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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Daredevil vol 1 #1-50,
Gene Colan,
Stan Lee
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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Humor,
Spider-Man,
Stan Lee,
Steve Ditko
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. 
Tagged as:
Gene Colan,
Humor,
One-shots and limited series,
Stan Lee
I admit, I’m a big fan of Daredevil’s costume. It’s simple and bold at the same time, and it gives our hero a distinctly sophisticated look. Even out of costume, Matt Murdock is a good dresser. He wears the kind of fancy suits you would expect of a New York lawyer, and only looks less than polished when he goes nuts over some random tragedy and forgets to shave.
The scene below, from Daredevil #41, by Stan Lee and Gene Colan, sees Matt obviously distressed at the tears in his costume (the result of literally dragging himself out some kind of time shift) and complaining about what this might do to his image. Very metrosexual about forty years early. And, very much in character. Keep up the look, Matt! You’re still rocking it…
D793HU729YBS
Tagged as:
Daredevil vol 1 #1-50,
Gene Colan,
Humor,
Stan Lee,
The life of a superhero
by Christine on November 29, 2009 in Oh Karen!
Well over a year ago, I started a series called Oh Karen! that was intended to chronicle the life and times of Karen Page, from the first issue until her death many decades later. This was all going nicely until I realized recently that I hadn’t added any new chapters to Karen’s story in well over a year. For shame! If you’re new to this site, and are curious about what happened to Karen before issue #30, have a look at the first three posts in this series.
When we last saw Karen, she had just been introduced to Matt’s fictional twin Mike Murdock, whom Matt invented on the fly in Daredevil #25. Here, we see the Mike Murdock madness continue. So, with no further ado, I bring you Karen’s meeting with Matt pretending to be Mike being Daredevil pretending to be Thor (and, if this story seems familiar, it’s probably because I recently blogged about it in “Because I can’t just kill him” – part 6). From Daredevil #30:
Daredevil enters through the window, dressed as Thor, Daredevil #30
More Karen and Mike under the cut –>
Tagged as:
Daredevil vol 1 #1-50,
Foggy Nelson,
Gene Colan,
Humor,
Karen Page,
Stan Lee
I may be cheating a little with this installment of the “indecisive villain” series, since Doctor Doom isn’t actually trying to kill Daredevil, but the plot is contrived enough that it makes the list anyway. The scenes we’re going to look at are from Daredevil #37, by Stan Lee and Gene Colan, the issue which forms the first part of the two-parter in which Daredevil and Doctor Doom change bodies.
For a brief comment on the absurdity of one of these plot points, see my previous post “DD stands for Doctor Doom”. Here we are just going to look at the cat and mouse game that got Daredevil into Doctor Doom’s body in the first place…
Daredevil versus Dr Doom, panel 1, from Daredevil #37
Body transfer under the cut –>
Tagged as:
Daredevil vol 1 #1-50,
Doctor Doom,
Gene Colan,
Humor,
Stan Lee
You know what they say about lies. You need a good memory to keep your story in check. Matt could have used that, and more, during the height of the Mike Murdock madness. Below is a scene from Daredevil #35, by Stan Lee and Gene Colan, which sees Matt caught in his own web of lies. Not only does his story raise more questions than it answers, he comes across as uncaring and indifferent to his “brother’s” safety.
Matt douses Foggy in aceton and dodges questions, from Daredevil #35
More lies under the cut –>
Tagged as:
Daredevil vol 1 #1-50,
Gene Colan,
Stan Lee
How do you like your Daredevil? Served in a beautiful hardcover, in the form of a convenient take-it-on-the-train trade paperback or as single issues to be treated carefully and then put away for posterity? For many older issues, there isn’t much of a choice, but a great many of Daredevil’s adventures have been collected. This includes all of volume two, which, for the most part, is available in more than one format. The sole exception is the Playing to the Camera arc, written by Bob Gale, which was released as Daredevil #20-25. The question of whether it ever will be collected resurfaces from time to time, but there is currently no indication of any such plans.
About a year ago, I wrote a post called Daredevil Volume 2 for Dummies, which contains a comprehensive list of all volume two collections. It was recently updated too, and provides a good guide to the last ten years of Daredevil publication. Collected editions from volume one don’t cover every writer and era, but there’s still quite a bit of material out there. With this post, I’m going to attempt to list all volume one collections. I can’t promise perfection, but I’ll do my very best. Let me know if there’s something missing from this list and I’ll add it.
Silver Age : Marvel Masterworks Daredevil
The Marvel Masterworks hardcovers collect the early stories of some of Marvel’s most popular characters in full color. So far, there are five volumes, each collecting around ten issues. These volumes collect the entire Stan Lee run on Daredevil since Daredevil #53 was his final issue as writer. Click the images below for more details about each volume at www.marvelmasterworks.com
Read more under the cut –>
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Ann Nocenti,
Character basics,
D. G. Chichester,
Daredevil for beginners,
David Mazzucchelli,
Frank Miller,
Gene Colan,
John Romita Jr,
Lee Weeks,
Scott McDaniel,
Stan Lee
… ’nuff said! From Daredevil #34, by Stan Lee and Gene Colan. The hilarity of this panel speaks for itself. And, as a bonus, doesn’t your own day look a whole lot brighter? Exactly. I thought so.
Daredevil is in a tight spot in Daredevil #34, by Stan Lee and Gene Colan
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Daredevil vol 1 #1-50,
Gene Colan,
Humor,
Stan Lee,
The Beetle
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