Daredevil 157 creator credits

Daredevil 157

The Ungrateful Dead by Roger McKenzie, Mary Jo Duffy, Gene Colan and Klaus Janson

One Sentence Overview: With the help of the Avengers, Daredevil temporarily sees off the threat of the Death-Stalker and has time to reflect on the state of his love life

Heh, brilliant story title this issue (even if it doesn't have much to do with the story itself - a more appropriate moniker might have been 'Lives and Loves of a Daredevil').

A significant first in this issue is that we have the first scripting credit to a female writer (even Kathryn Bigelow didn't have to wait as long... etc. etc.). I'm actually a fan of Mary Jo Duffy, having read many of the stories she created for the brilliantly funny Power Man/Iron Fist comic back in the 80s. I've noticed that she's often credited as Jo Duffy, which makes me wonder, a la JK Rowling, whether she was being deliberately ambiguous about her gender. Or whether there was a feeling back in the day that boys wouldn't pick up a comic written by a woman (and I'm guessing that probably hasn't changed either). But that's mere speculation on my part.

Anyway, Mary Jo's scripting from a ramblin' Roger plotline here. I'm not sure where the responsibilities of this began and ended because this is a very female friendly issue, with plenty of interaction between Matt and the women in his life. First up, after a brief tussle with the Death-Stalker (and a brilliant throw-away line from the Beast about the villain disappearing "like a Cheshire hat"), it's time for Matt and the Widow to become, er, reacquainted...

Long time readers of this blog will know that I find Matt impetuously randy at times. However, smooching in front of the Avengers is not the most tactful thing that Natasha's ever done. After all, she's just kicked into touch her burgeoning relationship with co-Champion, Hercules. (Now be honest, lady, which would you prefer? A prevaricating, maudlin down at heel lawyer? Or a god? Hmmm, difficult decision, huh...). However, any hopes of a continuing romantic liaison are soon doused when Matt tells his ex-partner that he can make it on his own and that he wants to rekindle the flame with Heather Glenn. Huh, that didn't stop Matt from gratefully indulging in a snog with the exotic Russian. Matt's love 'em and leave 'em approach remains his stock in trade.

Matt does soon hook up with Heather. And despite gaining an ear bashing for the way Matt treats her and still holding a grudge against Daredevil, Matt's soon onto his second tonsil hockey session of the issue! Regular readers must have been concerned that they'd picked up a romance title by mistake...

However, Matt soon gets his comeuppance. At the Storefront the next day, he's affronted when both Heather and Natasha turn up both claiming that he's their date for the evening. But it's Becky I feel most sorry for. It's revealed that the (previously very confident) Ms Blake was holding a candle for Mr Murdock and she sulks by the filing cabinets in the corner. It feels like at this stage Becky was introduced as another potential love interest for Matt instead of an interesting character in her own right, which says a lot, I guess about how female supporting characters were treated back in the day. At least, in today's Daredevil, Becky gets equal billing to her male counterparts - but that's a long way off yet.

All this soap opera-ing means there's little in the way of action this issue. But actually I don't mind that. I've always enjoyed issues where we get a lot of supporting cast interaction and there's certainly plenty of that to enjoy here. Still we end up with an attack by old time villains, the Unholy Three.

But that's not nearly as exciting as the caption telling us that next issue "Roger welcomes a new penciller to the book". Now wonder who that could be?

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock
Foggy Nelson
Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff
Heather Glenn
Becky Blake
Debbie Harris

Captain America/Steve Rogers
Beast/Hank McCoy
Hercules
Death-Stalker
Cat Man
Bird Man
Ape Man

Rating: 7 out of 10

Daredevil 156

Ring of Death by Roger McKenzie and Gene Colan

One Sentence Overview: A clearly delusional Daredevil attacks the Avengers, who recognising his mental anguish, take him to hospital, where our hero slips into a coma and engages in a strange battle for his life

Last issue ended strangely with a seemingly deranged DD attacking the avengers, eager to hunt down the returning Black Widow. It was so out of character (as Natasha herself remarks on the first page) that I felt certain that this was an impostor. A page or two in, I'm feeling more certain as he attacks the Widow very viciously, threatening to choke her with his billy club (which isn't a very nice superhero-y thing to do, I think you'll agree). But no, this is our Matt. It's just that he's lost his blinkin' marbles.

Eventually Matt retrieves his senses but not until after he has clattered Natasha with Cap's shield. Given these episodes of violence, Natasha is incredibly gracious and understanding towards Matt's mental state, even rebuking the Beast for raising the not unreasonable issue that Daredevil unleased an unprovoked assault about them. (Incidentally, kudos to Matt for flooring Hercules - with the help of Cap's shield.)

Soon though the Avengers are of one mind and taking the clearly disturbed man without fear to the local hospital. Where we encounter one of the classic comic book crazy chestnuts - namely a masked hero remaining exactly that way whilst lying bandaged in bed. This is rendered even sillier in this instance by the fact that the top of DD's mask has clearly been cut away in order to insert the previously mentioned bandages. It's just weird.
The cover describes this as "the wildest saga of the year" and it's not far off. This is the kind of story that's hard to pull off - the readers are, in effect, pulled into Matt's mind and experience him battling with himself (in a literal sense, as we see red and yellow DD exchanging blows in the boxing ring). Waaaay back, Stan Lee mentioned in one of his stories that Gene just loves the boxing scenes and so Roger lets his artist go to town for a few pages. But in truth, despite an appearance of Battling Jack as Matt's corner guy, the fantasy lacks dynamism and only seems to scratch the surface of Matt's troubled psyche.
It even concludes with a somewhat cliched 'conquering his demons' moment when Matt starts clobbering Death. But, of course, it's not actually Death but a figment of Matt's imagination. How do we know this? Well, he says that his mum's dead and, of course, long time DD readers will know that Matt's mum is actually alive and well and currently hanging out in a nun's wimple.

Quite a strange tale but there's some lightheartedness elsewhere. As with the previous issue, Roger McKenzie has much more fun with the Beast than his fellow avengers. He's not so much the intellectual genius of today's X-Men comics but more a cheeky clown, more interested in tomfoolery... and annoying some poor sick people. Still, Roger clearly engages with the character and it's an entertaining little cameo. Perhaps he was angling for a run on the Avengers?

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock
Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff

Battling Jack Murdock
Captain America/Steve Rogers
The Beast/Hank McCoy
Hercules
Death Stalker
Jarvis
Death

Rating: 5 out of 10

Daredevil 155

The Man Without Fear? by Roger McKenzie and Frank Robbins

One Sentence Overview: Matt's celebration of a new employee is shortened when he learns that an old flame has returned to New York.

Gene Colan's return to the strip is interrupted by some young upstart called Frank Robbins. I'm being sarcastic. I'd never heard of Robbins but the interweb tells me that he was born in 1917 and, after a career writing newspaper strips and an apparently significant run on Batman in the 60s, he was winding down towards retirement when he took to pencilling Marvel comics. He has a slightly odd style, unafraid to make his characters look strangely proportioned and a little ugly (Daredevil's gaping mouth in this story is quite unnerving). I'm not sure I'm a fan... but if you want another opinion, this guy is:

http://bronzeageofblogs.blogspot.com/2009/10/frank-robbins.html

Roger McKenzie, meanwhile, must have a fear of falling. Two issues ago, he gave up a large lump of storytime to DD and Mr Hyde plummeting to their dooms. This time, the first four pages track DD tumbling from the skies. Hmmm, maybe a recurring nightmare? Actually, Roger does this kind of thing very well. Many writers might have spent a couple of panels describing our hero falling but Roger knows how to amp up the tension of a supposedly simple act (either that or he could only think of 13 pages of story and needed to draw one particular incident out... but of course, I don't believe that for a moment).
A little later, Roger has Daredevil reflect on how he is perceived by the New York citizenry. It's a very telling little moment because here he reveals the template for the Daredevil we know and love. The end of Matt's fall coincided with a bunch of concerned passersby cramming in on the man without fear, commenting on how heroic he is. Matt finds this disconcerting, particularly because all the bodies are playing havoc with his radar. Reflecting on this, Matt realises that he can never be the centre of attention. Instead, he figures, "Daredevil is - and must remain - a loner!" and "Much of my effectiveness as a crimefighter stems from my image as a 'creature of the night'." It sounds a little like a memo from editorial. Nevertheless it's a (perhaps unsubtle) way of telling the readers what kind of character they're going to get in the book from here on in.

The dramatic opening gaves way to more mundane fare - namely, the very un-comic book sight of Matt conducting a job interview (hey, how come that didn't end up on the cover? - we could have had a story called "The Menace of the Unemployed!") But this strange interlude is necessary to introduce another new member of the rapidly expanding cast - a name very familiar to any respectable DD fan - Becky Blake.
Actually Becky looks a lot hotter than I remember her. Of course, this being her first appearance, Becky being a wheelchair user is somewhat overegged. Not only does Becky become (wrongly) annoyed with Matt for not being interested in her because of the wheelchair, there's a rather excruciating passage with Foggy trying to talk Matt out of employing her because of her disability. It's not Mr Nelson's finest hour. I guess it's trying to help readers overcome stereotyping but it feels a little forced to be truly effective.


As I said earlier the whole job interview thing was a missed cover opportunity sure to pull in readers. Instead they've fallen back on bringing the Black Widow back to the book. Presumably in the hope of not only bringing back old DD fans but also those who were picking up the recently deceased Champions comic. In fact there's not so much of Natasha but Roger seems to particularly enjoy giving the Beast plenty of banter as he and DD meet for the first time.
Quite a peculiar issue in some ways but I did like the character development and the way Roger gave page after page to the thrilling sight of... job interviews!

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock
Foggy Nelson
Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff
Becky Blake

Captain America/Steve Rogers
The Beast/Hank McCoy
Hercules
Death-Stalker

Rating: 6 out of 10

Daredevil 154

Arena! by Roger McKenzie and Gene Colan


One Sentence Overview: The Purple Man has abucted both Heather and Daredevil so that the latter can, basically, fight loads of bad guys just for the hell of it

I had quite high expectations for Roger McKenzie following on from his initial story, "Crisis", which packed a veritable emotional punch. However, since then, our stories have had fine moments of action but there isn't the sense of drama that the writer delivered on debut. Here, things seem to reach a nadir with the old bad guy team up chestnut rearing its head as Roger seeks to bring to a head the Purple Man story he was lumbered with in the first place. And perhaps that's the problem. Perhaps Roger's itching to tell the stories he wants to tell and not have to tie up the loose ends that Jim Shooter left him with - I guess for each comic book writer this is an occupational hazard. Whether things improve, well, I'll report my findings as I read on.

Here though Daredevil ends up in an arena - as you can tell from the title (incidentally, we've hit a run of one word story titles - since issue 148, since you're asking - which is a peculiar contrast with the usual overly verbose quasi Shakespearean sentences that are a hallmark of early Marvel - I'm guessing it's intentional). And of course so do the Purple Man and a hoard of unlikely villains. Roger seems to be aware of the jarring nature of this when he has the bad guys bickering amongst themselves in a huge double page spread early on in this issue - it's the old "I'm better at taking out Daredevil", "No, I am..." kind of thing. This whole thing, of course, recalls Stan Lee. That doesn't sound like a criticism but no-one could keep such unlikely scenarios in check quite like Stan, so it's a risky strategy particularly in the late 70s as comic books more and more strove for authenticity.

Of course, having a mind manipulator like Killgrave on board is rather handy when it comes to a cohort of uber villains looking to take Daredevil out. After all, his very power indicates how he can persuade this unlikely band of brothers into teaming up. We also learn early on that Killgrave knows that Daredevil is Matt Murdock - which explains whey he had Hyde and Cobra hiding out in Heather's apartment. What it doesn't explain is how he knows (unless I missed something). Call me picky, but these are the kind of details I like laid out.

The difficulty in issues like these is that the big battles tend to act against the individual characteristics of the villains. Their personalities and idiosyncracies have little room to breathe. To be fair, Roger does a pretty decent job in presenting the four combatants as distinctly different - the Jester wittier than the thuggish Hyde, whilst the Gladiator emits Roman-speak whenever possible. And there's a very clever moment where the Cobra accidentally knocks out Gladdy - the spinning discs, for once, proving Mr Potter's ondoing.
What the battle does seem to establish, though, is who is the deadliest in this kind of scenario. Adding to his defeat of Daredevil in the last issue, it's Mr Hyde who is on the verge of delivering a fatal blow when smarmy Paladin turns up! It's clear that Marvel thought quite highly of this guy back in the late 70s - they're getting their money out of him on the basis of his Daredevil appearances alone. Here the gun for hire is every bit as effective as the man without fear in tackling the bad guys.

I try not to spoil the ending of each issue's story. However, I thought it worth noting that the writer returns to the seemingly default conclusion that has appeared in Daredevil time and again (I've lost count). Namely, fighting Daredevil at a considerable height, the Purple Man loses balance and apparently falls to his death. This has happened to the Owl, the Masked Marauder, Stilt-Man (I think) and I'm sure one or two others. It's rather annoying to see it re-occur and makes me think the writer couldn't think of a decent send off for the villain.

Anyway, this is by no means a disastrous little tale. It's certainly fast paced and action packed. It's just a little light on really bringing the characters forward. We've seen this kind of thing before with Stan Lee. So ultimately it's a little disappointing. But in a fun way.


Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock
Heather Glenn

Killgrave, the Purple Man
The Jester/Jonathan Powers
The Gladiator/Melvin Potter
Mr Hyde
The Cobra
Paladin

Rating: 5 out of 10

Daredevil 153

Betrayal by Roger McKenzie and Gene Colan


One Sentence Overview: Daredevil breaks into Heather's apartment only to find Mr Hyde and the Cobra waiting to kidnap him.

This issue sees the return of an old favourite - Gene 'The Dean' Colan! But that's perhaps not as remarkable as the debut of one of my favourites - the one, the only, grumpy, belligerent, stubborn, contrary Ben Urich! Last review I mentioned that the clean cut handsome reporter giving Matt Murdock grief at the graveside may have been the character who becomes Urich in this issue. I'm not certain of this but, given that Gene's back and Carmine Infantino's on the bench, it's possible the reporter who we open with this issue, rattling away at his old typewriter, was meant to be the one and the same. If so, it could be that Ben's distinctive scruffy look could be down to mere miscommunication.

Maybe, though, it was just that Roger McKenzie didn't like the strong upstanding member of the community Carmine gave us last issue. Instead, Roger or Gene decided that our hard-bitten reporter had to look a little world weary, with stubble and (until he was made to give them up) trademark cigarette. Actually, in his very first appearance, he looks almost too crumpled, almost too much of a stereotype. But, boy, it's good to see him.

In other news, we've got Hyde and the Cobra again, though not as wisecracking as in previous appearances. Instead Roger amps up the threat of both characters, making them vicious and seemingly more powerful than before. In one bravura sequence, Hyde combines strength with insanity by not caring about hurtling Daredevil out of the window of a skyscraper. The threat of this is stunningly produced in a great splash page by Gene Colan. This isn't the sort of threat normally given too much space because usually superheroes cope with this easily. But Roger is clearly more interested in Daredevil's weaknesses and his inability, with his billy club out of reach, to resolve this frightening situation by swinging out of the way. In fact, the creative team use up a further three pages tracking Matt and Hyde's perilous fall to the streets below (and, of course, Daredevil's eventual escape from ending up as raspberry jam). And it actually works well - it reminds the reader we're not dealing with an omni-powerful superhero - we've a guy who can be taken out comparatively easily.

Kudos to Roger for making the two previous bumblers a force to be reckoned with (though why the villains were lurking in Heather's apartment, as Urich notes, isn't explained). And it's a pretty good fight with a decent conclusion. But apart from this, there's not a lot else - readers aren't really given much of an insight - yet - into who this reporter Urich is. There's certainly not a sense that he'll become a key character in the strip. Still, there's a nice epilogue with Foggy announcing his forthcoming marriage. Which is bound to work out fine for him, isn't it?

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock
Foggy Nelson
Ben Urich

Mr Hyde
Cobra

Rating: 5 out of 10

Daredevil 152

Prisoner! by Roger McKenzie and Carmine Infantino


One Sentence Overview: Matt's attempts to reconcile Foggy and Debbie are interrupted when he discovers Paladin chasing a man down in Central Park

After the emotionally charged storyline of the preceding issue, we open with the more sombre surroundings of the funeral of Maxwell Glenn. I'm not exactly sure why Foggy Nelson's bothered to turn up, considering he believes that Glenn kidnapped his fiancee, but it's too much for some snooping reporters to resist. Foggy ends up rattled and flooring one with a neat right hook.
What's perhaps more interesting is that another reporter is trying to get the views of a very distracted Matt. Given that Roger McKenzie gives this secondary character some 'inner thought' time, it seems the writer's intention may be to introduce a new character or story thread. In fact, the following issue sees the long awaited debut of Ben Urich. But this isn't Urich. Or rather, to those readers who know Ben well, this certainly looks nothing like him. But I'm wondering if Roger McKenzie's intention was for this guy to be the character who becomes Ben Urich? Just a thought...

Foggy may be prone to irritability and clumsiness but weakwilled? Apparently not. A little later, Foggy begins to drown his sorrows in the bottom of a whisky bottle. However, perhaps aware of not pilfering an Iron Man storyline, Foggy suddenly snaps out of his funk in very dramatic fashion. "No!" he yells, "I don't need this stuff!" Thataboy. Instead he decides to seek solace in the reliable and faithful Debbie Harris.... Oh, wait a second, did I say "reliable" and "faithful"? There's no Debbie on the other line just a disembodied voice telling poor Mr Nelson that he is a nuisance and she doesn't want to talk to him. Hmmm, I'm detecting a somewhat cyclical pattern developing here...

Actually, Debbie's still traumatised, which isn't surprising given the length of time she was kidnapped. So what's Matt's solution? Well, he wants to bring his good buddy Foggy round so he breaks into the Harris mansion, takes out Debbie's security guard and whisks her away. That's the romantic way of putting it. Considering all that Debbie's been through, how on earth does Matt think it in any way helpful for him to smash his way through the poor girl's window and, as far as Debbie's fractured mind can grasp, knock out her protector and abduct her. This feels like trauma therapy through re-traumatising. Best of all though is that, once this terrifying (for Debbie) event concludes, Matt decides to lecture her about not getting better ("I've been talking practically non-stop for an hour," Matt grumbles - hey, Matt, don't think about becoming a therapist any time soon, okay?). Oh, dear, the poor girl's bound for the funny farm. Unsurprisingly, after having Daredevil barking in her ear, the moment Foggy appears, she's soon locking lips. But, beware, Foggy, at this stage it probably isn't love. It's sheer relief!

The affection between these two soon causes Matt to sink into his own depression, realising that his own sweet love has gone from his life. Recognising that Heather is currently neither a fan of Matt or Daredevil, the man without fear sinks to the last possible option. "Mike, where are you now when I need..." Eh? Mike Murdock? Surely he's not resurrecting that clown in the hope of getting it back on with Heather? Having said that, both those characters are clearly unhinged, so maybe it's actually a very shrewd plan.

Unsurprisingly, given the cover, the issue ends with a tussle with Paladin, which surprisingly the bounty hunter wins. Paladin's still going after the Purple Man and, with the return of the Death-Stalker elsewhere, it looks like we may get a conclusion to the Maxwell Glenn frame-up saga sometime soon after all.

Circulation update Christine from the Other Murdock Papers revealed recently that current sales figures for DD are clocking in at a paltry 37,000. The annual Statement of Circulation appears in this issue and, in September 1977, it's revealed that sales are around 120,000. And this was deemed in a comic book that was seen to be struggling. How times change.


Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock
Foggy Nelson
Debbie Harris

Death-Stalker
Paladin

Rating: 5 out of 10

Daredevil 151

Crisis by Gil Kane, Jim Shooter, Roger McKenzie and Klaus Janson


One Sentence Overview: Heather is devastated by her father's death, blaming the unmasked Daredevil, which leads Matt to the brink of despair.

We have three writers credited for this issue - Jim Shooter we know all about whilst Gil Kane is given a co-plotting credit for the first time. More significantly is the debut (and credited as scripter, so I assume doing the bulk of the legwork from outlines given by Gil and Jim) of Roger McKenzie, the writer who, as most DD fans will know, is the initial scribbler in Frank Miller's run. I was hoping to fill my blog audience in with some background on Roger but, strangely given his well known contribution to the world of Daredevil, internet info on the fella is surprisingly thin. Still just seeing his name on the title page is giving me goosebumps.

The issue opens with a considerable double whammy. Heather walks in on an unmasked Daredevil (as one can tell just by looking at the cover) who, meanwhile, is on the phone to the local jail being informed that Maxwell Glenn has just killed himself. As bad timings go, this one's something of a nadir.

Naturally to have a supporting character commit suicide is quite a bold move, even in the late 70s, and there follows some dramatic scenes, beautifully rendered by Gil Kane and Klaus Janson. Heather has been happy go lucky to date... hell, she's been disturbingly happy go lucky thus far. But here we see another side of her character, one devastated not only by grief but also by betrayal from the man she loved. She sinks to the floor, shoeless, in quite a pathetic state, blaming Matt for her father's death - he is after all the one who could have stopped all this happening. Wow, and this is just our opening. It's quite a punch in the gut.

Matt is banished from Heather's apartment and left to reflect on his hopelessness. "My whole life is falling apart and there's nothing I can do to stop it," he realises. "Nothing," he says in the next panel. "Nothing," the panel after that. Then finally, "Absolutely nothing at all!" Matt is in emotional despair, plumbing the depths. We would become accustomed to this sense of desolation in later storylines but this is probably the first time any writer has really dwelt on quite a downbeat piece of plotting without cutting away to ease the emotional pressure. Instead we follow Matt as, instead of beating up a lowlife in a nearby alley, he smashes up his apartment in utter frustration.
We're over half the issue in and the only thing hit in anger is Matt's lampshade. But that's all about to change. On his way home from the Storefront Matt's introspection is interrupted by a hi-jacked bus. Oh, no, is that a little kid who's jumped out in front of the bus? Now, we know how this all ends, Daredevil'll appear and sweep the kid away to safety, right? Oh, wait a second, is that a run over kid in the middle of the road? Hey, that's not meant to happen! Not only are our writers giving Daredevil an emotional mauling, suddenly the whole tenor of the script is focusing on bleak ends for average citizens (okay, eventually he survives but I guess editorial would have been worried for the sanity of its readership after such a catalogue of disasters).

What we've always associated with superheroes - the ability to rescue when all hope seems lost - is torn away this issue. It is, of course, absolutely a hallmark of what the book will become (and, significantly, demonstrates that this kind of storytelling didn't begin with Miller).

Another interesting aspect of the story is that there is no beefed up supervillain to be seen, no scientific genius, no-one trying to take over New York. No, it's just a couple of pathetic guys trying to hi-jack a bus that are our villains taking centre-stage. It doesn't really matter that Daredevil disposes of them ruthlessly and efficiently. It's the fact that the writers are trying to pull Daredevil into the real world, into real crime. The mediocrity of it all is what makes it compelling.

Here Daredevil doesn't quip - we don't have access to his inner thoughts - instead Roger McKenzie tracks the action through text boxes that describe what's going on, a departure from what we've had before.

And, by the end of this issue you're left breathless - you've been through the mill. We've seen nothing like this in Daredevil to date. Nothing even close. A new era of storytelling is being ushered in. Fantastic.


Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock
Foggy Nelson
Heather Glenn

Rating: 9 out of 10

Daredevil 1-150: The Top 10 Stories

Just my personal opinion naturally but here's a run down of what I think are the ten best stories so far...

10 Issue 18 There Shall Come a Gladiator (co-scripted by Denny O'Neill, Foggy's bonkers notion of becoming Daredevil to impress Karen is a very funny read)

9 Issue 69 A Life on the Line (impressively political storyline bravely tackling poverty and black power, both empathetic and moving)

8 Issue 108 Cry... Beetle (never mind the C-list villain, just feel the compelling love angst as Matt struggles to choose between the Black Widow and Moondragon in one of the most fabulously emotional issues in the run)

7 Issue 11 A Time to Unmask (the finale of the Organiser storyline ends with an outstanding piece of writing from Stan revealing the inner turmoil of our three main characters)

6 Issue 85 Night Flight (seemingly a filler issue by Gerry and Gene as DD and the Widow return to the States but the interaction between Matt, the Gladiator and the flight passengers is both witty and bizarre; and there's a genuinely jaw dropping pay off on the final page)

5 Issue 150 Catastophe (trippy dreams, social commentary, Paladin being simultaneously sleazy and charming and a belter of a cliffhangar; simply brilliant storytelling)

4 Issue 1 The Origin of Daredevil (perhaps unsurprising, DD's origin is a winner, helped by fantastic artwork from Bill Everett)

3 Issue 71 If an Eye Offend Thee... (conclusion of the fabulous Tribune storyline, with actor Buck Ralston taking on the children of the revolution in New York)

2 Issue 139 A Night in the Life (a near classic by Marv Wolfman, hyping up the social discontent of inner city New York to the nth degree with a highly agitated Daredevil trying to find a missing boy and help out a drug addled young woman turning to crime)

1 Issue 70 The Tribune (the brilliant introduction of right wing cowboy and professional bigot, Buck Ralston and his amazing hippy blasting gavel - I still can't believe the Tribune's whole comic book career stretches a mere two issues!)

Speak of the Devil

Quick plug!

I've recently been contacted by the moderator of the site, legionofdudes.com, who informs me that they're currently running a podcast dedicated to our favourite lawyer who likes wearing his red PJs about town.

If you're interested, check out the following links:

itunes
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/legion-dudes-speak-devil/id357576228

RSS
http://hhwlod.com/index.php?option=com_podcast&view=feed&format=raw&Itemid=160


Enjoy!