by Christine on June 14, 2010 in Humor
Since I’m in the middle of writing a post summing up the entire last two years of Daredevil stories in preparation for Shadowland – an endeavor about as time-consuming as you might expect – I thought I’d stall you with this off-beat panel from Daredevil #135, by Marv Wolfman and Bob Brown. Here, we see Matt being a little upset while Heather Glenn, his then girlfriend, tries to lift his spirits by offering him to play a game “that has smiles built right into the rules.” Oh, whatever could that be?
Heather is cheering Matt up by offering a game for two
Whatever Heather did to him it must have been pretty effective since he appears to have been given a healthy dose of silly power. You see, later in the issue, he goes out in search of aberrant radio signals. Oh dear. Did Heather bang his head against the headboard or is the built-in antenna back in town? Ah, wacky days…
Daredevil uses his radar to detect the presence of an out of place radio signal
As a reminder, don’t forget to enter the contest I put up last week where you get the chance to win a copy of the Ultimate Elektra: Devil’s Due TPB.
Tagged as:
Bob Brown,
Heather Glenn,
Humor,
Marv Wolfman,
Wacky powers
Wow, can you believe Daredevil has (had) so many wacky powers that this series is now up to twenty posts? Well, this probably won’t be the end either. Anyway, I may have touched on this particular topic before, but I had to post this scene, from Daredevil #43, by Stan Lee and Gene Colan, since there are so many wonderful things that are just wrong with it. How’s this one for example?”
“It happens all the time! Some bird-brained sneak thief grabs a doctor’s medical bag — not suspecting it contains deadly radioactive material!”
Okay, I get that there are drug addicts who steal things from doctors’ offices in the hopes of finding their opiate of choice, and get more than they bargained for. Fine, but doctors don’t walk around with bags contain loose vials of radioactive material. Wouldn’t this be a hazard to the person who normally carries it around, i.e. the doctor!? I’ve actually worked with radioactive materials in laborotory settings and the tubes are stored in metal blocks to minimize exposure. But fine, let’s just pretend our thief just took the vials and put them in a bag, and see what happens next.
Daredevil senses radiation, from Daredevil #43
Oh, apparently, this is right up Daredevil’s alley because he’s extra sensitive to radiation? Actually, this has been hinted at before, and later in this issue Matt has a very bad reaction to the radioactivity he’s exposed to. Here, it’s suggested that he’s extra sensitive to radiation. “With my hyper-keen senses, I’m like a walking Geiger counter! It shouldn’t take me long to sniff ‘im out!”
Daredevil compares himself to a Geiger counter, Daredevil #43
“And a strange burning sensation — coming closer and closer. [...] It feels like I’m standing on top of a cyclotron!”
Hm, sorry Matt, but this makes no sense at all. Having been in an accident involving radioactivity shouldn’t make you more sensitive to radiation (though additional exposure certainly adds to his lifetime dose). Nor should it affect his hyper-senses the way it does later in this issue.
And, unless the dose is very high, he shouldn’t be able to feel it either. At least not unless he walks around constantly feeling the background radiation from the ground, and the bombardment of cosmic rays. Small amounts of radiation are insidious, you can’t actually feel the damage until it’s too late, and it would take more than a heightened sense of touch to change that fact. This is either a case of wacky science or a case of hysteria. Considering Matt’s history of mental health problems, my money is on the latter.
Tagged as:
Daredevil science,
Daredevil vol 1 #1-50,
Gene Colan,
Humor,
Stan Lee,
Wacky powers
What’s this, you ask? Two phone-related wacky powers back to back? Why yes! Some of you may recall Wacky power #18 which saw Matt perform a physically impossible trick over the phone. It turns out that this is not the only piece of telephone magic Matt has stored up his sleeve. He can also tell when the phone is about to ring. And we’re talking seconds before it’s about to ring. Below is a scene from Daredevil #184, by Frank Miller.
Matt knows the phone is about to ring, from Daredevil #184
Now, I seem to remember from my childhood, when everyone had those old-fashioned phones with a dial on them, that you could occasionally hear a buzz coming from the phone just before the ringing tone, but that would be in conjunction with the main signal, not seconds before it. Which begs the question of what exactly Matt is hearing here. Electrons moving through the wire? Hm, sounds pretty wacky to me. 
Tagged as:
Daredevil vol 1 #151-200,
Frank Miller,
Humor,
Klaus Janson,
Wacky powers
You know those numbers you can call to have someone read your fortune or give you advice on a pressing matter? I’m not going to get into a discussion on whether psychic abilities are real, but I will take a look at how, in the Marvel Universe, you can call a trusted superhero colleague for guidance. At least if you happen to be friends with Matt Murdock, owner of the sharpest ears in town. Too bad this particular scenario, from Daredevil #38 (volume 2), by Brian Michael Bendis and Manuel Gutierrez, doesn’t actually work. Read the below scene carefully (click the images to enlarge), and we’ll get to all the ways it doesn’t make sense…
Matt hears heatbeats by phone, panel 1
Actual nonsense under the cut –>
Tagged as:
Brian Michael Bendis,
Daredevil science,
Daredevil vol 2 #1- 100,
Manuel Gutierrez,
Wacky powers
In his most recent review of Daredevil #106, Robert of the Matt Murdock Chronicles discussed an instance of Matt talking about his color sensing ability, and a dialogue on the topic ensued in the comments. Well, in all honesty, it was mostly me giving a very (confusing) lecture. So, I thought I’d try a more pedagogical approach here. First let’s look at some instances that showcase “color sensing.”
Daredevil’s ability to determine color is one of those tricks that has gone away almost completely over time, despite being prominently featured even in the very first issue, as seen below. “I can even blend colors, for each colored fabric has a different feel to me!” You sure about that, Matt? That first costume of yours, while iconic, hardly features an impressive blend of colors…
Read more under the cut –>
Tagged as:
Bill Everett,
D. G. Chichester,
Daredevil science,
Gene Colan,
Roy Thomas,
Stan Lee,
Steve Gerber,
Wacky powers
