Hey there! Before getting to the next chapter in the history of the Hand later this week, I thought we’d take a little detour to the time before there were ninjas in Daredevil.
Stan Lee’s Daredevil was full of contrivances holier than the pope, and the whole Mike Murdock debacle which saw him impersonate his own twin – the one he made up on the spot out of thin air – was certainly no exception. Quite the contrary.
Mike Murdock finally “died” in Daredevil #41, but since Matt had made him up back in issue #25 in order to cover a threat to his secret identity, one crucial question remained: What happened to Daredevil? Wouldn’t Daredevil die along with Mike?
Here, in a violent confrontation with the Jester in issue #42, Matt is forced to admit that there is still, in fact a Daredevil running around. “Mike” trained a replacement, you see. Do Foggy and Karen just buy everything Matt says? Please, end these lies!
During a confrontation with the Jester, Matt makes up another lie
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by Christine on February 3, 2010 in Humor
I know, the title is not quite as cerebral as you might expect from me. Not that I think you expect a constant flow of profundities or anything, but I guess it’s a little brusque (though well deserved in this case). Anyway, the sequence below is from the Enemy of the State arc of Wolverine, by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr, more specifically from Wolverine #24 (vol 3).
In his defense, Logan is still somewhat affected by his previous brainwashing at the hands of Hydra and the Hand, which brings me to the reason for posting these panels to begin with: This month, we’re going to take a closer look at the history of the Hand in the Marvel Universe. We’re also going to look at Matt’s previous trip to Japan, to make sure everyone’s prepared for his return to the land of the rising sun in this months’ issue.
Matt fights a brainswashed Wolverine
I’m looking forward to diving into both of these topics this weekend, but in the mean time, I’d like to give you all a little advance notice that I’m also going to start contributing regularly to the Weekly Crisis, a comic book blog that packs a punch that’s about an order of magnitude bigger than this puppy and which I assume is familiar to all of you. However, don’t worry about my slacking off around this part of the woods, and I’ll reserve the vast majority of all Daredevil related stuff for The Other Murdock Papers.
I’ll see you Saturday!
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Longtime readers may know about my “Seeing things” series, in which I poke gentle fun at Daredevil, well, seeing things. In some cases, we’re talking about obvious goofs, and in others – usually more recent ones – it might just be a scene that comes across as a little odd (see, for example, Seeing things #4 from the Brubaker/Lark run). Here’s another first, in that it’s from an issue that hasn’t hit the shelves yet. Yes, while not an obvious goof like some of the older examples, the first page from the Daredevil #504 review did make me raise an eyebrow (is Matt actually looking at those sketches on the ground before him?). And, just because I couldn’t resist, I did my own take on the dialogue… Look at both below, the original is the top one. 
Daredevil #504, original preview page
Daredevil #504, altered preview page
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The first meeting between Spider-Man and Daredevil happened in Amazing Spider-Man #16, and it happened early in Daredevil’s career. He is still in his yellow costume in this issue, penciled by Steve Ditko and written, as usual, by Stan Lee. It is also full of unintentionally funny stuff, as well as some enlightening insights into Matt’s senses. We’ll get to all of that, but first let’s look at how the first meeting came about. Why, it’s the classic super-hero saves blind man from being mugged! Not to be confused with not-yet-superhero saves blind man from being run over by a truck transporting radioactive goo… (Clicking an image will make it “pop” and let you view it at full size.)
Spider-Man saves Matt from being mugged
To save some time getting back to the office, Matt changes to Daredevil and launches into the mandatory explanation of how his powers work. This makes sense considering that Marvel is trying to introduce Daredevil to a wider audience, but who he’s supposed to be talking to within the actual story is beyond me.
Matt sneaks off and changes to Daredevil
More Daredevil and Spider-Man under the cut –>
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by Christine on January 8, 2010 in Humor
“Now, you know what it does to me when you speak Russian.”
Daredevil attempts to seduce the second Black Widow
Description: The top panel sees a startled Natasha in the foreground as she notices Daredevil pop in through her bedroom window, saying “Good! You’re up!” We cut to Natasha, draped in a white sheet attempting a kick aimed at Daredevil’s chest. He jokingly shields his body with his hand and says, “Whoa! Sure you want to go another round?” Next, he grabs her hand when she goes for his throat, jokingly saying “I’ll take that as a yes.” Natasha speaks for the first time, in Russian, transcribed as: “Poshol k chortu!” Daredevil pulls her close and says “Now, you know what it does to me when you speak Russian.” In the bottom, slightly over-sized, panel he gives her a kiss. Her expression is one of wide-eyed surprise.
Now you may be wondering where this scene is from, and what Daredevil is doing trying to seduce a clearly uncooperative Natasha. It turns out that Daredevil is on a S.H.I.E.L.D. mission, that Natasha is in fact not herself, but a delusional Yelena Belova (the second Black Widow) who just believes she is Natasha Romanoff, and that the issue in question is the first of three in the mini-series Black Widow: Breakdown, written by Devin Grayson and Greg Rucka, with art by Scott Hampton. It’s not the most exciting mini I’ve ever read, but I do like this scene, and the ease with which Matt plays his part. If you’re wondering why he’s being instructed to feed, and even enhance, Yelena’s delusion, you’re going to have to read the rest of the story, available in full at Marvel Digital Unlimited (with a paid subscription, of course), or possibly in the back bins of your local comic book store.
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Yes, it’s time for one of these again, because the villains don’t seem to be getting any smarter. With this installment of the series, we’ll even revisit an issue that has already been featured: The first Daredevil annual from 1967. Yes, the issue actually features more than one scene where Daredevil narrowly escapes due to the stupidity and megalomania of his adversaries.
The combatants
Why, it’s Daredevil versus…
Stilt-Man appears!
That’s right, the very epitome of silly villains. You know, I always thought his biggest weakness was the fact that the armor doesn’t have knees. Or does it? Okay, we’ll leave your speculations for the comments. Let’s move on.
The situation
When Stilt-Man finds Daredevil it’s the former who has the advantage. And the fight continues to go his way, even as Daredevil manages to escape his grip, as seen below. Oh, and isn’t it cute how Matt has a sore toe? Yeah, he hurt that one earlier.
Daredevil escapes Stilt-Man's grip
The problem
This isn’t one of those “I’ll kill him later so I can do it in style” scenarios. It’s the “this is way too easy.” I can see why certain supervillains would like to take this route (at least early in their careers before they’ve been foiled by the same hero a dozen times). Stilts is feeling like he’s on top of the world – in more ways than one – and we all know how that over-confidence can go to a person’s head. Here’s how the situation unfolds.
Stilt-Man descends to Daredevil's level
“In fact, so sure am I of my power that I shall descend to your height for my final attack.”
Stilt-Man gets ready to shoot
Stilt-Man is catapulted into a wall
Ah, what would a superhero do without these little problem-solving buttons? Thank you Stilt-Man for so graciously contributing to your own downfall! Silver Age villains, you’ve gotta love ‘em.
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by Christine on December 30, 2009 in Humor
Longtime visitors to my blog probably remember my old Daredevil parody web comic that used to have its own section while I was still hosting this site on Blogger. Since the move to Wordpress in late September, I’ve been meaning to put it back online again, but just never got around to it. This being the time of year to reminisce, I thought now was as good a time as any to bring the comic back to life. To those who are seeing it for the first time, I hope you enjoy it! Head over to the Hell’s Kitchen page to check it out.
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by Christine on December 26, 2009 in Humor
I hope those of you who celebrate Christmas have had a good couple of days with your loved ones. I’ve spent Christmas at my mother’s and ate more food than any sane person should. Oh well, it’s only once a year, right?
With the holiday season still not quite over, I thought I’d take the opportunity to look at how our favorite hero likes to spend his Christmas. Or not. As always seems to be the case with Matt Murdock, things don’t quite go as planned in this longer scene from Daredevil #206 (volume 1), by Denny O’Neil and David Mazzucchelli, where Matt and his house guest Glorianna decide to throw a Christmas party. Let’s see how they do! (Keep in mind that you can click each panel to make it zoom to full scale without having to leave the page.)
Matt prepares for his Christmas party, Daredevil #206 by Denny O'Neil and David Mazzucchelli
More Christmas madness under the cut –>
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by Christine on December 13, 2009 in Humor
Because you asked for it (well, @kevbot217 did on Twitter), here’s the natural follow-up to the post about Foggy’s mustache: Foggy’s tattoo. Apparently, the mustache wasn’t edgy enough, so he had to go for the more permanent statement of getting a tribal tattoo more commonly seen on 20-year-olds. Was it deep enough to stay in continuity? I’m not sure. When we see Foggy shaving in Daredevil #82 (vol 2), only his right arm is visible. These panels, from Daredevil #59 (vol 2), by Bendis and Maleev, are part of a longer scene that is quite funny, also featuring Matt’s “It’s red? I thought it was yellow” joke, which I’m sure those of you who have read it remember.
Foggy shows off his tattoo, from Daredevil #59 (vol 2) by Brian Bendis and Alex Maleev
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by Christine on December 9, 2009 in Humor
Yes, I know what you’re thinking (really, I do). “Wow, she is really running out of things to posts about, isn’t she?” Don’t feel bad, I don’t blame you. But this post isn’t a sign that the end is near, it’s more like proof that you can write a Daredevil post about almost anything.
With a publication history of 45 years, you’d be hard-pressed to come across a topic that hasn’t been dealt with in some way, and today we’ll be looking at facial hair. More specifically, a certain Foggy Nelson’s facial hair. Let’s get to it and meet Matt at the airport in Daredevil #200, by Denny O’Neil, with art by William Johnson. He’s been in Japan, and during his absence, Foggy has grown a thick mustache that he can’t wait to show off…
Foggy shows Matt his mustache in Daredevil #200, by Denny O'Neil and William Johnson
Hm, that’s awkward. Naturally, Matt doesn’t quite appreciate Foggy’s new look and Foggy, in turn, must have been separated from his partner long enough to actually forget that he’s blind. As we’ll see in the next scene, from Daredevil #222 (by Denny O’Neil and David Mazzucchelli), Foggy makes the exact same mistake again…
Matt shows up at his office, Daredevil #222, by Denny O'Neil and David Mazzucchelli
Foggy comes out of the bathroom, Daredevil #222
Foggy explains the loss of his mustache, Daredevil #222
Man, will he stop pestering his blind partner with that darn mustache? It seems very odd to me that Foggy would forget about Matt’s blindness when he’s hung out with him virtually every day for years. Even weirder is the fact that he gets totally embarrassed when he forgets. Matt’s not exactly the sensitive kind. What we do find out here is that Foggy’s mustache was the result of his ex-wife Debbie’s influence (there’s another character I could devote a worthless post to). Matt really didn’t like Debbie.
Just for fun, I’ll end this post with a look at Foggy shaving again in Daredevil #82, volume 2, the first issue by Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark. Years may have passed, the setting may have changed, but Foggy still looks like a hunk in that tank top!
Foggy shaving, Daredevil #82 volume 2, by Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark
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Christine is a thirty something Daredevil fan from Sweden who spends way too much of her free time writing posts for this blog. Check the