The advance cover previews for Daredevil #20 showed the Man Without Fear in his black armor variant costume. Traditionally, Matt Murdock only wears this costume when he knows he will need the extra protection. However, the opening scene of the issue confirms he has a different reason for donning the armor this time.
Written by Saladin Ahmed with art by José Luis Soares Pinto, Daredevil #20 opens with Matt Murdock in a dour mood. The death of Bullseye still weighs heavily upon the Man Without Fear. While it may not have been his fault, it was still his responsibility.
Ever heroic, this depression does not stop Matt from stepping in to search for a missing girl. However, he cannot bear to wear his classic red costume due to the smell of Bullseye’s blood still tainting it. This, coupled with the need for a change, leads him to wear his black armored costume.
The first four pages of Daredevil #20 can be viewed below:
Matt Murdock’s black armored super-suit first appeared in 1993’s Daredevil #321. This was at the height of the Dark Age of Comics, when many classic superheroes were revamped to greater extremes. In the case of the Man Without Fear, this meant a new costume with metal shoulder pads and wrist-mounted batons.
Unlike many of the Dark Age revamps, the new Daredevil suit did have a practical purpose. The increased armor did enable Matt to slug it out with super-strong villains like Venom and survive. However, the classic red suit quickly returned as Matt decided the heavy armor hindered his movements more than was practical to his acrobatic fighting style. Still, the armor has reemerged when he needed the protection or, as in this case, a cleaner costume.
Daredevil #20 arrives in comic shops everywhere on April 9, 2025.