Karen Page
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Karen Page is a supporting character in Marvel Comics' Daredevil series. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist John Romita, Sr., she first appeared in Daredevil #1 (April 1964).
Karen was originally the secretary for the law firm of Daredevil’s alter ego Matt Murdock. Karen and Elektra have been Daredevil’s most prominent love interests.
Like most aspects of the Daredevil mythos, her character considerably darkened when writer/artist Frank Miller oversaw Daredevil in the early 1980s. Karen became a heroin addict who sold Daredevil’s secret identity, causing him innumerable problems. In subsequent years, she redeemed herself, but was killed by Daredevil's adversary Bullseye in Daredevil vol. 2, #5 (March 1998), a move that is highly controversial with fans.
[edit] Fictional character history
Karen made her debut in Daredevil #1. Foggy Nelson hired her to be the secretary for his and Matt Murdock’s new law firm, Nelson and Murdock. Karen was beautiful, young, innocent, and naïve. She became infatuated with Matt from the moment they met, but she also soon became mesmerized by the Daredevil, Matt’s secret crime fighting alter ego.
Karen's father was Doctor Paxton Page. He faked his own kidnapping and death so that he could assume the guise of the villain "Death’s Head." Karen returned to her parents' home to investigate her father’s disappearance. Daredevil followed her. In the ensuing battle between Daredevil and Death’s Head, Death’s Head caused a vat of molten cobalt to spill over Daredevil, but realized that Karen was also in the path of the molten cobalt. This brought him back to his senses, and he pushed Daredevil and Karen to safety, causing himself to be coated in the molten cobalt, which apparently killed him.
After the battle with Death’s Head, Daredevil revealed his true identity to Karen. This caused a conflict within Karen because she was in love with both Matt the man and Daredevil the hero. She constantly feared for Matt’s safety, but Matt could not give up being the Daredevil. Quite possibly due to this conflict, Karen left Matt and moved to California to pursue an acting career.
Initially finding work as an actress in a daytime soap opera, Karen eventually became addicted to heroin and starting making pornographic movies. In the "Born Again" story arc, Karen, in need of a fix, sold Daredevil's secret identity to a drug dealer, who in turn sold it to the Kingpin. Karen was forced to return to New York, where she met up again with Matt. Matt helped Karen beat her addictions and straighten up her life. Karen eventually resumed her relationship with Matt.
During the Typhoid Mary storyline, Karen discovered that Matt had had an affair with Mary and she and Matt broke up again. They eventually reunited. Also during this period, Karen became a stronger character in the Daredevil story. She became an anti-pornography activist and even assisted Daredevil and the Black Widow each in physically battling crime on separate occasions. It was at this point that she became a radio show host under the name “Paige Angel.” Feeling that she was too dependent on Matt and that her past was a constant barrier between them, Karen left Matt to accept a talk show host position in Los Angeles.
While in California, Karen had a routine blood test for an insurance policy that she was qualifying for. The supervillain Mysterio, dying of a brain tumour and vowing to die in the grand finale of his greatest scheme ever, disguised himself as a doctor, performed the blood test, and lied to Karen telling her that she was HIV positive. This was baffling to her because, due to her previous drug addiction and lifestyle, she had been tested every six months over a span of years until her real doctors gave her a clean bill of health. Devastated, Karen returned to New York and told Matt that she was HIV positive. Shortly afterwards, she was contacted by Mysterio in another disguise, who claimed that her current state was due to an infant Daredevil was protecting, who, Mysterio claimed, was the Antichrist. Karen initially tried to get Matt to give her the baby, but Matt realised that she'd been contacted by his current foe (Although he didn't know who he was facing yet) and told her not to blame an infant for her state of health. Running off to a park to reflect on her past, Karen realised that she had to be strong for Matt, and returned to find Daredevil being mercilessly beaten with his own baton by the assassin Bullseye, who had been sent to capture the infant. Karen picked up a gun discarded by Bullseye and tried to shoot him in an attempt to save Daredevil’s life. The gun was empty, but the act impressed Bullseye and he decided to let Karen live. While leaving the scene of the attack, Bullesye suddenly turned and hurled Daredevil’s baton at him. To protect Daredevil, Karen leapt in the way of the missile and it struck her in her chest. She died in Daredevil’s arms.
After her death, Mysterio taunted Daredevil, saying how baffled he was that Karen had not bothered to get a second opinion. This may be explained by allusions made in the story that refer to Karen's feelings of guilt for her past reckless lifestyle and that she may have harbored a belief that this was her punishment for having lived such an existence. After Mysterio's death, a conversation with Spider-Man led to Daredevil realising that, although the past few weeks had been a nightmare, the infant he'd saved represented something positive that had come of the whole affair. The baby was given up for adoption to a couple in New Jersey, but, before he left, Matt named the baby after Karen, and hoped that her new parents would allow the occasional visit from her 'Uncle Matt'.
For all of her very human faults, Karen Page is widely held to have been Matt Murdock's one true love, and her death had strong repercussions on the Daredevil storyline that are still being felt and played out to this day.
[edit] Other appearances
Karen also appeared in Ghost Rider alongside Johnny Blaze as an actress in the same film where Johnny was hired as a stuntman. After a scene is interrupted by The Uncanny Orb, Karen's stuntwoman, Katy Milner, confides in Johnny about Karen's history of "unhappy romances" including the ones with Matt Murdock and Phil Hickock, and later on, Karen herself falls under the Orb's control.
[edit] In other media
In the Daredevil motion picture (2003), Karen Page is portrayed by Ellen Pompeo. Most of the scenes with Karen in them were deleted from the final theatrical cut, but they can be seen in the Daredevil Director's Cut DVD.
