Mark Waid's Daredevil is popularly known as the cancer arc, and I must admit that I often refer to it that way, too.
This run revolves around Foggy's unfortunate situation.
In this run, we see Matt's life turned upside down for several reasons and Foggy is the key player here.
I'm not going to go into Matt in depth here, for I just want more people to appreciate Franklin Nelson as a character beyond Matt and Daredevil.
Which isn't too hard to see. There are countless stories throughout Marvel where we can see Foggy existing perfectly without Matt on his back.
And here, in this run by Waid, we have a beautiful example of that.
It would be easy to separate Foggy’s storyline and simply forget that you’re reading a Daredevil comic.
From Foggy trying to live a healthy life, working alone in their office, to his breakdown dealing with his best friend’s apparent madness while also rushing to get medical tests, until he gets his diagnosis...
And even though Foggy can barely stand on his own, he joins a discussion group where he is hospitalized to help lift the spirits of other cancer patients. When it's his turn to lead the group, he talks about how he learned to be brave like Daredevil.
“To my fellow cancer fighters. Today, it is my turn... to lead the discussion group. So please accept my gift. I wish to talk about how important it is... to stay courageous... in this fight. See you at 2:00. Yrs, Foggy.”
Foggy is now a Daredevil fan, I would say. It took him years to understand Matt and his double life, along with his reckless adventures and betrayals.
But when he learned that Matt can't live without being Daredevil, Foggy embraced it. He will never stop worrying about Matt's health - physical and mental - of course. But he is grateful to have Matt - and Daredevil - as his friend.
And It's these moments where Foggy expresses gratitude amidst vulnerability that truly make him such a relatable character.
Foggy is generous with his time, energy and resources; he has always felt good doing good for others. He is a happy giver.
He doesn’t give up. He doesn’t complain, he doesn’t lament his fate. He doesn’t turn to God either to blame Him or to beg for a cure.
He is simply grateful to be alive and to be able to help others; something he has always loved to do.
Foggy doesn’t need powers to do good.
He feels fear, like any sane human being. He simply doesn’t freeze in the face of adversity.
He’s like Matt, who said, in this same run, that if he could see the dangers he faced, he would be afraid.*
Foggy, however, can see, he can feel the disease consuming him day after day. He knows his fate is uncertain. He is afraid, but he still does what must be done.
And that is what it means to be fearless.
Daredevil Issue-31 / 2011
Waid
Samnee
Rodriguez
