#they see him and immediately become attracted to him and he doesn't easily give himself away at first

[toyswithoutfear]

Daredevil Vol. 2 Issue 41 (2003) Bendis/Maleev

Milla Donovan's first appearance, just before she nearly gets hit by a truck and is saved by Daredevil.

There are a handful of blind characters in Daredevil - of course including Matt himself - but most of them have some supernatural means of navigating the world. Matt has his super senses, Stick has training that seems to give him similar abilities, Blindspot regains some level of vision via a sacrifice to the Beast. This doesn't necessarily negate their disability, at least not when written well, but it can easily fall into the trope of 'the magical cure': writing off a disability as not mattering due to a fantasy environment, advanced science, magic, etc. This is usually done as a 'happy ending' for the character - because, apparently, disabled people cannot be happy while still being disabled. In Matt's case, his enhanced senses and especially his radar sense are used more as a plot device to explain how he can be a typical superhero character. This is not inherently a bad thing, especially when writers make it clear that Matt is still disabled, but the history of Daredevil is rife with ableism, so Milla is in many ways a breath of fresh air.

Milla is, at her core, a normal person. She's an excellent character, who is defined as her own person before she even interacts with Matt - and, crucially, is immediately characterised as a strong, independent blind person. She has none of Matt's superpowers, but she is a capable, happy and captivating person. This provides an excellent additional viewpoint for the reader to see that disabled people are perfectly able to live fulfilled lives even without the 'magic cure' or superpowers.

The realistic, casual dialogue in Bendis' run also helps define Milla as a well-rounded character who has depth outside of being just Matt's love interest or just a disabled character. In her first appearance we see her discussing housing for the homeless, already emphasising a personal life and her own political views before we even know that she's going to be a love interest for Matt. This is refreshing compared to many of his previous love interests, who are often initially defined solely by Matt's attraction to them.

Daredevil Vol. 2 Issue 43 (2003) Bendis/Maleev

Milla stands up for herself when Matt tries to turn her down, according to him for her own safety.

Since Milla's debut is soon after Matt's identity has been leaked to newspaper tabloids, she is in the unique (at this point) position of knowing he is Daredevil before they even have a first date. This puts her on a much more even playing field compared to his past love interests, where his secret identity tends to be a cause of tension and drama within the relationship. This is emphasised by Milla immediately standing up for herself when Matt tries to tell her that she'll be in danger if they're together. Although Milla does become a victim many times over the course of her storylines (something I wish would've happened significantly less) this being one of her first conversations with Matt - and the first when he isn't in the middle of saving her life - shows that she is not going to let Matt have all the power. From the very start, Milla has autonomy in their relationship, which is excellent considering both women and disabled people are often denied this both in real life and in fiction.

Daredevil Vol. 2 Issue 46 (2003) Bendis/Maleev

Milla and her friend Lori debate the pros and cons of dating Matt.

Having prior knowledge of Matt being Daredevil gives Milla the chance to make a full, informed choice on if she wants to date him. This scene is after their first date, which is interrupted when Matt is taken in for questioning about a murder case. At this point, Milla is notably unsure about whether a relationship with Daredevil is a good idea - and understandably so, considering that they've barely met and she's already engulfed in the drama of being a superhero - and all of this makes her choice to stick with it have additional weight and meaning behind it.

Although the way she was overly victimised by Daredevil's villains and then written out of the story in an unpleasant way is extremely frustrating to me, I still find Milla to be a wonderful character, especially during Bendis' run on Daredevil. I strongly believe that Daredevil overall should have more disabled characters that aren't super powered, or at least not in a way that allows writers to depict them as essentially fully abled, and Milla is a great example of how that could be done. I hope she comes back eventually, even in just a small way that can provide closure and a better ending to her story.