Remember Mike Murdock? Now, That Was A Good One. - Daresplaining

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Q:How old is Matt at the start of his career as Daredevil?

Anonymous

Somewhere in his early-mid 20s. It’s tough to pinpoint his exact age because superhero comics tend to be vague regarding details like that, and also because Stan Lee apparently forgot about law school while writing Daredevil #1. Matt and Foggy meet while attending some form of higher education, they graduate, and then they instantly start their law practice. Later writers have not done anything to clear this up. Loeb claims it was law school. Miller claims it was undergrad. Waid claims it was law school. Kelly claims it was undergrad. (I wish I were kidding.) But it’s during this unspecified period of Matt’s education, not long before graduation, that Jack Murdock is killed, and then shortly after graduation Matt becomes Daredevil to get justice for his murder.

image

Foggy: “You’ve gotta snap out of it, Matt! Pull yourself together, fella! That’s what your dad would have wanted! We’ll be graduating soon, and my dad’s setting me up in a law office! I want you to join me, Matt… as my partner!”

Professor: “Matthew Murdock, I am especially proud to congratulate you for being chosen class valedictorian! You have proven that an alert mind and a strong will can conquer any obstacles!”

Matt: “Thank you, sir!”

Matt: “[…] I’ll never be able to concentrate on my law work until Dad’s murderer is finally brought to justice! But years ago I promised Dad that Matt Murdock would use his head… never become a fighter… never depend on my strength, the way Dad did! I can’t break that promise I made! And yet, with my agility, my extra-sharp senses, there’s so much I could do! I can’t let all my powers go to waste! Wait! I have it! I’ll see to it that Matt Murdock never does resort to force… but somebody else will…! Somebody totally different from Matt Murdock… All I need are some old shirts which I can stitch together!”

Daredevil vol. 1 #1 by Stan Lee and Bill Everett

If it was undergraduate school, Matt was 21, and if it was law school, he was somewhat older. Since it makes more sense to assume the narrative just… glossed over the distinction between the two, rather than positing that he didn’t attend one or the other at all, logic would suggest he was most likely around 24-25.

However! Daredevil #1 also tells us that Matt was eight years old in 1950, and #53 (a later retelling of his origin) specifies that he became Daredevil in 1964, thus making him 22. In #82, he says that he has been Daredevil for four years, so we can assume at that point he was 26. (I’m sorry, bear with me. I’m on a roll. I’m gonna keep going.) But in #3 we are told that Matt lost his sight when he was fifteen, and in #76 he claims that he has been blind for fifteen years, thus making him 30 years old at that point. And then, all the way in #226 he says he still isn’t 30 yet. And that’s not even getting into the Man Without Fear continuity, which several writers (including our current guy, Chip Zdarsky) have tried to cram into 616 continuity, in which Matt became Daredevil during high school!

The point I’m trying to make here is that because of the continuity inconsistencies inherent in long-term superhero comics, as well as the sliding timescale, pinpointing actual character ages is usually futile. For me, 24-25 makes the most sense, even if it isn’t explicitly backed up by the source material, but you are welcome to draw your own conclusions!

    • #Daredevil
    • #Matt Murdock
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    • #Adventures in Continuity
  • 7 years ago
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  30. daresplaining said: @elflikesfrogs Ah, the joys of the sliding timescale… I agree, 29 does feel like a good permanent age for volume 1 Matt.
  31. daresplaining said: @froggynelson Yeah, that really is the healthiest attitude to have toward the whole thing. What is age? Time is an illusion.
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  38. froggynelson said: also bendis throwing that line about it being 2 years since elektra died was specifically targeted to make me say mean words online. no she didn’t. gives me the same hateful feelings that looking at dc compressed timelines does
  39. froggynelson said: ignoring law school was one thing, but also ignoring the time doing internships and the time needed to establish yourself as a public figure in a private practice is another. if matt ever said he is in his late 20s in any date later than 1975 he was in denial about being in his early 30s
  40. froggynelson said: after i got really mad looking at a dc timeline and the ages shown in them and a letters column soon after, i came to the no prize solution of “characters lie about their ages including to themselves”. no amount of panel sweeping and note taking will make me believe matt is in his late 20s in born again. or bendis
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