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Karen Page
Karen Page
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Daredevil (1st series) #1 (April 1964)
Created by	Stan Lee Bill Everett
In-story information
Full name	Karen Page
Supporting character of	Daredevil

Karen Page is a fictional character in Marvel Comics' Daredevil series created by writer Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett. She first appeared in Daredevil #1 (April 1964).

  Character overview

In her first appearances, Karen is 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 grew darker and more three-dimensional when writer/artist Frank Miller oversaw the comic book in the early 1980s. Karen became a heroin addict who sells Daredevil’s secret identity, causing him innumerable problems. In subsequent years, she redeems herself, but is killed by Daredevil's adversary Bullseye in Daredevil vol. 2, #5 (March 1998).

  Fictional character biography

Karen makes her debut in Daredevil #1. Foggy Nelson hires her to be the secretary for his and Matt Murdock’s new law firm, Nelson and Murdock. Karen is beautiful, young, innocent, and naïve. She is infatuated with Matt from the moment they meet, but she also soon becomes mesmerized by Daredevil, Matt’s crime fighting alter ego.

Karen's father, Doctor Paxton Page, fakes his own kidnapping and death so that he can assume the guise of the villain "Death's-Head." Karen returns to her parents' home to investigate her father’s disappearance. Daredevil follows her. In the ensuing battle between Daredevil and Death’s Head, Death’s Head spills a vat of molten cobalt over Daredevil, but realizes that Karen is endangered. This brings him back to his senses, and he pushes Daredevil and Karen to safety. He appears to die in this act of self-sacrifice, when he is coated in the molten cobalt.

After the battle with Death’s Head, Daredevil reveals his true identity to Karen. She is conflicted, as she is in love with both Matt the man and Daredevil the hero. She constantly fears for Matt’s safety, but he cannot give up fighting crime. Karen eventually leaves him and moves to California to pursue an acting career. She finds work as an actress in a daytime soap opera.

Karen then becomes addicted to heroin and starts making pornographic movies. In the "Born Again" story arc, Karen, in need of a fix, sells Daredevil's secret identity to a drug dealer, who in turn sells it to the Kingpin. Karen is forced to return to New York, where she meets up again with Matt. He helps Karen beat her addiction and straighten up her life. Karen eventually resumes her relationship with Matt.

During the Typhoid Mary storyline, Karen, who has set up household with Matt, discovers that he's been having a torrid affair with Mary (although he was manipulated into it) and she and Matt break up again. They eventually reunite, however. She becomes an anti-pornography activist and even assists Daredevil and the Black Widow each in fighting crime on separate occasions. At this point she becomes a radio show host under the name “Paige Angel.” She eventually realizes that she is too dependent on Matt and that her past is a constant barrier between them. Karen leaves Matt to accept a talk show host position in Los Angeles.

While in California, Karen has a routine blood test as part of an insurance policy application. The supervillain Mysterio disguises himself as a doctor, performs the blood test, and tells her that she is HIV positive as part of his plan to destroy Daredevil before he himself dies of a brain tumor. Devastated, Karen returns to New York and tells Matt that she is HIV positive. Later, during a fight between Daredevil and Bullseye, Karen is murdered by Bullseye. She dies in Daredevil’s arms. She is the second love of Matt Murdock's life to be killed by Bullseye (though Elektra was ultimately resurrected).

After Mysterio's death, a conversation with Spider-Man leads Daredevil to realize that the infant he's saved represents something positive that has come of the whole affair. He gives the baby up for adoption to a couple in New Jersey. Before he leaves, Matt names the baby after Karen, and hopes that her new parents will allow the occasional visit from her "Uncle Matt".

  Other appearances

Karen also appears in an issue of the comic book Ghost Rider alongside Johnny Blaze as an actress in the same film where Johnny is 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. Later on, Karen herself falls under the Orb's control.

In Marvel Two-in-One #46, Karen Page is offered a role on The Incredible Hulk TV show which was on its first season at the time. She is kidnapped by three ex-stuntmen on the show, but is saved by the Thing, who is looking for his own TV show, and the Hulk, who is annoyed at having a show about him.

  Other versions

In the What If comic What If Karen Page had lived?, Karen is narrowly saved from death when Bullseye hits her in the shoulder rather than the heart. However, with Daredevil now motivated by the fear of losing her rather than the grief he felt when he actually lost her, he kills the Kingpin in a subsequent confrontation, subsequently being arrested and sent to prison despite the testimony of other heroes simply because the legal system is ill-equipped to cope with cases like this.

  In other media

In the film adaptation of Daredevil, Karen Page is portrayed by Ellen Pompeo. Most of her scenes were deleted from the final theatrical cut, but they can be seen in the Daredevil Director's Cut DVD.