Interlude - From Yellow to Red

Kenny from Prague quite rightly notes that I did not address Matt's change of Daredevil costume from the initial largely yellow outfit to the devil red that superseded it and has become the iconic DD costume. Truth be told, as costume changes go, it's remarkably mundane, the explanation taking up all of one panel:

In comic books today, there would typically be months of explanation as to why there is a costume change as radical as this one. Why did the guys make the change so early on, I wonder? Well, the new costume is certainly more dramatic and the whole devil red thing is obviously a good choice. Which makes one wonder, why the yellow costume at all? I'm not sure if the costume change will be addressed in the letter pages of upcoming issues but I'll keep an eye out...

However, it is interesting that, in contrast to many other heroes, DD's second costume, rather than his original threads, is his iconic one. Perhaps if he had stayed in yellow longer than six issues though, it would have been harder for him to change and be re-interpreted as the hero we know and love today. In which case, kudos to Lee and Wood for the change.

Daredevil 9

That He May See by Stan Lee, Wally Wood and Bobby Powell

One Sentence Overview Implored by Karen to have eye surgery, Matt accompanies Klaus Kruger, the ruler of Lichtenbad to his European principality, where the eye surgeon Dr Van Eyck resides, unaware that Kruger is a ruthless dictator.

"Show me a superhero without a first aid kit and I'll show you a nut," so says Matt Murdock having been shot in the arm early on in this issue. Is this the first instance of DD being shot? I think so and it's typical of what the hero is to become that it's some powerless low life hijacker, rather than some big supervillian, who gets him.

After last issue's emotional outburst from Karen, it's something of a surprise that the penny hasn't dropped yet with Matt. Listening to her heartbeat thumping as she walks with him arm in arm, it slowly begins to dawn on Matt - is she in love with me? he thinks. "No, It can't be! It mustn't!" This may seem trite from a 21st century perspective but it's fun to see the soap opera build up of denied love. In the next panel, however, Karen gives us a very prejudiced view of the visually impaired. "I'm sure it's his blindness that makes him so cold, so distant," she proclaims. Hmmm. Foggy, meanwhile, is not so slow. Watching Karen wave Matt goodbye on his European trip later, he ruefully admits, "It's Matt she loves - not me. I always knew it!" Later Foggy punches a mirror in frustration and wishes there was no Matt Murdock. Surely Stan Lee isn't considering turning mild mannered Foggy into a villian? No, Stan. No!

There's a pretty contrived set up this issue as the European principality the eye surgeon Dr Van Eyck has now moved to is ruled by an old classmate of Matt and Foggy's, Klaus Kruger, who persuades Matt to accompany him over to that nation for surgery. Lichtenbad itself is very peculiar - it is presented as a medieval nation with knights, castles, moats and drawbridges.

Matt donning his Daredevil costume is such a setting strikes me as extremely risky, being as there can't be too many Americans in the vicinity. Luckily Kruger doesn't seem to know who he is. Nor does he care. When he captures DD, he tells him that he won't unmask him as his "identity means nothing". Alas, another slightly clumsy plot device. It's only Van Eyck, late on in the issue, who realises who the hero in red is.Later on we learn that Kruger has brought Murdock (like Van Eyck before him) to Lichtenbad with the intention of having the greatest minds on the earth serve him to help build an army of robots. Well, okay, that's typical despotic behaviour, but how skilled are a lawyer and eye surgeon at building robots?

Billy Club update. After seeing that there is a tape recorder and microphone in the billy club last issue, this edition has Murdock firing mortars out of the top of the slim device. So perhaps that's why Kruger kidnapped Matt - his mortar building prowess might come in handy with his automatons.

This is quite an interesting issue as I did not realise that so early on did the creative teams think about rescuing Matt from his blindness. Fortunately they resisted temptation, realising that the uniqueness of DD's character may be destroyed. Van Eyck dies a hero and Matt remains sightless.

Whilst this is a pretty bizarre storyline, Lee still makes it a fairly enjoyable read, particularly regarding the ruminations of the ongoing characters.There's some very fine art from Wally Wood and Bobby Powell, who I think may be the main penciller, this issue. I loved the paranoid look on the oppressed people of Lichtenbad at the bottom of page six.

I also really appreciated that Wood and Powell continues to draw Matt with an injured arm throughout the strip, Matt only really using his left arm whilst his right arm hangs limp.

Cast

Matt Murdock/Daredevil

Foggy Nelson

Karen Page

Dr Van Eyck

Klaus Kruger

Rating: 4 out of 10

Daredevil 8

The Stiltman Cometh by Stan Lee and Wally Wood

One sentence overview: Whilst inventor Wilbur Day enlists Matt Murdock with the aim of suing Kaxton industries for intellectual theft of his idea for hydraulic lifts, a man on huge stilts holds New York to ransom with a series of audacious crimes...

This issue opens with a damsel in distress - a yellow suited woman about to be run over by a runaway, driverless car. The woman is presented in what is probably the limits of acceptable sexiness for the mid 60s - she's very pretty in a knee length skirt - and it's funny to contrast this with what would go for a sexy woman in today's comic books. Hilariously Matt rescues her by hurling her onto a shop awning which he knows is usually there at this time of day. Good job the owner wasn't sick then huh? The whole radar sense thing doesn't seem to be completely down yet. And all this despite the fact that he then uses his radar to 'drive' the speeding car through the streets of New York in a very early evocation of the plotline of the movie, Speed.

Debuting this issue is the fantastically preposterous Stiltman. It's interesting how a lot of big foes (Purple Man, the Owl, Mr Fear) have been introduced very early in DD's run. This story is quite effective in setting up a little bit of a mystery as to who Stiltman actually is, though I wasn't entirely sure of the plausability of the story.

(spoiler) Day, who is the Stiltman, is left by Matt at his offices whilst Daredevil chases the prime suspect, a scientist called Kaxton. DD then encounters Stiltman, has a brief battle and then returns to Nelson & Murdock, to find Day, asleep in the office. I suppose Stan Lee is hinting that Day is tired after his battle, but it's a huge contrivance to have Day dash out of the office after Murdock has left and put those huge hollow metal legs on.

We also find out more about Matt's billy club in this issue, finding out that it contains a miniature tape recorder and cables. I'm not sure how long the tape recorder remained an ongoing concern for Matt but it's nice to see the establishment of the cables for Matt to swing around the city. He also uses a concealed microphone to listen into what is going on in the city, once again something that is quickly done away with as it becomes established that his acute hearing is something pretty special. There are also radio antennae in Matt's mask, another contrivance soon done away with.

Another first in this issue is a cutaway of Matt's 'apartment', which doesn't appear to me to be the brownstone home I associate with the character. Still this helps establish that Matt has both a gym and a laboratory underneath his living areas.

More quaint 60s worldview on display in this issue. Karen wants Matt to get eye surgery. Matt's torn - he wants to see Karen but is concerned that he will lose his powers. He bemoans the fact that he could never ask Karen "to marry a sighless man", an insight into the 'second class' citizenship of disabled people, accepting by the disabled person. Nice to see at the end Karen reveal incidentally her true feelings for Matt. Upset that Matt won't have the eye operation, she complains that he won't take the chance to fall in love. Hmmm. Whatever could she mean?

Extra: In the letter pages this issue, an epistle from a Mrs Horan from Lincolnshire, England who has written in to say that she has been regularly reading DD to her husband, who had been blinded in a car accident three years previously. Both husband and wife seemed to receive something of a boost from the whole concept of Daredevil. I actually found the letter very moving.

Cast

Matt Murdock/Daredevil

Foggy Nelson

Karen Page

Wilbur Day

Carl Kaxton

Rating: 4 out of 10

Interlude - Cover of the Year?

Most Daredevil fans will have had to have been content with picking up regular DD cover artist, Marko Djurdjevic's or guest artist Terry Dodson's variant covers for issue 111, but for the very lucky (or very rich), the above David Aja cover is to die for. I picked up a Dodson cover but, boy, would I love a copy of this beauty. Bad news is, with a 1:25 ratio, you've got to have a few pennies spare. A quick check on ebay alerted me to the fact that the cheapest copy there is £9.99 (in the UK). Alas, I'm not sure I can stretch that. But it is great.

I'll just have to satisfy myself to this newly solicited cover for January's Daredevil 115 which is one of Djurdjevic's best, in my opinion:

Daredevil 7

In Mortal Combat with the Submariner by Stan Lee and Wally Wood

One Sentence Overview:  Feeling that the Atlantans have a right to live on the land alongside the humans, the Submariner leaves the ocean with the intention of presenting a legal challenge

In his introduction to the Marvel Masterworks collection of the first 11 issues of Daredevil, Stan Lee notes that this particular tale is one of his all time favourites.  "I think you'll agree," says Stan, "that Prince Namor has never been nobler and Daredevil never more heroic than in this truly monumental tale", also noting that the conclusion was the "most satisfying ending of all".

We'll come on to that.  What really impresses about this meeting of two of Marvel's A listers (at the time, anyway) is how mismatched they are, yet still delivers a compelling tale.  Daredevil is clearly the junior partner here - but it's his book too.  Do DD fans really want to see their hero get an absolute pasting by a comparative juggernaut.  It's the equivalent of an armourless individual encountering a tank and standing their ground and, yet, like the famous incident at Tiananmen Square, the confrontation is not necessarily fruitless.

Why bother with such an encounter?  Well, perhaps one of Stan's intentions was to reveal the truth of that little slogan that accompanies Daredevil on the cover page of his comic - that he is the "man without fear".  It does not matter that he is on a hiding to nothing.  He is a man of certain beliefs and fortitude that demands he will try to resist the superiority of his foe. 

There also may be a subtext.  Namor represents the power of a nation, whilst Daredevil stands for the law.  Seen this way, Daredevil's slightly wavering intervention belies the juddering often ineffectual and sometimes seemingly unfair judicial system that a country can manipulate and use for their own ends.  Despite this, the law remains a relevant force and can be used for good means too - which is what Daredevil represents here.  Can he finally persuade the Submariner to desist from a destructive course of action, when his day in court ends badly?

I've made this story sound deadly serious but some of the early scenes are, possibly occasionally unintentionally, quite funny.
 

After travelling around the bottom of the ocean being pulled along by a couple of turtles (or maybe he was taking them out for a walk), Namor visits New York determined to strike a deal with the humans about access for his sea dwelling race. Namor, who has of course spent time above water as a member of the Invaders before this time, seems to be flummoxed by simple things like revolving doors and lifts and arrogantly smashes his way to see Matt and Foggy (and then smashes his way out of their office once his conversation is curtailed).

Karen naturally is smitten due to his mix of arrogance and power, though Matt also senses a regal nature in amongst the thuggery.
 

Namor goes off to tear up the town, thinking that earth's law enforcement agencies won't put up with this and therefore he'll end up in court to plead his case. DD naturally wants him to calm down a little but is soon thwarted when Namor pulls him into the water, knocking him out and then proceeds to surrender to the authorities. C'mon, splashy, there must be easier ways than this to get someone's attention. A courtcase then ensues, with Matt Murdock defending and trying to uphold the diplomatic rights of a member of royalty. Namor soon tires of American justice and effortlessly escapes from his jail cell (there's a funny moment - and perhaps telling comment - where the Submariner looks like he wants to play ball but this is scuppered when his hearing is put back a week). All of this makes me ponder if Stan Lee had a bad experience in court once before this and had an interest in the bureaucratic slowness of the legal system - the frustration of the Sub-Mariner is certainly well voiced.
 

What's good about this story is that DD is clearly outclassed in his battle with Subby. Despite this, he keeps fighting on, determined to protect the human race, really helping emphasise the 'man without fear' moniker. I like the way that Stan Lee knows that his man cannot defeat Namor and yet manages to find a way in which his courage is what leads Namor to leave New York in the hands of humanity.  The below panel perhaps refers to what Stan calls his most satisfying ending.  It's a fine moment that has lived long beyond this comic book, being recognised by Comic Book Resources in 2009 as one of Marvel's 70 greatest panels (see here for the other DD panels on the list).
I was also curious if perhaps Roger Mackenzie and Frank Miller were inspired by this issue to write their own take on a mismatched battle - DD's confrontation with the Hulk in DD163 - though on that occasion, it seems to take a lot less effort for the jolly green giant to see off his opponent.

Possibly the most significant aspect of this issue is that DD has a new costume - the devil red one that of course is what we all associate with the hero. It's also the first time we see Matt using his billy clubs as a grappling hook.

Cast

Matt Murdock/Daredevil

Foggy Nelson

Karen Page

 

The Submariner/Prince Namor
Lady Dorma
Krang

 

Rating 6 out of 10

Daredevil 6

Trapped by the Fellowship of Fear by Stan Lee and Wally Wood

One Sentence Overview:  Recruiting the Enforcers' Ox and the Eel for nefarious gain, Mr Fear uses his own specially devised fear gas to prevent Daredevil from quashing his crime wave

Stan Lee is at his best when he's creating inner conflicts for his ongoing cast and, in this issue, he really amps up the unfortunate love triangle between Matt, Karen and Foggy. Matt loves Karen but thinks she is only excited to see him because she is thinking about Daredevil. Karen loves Matt but can't understand why Matt is so aloof and unemotional, always running away (to change into DD, naturally). Foggy loves Karen and because of this Matt won't dare tell Karen of his love for her. And, here, in one of the issue's most compelling moments, following Foggy becoming concussed through an act of bravery, Karen finds her heart melting for Mr Nelson too (or so Matt thinks!).  These simple little plot devices are how Stan creates the tension between his characters that keep us reading.

[I like how Karen keeps changing her hairstyle in these early issues - I guess that was considered a typical trait of the fashionable and flighty young female of the times.]

On the other hand, I think the creators are still not quite certain about where to pitch Foggy's character.  He's still comparatively straightlaced (and comparatively thin) in these early issues and there's a nice moment where he, independent of Matt, goes looking for the villains of the piece.  What a swell guy!

Talking of which, we have three vilians in this tale - Mr Fear, Ox and the Eel, a motley crew if ever there was one. Nice to see a lot of love in the early days for the big oaf, in particular, from the Enforcers. Whilst Ox was a transfer from Spider-man, this is Mr Fear's first appearance. Mr Fear, aka the marvellously named Zoltan Drago, has to rely on the serendipitous encounter of a cat knocking over his chemicals in order for him to obtain the power for which he is well known. 

Fear may be fearsome but his choice of comrades indicates his own inferiority complex.  Surveying the waxworks that Zoltan Drago makes in his day job, our villain ponders who he can recruit to assist him, ruling out the likes of Dr Doom and Kraven the Hunter because they are "too powerful or too clever".  No.  It's the bumbling Ox and slithery Eel for him.

The Eel's a weird one - his slipperiness being both his greatest strength and worst weakness, as Daredevil himself notes early on.

However, Ox is always fun to read.  There's a nice moment, late in the comic, where the big guy looks like he is about to lunge at Murdock one final time after a long battle - but is simply too worn out to do so and keels over. It's great but perhaps it was too good of an idea to use only once. Only a few issues later, Lee would use the exact same device in a story.

It's not uncommon in Daredevil to see panels of our hero laying out the bad guys in the dark but another great little frame in this issue has the fighting seen (or not seen) from the villains' perspective.  Look at how confused the Fellowship of Fear are as they can't understand how DD is pummelling them in the dark.  A fine moment.

Matt's abilities are still in their nascent phase.  As in many of the early issues, Matt tracks down a villian because of his recognition of 'his cheap hair tonic', of which there must have been a lot knocking around in the early 60s.

The ways Daredevil pinpoints his foes would become ever more sophisticated as the years progress.

One of the strong points of Wally Wood's art is highlighted early on.  Sensing a film being directed below him, Daredevil comments on what he can sense -  but his head doesn't turn down, instead looking straight ahead. 

In the entire DD canon, I surprised that so few artists do this, yet it's not only rational but reminds the reader of his sightlessness (from memory, Michael Lark was also pretty good at this during his run).  Kudos to Wally for this. 

Whilst there's still a silliness to some of the plotting, there's lots of enjoy here (in terms of sheer reading, the punter gets their money's worth) and a sense that our creators are getting more comfortable with the world of Murdock et al.

Cast

Matt Murdock/Daredevil

Foggy Nelson

Karen Page

Mr Fear/Zoltan Drago

Ox

The Eel

Rating 6 out of 10

Daredevil 5

The Mysterious Masked Matador by Stan Lee and Wally Wood



One Sentence Overview:  Whilst Daredevil tries to find a way to prevent the agile Matador's ongoing crime spree, Foggy tells Matt that he is going ot ask Karen to marry him

Wally Wood is a new addition to the Daredevil ranks with this issue and his clean art style is a fine fit for the title.  His interpretation of the man without fear is simple, bright and handsome.  As the excellent blog Hooray for Wally Wood records, other aspects of Wally's career appear to revolve around his extravagant visions of women, though here he restricts himself to Karen modestly dressing up as Cleopatra (a homage to the Elizabeth Taylor movie doing the rounds at the time).

Karen's dressed so as she and Foggy are off to a masked ball.  A handy kind of gathering for your average supervillain who fancies a nifty piece of thievry and yet can remain inconspicuous.  Indeed, the Matador is very much an 'average' villain - a strange little character who likes to treat security vans like bulls - or with a penchant for robbing Burglar Alarm factories (eh?).

Once the Matador is spotted at the ball (thanks to our hero, naturally), Karen is at pains to protect Matt (as he "can't see to protect himself") shoving him into a side room.  This not only allows Matt to change to Daredevil but actually manages to promote Karen from the helpless female in aid of rescue (as in DD3 and 4) to someone who is brave, canny and feisty.  Amusingly, she tells Matt as she hide him that she wants "to see what happens".

Despite this distinctly unexciting foe, the Matador very much has the edge of DD, and don't the locals know it.  There is a great scene where some kids argue about who to be - Daredevil or the Matador - because the Matador is so much cooler - all in front of a disgusted Matt Murdock.

In fact, the much more compelling aspects of this issue are those involving Matt and his supporting cast.  It wasn't unusual for Stan's early heroes to have secret longings for the girl of their dreams (see also Peter Parker/Scott Summers elsewhere) but here close friends Matt and Foggy are chasing the same girl, both oblivious to the fact that Karen's holding a flame for Matt.  However, just as Matt decides to tell Karen his own feelings, Foggy drops a bombshell. He tells Matt that he has bought an engagement ring for Karen and wants to propose to her. 

The Matador may be a little less than compelling as a villian but, as well as the supporting cast interaction, it's heartening to read a more tightly plotted story than those that have followed the fine debut.  Though this is, by no means, a classic.

Cast
Matt Murdock/Daredevil
Foggy Nelson
Karen Page

The Matador/Manuel Eloganto

Rating: 4 out of 10

Daredevil 4

Menaced by Killgrave, the Purple Man by Stan Lee, Joe Orlando and Vince Colletta

One Sentence Overview:  With the ability to manipulate others to do exactly as he wills, Killgrave attempts to take over New York city and have Karen Page at his side 

Perhaps for the first occasion, Daredevil's unique abilities are put to good use with the debut of an individual who would become a great and very sinister villian much, much later. However, here in the early 60s, the first appearance of the Purple Man is fun though a little bizarre.  Purple Man uses his powers of suggestion to rob a bank or, rather, persuade the excellently named Mr Smathers just to hand him a load of cash. 

Having achieved this, he leaves the bank and almost immediately rather meekly allows himself to be arrested.  Why not just tell the police officers they're after the wrong man?  Well, then there would have be no need for the court to set up Mr Murdock as his advocate.  That draws Matt into the story, albeit in a slightly clumsy, contrived manner.

It also allows Karen to be drawn into Killgrave's orbit.  Karen, holding a flame for our hero (hey, who wouldn't?), persuades Matt to take her along to meet Killgrave as she's never been to court and needs the experience.  Grumpy Foggy's not so keen because he has a mountainload of dictation for her to complete (and naturally he wants to moon over her whilst she does it).

Once Killgrave catches sight of Karen, he immediately reactivates his powers (it's almost as if he was waiting for a gorgeous female to turn up before he did anything) and leaves his jail, in a pretty cool panel.

Killgrave very swiftly begins to rise to the top.  He takes control of a gang of boxers he meets at a local gym and then takes up residence at the swankiest hotel in the city.  But he's perturbed by his inability to successfully use his mind control powers (or whatever they are) over Daredevil.  Killgrave's powers don't appear to be just about the power of suggestion (like many of Stan's enemies, he attained them through some kind of botched secret military experiment) but his very presence intimidates others.  But the sightless Daredevil appears to be more immune - as such, the Purple Man's a good fit and possibly underused in the entire DD canon.

Elsewhere, the creatives are still getting to grips with Matt's costume and other accoutrements.  Matt's hood debuted in the last issue but it's an extremely shortlived addition to the costume as, in this escapade, he comes to the conclusion that it's too risky to carry his clothing with him on his back in case it's stolen by a baddie (who would learn his identity). 

Instead Lee focuses on developing Matt's billy club. Not only does it contain a tape recorder, as in the first issue of Daredevil, but it can turn into a boomerang and also, most bizzarely, manages to hide a large chemically treated sheet that can cover a man.

60s Lady Watch. In the very last panel, Karen and Foggy discuss Matt's disability and how great he is despite the fact he can't see. Yet, Karen muses, he seems to see more than any of us. That's alright to say. Then she realises it must be nonsense and says, "I guess I'm just a silly female!" Poor Karen.

Cast
Matt Murdock/Daredevil
Foggy Nelson
Karen Page

Killgrave, the Purple Man
Punchy
The Fixer
Mr Smathers
Mrs Perkins

Rating: 5 out of 10

Daredevil 3

The Ominous Owl, Overlord of Crime by Stan Lee, Joe Orlando and Vince Colletta

 

One Sentence Overview:  After the suspicious death of an employee leads to an investigation into his illegal activities, the Owl decides to join the criminal fraternity and kidnaps Daredevil as a show of strength

 

Tuning in to the style of comic book writing in the early 60s can take a little while to those used to the quick reads of the 21st century.  Stan Lee is a more of a classist, a man who likes to build his characters, not just with stunning visual cues, but with the text of a verbose novel.  Take the Owl, who debuts here - Stan's introduction of the villain is done gradually, over a page and a half, with Joe Orlando displaying him in shadows and with his face concealed, whilst Stan waxes lyrical in the text boxes that accompany this.  He is, for example "a merciless man... with no friends [and]... nothing to connect him with the human race" and "his very presence seems so fraught with evil, with menace, that his fellow humans shrink back from the mere sight of him". 

I guess readers today are less likely to have patience with this kind of thing but it's a creepily effective way of introducing Leland Owlsley to the Daredevil readership.

When we first encounter him, Owlie is pretending to be a respectable businessman who is being warned by his accountant, George Grey, that the Feds have cottoned on to his dishonest dealings. In a magnificent display of true sadism, in one of the issue's best moment, the Owl turns round and tells the poor accountant that he knows and he's going to take the fall for him. Nyah, nyah. The poor accountant ends up throwing himself in front of a car. Ouch.

The Owl's sense of superiority and arrogance is increased when he is arrested, as predicted by the recently deceased, he shows scant regard for law.  When urged to find a lawyer to represent him, Leland waggles his finger in the direction of the nearest phone directory and picks out at random (you'll never guess) Nelson & Murdock. 

Hence our hero and villain are brought together (briefly until Owlsley unsurprisingly breaks his bail conditions).

With his legitimate front now ruined, the Owl scurries off to his own base, something called the Aerie, which brilliantly looks just like an Owl's head. It's wonderfully drawn by Joe Orlando and is a good example of the strange, otherworldly mansions and dens with which Stan likes to house many of his villains.

 

Here the Owl recruits his own henchmen, Sad Sam and Ape Horgon, and sets off to run his own criminal enterprise.  But one piece of the jigsaw is missing - "a lawyer who ia weak enough and guillible enough, so that he will act as a front for me".  The Owl confuses Matt's physical incapacities with a perception of him lacking character - guess he gets that one wrong.  Nevertheless, the contrivance of this situation leads to the Owl encountering Daredevil, who he captures and thus has a trophy with which to boast to the criminal fraternity.  (Though not before Daredevil has some fun with Ape Horgon in particular in a wonderfully cartoonish panel.)

The Owl also captures Karen Page, whose predominant role in these early issues is as damsel in distress.  She is, at this point in time, some distance from a woman confident in her own abilities, taking in a telling off from Matt (he even condescends to use the immortal phrase, "So you just run along") and wallowing in hopeless self-pity. 

It's clear that Stan Lee is still finding his feet with the look of his hero. Here, he gives Daredevil (who of course is in his original yellow costume at this stage) a red backpack hood combo in which to store his clothing - this means he has no future need for bouncing his clothes around like a basketball!

Stan brings quite a lot into this issue and the Owl in particular comes out of it as a well drawn arrogant character.  However, despite the aerie and all the invention going on, it remains a rather timid affair, it being all too clear that the creators are still finding their feet with the characters. 

Cast

Matt Murdock/Daredevil
Foggy Nelson
Karen Page

The Owl
George Grey
Sad Sam Simms
Ape Horgon

Rating: 4 out of 10

Daredevil 2

The Evil Menace of Electro by Stan Lee and Joe Orlando

One Sentence Overview:  Having been asked by the Fantastic Four to check out the lease on the Baxter Building, Daredevil's arrival at the FF's hom coincides with the fortune hunting Electro's

It's common knowledge that Ed Wood is one of the worst film directors of all time and that his 'masterpiece' is 'Plan Nine from Outer Space'.  Despite that movie's reputation as the worst film of all time, decades from its release it gained a following for those who were entertained not by the tight scripting but by the sheer silliness of the enterprise.  And one could say something similar for the second issue of Daredevil.

After a very fine first issue, things change appear to have gone completely bonkers. The impression I have is that Stan had a great origin story for a hero but maybe hadn't thought much further ahead than this.  So, here, we find a character in search of a milieu, a raison d'etre, a theme.  And Marvel's great innovator throwing a bunch of things at the wall to see what sticks.

So we have both the Fantastic Four and Electro, presumably in the hope that these appearances will pull in fans of both Marvel's first family and the Amazing Spider-man.  The FF turn up looking for Murdock to review the Baxter Building's lease (why?  Is it in braille?), leading to a bizarre scene where the Thing not only smashes through the office door (hey, he's the Thing, ain't he?) but also manages to meld the door back together again afterwards!

Anyway, this plot device enables Matt to turn up at the Baxter Building (whilst Mr Fantastic and co are elsewhere) unaware that Electro has popped in for a spot of burglary.  Electro's heard that there are some nice scientific secrets that may be worth stealing (he's not slow on the capability of Reed Richards).  However, he probably wasn't expecting to find a space rocket!  (Space rockets, woo hoo!) 

Despite this innovation that might fetch a bob or two in Latveria, Electro doesn't make off with it but, rather, puts a subdued Daredevil inside the craft!  That's why the Kingpin is where he is today and Max Dillon's still on the C list.

Electro can't work out how to launch the rocket (that Richards is still too darned clever) but when your superpower allows you to control electricity, well, who's needs the control panel?  So we find the literally outlandish scenario, in his second issue only, of one of Marvel's earthiest heroes being shot into space.  Naturally, our sightless, untrained hero manages to bring the rocket back to earth...

However, if you thought that that's enough transportation for one issue, you'd be wrong.  Following his return to earth, Matt also rides a horse and hitches a lift on a helicopter. Had someone bet Stan Lee to include as many disparate modes of transport as possible into one issue? Nice work from Joe Orlando here.

There is another very nice sequence by Orlando early on when Daredevil breaks up Electro's car stealing scheme. It's very cartoony, but nicely done all the same.

There's also a strange little scene where DD takes down Electro's crew using, er, a tyre as a kind of catapault.  Hey, this issue, you can't fault the creatives for inventiveness.

Meanwhile, 60s Karen Watch. In this issue, Karen continues to pine over Matt - she'd "marry him in a minute, even though he's blind".  We learn that she has a picture of Matt in her drawer (a rather handsome looking Foggy is not pleased) and is most disturbed when Matt ignores her calling to him in the street.

I did enjoy how Sue Storm's only concern about the legal secretary was that she had a nice hairdo and wants to copy it - very early 60s.  This, I guess, is the writer's way of telling us that Karen is both gorgeous and with it (man).

All in all, this is a very odd story.  Really it doesn't work... yet it is absurdly enjoyable and a real curio for those brought up on a diet of Frank Miller, Bendis et al!  At the beginning, Stan Lee notes that this story "may well be remembered as long as literature endures".  That may overstate it, but, still, this tale has managed to maintain something of a reputation whilst other more mediocre fare from the time has faded from memory.

Cast
Matt Murdock/Daredevil
Foggy Nelson
Karen Page

Electro
The Thing
Mr Fantastic
Sue Storm
Johnny Storm
Battling Jack Murdock

Rating 3 out of 10 for credibility, 7 out of 10 for fun, making it...5 out of 10