Man Without Fear...By The Year: Daredevil Comics in 1979
By Bruno Savill De Jong — It’s 1979. Margaret Thatcher is elected the first female Prime Minister in the UK, Americans are taken hostage in Iran, Sony releases the portable Walkman, and the USSR invade Afghanistan. People are listening to “Comfortably Numb,” watching Alien, and reading Daredevil.
Written by Roger McKenzie (155-156, 158-161), Mary Jo Duffy (157)
Illustrated by Frank Robbins (155-156), Gene Colan (157), Frank Miller (158-161)
Inks by Frank Springer (155), Klaus Janson (156-161)
Colors by Bob Sharen (155), Francoise Mouly (156), Glynis Wein (157, 159-161), George Roussos (158)
Lettered by Denise Wohl (155), Elaine Heinl (156), Joe Rosen (157-158, 160), Jim Novak (159), Diana Albers (161)
The 1970s were a strange decade for Daredevil. Matt Murdock had a unique premise but never quite found his footing, bouncing between writers, between San Francisco and New York, social commentary and strange supervillains, seriousness and silliness. But 1979’s psychological direction brings the decade to a close, with the arrival of Frank Miller on the horizon. Daredevil even says to himself “much of my effectiveness as a crime-fighter stems from my image as a ‘creature of the night’… it’s time for Daredevil to return to the shadows once more!” It’s an odd statement, since Daredevil has never exactly been “shadowy” before. Instead, it’s a declaration of intent, as Daredevil smooths out his jovial swashbuckling persona to settle into the increasing “gritty” urban scene.
Maybe it’s a different “shadow” that Daredevil refers to. Later Matt thinks to himself “I live under the shadow of the promise I made my father years ago” when he fails to prioritize his girlfriend Heather over his costumed responsibilities. Such internal conflicts are rendered literal when Matt “boxes” a yellow-costumed Daredevil in a coma-dream, fighting for his self-worth within his dead father’s profession (and the costume made right after his vow of “justice”). Roger McKenzie had Matt wrestle with quasi-suicidal depression in 1978, but in 1979 Daredevil even starts falling from the sky mid-leap, his whole body shutting down from constant adventuring.
As Matt fends off death in his coma, he is plagued in the material world by the Death-Stalker. After previous lackeys failed to capture Daredevil, Death-Stalker hires a new group of Ani-Men – different from those Daredevil fought in 1968 – to finally get him. It’s appropriate, since the Ani-Men were recruited by the Exterminator, who Death-Stalker here reveals himself to be. Following his supposedly fatal battle (which killed off Mike Murdock), the Exterminator was transformed into the scarred and incorporeal Death-Stalker, and has been intent on revenge ever since. Death-Stalker is haunted by the shadow of what he once was. 1979 is the culmination of their battle, ending in macabre fashion when Death-Stalker materializes halfway through a tombstone (the issue title, “A Grave Mistake,” becoming a morbid joke).
As this is happening, Daredevil is struck by another past “ghost” when Black Widow returns to New York, staying with the Avengers. This announcement somehow triggers an aggressive “alternate personality” in Matt, barreling through the Avenges to apparently murder Natasha before slipping into a coma. This is explained as the result of a concussion Daredevil acquired earlier, although its genuinely frightening to see the repressed bitterness towards Black Widow bubble to the surface.
At the very least, Daredevil can be “open” with Black Widow, the two sharing an openness and superhero “kinship” once Matt has recovered. With Heather Glenn, even now she knows Matt is Daredevil, there is this distance between who he once was that he cannot “change” back into. Another addition to Matt’s always bustling love-life is Becky Blake, a paraplegic woman who becomes secretary to Matt and Foggy’s Legal Storefront. Becky, naturally, lusts after Matt, but is insecure whether her own handicap can match the glamorous adventures of Black Widow or the wealthy heiress Heather. She is the “humbled” alternative for Matt, proud of her own capabilities but also secretly wishing to “change” to fit into another life. Even if Matt, for all his faults, would never ask her to.
Still, Daredevil cares deeply for Black Widow, which Bullseye utilizes by kidnapping her. Bullseye also hires aging crime-boss Eric Slaughter to take out Daredevil, knowing he would fail but wanting to “study” Daredevil to prepare his own attack. This gauntlet between Daredevil and Bullseye is brutal, with Matt descending undercover into “Josie’s Bar” to intimidate Slaughter’s goons and find Natasha’s location. A terrified Turk Barrett leads Daredevil to Coney Island, leaping through the twisted structures and heavy gunfire to confront Bullseye directly. It’s a personal, savage fight where Daredevil stares down Bullseye with a loaded gun, his grim determination causing the obsessed villain to crumble.
The power of this Bullseye stretch arises from Frank Miller’s arrival on pencils. Miller’s first issue was the end of the Death-Stalker story, coming off the heels of Frank Robbins (a bold-lined and bulky Golden Age legend) and Gene Colan (Daredevil’s long-term penciller). Robbins and Colan were 62 and 53 respectively during their issues, while upstart Miller was 22 when he climbed aboard Daredevil. He’d previously pencilled a Daredevil crossover in Spectacular Spider-Man #27-28, where Spider-Man becomes blinded by the Masked Marauder (who himself originated in Daredevil). Miller was apparently taken by Daredevil, and asked to be moved onto his regular book. Jim Shooter seemingly knew what he had, advertising how “a truly great new artist will explode upon the Marvel scene like a bombshell.”
Miller doesn’t exactly “explode” onto the scene (it isn’t a radical break like Bill Sienkiewicz, for instance) his pencils are notably intense in blocking out the action. This is evident in the fight sequences, with Daredevil throwing his billy-club around possessing a geometric precision amongst the stocky bodies Or as Daredevil stares down Bullseye, panels cutting between their faces, as Daredevil’s fills the frame. Or even as Matt looks over Natasha’s trashed apartment, thunder crashing in the background as he grips the random note. All these moments become impactful through Miller’s pencils, bolstered by Klaus Janson’s inking that adds impressive heft and continuity throughout the book.
Daredevil starts 1979 undergoing a seizure mid-swing, struggling to keep himself moving, and ends with him threatening Bullseye with how “nothing you can do will stop me now.” Nobody could know at the time the influence Frank Miller would bring to Daredevil, but even just on pencils, the book seems to have found its direction. It’s even this year that Daredevil’s specific locale of “Hell’s Kitchen” is first mentioned by name (even if it’s as Daredevil prowls through all of Manhattan). He has finally found a real home. Miller’s Daredevil is one of the most famous and discussed comic runs in history, and Miller himself comes with colossal amounts of baggage – all of which will be addressed in due time. But as Daredevil defeats Bullseye, Daily Bugle journalist Ben Urich scopes out Fogwell’s Gym and deduces Matt’s childhood connection to Daredevil. Even as things move forward, they loop back to the beginning.
Read classic Daredevil Comics!
Check out past installments from The Man Without Fear…By The Year!
Check out Bruno Savill De Jong’s last regular series, Gotham Central Case by Case!
Bruno Savill De Jong is a recent undergraduate of English and freelance writer on films and comics, living in London. His infrequent comics-blog is Panels are Windows and semi-frequent Twitter is BrunoSavillDeJo.
