BIOGRAPHY -- Page 7
Nelson & Murdock’s known ties to Daredevil came back to bite them when the Trapster assaulted their office with his paste, issuing a challenge he knew would reach the Man Without Fear. Matt’s lies continued to strain credulity as he tried to convince Foggy and Karen he didn’t know his “brother” Mike’s phone number or address so they could warn him. Once his irritated friends left him alone, Matt changed into Daredevil to search for the Trapster. They encountered each other on the rooftops of New York, where Trapster used his paste to attach anti-gravity discs to the hero, sending him up into the stratosphere. Daredevil risked removing the discs and took his chances that he could arrest his fall back to Earth, a gamble that paid off. Meanwhile, the Trapster disguised himself as Daredevil to gain entry to the Baxter Building, where he knocked out the 
Invisible Girl and left a bomb set to go off when the other FF members returned by sensing their body heat. Daredevil pursued Trapster to the Baxter Building and detected the bomb before he entered, removing it with his billy club before it exploded. Daredevil caught up with the Trapster and beat him in the New York subway system. In his exhaustion, though, DD was in no condition to face his next challenger… Doctor Doom. [Daredevil (1st series) #35-36]
The monarch of Latveria had monitored Daredevil’s battle with the Trapster, and saw an opportunity to capture the blind hero. After bringing him back to the Latverian Embassy, Doom tortured Daredevil’s mind to weaken it before subjecting him to mind transference. Once Daredevil was suitably prepared, Doctor Doom exchanged bodies with Matt in order to catch the Fantastic Four off-guard. Once Doom left, however, Daredevil realized an egomaniac like Victor von Doom wouldn’t have trusted his lackeys with his plan. Matt summoned Doom’s own guards to release him from his cell in the dungeon. Afterwards, he not only radioed ahead to warn the FF about the false Daredevil, but Matt also sent Doom’s own guards after him and called his Latverian ministers 
to declare war against Latveria’s four neighboring countries back home. Outdone by Daredevil in his own body, Doom returned to the embassy and reversed the mind transference. He saluted Daredevil for the defeat and sent him on his way. Doom’s final petty swipe at Daredevil was to call back the Fantastic Four and temporarily set them against Daredevil, still believing he was Doom in Daredevil’s body. With the help of Spider-Man and Thor, however, DD convinced the FF he was legit again. [Daredevil (1st series) #37-38, Fantastic Four (1st series) #73]
Election time had come around again, and Foggy Nelson was once more on the ballots for District Attorney. Debbie Harris had been released from prison and wanted to renew their relationship, something Foggy quickly agreed with. Matt and Karen took the new couple out for drinks and dancing, and they began to grow closer, too. Foggy was no longer pursuing Karen, and she had gotten over her initial interest in “Mike,” putting her and Matt on a collision course with romance. However, the Organizer’s gang had been taken over by a scientist called the Exterminator. He recruited some of the Ani-Men as the Unholy Three and created the T-Ray, a form of time 
displacement technology. The Exterminator planned to give his gang revenge on Debbie for testifying against them and use her as a pawn to control the new D.A. Nelson. The Unholy Three attacked the dance hall and blasted Debbie Harris, seemingly disintegrating her. In fact, Debbie was held in abeyance in a temporal limbo, something only Matt’s senses could recognize.
Matt, Mike and Daredevil scoured the city at Foggy’s request, looking for leads of the Exterminator and the Unholy Three. He caught the trio in the middle of a bank heist and tried to get one of the T-Rays away from them to examine it. Distracted, exhausted and outnumbered, Daredevil was eventually struck by one of the time displacement rays, sending him to the same limbo as Debbie and the other victims. Matt was relieved when Debbie and the others slowly faded away, returning to temporal synchronicity as the effects of the ray wore off. As Daredevil remained “lost” longer 
than the others, Foggy became increasingly irate how Matt and Mike/Daredevil weren’t around to help and did some digging to uncover the Exterminator’s identity on his own. He drew the attention of the Unholy Three and was abducted by the criminals, bringing him to the Exterminator.
Once Daredevil finally phased back into existence, he tracked down the Exterminator before Foggy could be harmed. The prepared hero fought his way through the Unholy Three and damaged the time displacement equipment. In the explosion that followed, the Exterminator was consumed by the blaze and a scrap of DD’s costume was all that was left. Foggy Nelson saw the aftermath and reported that Daredevil (secretly Mike Murdock) was dead. And, with that, the still-living Matt Murdock convinced Karen and Foggy that his “twin brother” was dead and gone, retiring his complicated triple life. [Daredevil (1st series) #39-41]
Matt considered retiring as Daredevil altogether, now that “Mike” was dead, but he was soon forced back into uniform. An actor named Jonathon Powers sought action and headlines by becoming a costumed criminal called the Jester. Another crooked politician on the ballots, Richard Raleigh, hired Jester to force the upstanding Nelson to drop out of the race. Jester attacked Matt, Foggy and Karen in the park, cackling about how Daredevil wasn’t around anymore to protect 
Nelson & Murdock. To counter this, Matt bluffed that “the original Daredevil” had trained a protégé before he died, who would soon replace him. Matt got back into action as Daredevil and chased down the Jester, only for them both to discover Raleigh had been killed by another criminal associate. With no more money at stake, the Jester gave up on his antagonizing of Nelson. [Daredevil (1st series) #42]
Returning to life as Daredevil put Matt’s relationship with Karen on ice. He was still unwilling to share his secrets with her or put her life in greater jeopardy by making her his partner, if he were to continue as a crime-fighter. Karen sensed it when Matt retreated from their relationship and decided she had had enough. Karen quit Nelson & Murdock, unwilling to invest any more of her life in Matt’s secrecy and emotional distance. [Daredevil (1st series) #43]
Matt and Foggy struggled to keep their office running without Karen’s aid. They were both stressed and Matt laid into Foggy when he couldn’t account for Nelson’s time. Foggy seemed to be wrapped up in a case Matt knew nothing about when Stilt-Man attacked their office to retrieve “the Pasko file.” After Daredevil dispatched Stilt-Man, Foggy came clean with Matt. Elliot Pasko was a scientist working on the means of restoring human sight. Stilt-Man was hired by Fortknight, a predatory investment firm intent on claiming all of Pasko’s research. Foggy offered Pasko pro bono legal services in exchange for a percentage of future profits so that he could surprise Matt with a gift. Pasko’s prototype was expensive and enormous and painful to operate, but it could bypass damaged optic nerves to transmit imagery directly into the brain. For Matt’s one and only session, Foggy found an old VHS copy of Jack Murdock’s final fight, allowing Matt to see his father’s championship bout with his own eyes. Whatever their current problems might be, this gesture ensured that Matt and Foggy’s friendship would always endure. [Daredevil (3rd series) #17]
The Jester dreamed up a plot to take revenge on Daredevil by framing the super-hero for his murder. As Jonathan Powers, a failed but somewhat recognizable actor and comedian, he 
announced he had discovered Daredevil’s secret identity and intended to reveal it to the world in a dramatic announcement atop the George Washington Bridge. A curious Daredevil showed up to the intended show, only for Powers to savagely attack him from a concealed position. By the time the cameras swung around, Daredevil was defending himself but it looked like he was attacking Powers. The Jester then threw himself off the side of the bridge, only to escape in a mini-sub. To all the world, it looked like Daredevil had committed murder to hide his secret identity.
Daredevil was on the run from the law and also had to contend with the Jester acting like a heroic vigilante in public and trying to “avenge” poor Powers as well. After a series of encounters with the police and the Jester, Daredevil was taken into custody at the Statue of Liberty. He was sent to prison, but managed to escape before a writ could be passed by a judge to remove his mask. Matt’s encounters with Powers and Jester were enough for his senses to recognize they were the 
same man, and so he arranged to draw out his adversary. By putting on a Jester costume, Daredevil went on a talk show to explain how he defeated Daredevil, knowing the real Jester would be infuriated by someone stealing his spotlight. At the studio, Daredevil revealed himself when the mad Jester arrived and finally defeated his foe. By exposing Jester as Jonathan Powers, Daredevil was cleared of all charges against him. [Daredevil (1st series) #44-46]
At a USO tour for the war in Vietnam Sin-Cong, Daredevil met a soldier named Willie Lincoln, who had lost his sight to enemy fire. Daredevil suggested he look up Matt Murdock when he got back to the States, and Willie eventually did. Willie had been a cop before he was a soldier, but a crimeboss named Biggie Benson framed him for taking bribes, tarnishing his good 
name and getting him thrown off the force. Nelson & Murdock took the case, and Matt got the eyewitness to recant his story on the stand, implicating Biggie in setting up Willie Lincoln. Willie was cleared and Biggie went to prison, but he sent his mob to get revenge on Lincoln even from custody. Daredevil and Willie Lincoln held off the gangsters, convincing them Willie was too tough to go after, even being blind. [Daredevil (1st series) #47]
As Foggy’s campaign raced to the finish line, yet another attempt on his life was planned. This time, Daredevil uncovered a plot by Stilt-Man to attack the campaign headquarters at Nelson & Murdock that night. As Matt Murdock, he arrived at the office to find Karen had returned and was looking to reconcile with him. Still, he brusquely dismissed Foggy, Debbie and Karen so he could 
use the office for work, getting them to safety but also making himself look like a heel to Foggy on his big night. Daredevil defeated Stilt-Man when he arrived, but Matt had finally managed to drive a serious wedge between him and Foggy over his unexplained poor behavior. Foggy was elected as the new D.A. and resolved to cut ties with his former partner and former best friend. [Daredevil (1st series) #48]