Category: Daredevil

By Roy Thomas, Gene Colan, Barry Smith, Gerry Conway & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-1724-7

Marvel Comics built its fan-base through audacious, contemporary stories with spectacular art and by creating a shared continuity that closely followed the characters through not just their own titles but also through the many guest appearances in other comics. Such an interweaving meant that even today completists and fans seek out extraneous stories simply to get a fuller picture of their favourites’ adventures.

In such an environment, series such as ‘Essential‘ and DC’s ‘Showcase‘ are an invaluable and economical format which approaches the status of a public service for collectors and fans. This particular edition, reprinting the exploits of a very different Daredevil to the one radicalised urban vigilante of Frank Miller and his successors, covers the period from February 1969 (#49) to March 1971 (#74), and includes Iron Man #35-36 wherein two complex extended storylines converged and somewhat confusingly concluded (see what I mean about cross-collecting?).

Matt Murdock is a blind lawyer whose other senses hyper-compensate, making him a astonishing acrobat, formidable fighter and a living lie-detector. Very much a second-string hero for most of his early years, Daredevil was nonetheless a very popular one, due in large part to the captivatingly humanistic art of Gene Colan. He fought gangsters, a variety of super-villains and even the occasional or monster alien invasion. He quipped and wise-cracked his way through life and life-risking combat, utterly unlike the grim, moody quasi-religious metaphor he’s been seen as in latter years.

In these tales from the pivotal era of relevancy, social awareness and increasing political polarisation the man Without Fear was also growing into the conscience of a generation…

The action commences with Stan Lee’s final scripts on the sightless crusader. ‘Daredevil Drops Out’ (#49), illustrated by Colan and the great George Klein, saw Murdock as the target of a robotic assassin built by Mad-Scientist-for-Hire Starr Saxon; a tense action-packed thriller which grew into something very special with the second chapter ‘If in Battle I Fall…!’ when neophyte penciller Barry Smith stepped in, ably augmented by veteran inker Johnny Craig.

Lee left comics Boy Wonder Roy Thomas to finish up for him in ‘Run, Murdock, Run!’ (Daredevil #51, with art by Smith & Klein), a wickedly gripping, frantically escalating psychedelic thriller which saw Saxon uncover the hero’s greatest secret as the Man Without Fear succumbed to toxins in his bloodstream and went berserk. The saga ended in stunning style on ‘The Night of the Panther!’ (Smith &Craig) as African Avenger Black Panther joined the hunt for the out-of-control DD and subsequently helped contain, if not defeat, the dastardly Saxon.

Moreover the ending blew away all the conventions of traditional Fights ‘n’ Tights melodrama and still shocks me today…

Colan & Klein returned for #53’s ‘As it Was in he Beginning…’ as Thomas reprised, revised and expanded Stan Lee’s origin script from Daredevil #1 whilst the hero came to a bold decision, executed in #54 as ‘Call him Fear!’ featured the “death” of Matt Murdock and the triumphant return of long-lost villain Mr. Fear. ‘Cry Coward!’ (beginning a superb inking run by the legendary Syd Shores) revealed DD’s desperate reason for faking his demise and saw the end of one of Horn-Head’s greatest foes.

‘…And Death Came Riding!’ opened a tense two-parter which forever changed Murdock’s relationship with the perennially loved-from-afar Karen Page and introduced a stunningly sinister new menace in Death’s-Head. By the end of ‘In the Midst of Life…!’ Matt and Karen were enjoying the most progressive and mature relationship in mainstream comics…

‘Spin-Out on Fifth Avenue!’ started to re-establish some civilian stability as the resurrected Mr. Murdock became a prosecutor for New York  District Attorney Foggy Nelson and went after a mysterious new gang-boss dubbed Crime-Wave. As the soap operatic plot-threads took hold new threats were waiting such as the amped-up biker Stunt-Master and #59’s far nastier hired assassin who proved ‘The Torpedo Will Get You if you Don’t Watch Out!’

‘Showdown at Sea!’ finished the career of the insidious Crime-Wave and signalled a return to single issue action-based stories beginning with ‘Trapped… by the Trio of Doom!’ featuring a spectacular struggle against Cobra, Mr. Hyde and The Jester whilst the Batman analogue from the Squadron Sinister (see Essential Avengers volume 4) attempted to destroy DD in ‘Quoth the Nighthawk “Nevermore”!’

Horn-Head stopped deadly psychopath Melvin Potter from busting out of jail in ‘The Girl… or the Gladiator’ at the cost of his love-life, then followed the star-struck Karen to Hollywood and took out his bad mood on a handy hood in ‘Suddenly… The Stunt-Master!’ Murdock stayed in Los Angeles to oversee Karen’s first acting gig – a pastiche of then-hot spooky TV show Dark Shadows – and stopped her becoming part of a murder spree in ‘The Killing of Brother Brimstone’, a classy whodunit which cataclysmically climaxed in ‘…And One Cried Murder!’

Still stuck on the West Coast DD tackled another old enemy as ‘Stilt-Man Stalks the Soundstage’ with the now-reformed Stunt-Master ably assisting our hero. Matt finally left Karen to the vicissitudes of Tinseltown, landing in New York just in time to become embroiled in a plot blending radical politics and the shady world of Boxing – ‘The Phoenix and the Fighter.’

The Black Panther returned seeking a favour in ‘A Life on the Line’ as kid gangs and the birth of the “Black Power” movement leapt from the news headlines to comicbook pages and youth protest also inspired the seditious menace of ‘The Tribune’ (written by Gary Friedrich) as youthful ideologues, cynical demagogues and political bombers tore the city apart. The unrest peaked in Daredevil #71 as Roy Thomas returned for his swansong to script the concluding ‘If An Eye Offend Thee…!’

New sensation Gerry Conway took over the scripting with the next issue, easing himself in with an interdimensional fantasy frolic as DD encountered a mirror dwelling mystery man named Tagak in ‘Lo! The Lord of the Leopards!’ before plunging readers into an ambitious crossover yarn which began in Iron Man #35 wherein the Armoured Avenger, seductive free agent Madame Masque and Nick Fury all wanted ‘Revenge!’ (Conway, Don Heck & Mike Esposito) for the near-fatal wounding of S.H.I.E.L.D agent Jasper Sitwell by the mercenary Spymaster.

Their efforts were somehow fuelling an alien artefact called the Zodiac Key and, when its creators sucked DD into the mix to battle Spymaster and a bunch of super-villains affiliated to the cosmic device, everybody got shanghaied to another universe in ‘Behold… the Brotherhood!’ (Daredevil #73, illustrated by Colan & Shores) before the epic concluded with extreme briskness in Iron Man #36.

Oddly though, ‘Among Us Stalks the Ramrod!’ (Conway, Heck & Esposito) concludes the crossover by page 8, yet continues for another 12 with the remainder of Shell-Head’s battle against an alien terra-former. Moreover the episode ends on a cliffhanger you’ll need Essential Iron Man Volume 3 to see resolved…

Daredevil #74 concludes this impressive outing with a mercifully complete conundrum as DD finds himself ‘In the Country of the Blind!’ and must thwart a criminal plot to cripple New York…

The social upheaval of the period produced a lot of impressively earnest material that only hinted at the true potential of Daredevil. These beautifully illustrated yarns may occasionally jar with their heartfelt stridency but the honesty and desire to be a part of a solution rather than blithely carry on as if nothing was happening affords them a potency that no historian, let alone comics fan, can dare to ignore.

And the next volume heads even further into uncharted territory…

© 1969, 1970, 1971, 2005 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

New, Revised review

By Stan Lee, Gene Colan & various (Marvel)
ISBN 0-7851-905239-1462-9

Marvel Comics built its fan-base through strong and contemporarily relevant stories and art, but most importantly, by creating a shared continuity that closely followed the characters through not just their own titles but also through the many guest appearances in other comics. Such an interweaving meant that even today completists and fans seek out extraneous stories to get a fuller picture of their favourites’ adventures. In such an environment, series such as ‘Essential’ and DC’s ‘Showcase’ are an economical and valuable product that approaches the status of a public service for collectors.

This particular edition, reprinting the exploits of a very different Daredevil to the one radicalised into a grim urban vigilante by Frank Miller and his successors from the 1980’s onwards, covers the period from March 1967 (#26) to January 1969 (#48), and includes the first Annual plus Fantastic Four #73 where a long-running storyline concluded (see what I mean about cross-collecting?).

The adventures are fairly typical 1960’s action-fodder. Matt Murdock is a blind lawyer whose other senses hyper-compensate, making him a formidable acrobat and fighter, and a human lie-detector. Very much a second-string hero for most of his early years, he was nonetheless a popular one, due in large part to the incredibly humanistic art of Gene Colan. He fought gangsters and a variety of super-villains, and even the occasional alien invasion. He also joked and wise-cracked his way through life, unlike the grim and moody quasi-religious metaphor he’s been seen as in latter years.

The action commences with marked improvement in overall story quality as Stan Lee began to use longer soap operatic plot-threads to string together the unique fight scenes of increasingly bold Gene Colan, who was finally shaking off the last remnants of his predecessor’s art style. In a very short time John Romita had made the character his own before moving on to Spider-Man, so when Colan took over he kept the clipped solid, almost chunky lines whilst drawing the Man without Fear, but increasingly drew everything else in his loose, fluid, near-tonal manner.

This clash of visuals was slow to pass but by the time of ‘Stilt-Man Strikes Again’ (DD #26, March 1967) a leaner, moodier hero was emerging. The major push of the next few issues was to turn the hopeless romantic triangle of Matt Murdock, best friend/Law partner Foggy Nelson and their secretary Karen Page into a whacky quadrangle by introducing fictitious twin brother Mike, who would be “revealed” as Daredevil to divert suspicion from the blind attorney who actually battled all those weird villains…

Confused yet…?

Also skulking in the background was arch-villain Masked Marauder who was closing in on DD’s alter ego. He got a lot closer in ‘Mike Murdock Must Die!’ (inked by Frank Giacoia) as Stilt-Man teamed with the Marauder and Spider-Man clashed with old Horn-Head before the villains met their apparent ends.

DD had his first clash with extraterrestrials in #28’s moody one-trick-pony ‘Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor’s Planet!’ a Dick Ayers inked thriller wherein the invaders’ blindness rays proved inexplicably ineffective against the Crimson Crime-buster.

John Tartaglione inked the next tale, a solid, action-packed gangster thriller entitled ‘Unmasked!’ whilst issue #30 began a protracted and impressive epic clash with old Thor foes the Cobra and Mister Hyde, complete with Asgardian cameo in ‘…If There Should Be a Thunder God!’

Attempting to catch the criminals DD masqueraded as Thor only to encounter the real McCoy, and was ambushed by the villains once the Thunderer departed. As a result DD lost his compensating hyper-senses and had to undertake a ‘Blind Man’s Bluff!’ which almost fooled Cobra and Hyde… Sadly it all went wrong before it all came right and against all odds Murdock regained his abilities just in time ‘…To Fight the Impossible Fight!’

Daredevil #33 saw the entire cast head to Canada for Expo ’67 (the World’s Fair) encountering another borrowed villain in ‘Behold… the Beetle!’ and its frenetic sequel ‘To Squash the Beetle!’ The first Annual follows; a visually impressive but lacklustre rogues’ gallery riot as five old foes ganged up on Daredevil in ‘Electro and the Emissaries of Evil!’ with the Man without Fear putting a pretty definitive smack-down on the electric felon, the Matador, Gladiator, Stilt-Man and Leapfrog.

Of more interest are the ‘Inside Daredevil’ pages, explaining his powers, how his Billy Club works and the Matt/Mike Murdock situation, with stunning pin-ups of Karen, Foggy, Ka-Zar, DD and a host of old foes. Rounding out the experience is a short comedy tale ‘At the Stroke of Midnight!: an Actual Unrehearsed Story Conference with (and by) Stan and Gene!’

‘Daredevil Dies First!’ pitted the sightless wonder against old Fantastic Four foe Trapster, but Horn-Head was only a stepping-stone in his complex plan to destroy the World’s premier super-team. However DD managed to turn the tables in #36’s ‘The Name of the Game is Mayhem!’ (inked by Giacoia) a clash that left the blind hero weakened and easy prey for another FF arch-foe. Tartaglione returned to ink the startling ‘Don’t Look Now, But It’s… Doctor Doom!’

Helpless before the Iron Dictator DD was trapped in ‘The Living Prison!’ (Giacoia inks) as Doom swapped bodies with the sightless crusader to facilitate an ambush on the FF which culminated in a stupendous Battle Royale in Fantastic Four #73’s crossover conclusion as the Torch, Thing and Mr. Fantastic fought DD, Thor and Spider-Man in ‘The Flames of Battle…’ (by Lee, Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott). When involved in mind-swap cases it’s always prudent to advise your friends when you regain your original body…

DD finally got to battle some of his own bad-guys in #39 as old foes the Ani-Men returned with a new name and a new boss. ‘The Exterminator and the Super-Powered Unholy Three’ (inked by George Tuska) reintroduced Bird-Man, Ape-Man and Cat-Man in the pay of a criminal genius working with time-based weapons, but the real meat of the tale was Foggy Nelson’s campaign to become New York City’s District Attorney and his revived relationship with ex-con Deborah Harris: now Matt Murdock’s only rival for Karen’s affections was his imaginary twin brother Mike…

That story proceeded in #40, resulting in a spectacular clash ‘The Fallen Hero!’ (inked by Tartaglione) and concluded the only way it could in ‘The Death of Mike Murdock!’ as Matt took advantage of his final battle with the Exterminator to end the charade. He didn’t come clean though, as Daredevil revealed that Mike was only one of a number of Men without Fear in the first part of a prolonged battle with a new nemesis as ‘Nobody Laughs at The Jester!’ (inked by Dan Adkins).

The Malevolent Mountebank only wanted to be more successful as a criminal than he had been as an actor until mayoral candidate Richard Raleigh hired him to spoil incorruptible Foggy Nelson’s campaign for the D.A. post; precipitating a protracted saga which kicked off with a temporarily befuddled DD ‘In Combat with Captain America!’ (inked by Vince Colletta) before being framed for killing the Jester’s alter ego Jonathan Powers in #44’s ‘I, Murderer!’

Defeated by the Jester in ‘The Dismal Dregs of Defeat!’, Horn-Head became a wanted fugitive and after a frenetic manhunt was finally arrested before snatching victory in the thoroughly enthralling conclusion ‘The Final Jest!’ as inker extraordinary George Klein began a long and impressive association with the series.

With the Vietnam War raging a story involving the conflict was inevitable, but #47’s ‘Brother, Take My Hand!’ was so much more than a quick cash-in or even well-meaning examination of contemporary controversy, as Marvel found a new African-American character (one of far too few in those blinkered times).

Newly-blinded veteran Willie Lincoln turned to Matt Murdock and Daredevil for help on his return home. A disgraced cop framed by gang-boss Biggie Benson before joining the army, Lincoln was now back in America to clear his name… at all costs. This gripping, life-affirming crime thriller not only triumphs in Daredevil’s natural milieu of moody urban menace but also sets up a long-running plot that would ultimately change the Man without Fear forever.

The book ends with the return of Stilt-Man in ‘Farewell to Foggy’ as Matt’s oldest friend wins the election for D.A. but acrimoniously turns his back on Murdock, seemingly forever.

This is a good place to end as Stan Lee would hand over the scripting to Roy Thomas soon after this and the social turbulence that marked the end of the 1960s would begin to transform the dashing, wise-cracking Daredevil into something closer to his current dark archetype. But that’s for another volume…

© 1967, 1968, 1969, 2004 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.