to help him set up the Ani-Men. He got the drop on Frog-Man and swapped costumes with him. Then, he radioed the Organizer and reported that “Frog-Man” had beaten “Daredevil” and turned him over to the police. The disguised Daredevil reported to the Organizer in person, claiming he had planted the explosives at the mayor’s mansion like Debbie told him to do. The Organizer attempted to trigger the bomb, but instead he incriminated himself, linked the Reform Party to organized crime and cleared Daredevil’s name thanks to the transmitting equipment in Frog-Man’s suit, broadcasting the conversation for the police and the public.
After the announcement that the Organizer felt the Reform Party was in his pocket, Jonas and Harris immediately announced their resignations from the party (though Monroe could not be 
found). The Organizer appeared on television during their press conference, declaring his inevitable return to rule the city. Some jumped to the conclusion that the missing Monroe must be the Organizer then, but a wiser Foggy Nelson pointed out the Organizer may have pre-recorded that declaration. The Ani-Men busted in, claiming the Organizer wanted Abner Jonas as a hostage, but Daredevil was on the scene to intervene. While the blind super-hero defeated Ape-Man and Bird-Man, it was Foggy Nelson who followed Daredevil’s instructions and made sure Jonas didn’t escape in the melee. Daredevil brought up evidence showing Abner Jonas was actually the Organizer and Deborah Harris came forward as well, incriminating herself to make sure Jonas didn’t get away with it.
The Reform Party and the Organizer were done for, but Nelson & Murdock wasn’t in much better shape. The campaign had distracted the entire office to the point where they had no active clients to bring in money. The rent was overdue as well, and Matt decided Karen and Foggy would be able to save money in a smaller office without him. He announced a leave of absence from the firm, leaving Karen quietly heartbroken and Foggy uncomfortable with how willing he was to see his partner and best friend leave, if it meant he could spend more time alone with Karen. [Daredevil (1st series) #11]