WHO IS MATT MURDOCK?

A Bulletin Guest Op-Ed

By Karen Page

In the days since Vanessa Fisk made her astonishing allegation, one question has been on the lips of everyone in Hell's Kitchen: "Is Matt Murdock Daredevil?" But maybe we're asking the wrong question. Maybe we should instead be asking, "Who is Matt Murdock?" If we answer that question, it may give us the answer to the first one.

I have known Matt Murdock for three years, first as his client, then as a co-worker, and finally as his friend. This column could be a three-hankie tear-jerker about a blind orphan who overcame adversity to become a successful lawyer. It's not. Most of you probably know that story already. I don't want you to pity Matt Murdock. He doesn't want or need your pity. This story isn't about that; it's about the man he is today.

I first met Matt and his law partner, Franklin "Foggy" Nelson, when they offered to represent me after I was wrongfully accused of murdering a co-worker at Union Allied Construction, a company controlled by Wilson Fisk. We later learned that I had been framed to prevent me from disclosing wrongdoing at the company, or to discredit me if I succeeded in disclosing it. After a failed attempt on my life in the jail, they secured my release and the dismissal of the charges against me, but my life was still in danger. When we returned to their law office after my release, Matt promised to keep me safe from the people who were trying to kill me. And I did feel safe. I didn't know how a blind man could protect me if people came to kill me, but somehow I knew Matt would do everything in his power to keep me safe.

After I joined Nelson & Murdock as office manager and legal secretary, I witnessed firsthand Matt's anguish when our client Elena Cardenas was murdered, on Wilson Fisk's orders, for resisting Fisk's efforts to force her and her neighbors out of their homes. Shortly after that tragedy, I was proud to be part of the team that helped bring Fisk to justice.

Over the next year, Matt and Foggy built a practice dedicated to serving the people of Hell's Kitchen without regard to their ability to pay. We were often strapped for cash, but Matt always had faith that we would find a way to carry on our work. And we did. Even after the firm dissolved following the trial of Frank Castle, Matt continued our work with his pro bono representation of a young man seriously injured by exposure to toxic substances in the subway, a case that made headlines and brought about long-overdue change. That work continues today at Nelson & Murdock and Page Investigations.

If you've read this far, you may be thinking this is just another puff piece. I assure you it's not. Matt has flaws, like all of us. His Irish temper often gets the better of him. He can be infuriatingly stubborn and self-righteous. He pushes his friends away when he most needs to keep them close. He always wants to have the last word in an argument, even when he's in the wrong. So, no, I'm not proposing Matt Murdock for sainthood.

If you take only one thing away from this article, let it be this: Matt Murdock is a man of faith. His faith has been tested many times, but it is deep and strong. At its core is his belief that anyone, even the worst among us, can be redeemed. He has built his life and his work on that foundation.

This is who Matt Murdock is. Is he Daredevil? You decide.

Karen Page is an investigator with the Hell's Kitchen-based law firm of Nelson & Murdock and an occasional contributor to the Bulletin.###

Foggy dropped the pages on his desk and looked up at Karen. "Left out a few things, didn't you?"

"That's the point."

"Understood. But it cuts both ways. Everything you're saying can support an argument that Matt isn't Daredevil – or he is."

"You think?"

Foggy nodded. "And there's one other thing: Matt will absolutely hate it."

"So you're saying I shouldn't publish it?"

"Right." Foggy picked up the article and glanced at it again, then handed it to Karen. "But I think you should show it to Matt."

Karen gave him a puzzled look. "Didn't you just say he would hate it?"

"If you publish it, yes."

"What're you trying to tell me, Foggy?"

"Remember when Matt was doing his undercover thing with Owlsley?" Karen nodded. "I told him you and he needed to figure out what the hell you two were doing, when he came back. That never happened, did it?"

"No. He never said anything."

"So do it now. Let him read this – " Foggy gestured toward the article in Karen's hand. "Then talk to him."

"I don't know what to say," Karen protested.

"You already said it," Foggy told her. "Just talk to him. You'll figure it out."

She studied the paper in her hand for a moment, then folded it and stuck it in her pocket before she returned to her own office.

Author's Note: In case anyone is wondering, I never wrote the scene where Karen shows her op-ed to Matt.