{"id":28598,"date":"2023-09-09T08:00:24","date_gmt":"2023-09-09T08:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=28598"},"modified":"2023-09-08T17:54:09","modified_gmt":"2023-09-08T17:54:09","slug":"daredevil-epic-collection-volume-6-watch-out-for-bullseye-1974-1976","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2023\/09\/09\/daredevil-epic-collection-volume-6-watch-out-for-bullseye-1974-1976\/","title":{"rendered":"Daredevil Epic Collection volume 6: Watch Out For Bullseye (1974-1976)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\" \"\"
\nBy Steve Gerber<\/strong>, Tony Isabella<\/strong>, Marv Wolfman<\/strong>, Chris Claremont<\/strong>, Gerry Conway<\/strong>, Len Wein<\/strong>, Bob Brown<\/strong>, Gene Colan<\/strong>, Don Heck<\/strong>, Sal Buscema <\/strong>& various (MARVEL)
\nISBN: 978-1-3029-4867-2 (TPB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

Matt Murdock<\/em> is a blind lawyer whose remaining senses hyper-compensate, enabling him to accomplish astonishing acrobatic feats, and making him a formidable fighter and a living lie-detector. Very much a second-string hero in his formative years, Daredevil<\/strong> was nonetheless a striking and popular one, due in large part to the roster of brilliant artists who had illustrated the strip. He only really came into his own, however, after artist Gene Colan signed up for the long haul\u2026<\/p>\n

DD<\/strong> battled thugs, gangsters, an eclectic mix of established and new super-villains and even the occasional monster or alien invasion. He quipped and wise-cracked his way through life and life-threatening combat, utterly unlike the grim, moody quasi-religious metaphor he became under modern authorial regimes.<\/p>\n

In these tales from an era when relevancy, social awareness and political polarisation was shifting gradually back to science fiction and fantasy, the Man Without Fear was also growing: becoming in many ways the judicial conscience of a generation turning its back on old values\u2026<\/p>\n

Covering March 1974 – April 1976 this compilation chronologically curates Daredevil<\/strong> #108-132, plus a crossover into Marvel Two-in-One <\/strong>#3 wherein twin storylines converged and concluded. This tome sees cultural gadfly Steve Gerber taking the odd couple into strange territory before later scribes reset things on a more traditional Marvel trajectory\u2026<\/p>\n

After spending years in a disastrous on-again, off-again relationship with his secretary Karen Page<\/em>, Murdock took up with former client\/exotic \u00e9migr\u00e9 and notorious celebrity dubbed The Black Widow<\/strong>. Natasha Romanoff<\/em>\/Natalia Romanova<\/em> is a Soviet-era Russian spy who came in from the cold and stuck around to become one of Marvel\u2019s earliest and most successful female stars.<\/p>\n

She started life as a svelte, sultry honey-trap during Marvel\u2019s early \u201cCommie-busting\u201d days, targeting Iron Man<\/strong> in her debut exploit (Tales of Suspense<\/strong> #52, April 1964) before subsequently being redesigned as a torrid tights-&-tech supervillain. Eventually, she defected to the USA, falling for an assortment of Yankee superheroes before enlisting as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., freelance do-gooder and occasional Avenger<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Throughout her career she has always been considered ultra-efficient, coldly competent, deadly dangerous and yet somehow cursed to bring doom and disaster to her paramours. As her backstory evolved, it was revealed that Natasha had undergone experimental processes which enhanced her physical capabilities and lengthened her lifespan, as well as assorted psychological procedures which had messed up her mind and memories\u2026<\/p>\n

Following a period of cosmic intensity which saw them battling aliens and monsters in San Francisco as part of the first war against Thanos<\/strong>, a new direction began in #108 after DD rebukes the Widow for using increasingly excessive force on the thugs they stalked. In \u2018Cry<\/em>\u2026 Beetle\u2019<\/em> (by Gerber, Bob Brown & Paul Gulacy) their heated arguments are forcibly curtailed when Matt\u2019s oldest friend – and current New York DA Franklin \u201cFoggy<\/em>\u201d Nelson<\/em> – is shot and she refuses to rush back to the East Coast beside Murdock. If she had, the Widow might have helped against the mechanised marauder and mystery troops from a new terrorist organisation\u2026<\/p>\n

In #109, Matt meets Foggy\u2019s radical student sister Candace<\/em> and learns of a plot by the mysterious criminal gang Black Spectre<\/em> seek to steal government printing plates but – rapidly en route to stop the raid – the Scarlet Swashbuckler is intercepted by a larcenous third party whose brutal interference allows the sinister plotters to abscond with the money-making plates. Even the cops can\u2019t slow the bludgeoning rematch against the Beetle in \u2018Dying for Dollar$!\u2019<\/em> (Brown & Heck), but as the exo-skeletoned thugs break away in Manhattan, in San Francisco Natasha is attacked by vicious albino mutant Nekra, Priestess of Darkness<\/em>, who tries to forcibly recruit her into Black Spectre.<\/p>\n

After tracking down and defeating the Beetle, DD meets Africa-based hero Shanna the She-Devil<\/em>, unaware the fiery American ex-pat is seeking bloody vengeance against the same enemies who have attacked Foggy, Natasha and the US economy\u2026<\/p>\n

The next chapter came in Marvel Two-in-One<\/strong> #3 (May 1974, by Gerber, Sal Buscema & Joe Sinnott), providing a peek \u2018Inside Black Spectre!\u2019<\/em> as destabilising attacks on prosperity and culture foment riot in the streets of the beleaguered nation. Following separate clue trails, The Thing<\/strong> joins the Man without Fear to invade the cabal\u2019s aerial HQ, but are improbably overcome soon after discovering the Black Widow has defected to the rebels\u2026<\/p>\n

Daredevil<\/strong> #110 sees the return of Gene Colan – inked by Frank Chiaramonte – as the perfidious plot develops in \u2018Birthright!\u2019<\/em>, revealing Black Spectre to be an exclusively female-staffed organisation, led by pheromone-emitting male mutant Mandrill<\/em>. One of the first \u201cChildren of the Atom\u201d, the ape-like creature had suffered appalling abuse and rejection until finding equally ostracised Nekra. Once they met and realised their combined power, they swore to make America pay\u2026<\/p>\n

Brown & Jim Mooney render \u2018Sword of the Samurai!\u2019<\/em> in #111, with DD and Shanna attacked by a formidable Japanese warrior, even as the She-Devil discloses her tragic reasons for hunting Nekra and Mandrill. When she too is taken by Black Spectre – who want to dissect her to discover how she can resist Mandrill\u2019s influence – DD is attacked again by the outrageously powerful sword-wielding Silver Samurai<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n

Triumphing over impossible odds, DD infiltrates the cabal\u2019s flying fortress in #112 to spectacularly conclude the insurrection in \u2018Death of a Nation?\u2019<\/em> (Colan & Frank Giacoia), which finds the mutant duo seemingly achieving their ultimate goal by desecrating the White House and temporarily taking (symbolic) control of America.<\/p>\n

\u2026 But only until Shanna, freshly-liberated Natasha and the fighting mad Man Without Fear marshal their utmost resources\u2026<\/p>\n

Even with his epic over, Gerber kept popping away at contemporary socio-political issues, as with #113\u2019s \u2018When Strikes the Gladiator!\u2019<\/em> (Brown & Vince Colletta), opening with the Widow calling it a day, continues with Candace arrested for treason, teases with her then being kidnapped by one of DD\u2019s most bloodthirsty foes and climaxes with the creation of a major new villain and an attack by one of Marvel\u2019s most controversial monster heroes\u2026<\/p>\n

Ted Sallis<\/em> was a government scientist hired to recreate the Super-Soldier serum that created Captain America<\/strong>. Due to corporate interference and what we today call \u201cmission creep\u201d, the project metamorphosed into a fall-back plan to turn humans into beings able to thrive in the most polluted, toxic environment\u2026<\/p>\n

When Sallis was subsequently captured by spies and consumed his serum to stop them from stealing it, he was transformed into a horrific mindless Man-Thing<\/strong> and vanished into the swamps of Florida\u2026<\/p>\n

Idealistic journalism student Candace had uncovered illicit links between Big Business, her own university and the Military\u2019s misuse of public funds in regard to the Sallis Project, but when she attempted to blow the whistle, the government decided to shut her up. More worryingly, sinister scientific mastermind Death-Stalker<\/em> imagined far more profitable uses for a solution that made unkillable monsters\u2026<\/p>\n

Trailing Candy\u2019s abductors to Citrusville<\/em>, Florida, Daredevil is ambushed by Gladiator and his macabre employer, but saved after a furious fracas by the mysterious muck-monster in #114\u2019s ironically entitled \u2018A Quiet Night in the Swamp!\u2019<\/em> (Brown & Colletta). Death<\/em>-Stalker<\/em> unfortunately escapes to New York, trying to kill Foggy and restart the clandestine Sallis Project. Though DD foils the maniac in #115\u2019s \u2018Death Stalks the City!\u2019<\/em>, the staggering duel ends inconclusively and the potential mass-murderer\u2019s body cannot be found\u2026<\/p>\n

Colan & Colletta reunited for \u2018Two Flew Over the Owl\u2019s Nest!\u2019<\/em> as Daredevil jets back to San Francisco to reconcile with Natasha, only to blunder into the latest criminal enterprise of one of his oldest enemies. This time however, The Owl<\/em> isn\u2019t waiting to be found, launching an all-out attack on the unsuspecting and barely reconciled heroic couple.<\/p>\n

Chris Claremont scripted the conclusion over Gerber\u2019s plot, with Brown & Colletta back on the art as Natasha and Shanna desperately hunt for the missing Man without Fear, before the avian arch-criminal can add him to a pile of purloined personalities trapped in his diabolical computerised \u2018Mind Tap!\u2019<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n

With Gerber moving on to other projects, a little messy creative shuffling results in #118\u2019s \u2018Circus Spelled Sideways is Death!\u2019<\/em> (Gerry Conway, Don Heck & Colletta). Here Daredevil leaves Natasha, resettles in New York and promptly battles the infamous but always-inept Circus of Crime<\/em> and their latest star turn – bat-controlling masked nut Blackwing<\/em>, after which Tony Isabella takes the authorial reins with a clever piece of sentimental back-writing. Rendered by Brown & Heck, \u2018They\u2019re Tearing Down Fogwell\u2019s Gym!\u2019<\/em> sees Murdock negotiating a plea deal for Candace, whilst the man who trained his boxer father Battling Jack Murdock<\/em> comes by with a little problem. It seems a crazy crooked doctor is offering impossible muscle and density boosting treatments that turns bantamweight pugilists into unstoppable rock-hard heavyweight brutes\u2026<\/p>\n

Crafted by Isabella, Brown & Colletta, Daredevil<\/strong> #120 began an extended saga focussing on the re-emergence of the world\u2019s most powerful secret society. \u2018<\/em>\u2026 And a Hydra New Year!\u2019<\/em> sees Black Widow hit New York for one last attempt to make the rocky relationship work, only to find herself – with Matt and Foggy – knee-deep in Hydra troops at a Christmas party.<\/p>\n

The resurgent terrorist tribe has learned America\u2019s greatest security agency needs to recruit a legal expert as one of their Board of Directors and – determined to prevent the accession of \u2018Foggy Nelson, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D\u2019<\/em> at all costs – have dispatched the formidable wild man El Jaguar<\/em> and an army of masked thugs to stop him before he can start. Thankfully, Nick Fury<\/strong> and his crack commandos arrive in time to drive off the attackers but the rumour is true and Foggy is now a marked man\u2026<\/p>\n

The revived organisation has scoured the ranks of the criminal classes (and Marvel\u2019s back catalogue) for its return and B-Listers like Dreadnought<\/em>, Commander Kraken<\/em>, Man-Killer<\/em>, Mentallo<\/em>, The Fixer<\/em>, Blackwing<\/em> and many other not-so golden oldies who happily toil for the enigmatic new Supreme Hydra<\/em> as he strives to take out increasingly harried Foggy. Eventually, they succeed in capturing the portly District Attorney and the Widow goes off the deep end in #122\u2019s \u2018Hydra-and-Seek\u2019<\/em>, turning New York into a war-zone as she hunts for clues, culminating in a brutal showdown and \u2018Holocaust in the Halls of Hydra!\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

The times, mood and scripter were changing however, and the next two issues turn to darker, more gothic dramas, beginning with #124 and the advent of a vigilante killer patterned on an old pulp fiction hero.<\/p>\n

Written by Len Wein & Marv Wolfman and illustrated by Colan (with Klaus Janson inking) \u2018In the Coils of the Copperhead!\u2019<\/em> courts controversial gritty realism then remaking Batman <\/strong>over at DC Comics as the Widow finally really and truly walks, leaving the frustrated hero to bury himself in the mystery of a murdering madman savagely overreacting to petty crime and leaving a trail of bodies behind him\u2026<\/p>\n

Foggy meanwhile is up for re-election and losing on all counts to too-good-to-be true Blake Tower<\/em>. Sadly, Matt can\u2019t offer any help or support as he seeks the secret of the vigilante. The resultant clash doesn\u2019t go the Scarlet Swashbuckler\u2019s way either, and he starts #125 with the terrifying realisation that \u2018Vengeance is the Copperhead!\u2019<\/em> (by Wolfman, Brown & Janson) before achieving a last-minute, skin-of-the-teeth hollow victory\u2026<\/p>\n

As writer and editor, Wolfman began a long-term revision as \u2018Flight of the Torpedo\u2019<\/em> (Brown & Janson) introduces insurance agent\/gone-to-seed football hero Brock Jones<\/em> who – in classic Hitchcockian manner – stumbles into a plot to control the world and inherits a rocket-powered super-suit coveted by enemy agents. Unfortunately, DD has just been almost killed by the rocket suit\u2019s previous owner and, blithely unaware, seeks to renew the brutal grudge fight\u2026<\/p>\n

The battle escalates in #127 as \u2018You Killed That Man Torpedo<\/em>\u2026 and Now You\u2019re Going to Pay!\u2019<\/em> sees inevitable misunderstanding escalate with both weary warriors losing all perspective. Only when they almost kill a family of innocent bystanders are they shamed into a ceasefire…<\/p>\n

Guilt-ridden and remorseful, Murdock swears off swashbuckling in #128, until uncanny events dictate and demand the return of the Man Without Fear. \u2018Death Stalks the Stairway to the Stars!\u2019<\/em> introduces a mysterious figure literally walking into intergalactic space and features the return of teleporting psychopath Death-Stalker in pursuit of ancient objects of power. However, the real inducements to intrigue are Matt\u2019s pushy, flighty girlfriend Heather Glenn<\/em> and the increasing efficacy of attack ads targeting Foggy. Not only do they slanderously belittle the incumbent DA, but – 40 years before our own problems with \u201cFake News\u201d – increasingly challenge consensus reality with absurd and scurrilous statements about all authority figures\u2026<\/p>\n

The media maelstrom intensifies even as Murdock scours the city for his latest client in \u2018Man-Bull in a China Town!\u2019<\/em> with<\/em> \u201cleaked\u201d films \u201cproving\u201d both John F. and Robert Kennedy are still alive. Rampaging monster Man-Bull escapes court during his lawyer\u2019s summing up and stalks the city, aided and abetted by one of DD\u2019s oldest enemies, but ultimately cannot escape a dreadful fate\u2026<\/p>\n

Urban voodoo and a slickly murderous conman infest #130 as \u2018Look Out, DD<\/em>\u2026 Here Comes the Death-Man!\u2019<\/em> finds the prestigious blind lawyer opening a storefront legal services operation for the disadvantaged, even as the misinformation campaign peaks. Meanwhile, brutal Brother Zed<\/em> demands a human sacrifice and a terrified mother finds her only hope is a human devil in red\u2026<\/p>\n

Closing this spectacular compilation is the 2-part debut of a villain who would become one of the most popular psycho-killers in the business. \u2018Watch Out for Bullseye<\/em>\u2026 He Never Misses!\u2019<\/em> sees wealthy men very publicly targeted for extortion by a mystery murderer who can turn any object – from paper plane to garbage can – into a deadly weapon. Hunted by the Man Without Fear, the lethal loon turns the table on DD in \u2018Bullseye Rules Supreme!\u2019<\/em>, until a final fateful battle settles the case and begins a lifelong obsession for both men\u2026<\/p>\n

Supplementing the furious fun are contemporaneous features from Marvel\u2019s F.O.O.M.<\/strong> magazine #13 (March 1976) spotlighting the Scarlet Swashbuckler. Following a stunning cover by Colan, numerous articles explore the character – such as \u2018(but first a word from our sponsors\u2019<\/em>, \u2018Through the eyes of a Beholder\u2019<\/em> (by Naomi Basner & Chris Claremont, featuring Colan pencil art and gorgeous model sheets crafted by Wally Wood when he took over the strip) and Basner\u2019s \u2018The Women in Daredevil\u2019s Life\u2019<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u2018Buscema\u2019s Bullpen\u2019<\/em> offers art from the illustrator\u2019s then students – and yes, some of them went on to far greater things! \u2013 after which Claremont interviews Stan Lee & Wolfman in \u2018A Talk with the Men Behind the Man Without Fear\u2019<\/em>. <\/em>A Daredevil Checklist<\/em> segues into Gil Kane\u2019s cover sketch for Giant-Size Daredevil<\/strong> #1; a repro of the published image and images from the 1975 Mighty Marvel Calendar<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Both issues #120 and 121 were supplemented by text pages outlining the convoluted history of Hydra and they\u2019re reprinted here too to keep us all in the arcane espionage loop, before a selection of original art pages by Brown and Janson and house ads remind just how good this hero can look\u2026<\/p>\n

As the social upheaval of the 1970s receded, these fabulous fantasy tales strongly indicated the true potential of Daredevil was in reach. Their narrative energy and exuberant excitement are dashing delights no action fan will care to miss. These beautifully illustrated yarns may still occasionally jar with their earnest stridency and dated attitudes, but the narrative energy and sheer exuberance of such classic adventures are graphic joys no action fan will care to miss. And the next volume heads even further into uncharted territory\u2026
\n\u00a9 2023 MARVEL.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Steve Gerber, Tony Isabella, Marv Wolfman, Chris Claremont, Gerry Conway, Len Wein, Bob Brown, Gene Colan, Don Heck, Sal Buscema & various (MARVEL) ISBN: 978-1-3029-4867-2 (TPB\/Digital edition) Matt Murdock is a blind lawyer whose remaining senses hyper-compensate, enabling him to accomplish astonishing acrobatic feats, and making him a formidable fighter and a living lie-detector. … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Daredevil Epic Collection volume 6: Watch Out For Bullseye (1974-1976)”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[237,85,293,79,174,219],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-black-widow","category-daredevil","category-man-thing","category-marvel-superheroes","category-nick-fury","category-s-h-i-e-l-d"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-7rg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28598"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28602,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28598\/revisions\/28602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}