Join The Community
Daredevil's rivalry with the Kingpin is the stuff of legends, but in many ways, the bloodthirsty assassin Bullseye is actually DD's most vicious and violent foe, with the best Daredevil vs. Bullseye stories focusing on Bullseye tormenting Matt Murdock by murdering, maiming, and destroying the lives of the people he loves most.
In comics, Bullseye's murder of Daredevil's lover Elektra sparks a long series of increasingly harrowing battles in which Bullseye drags the worst out of DD, always managing to slither out of whatever injuries Matt inflicts on him – even his own death – leaving the guilt-ridden anti-hero to live with the way the assassin drags him past his own moral lines.
Article continues below10. Daredevil Vol. 3 #27
Writer Mark Waid and artist Chris Samnee are one of the most beloved Daredevil creative teams of all time, and their long run on the title does of course include a showdown between Matt Murdock and Bullseye, but theirs comes with a twist. Rather than a straight on physical nemesis, Waid and Samnee's Bullseye is a criminal mastermind, pulling strings from behind the scenes.
The only downside to the finale of the story, told in 2013's Daredevil #27, is that there's not much in the way of a full-on confrontation between Daredevil and Bullseye, as Bullseye is essentially immobilized and confined to a life support system thanks to numerous injuries at Daredevil's hands, with most of the physical fighting done by Ikari, Bullseye's proxy.
9. Dark Reign: The List - Daredevil #1
No villain has a way of getting under Matt Murdock's skin like Bullseye. Murderous mayhem follows Bullseye wherever he goes, even when he's not fully engaging DD himself. Case in point, 2009's Dark Reign: The List - Daredevil #1 by writer Andy Diggle and artist Billy Tan.
In the one-shot, which takes place in the era where Spider-Man's nemesis Norman Osborne is in charge of America's security forces, Bullseye baits Daredevil into a confrontation before blowing up a whole building and leaving DD to deal with the aftermath as Bullseye escapes scot-free.
8. Daredevil Vol. 8 #19
Matt Murdock is not a murderer (at least not usually), but in 2025's Daredevil #19 by writer Saladin Ahmed and artist Aaron Kuder, which marks the climax of a long series of small confrontations between DD and Bullseye, he's forced to choose between the lives of Bullseye and Foggy Nelson. And if you can believe it, he chooses Foggy.
Despite having had one of his arms torn off by a massive demon, Bullseye pursues Foggy with an ax, blaming Daredevil for the demon maiming him. Daredevil arrives to intervene, but the demon snatches up both Foggy and Bullseye, dropping them both off a building. Daredevil saves Foggy, leaving Bullseye to hit the ground as he begs Matt to save his life.
7. Daredevil #131-132
1975's Daredevil #131 and #132 by writer Marv Wolfman and artist William Robert Brown, along with longtime DD inker Klaus Janson, is the story that started it all: Bullseye's first appearance and his first confrontation with Daredevil – though their dynamic wouldn't fully be fleshed out 'til later on.
At the time, Bullseye was a little more dramatic than chaotic, luring Daredevil to a circus tent rigged with all manner of weapons for the villain to hurl at DD, all the while monologuing about his intent to take the hero down once and for all. It's a solid two-parter, setting the stage for Matt Murdock and Bullseye to become bloodthirsty arch-enemies.
6. Daredevil #200
Not long after Bullseye's murder of Elektra (we'll get to that), Matt Murdock is drawn into a new confrontation with Bullseye who has healed from the injuries he sustained when Daredevil dropped him off a roof. The fight, which takes place in in 1983's Daredevil #200 by writer Denny O'Neil and artist William Johnson, drives Daredevil to lure Bullseye to the boxing ring where Matt's father fought.
Despite his best efforts, Matt is unable to defeat Bullseye partially because he's hampered by a broken arm. Bullseye gets the best of him, aiming a gun at his head. But instead of killing him, Bullseye chooses to leave DD with the knowledge that he could have taken his life. Still, Daredevil has one more trick up his sleeve, felling Bullseye with his billy club before beating him to a bloody pulp while declaring, "This has to end!"
5. Daredevil Vol. 6 #35
Elektra may have come back to life after being murdered by Bullseye, but as one might imagine, she still harbors a grudge over getting stabbed to death, one of the most formative moments in Daredevil history. And in 2021's Daredevil #35, by writer Chip Zdarsky and artists Stefano Landini and Francesco Mobili, she gets her shot at revenge in a knock-down-drag-out fight for the ages.
Now in the guise of Daredevil, Elektra is forced to hunt down the real Bullseye among a group of decoys and innocent hostages, chasing him down across the city in a rapid-fire series of battles. Elektra manages to corner Bullseye, taking aim at him with a gun. She debates killing him, but ultimately chooses to take him down with a non-lethal shot, showing him the mercy he refused to show her.
4. Daredevil #290
1991's Daredevil #290 by writer Ann Nocenti and artist Keiron Dwyer features one of the weirdest and most off-kilter fights between Daredevil and Bullseye, because their roles are entirely reversed with Bullseye impersonating Daredevil and Daredevil returning the favor.
The confrontation comes as the climax of a story in which Bullseye goes completely insane and starts tricking people into thinking he's Daredevil, leaving Matt Murdock scrambling to stop him while also preserving his reputation. It's incredibly intense, with Matt forced to take on Bullseye's entire persona to stop him.
3. Daredevil Vol. 2 #49
Few hero/villain rivalries are as deadly as the hatred between Matt Murdock and Bullseye. Along with killing Matt's former lover Elektra, the assassin later targeted Matt's new flame, a blind woman named Milla Donovan, attempting to kill her right under Daredevil's nose in 2003's Daredevil #49.
Instead, Daredevil completely loses it, going absolutely medieval on Bullseye, beating him to a bloody pulp before carving a crosshair symbol into his forehead with a rock, forever leaving Bullseye with scars that reflect the injuries Bullseye has inflicted on Daredevil over the years.
2. Shadowland #1
Bullseye became one of Matt Murdock's deadliest enemies by murdering Matt's ally/girlfriend Elektra by stabbing her with her own sai (more on that soon). That one act set off a tradition of excessively violent confrontations between the two, with Daredevil always stopping short of actually killing Bullseye for his crimes.
However, all that changes in 2010's Shadowland #1 by writer Andy Diggle and artist Billy Tan in which Daredevil is corrupted into being the leader of The Hand. This leads to a confrontation between Bullseye and a horde of Hand ninjas, all of whom he dispatches. But when Daredevil himself arrives, the tide turns against the assassin, with their fight ending in Daredevil stabbing Bullseye with a sai the same way Bullseye stabbed Elektra, turning Matt Murdock into a murderer in need of redemption.
1. Daredevil #181
There is no more brutal, intense fight between Daredevil and Bullseye than the one that solidified the unerringly accurate assassin as Matt Murdock's most deadly enemy in 1982's Daredevil #181 by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson. Following Bullseye's murder of Elektra, DD's enemy-turned-lover, Matt pursues Bullseye across the rooftops of Hell's Kitchen, wordlessly pummeling the villain as he desperately tries to escape and fight back.
The fight climaxes with Daredevil pulling a move that will be familiar to Born Again fans and dropping him off a roof, seemingly paralyzing him. Later, in Daredevil #191, Matt visits the helpless Bullseye in the hospital, subjecting him to intense psychological terror by simulating a game of Russian roulette as revenge for his murders.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
