Hello and thank you for putting together this helpful blog for a comics newbie. I enjoyed the show and now am LOVING the comics. I've read and collect Vol 3, 4 and part of Vol 2. I have a question about Stick and the Hand and how they are connected to Elektra. As we see In Battlin' Jack Murdock, Jack has no idea, until his final bout, that Matt can fight and has super senses. Did Stick teach him? When does Stick make his entrance? Does Jack die first? What issues explore this? Thanks again!
You’re very welcome! We’re glad you’re enjoying the wonderful world of Daredevil comics. We’ve put our answer behind a link, since it got a bit long…
We should start by saying that Battlin’ Jack Murdock is the only version of the origin story in which Jack finds out about Matt’s abilities, and so it exists in a strange place where it’s technically 616 canon, but no other writers have adopted its continuity additions. It does, however, draw on Frank Miller’s version of events (since it includes Sister Maggie), and that’s what is relevant here. Frank Miller introduced Stick, and so in this post-Frank-Miller’s-DD-run world in which we live, yes, it’s standard continuity that Stick trains Matt from pretty much right after his accident, all the way up until Matt goes off to college. Stick, as the wonderfully mysterious figure that he is, appears out of nowhere to offer Matt some hope for living with his newfound powers. How exactly he finds Matt is not entirely clear. Frank Miller’s version of events suggests that he was keeping an eye (as it were…) on Matt for years, since even before he was blinded.
(Just casually creepin’.)
Depending on how much of Volume 2 you’ve read, you may know that Ed Brubaker then changed things up to say that it was Stick’s sensei Izo who first found Matt, and then foisted him off on Stick, who at that point was just hanging around in pool halls minding his own business.
Either way, Stick gets a protege and a possible future ninja warrior for the Chaste, and Matt gets a new chance of empowerment and freedom.
Stick’s training, as you probably know, is not only about fighting. He is instrumental in helping Matt to manage his hypersenses, hone his radar sense, and thus be able to function in the sensory-packed world of New York City without going crazy. (We wish the show had touched on that more, since it’s such a vital element of Stick’s influence on Matt’s life). Though the Netflix show emphasizes Stick’s role as a parental figure for Matt, this is not quite true in the comics, because Jack is still around. However, Matt still loves his training, and values Stick as someone from whom he doesn’t have to keep secrets, and who encourages the thrill-seeking side of his personality that he is forced to suppress in his daily life.
Something we particularly enjoy about all this is the fact that Matt spends years sneaking out of the apartment at night and engaging in dangerous activities with Stick, and Jack has no clue. Given his overprotective nature and his dedication to the idea that Matt will not be a fighter, his reaction to the revelation in Battlin’ Jack Murdock is amazingly calm– though obviously, in that particular instance he has bigger things to be concerned about. If Jack had discovered Matt’s nightly martial arts and death-defying roof-hopping at any other point, he probably would have had a heart attack
Matt trains with Stick for years, before finally breaking off contact with him at some point during college. This is before Jack’s death, which takes place right before Matt’s graduation. The main established reason for Stick’s departure is his assertion that Matt is not emotionally capable of joining the Chaste, which was the end goal of the training. He draws the same conclusion about his other young student– Elektra– who he trains either before/around the same time as Matt (Elektra: Assassin continuity) or after Matt (”The Elektra Saga” continuity). The fact that both young adepts end up not working out is bad news for the Chaste, as they had been hoping for more support in their fight against the Hand (check out this post for more information on that). However, this leaves Matt and Elektra in the interesting role of semi-free agents, who are skilled enough that they end up fighting the Hand anyway– sometimes on their own, and sometimes teaming up with the Chaste– while never actually attaining full Chaste membership.
Here are some fantaSTICK (sorry) issues that explore this fascinating mentor/mentee relationship:
Daredevil: The Man Without Fear: Whenever we recommend this miniseries we have to include the caveat that it DOES NOT take place in 616 continuity. This is Frank Miller’s later re-write of the Daredevil origin story, and as such, it includes a lot of deviations (including Elektra’s entire personality). However, the relationship between Stick and Matt is portrayed wonderfully, and is pretty consistent with normal continuity.
Daredevil vol. 1 #190: This issue includes the first version of Elektra’s origin story– in which she trains with Stick after her father dies and she leaves Matt behind.
Elektra: Assassin #1: This miniseries follows one of Elektra’s many battles with the Hand. The first issue includes a later version of her backstory, in which she trains with Stick while still a teenager, before meeting Matt.
Daredevil vol. 1 #287-288 (not digitized): Matt, having lost his memory, has a series of intense lucid dreams about training with Stick and Elektra.
Daredevil vol. 1 #176-177: Stick’s introductory story arc, in which he helps adult Matt to regain his radar sense after getting his senses scrambled in an explosion.
Daredevil vol. 1 #187-189: Matt and the Black Widow team up with the Chaste to fight the Hand, and Stick dies as he lived: casually killing ninjas while calling Matt a punk.
Daredevil vol. 1 #349-350: This story arc is an awkward instance of a writer trying to connect events from Man Without Fear with 616 continuity and not quite succeeding. However, we’re including it here because it involves some great interactions and flashbacks with Matt and Stick. Matt suffers a mental breakdown/identity crisis, and Stick appears from the depths of his consciousness to try and help him work through it.
Daredevil vol. 2 #500: The final issue of Ed Brubaker’s run (we recommend reading the rest of the “Return of the King” arc for context for this issue, if you haven’t already). This includes some fun flashbacks to Izo finding Matt, as mentioned above, and even better, it includes a great conversation between Izo and his young protege, Stick, back in the days before Stick led the Chaste.
We hope this helps!