Daredevil is a fictional superhero created by Jack Binder and Don Rico who starred in comics from Lev Gleason Publications during the 1930s–1940s period historians and fans call the Golden Age of comic books before being retroactively established into the Image Universe by Image Comics in the 1990s as its first character. The character is unrelated to Marvel Comics' Daredevil, and recent renditions of the character have often renamed him Doubledare or The Death-Defying Devil to avoid confusion and potential lawsuits.
Origin[]
In the character's first appearance, his origin was said to have been told to the artist of the story by someone named "Captain Cook..."
The story was that, as a child, Bart Hill was witness to his parents' brutal murder. The murderer also branded Bart with a hot iron, leaving a boomerang-shaped scar on the left side of his chest. This traumatic experience left the boy mute. He trained his entire life in the art of the boomerang, eventually becoming a master boomerang marksman. He then donned a costume and took to the streets as the vigilante crime-fighter known as Daredevil.
However... It appears Captain Cook lied, for Bart Hill/Daredevil's second appearance showed him able to speak and it was later revealed that his parents were killed while in Australia, with Bart then raised by a tribe of aborigines who taught him the art of using boomerangs. As an adult, he returned to the U.S. and fought crime as Daredevil.
Public Domain Appearances[]
- Silver Streak Comics #6-17 (1940)
- Daredevil Battles Hitler (1941)
- Daredevil Comics #2-69, 79-80 (1941)
- Boy Comics #5 (1942)
Notes[]
- In Silver Streak Comics #9, Daredevil has an unnamed brother who sacrificed his life by impersonating him in order to stop the Claw. This brother was never referred to in either origin, or subsequent story since.
- Strangely enough, Silver Streak Comics was also the comic where Dynamo Hill, whose real name was also Bart Hill, first appeared.
- The character, renamed Death Defying 'Devil, appears in Dynamite Entertainment's Project Superpowers.
- Daredevil, renamed Daring Devil, is played by Matt Roeling in the Legacy of the Masque web series.
- Bart Hill/Daredevil, renamed Doubledare, is played by Andre Givogue in the 2010 film, Avenging Force: The Scarab.
- In 2014, artist Bob Pierre created a modern reinterpretation of the character dubbed "Devil May Dare", which was subsequently released into the public domain.