Daredevil (Lev Gleason Publications)

Daredevil
Daredevil, from the cover of Daredevil Comics #5 (November 1941), art by Charles Biro.
Publication information
PublisherLev Gleason Publications
AC Comics
Image Comics
Dynamite Entertainment
First appearanceSilver Streak #6 (September 1940)
Created byJack Binder (writer-artist)
Don Rico[1]
Revamped by Jack Cole
In-story information
Alter egoBart Hill
Bill Hart[1]
Team affiliationsLittle Wise Guys
(AC Comics) Sentinels of Justice
Notable aliasesThe Dynamic Daredevil, Reddevil, Doubledare, Death-Defying 'Devil
AbilitiesHighly athletic
Superior reflexes
Skilled acrobat, boxer and martial artist
Expert boomerang marksman

Daredevil is a fictional superhero created by Jack Binder, who starred in comics from Lev Gleason Publications during the 1930s–1940s period that historians and fans call the Golden Age of comic books. The character was 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.

As a child, Bart Hill had been rendered mute by the shock of seeing his father murdered and himself being branded with a hot iron. Orphaned, he grew up to become a boomerang marksman, in homage to the boomerang-shaped scar left on his chest. Like Batman, introduced a year earlier, he took up a costume to wage vigilante vengeance.[2]

Editor Jack Cole, who would create the classic Plastic Man a year later, revamped the character in the next issue as Bill Hart, pitting him against Silver Streak's lead character, the villainous Claw, for a five-issue battle that made Daredevil a star.[3]

  1. ^ a b "Daredevil I". The Superhero Book: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Comic-Book Icons and Hollywood Heroes. Visible Ink Press. 2012. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  2. ^ Misiroglu, Gina (2012). The Superhero Book: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Comic-Book Icons and Hollywood Heroes. Visible Ink Press. pp. 103–105. ISBN 9781578593972.
  3. ^ Benton, Mike (1992). Superhero Comics of the Golden Age: The Illustrated History. Dallas: Taylor Publishing Company. pp. 92–94. ISBN 0-87833-808-X. Retrieved January 15, 2020.