Was Daredevil Marvel’s Only Crime-Fighter?
FOOM #13 was all about Daredevil!
That Gene Colan cover is the coolest bit about this issue, but there are a few nuggets, if you look for them.
For example, there are several character reference sheets for Daredevil and his supporting cast from the immortal Wally Wood:
There was also this quote from Marv Wolfman, offering insight on what distinguished ol’ Hornhead from his Marvel brethren, circa 1976:
(Daredevil) is — as far as I can tell — Marvel’s only crime-fighter. All the other characters have other shticks that they do: Spider-Man isn’t so much a crime-fighter; he fights super villains. Half-the-time I’m not even quite sure why, or what the super villain has done. For instance, there’s a three-part story running now with Dr. Octopus and Hammerhead, but so far as I can tell, no one’s committed any crime. It’s just that they’re super villains, that a good enough reason to stage the issues. Thor fights the Asgardian characters and everything else. The FF fight space monsters or creatures or earth-shaking menaces. Most of our super-heroes tend not to actually fight crime. They fight other things connected with it.
So, Daredevil, being, in a sense, Marvel’s only crime-fighter, you can do slightly different-type storylines; in fact you almost have to … Secondly, Matt Murdoch is one of the few, I think, intelligent adults in the Marvel universe, who actually has to work for a living. Peter Parker is only a part-time worker because he’s basically a student … Tony Stark is a multi-millionaire. Most of our characters don’t have to work to support themselves. Matt, on the other hand, would be in serious trouble if he weren’t being paid for the legal work he does. So, Matt is of interest.
Marv goes on to comment about how the book originated as a shadow of Spider-Man, but had neither the supporting cast nor the villains of that book. It is an interesting look at a character during a time that no one could recognize as being the end of an era for Daredevil. The last issue listed in this magazine’s then-up-to-date Daredevil index is #134 … three issues after the first appearance of Bullseye, and twenty-four issues before Frank Miller would join the book with issue #158, and finally propel Daredevil to the ranks of Marvel’s A-list books.
See you back here next week for another FOOM Friday!
Posted on March 14, 2014, in FOOM Friday! and tagged Daredevil, FOOM, Gene Colan, Marv Wolfman, Marvel Christmas, Netflix, Wally Wood. Bookmark the permalink. 5 Comments.
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