BIOGRAPHY -- Page 5
Leaving Nelson & Murdock behind, Matt decided to take a cruise to clear his head and focus on his next step in life. While at sea, the ship was attacked by modern pirates led by Captain Parnival Plunder, the Plunderer. Matt changed into Daredevil to fight the pirates but was forced to surrender when Plunder threatened the crew. The Plunderer’s antiquated pirate ship was actually 
a disguised submarine, and he brought Daredevil back to his hidden retreat on Skull Island, deep within the Savage Land. There Daredevil learned Plunder was actually the brother of Ka-Zar, lord of the hidden jungle, and the Plunderer sought his brother’s half of their father’s key to open a treasure trove of Savage Land Vibranium. A blow to the head temporarily cost Daredevil use of his radar senses, but Ka-Zar saved the hero with a healing mixture of berries found only in the Savage Land.
Captain Plunder captured Daredevil and Ka-Zar again after skirmishing with them in the Savage Land and brought them back to the Lord Plunder’s ancestral lands in England. He used the key to access the “Plunder Stone,” the hidden cache of metal-dissolving Vibranium which he forged into a personal vibro-ray weapon. Still in good standing with the local authorities as Lord Plunder, Parnival framed Daredevil and Ka-Zar for the murder of his treacherous butler before taking his pirate fleet to attack military bases and seize power. Matt Murdock had been feared lost at sea 
after his cruise ship sank, so Foggy and Karen were overjoyed when Matt called from England and asked them to appear on his behalf in defense of Ka-Zar at English court. As Daredevil, Matt followed the Plunderer and stopped his plans for conquest, extracting a confession that also cleared Ka-Zar’s name. As Lord Kevin Plunder, Ka-Zar was actually the legitimate heir to the Plunder estate, and the reunited Nelson & Murdock helped him secure his true titles. [Daredevil (1st series) #12-14]
As Matt moved back into the office, he and Karen were concerned to learn Foggy still had weak spells occasionally ever since the beating he took from Ox and the Fellowship of Fear. Around the same time, Ox escaped from prison with a criminal scientist named Karl Stragg, who promised to make him smarter. Instead, Stragg used his equipment to swap bodies with Ox, believing his intellect and cunning combined with Ox’s raw power would make him unstoppable. Daredevil heard of the Ox’s escape and went searching for him, only to be surprised by his unexpectedly quick-witted opponent. The new Ox even dressed Daredevil in a copy of Ox’s costume after 
knocking him unconscious, leaving the police to briefly assume Daredevil had been posing as the Ox for his recent crime spree. Daredevil called Foggy to represent him for his release, but it proved moot as Ox returned to his rampage while Daredevil was in custody. Stragg had slowly been losing his intelligence in the Ox’s body and, in his next bout with Daredevil, the villain foolishly leapt at his foe near the side of a building, apparently falling to his death below. [Daredevil (1st series) #15]
Daredevil’s former fighting partner Spider-Man was heating up the city hunting a new crime-lord named the Masked Marauder. The villain decided to put an end to Spider-Man’s interference by setting him up to fight Daredevil. Using his goons as a series of Daredevil body doubles patrolling the city, the Marauder arranged for “Daredevil” to take several shots at Spider-Man to rile him up. When Matt came investigating the Daredevil sightings, he found a fighting-mad Spider-Man instead. The Masked Marauder and his men then launched their heist at the World Motors Center 
once the heroes were squabbling and the police were occupied watching the heroes. The confused Daredevil eventually provoked Spidey into acting rashly and got the drop on him with his billy club’s wire before fleeing the pointless fight. Naturally, when the Marauder’s burglary was discovered, J. Jonah Jameson blamed Spider-Man and Daredevil for distracting the authorities. JJJ’s wild conspiracy theories left both Daredevil and Spider-Man wondering if the other was in cahoots with the Marauder and deliberately
started that fight.
On the hunt for the Masked Marauder, Spider-Man’s spider-sense gave him a familiar tingle like it did during his fight with Daredevil. Outside Nelson & Murdock, he zeroed in on the office and decided someone inside must be Daredevil. Dismissing the girl and the blind man, Spider-Man broke through the window and accused Foggy Nelson of being the Man Without Fear! Once he got a solid look at Foggy, Spidey realized he must be mistaken and left, but his antics had left an idea in poor Foggy’s head. Hearing the awe in Karen’s voice when she mentioned heroes like 
Daredevil and Spider-Man, Foggy decided to play towards Spider-Man’s accusations, deliberately misleading Karen into suspecting he might actually BE Daredevil. Matt realized what Foggy was playing at, but couldn’t think of a way to dissuade his partner from this foolishness.
Upon investigating the Marauder’s crime, Daredevil learned the crime-lord had stolen experimental engine plans, but neglected the unique formula for fueling it. He got Jameson to announce the Marauder’s folly on his news program, drawing both the Masked Marauder and Spider-Man back to the World Motors Center. After another brief scuffle, Spider-Man and Daredevil spotted the Masked Marauder making his move and intervened. Spider-Man felled the Marauder’s entire mob but was disabled by the opti-blast from the Marauder’s mask. Unfortunately for the crime-lord, a primary weapon that blinds your opponent had little effect on Daredevil. He even shot down the Masked Marauder’s escape blimp, using his radar sense to 
guide his aim. The Masked Marauder himself escaped, but the other members of the gang were rounded up. In the ruckus following the blimp explosion, the recovering Spider-Man limped away, cynically unsurprised when the police arrived and congratulated Daredevil for all his efforts capturing the mob. Spider-Man was pleasantly surprised when Daredevil spoke up and gave him credit for the bust. [Daredevil (1st series) #16-17]
Matt remained troubled by Foggy’s brazen hinting at Karen that he was secretly a super-hero. Foggy even went so far as to get a Daredevil costume made for himself. The costume shop owner, Melvin Potter, had an irrational hatred for the super-heroes whose costumes adorned his store. He suggested Foggy hire him as a fake super-villain to defeat in front of Karen as “Daredevil.” In fact, Potter intended to make himself into a real super-villain, using his mechanical knowledge to become the Gladiator. Potter wanted to prove he was the equal of any super-hero by defeating them, and madly intended Foggy to be his first victim. Luckily for Foggy, Daredevil 
shadowed him and Karen when he made a stop at the misty wharf. Foggy told Karen only that he was “meeting someone,” then slipped out of sight to confront Gladiator as “Daredevil.” When Matt realized the Gladiator was serious, he stepped in to fight the villain when Foggy quickly fell before him. Gladiator was defeated and arrested by the police, leaving a groggy Foggy to wonder how he managed to win his fight. [Daredevil (1st series) #18]
In the confusion of the foggy docks, Gladiator believed he had only fought one man, and so was convinced Foggy Nelson was the real Daredevil. He gave the police his statement, and soon it was reported in the papers. Daredevil visited Mr. Nelson to warn him his life was now in danger from the underworld because of his silly lies. Meanwhile, the Masked Marauder’s new mob freed Gladiator, and the two super-villains forged an alliance. Daredevil caught some low-level gangsters trying to break into Foggy’s home and fought the criminals in front of Foggy. Nelson jumped into the fray to help Daredevil when he could, but otherwise he quickly realized the life of a super-hero wasn’t for him. An escaping hood warned the Masked Marauder and Gladiator that Daredevil had saved Foggy, leaving them convinced for the time being that Nelson was not the Man Without Fear. Karen was also relieved to learn Foggy was out of danger and went easy on him for his shenanigans. [Daredevil (1st series) #19]
When the Avengers considered a nomination to include Spider-Man in their ranks, they sought out Daredevil for an outside opinion on the web-slinger’s fitness as a crime-fighter. Daredevil gave an account to the assembled heroes of his past experiences with Spider-Man and spoke favorably of the nomination. As Daredevil left Avengers Mansion, the team admired his composure enough to consider nominating Daredevil himself for membership in the future. In private, Matt wistfully mused how he could never fight in a group like the Avengers, for his senses would be overwhelmed having to deal with such a crowd. Still, he also thought it would be a great honor to be asked, one day. [Amazing Spider-Man Annual #3]
Matt continued working behind the scenes to dismantle the criminal network which once supported the Fixer and his father’s demise. Many leads circled back to a mob boss named Alexander Bont, who had controlled crime in Hell’s Kitchen for decades. Daredevil personally oversaw Bont’s arrest by the Feds after a case was built against him, gloating over the man’s downfall. Bont’s empire seemed to slip from his fingers, and he had trouble finding lawyers to represent him. By fate, he found his way to Nelson & Murdock and tried to hire Matt Murdock. Matthew explained that his firm was already adversely opposed to Bont’s interests, since Nelson & Murdock represented the tenants of the Clinton Apartments suing Bont for landlord violations. Murdock got cocky with Bont and taunted him about how bad his case must be if he was begging a couple of lawyers just out of law school to represent him. Bont lost his temper and threatened Murdock’s life, which only made things worse for him since their entire conversation was being 
transcribed by Karen. After bailing himself out of prison, Bont strong-armed the Gladiator into attacking Daredevil for him. Gladiator failed and the assassination attempt was the final nail in Bont’s coffin. He was convicted of numerous charges and led away to prison, with Daredevil’s laughing face the last thing he saw of the outside world for years. [Daredevil (2nd series) #66-69]
[Note: As a retcon, the rise and fall of Alexander Bont doesn’t fit perfectly into established continuity. Daredevil was seen in his original costume, which he had abandoned well before the Gladiator’s debut. This story also positioned Bont as the “kingpin” of New York crime before Wilson Fisk, while other stories showed Don Rigoletto as Fisk’s predecessor.]
One evening, Matt Murdock was accosted at home and at work by goons intent on taking him to a “trial.” Curious, Matt went along with the thugs and discovered the Owl was alive and had made a new Aerie on a volcanic isle. The flying fiend had a mad idea to hold Judge Lewis accountable for sentencing him to prison for his previous crimes but intended to hold a mock trial with Murdock as the judge’s defense attorney. Matt stalled for time and managed to dip out of sight long enough to “summon” Daredevil to protect the judge. Daredevil battled the Owl around the crumbling castle as the volcano became increasingly unstable. The Owl guided a giant, mechanical bird at his foe but the robotic owl only proved to be DD’s means of escape from the isle. As the volcano erupted, the Owl flew off, while Daredevil snatched up Judge Lewis and got them both back to the safety of the mainland atop the robot bird. [Daredevil (1st series) #20-21]