Going into 1982, there was no comic book series that was of greater interest to me and my small collection of comic book reading friends as DAREDEVIL. The title had been gaining momentum ever since newcomer artist Frank Miller had been brought on to pencil it a year or two earlier. Miller’s storytelling chops were self-evident, and became stronger and more graphic over time, elevating some otherwise pedestrian stories into something more meaningful. Editor Denny O’Neil evidently had a lot of faith in Miller’s potential, as he soon let him write the series as well, and it became virtually an entirely different series. Gone were the faux Spider-Man villains and the playful banter. Now, Daredevil had more in common with DC’s Batman, a dark figure of justice whose world was a lot more grounded and realistic (for all that it also included a lot of ninjas and stuff.) Dialogue and copy were stripped down, permitting the artwork to carry a greater percentage of the narrative.
Miller made DAREDEVIL a top series, one that other creators began to emulate to one degree or another. He turned the Kingpin from just another goonish adversary of Spider-Man’s into a dangerous and unbeatable force, and crafted Bullseye into a character to take seriously despite his origins as just another gimmick super-villain. Miller channeled a lot of his love for the work of Will Eisner into his approach, and nowhere was that more apparent than in his creation of Elektra, the woman from Daredevil’s past who had broken bad and who was now an assassin for hire. She started out as a riff on Eisner’s Spirit character Sand Saref before growing in her own direction. Over the course of several months, Miller had kept the stew of these characters and others bubbling, but the main event happened in this special double-sized issue. It was upsized for no particular reason; it wasn’t a centennial issue nor an obvious anniversary. But it signified that something important was about to happen, and just as with X-MEN #137 a year or two previous, it would prove to be climactic.
The other person whose work needs to be acknowledged on this run of DAREDEVIL and who is too often overlooked is Klaus Janson. Klaus had been inking the series before Miller came onto it, providing prior pencilers as diverse as Gene Colan and Carmine Infantino with a sense of grit and texture. He and Miller fit together like a hand in a glove, and so as Miller began to focus more of his time and attention on building the story and the overall page layouts and composition, Klaus wound up doing more and more of the finished artwork. To achieve greater control over the finished pages, Klaus also took up the coloring of the title, which allowed him to get across wonderfully evocative effects operating from a single viewpoint. While Miller is the one who most often gets the plaudits for the artwork, a good deal of the credit by this point should more rightly go to Janson.
The story in this issue is relatively well known and very well-remembered even after all of these years. And while it’s the culmination to a number of long-running plotlines, like most of the issues surrounding it, it plays as a self-contained single issue story. It focuses on Bullseye, once the Kingpin’s top assassin, now incarcerated after his defeat by Daredevil–who, to add insult to injury, also saved Bullseye’s life before bringing him in. This entire issue is narrated from Bullseye’s point of view, often providing an unreliable narrator’s perspective in the manner in which what Bullseye is thinking and saying clashes with the visuals that we are seeing. It’s an effect that comes across due to the fact that the same person is controlling both the words and the visuals. Having heard that the Kingpin has a new assassin and that he’s been left to rot in prison, Bullseye stages a breakout, determined to take back his number one spot.
Elektra has been hired to bump off Foggy Nelson, Matt Murdock’s law partner, and so Bullseye figures he’ll beat her to the punch and take her out at the same time. Elektra gets to Foggy first, but when he recognizes her from his and Matt’s time in college, she can’t go through with the hit. Just as well, because then Bullseye is there, and what follows is a virtually silent multi-page action sequence in which the two killers attempt to put one another in the ground. Bullseye, though, gets the upper hand, and in the above shot runs Elektra through with her own Sai, a fatal blow. She’s able to stay alive long enough to stagger to Matt Murdock’s brownstone and die in her arms. Despite the blurb on the front cover, this was an entirely unexpected development–Elektra had only recently been introduced and she was suddenly a phenomenally popular character, so the audacity to kill her off in this manner felt similar to X-MEN #137’s death of Jean Grey in terms of having an immediate impact.
In any event, this convinces Bullseye that Matt Murdock must be Daredevil, a theory he tests with a thrown blade that Murdock effortlessly blocks with his cane. Attempting to get back into the Kingpin’s good graces, he brings this information to the Kingpin, who dismisses it as preposterous (otherwise, we could have had “Born Again” years earlier.) But he tells Bullseye that he’ll consider rehiring him if he eliminates Daredevil. This again leads to a multi-page virtually silent showdown, one that begins with DD tricking Bullseye with a dummy figure and a tape recorder to convince him that he isn’t Matt Murdock at all. Shades of the 1950s Superman! The fight is especially brutal for a 1982 comic book produced under the strictures of the Comics Code, and therefore all the more intense as a result.
In the end, we end up with a quasi-reprise of the sequence in the earlier story in which Daredevil saved the stricken Bullseye from an oncoming train. This time, he’s keeping the killer from a fatal flaw. But this time, Daredevil chooses to let go and permit his enemy to plummet to his death, the sort of harsh, hard-boiled choice that super heroes simply didn’t make in 1982 as a matter of course. Given Bullseye’s murder of Elektra, though, this felt entirely earned, and I can’t recall any readers of the time complaining about Daredevil’s actions here (though no doubt there were some.)
As it turns out (and possibly to shave the harshest edge off of Daredevil’s actions) Bullseye survives the fall, though his spine is shattered and he’s hopelessly paralyzed as a result. And the story ends with him silently stewing in his own hate and vowing that he’ll find a way to rise back up from this misfortune and come after Daredevil again. It’s an impactful moment in an issue that was full of them. Among readers of the time, I don’t know that there was any other comic book that we talked about and dissected more than this one issue–certainly my new friend Steve Cicala and I went over it back and forth like a Rosetta stone of comic book storytelling.
As it happens, this issue includes that year’s Statement of Ownership, which will give us a glimpse into just how well DAREDEVIL had been performing the prior 12-18 months or so. This would have been slightly before Miller took over the writing, though well into his time as the artist on the series. It shows that the book was selling 127,625 copies against a print run of 285,143, giving it an efficiency rating of just under 45%. This would have been an increase from the past, and had caused the book to go monthly after languishing as a bimonthly for a while. And this number would only get better as Miller’s time went on.
The Tom Brevoort Experience 
Thanks for taking the time to credit Klaus Janson’s contributions to these historic Daredevil issues. I don’t think I fully understood just how much work he did on DD during the later part of Frank Miller’s first run until I read Back Issue #321 from TwoMorrows Publishing in 2007. There was an article on DD from the late 1970s thru the 1980s, and among the art for this piece were a page of Miller’s layouts from DD #190 side-by-side with the finished artwork by Klaus Janson. It demonstrated that while Miller was responsible for the storytelling & pacing, Janson was by the end of their run doing both highly detailed finished pencils and inking.
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“The title had been gaining momentum ever since newcomer artist Frank Miller had been brought on to pencil it a year or two earlier.”
Just about three, actually — the series had been bi-monthly when Frank took over, and stayed that way for a while.
And yeah, this was easily the most talked-about issue of that month, or the several months around it. It was absolutely must-have reading, and Miller and Janson seemed unstoppable at that point. For someone like me, who’d stumbled into the Lee/Colan DD very early on in my comics-reading days, it was a mixed blessing — I liked the goofy old villains and the comedy elements of the book, and wished I could have them in a modern book as well. But even so, I knew this was cutting-edge comics and I couldn’t wait for each issue.
Though Marvel heroes always seemed to have access to life-size dummies whenever they needed one, huh?
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The wigged dummy not having a bit of backstory is sloppy in hindsight. Micheline/Layton had a similar bit with Spymaster and a Stark LMD in the pages of Ironman… very melodramatic but all the parts were in place.
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For all I know, the dummy appeared in previous issues (though if so I don’t remember it), but that’s its first appearance in this issue.
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It makes sense I suppose that Matt would have a martial arts practice dummy on hand.
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I was one of those that like Elektra ( who in her first appearance was a bounty hunter ) and did not like her getting killed off in this issue. I can’t remember why she chose to betray Matt by becoming the Kingpin’s pet assassin considering Matt saved her twice ( First time back in law school ( flashback ) and later from Eric Slaughter’s henchman — DD#168 ( January 1981 ) ). Spider-Woman became a bounty hunter in Spider-Woman#21 ( December 1979 ) — bounty hunter is the job Kraven the Hunter should have taken up and not villain if he wanted the thrill of the hunt ( But he clearly chose villain because he knows most heroes won’t try to kill him unlike criminals or super-villains ).
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I did enjoy Janson’s work with Miller back then. They were a good match. It’s a shame he then did the same chores for Romita. I never liked how those two meshed.
I also agree with Mister Busiek that Daredevil before Miller was a good book and a hero that was very enjoyable. Good thing that the nuts and bolts of DD meshed so well with Miller’s vision. It’s hard to truly regret losing happy DD when grim and dark DD’s adventures were so awesome!
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To be fair, “happy DD” had been long over by the time Frank took on the book.
After Stan gave the book over to Roy, it became a straight superhero title somewhere in between quippy Spider-Man and serious Batman, with DD being more often angry than comedic. Then Roger McKenzie pushed it all the way into Batman territory, and Frank made it into a very distinctive atmospheric crime drama from there.
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I did like when it was a shared book for Matt and Natasha, I think I got whiplash from how quick they uncoupled them!
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I liked some of it.
But that wasn’t “happy DD.” That was mostly “angry DD.”
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“I canāt recall any readers of the time complaining about Daredevilās actions here (though no doubt there were some.)”
This may be because DD dropping Bullseye was self-defense. Bullseye was yelling he’d kill DD and moving to stab DD with the sai. It also wouldn’t have mattered anyway. If Bullseye had managed to stab DD, he would still would have gone splat on the pavement below. And it was part of a stunningly gripping episode–my choice for the best of Miller’s first DD run–and most were probably too impressed with the overall to mind.
I remain amazed this issue got Comics Code approval, given the splash of DD getting shot in the head, and the panel of Elektra being stabbed. I’m not complaining, though. It’s a great comic. I still remember buying it in December of ’81.
“
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If I recall correctly, the Code objected (either in this or earlier issues) to people bleeding red blood, and the sai shown sticking out through people’s bodies, which is why the sai stabs through her torso but doesn’t break the cloth on the other side, and why people bleed black (and why, when we see her blood pooled on the ground, it’s purple).
Years later, Doug Moench would write a MOKF story called “Bleeding Black” that was a reference to the Code’s (inconsistent) insistence on black blood.
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That’s really interesting…at the time, I assumed the black blood was just a graphic effect, part of Miller’s noir style. I remember my Mom looking at the cover of #164 and asking me why the boxer had a big spider on his chest. š
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The black blood and lack of exit wounds were definitely the Code; I could just be misremembering what they were specifically reacting to.
This was before I broke in, but it was still being talked about a lot once I did, and was an ongoing issue for years.
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Gerry Conway and Chuck Patton got away with the Justice League’s even more violent ‘Beasts’ issues — hey kids, decapitation! — by making the blood purple.
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It’s a great issue in run of great issues. No one was touching Miller when it came to panel design…. even the captions are thoughtfully placed. It’s all around great stuff… and it still looks like comics.
I loved Miller and Janson’s run… and the Miller/Mazzuccelli run. I would have loved it if Miller had penned a story with Colan/Janson or Palmer doing the art.
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What a high point for Marvel. I’m so glad that I was around for this run. I may have had to work backwards a few issues to start to pick up#158-160, but I was there for the rest of the run…
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I’ve always felt this should see a reprint along with WHAT IF #35 in which Miller riffed on it. In fact what really works as a reading experience is:
DAREDEVIL #181
WHAT IF #35
DAREDEVIL #182-184
SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #15
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I agree that Janson should get more praise.
I recall further issues becoming even more violent with arrow and blade penetration. It wasn’t interesting to me whether it was in comics, tv, movies or whatever.
I think that all of this would have worked better as a way of ending Daredevil as a comic.
It catches attention the first few times but say fifty issues later of lining up all these people and having a kill fest?
And then there’s the tendency to go even more extreme in order to make it not more of the same.
But will the readers go there? Let’s say the story is several issues of something else with an issue or two of action — not several issues leading, building up to the action — but just something else.
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I love Klaus Janson’s inks and colors. The 3rd pic, 2nd panel, a slightly upward close up by Frank, on Matt and his glasses. But Kalus’s lighting, and textures, and ambient colors. So cool. I think Klaus had been inking those specific glasses since maybe the Bob Brown days. I remember Klaus saying so in an interview with “AMAZING HEROES” entitled “True Grit”.
Klaus’s career started firmly within the Bronze Age, but he pushed art in comic-books higher, further, and into the next phase. The 6th pic, top panel. Frank chose the poses, the choreography. But then Klaus lighted it. Delineated the figures. Gave them dimension. Highlighted their power and motion. Look at DD’s face in this 1st panel. Naturalistic.
In the early 1980’s, he was inking (& coloring) “DAREDEVIL”, but also maybe 2 handfuls of issues over a couple of years of “BATMAN” & “DETECTICE COMICS”. Mostly inking over Gene Colan’s drawing (my personal favorite for Gene, especially on Batman stories), but I think 2 issues of full art (drawing, inks, & colors). This was before he went exclusive with DC in 1985 (I think- and he was back at Marvel, on “THE PUNISHER” ongoing monthly in 1987, as what writer Mike Baron called a “one-man art army”; drawing, inking, & coloring).
For both DD and Batman, Klaus could make the cityscapes look ghost-like, ethereal, colorizing the inks. It made the figures in the foreground pop even more. But added mood and mystery to the story. Of all the deservedly esteemed inkers that used copious amount of the black stuff; Palmer, Beatty, Breeding, only Al Williamson might edge out Klaus- and that depends on the subject matter. Al’s work has a finer, less frenetic line. On Batman, there’s no inker I like more; though that does depend on the artist drawing it.
I wouldn’t team Klaus up with Gary Frank, or Alan Davis. That clean delicate line work of theirs. But I’ve seen Klaus’s inks elevate stories drawn by Dan Jurgens, Graham Nolan, and many others. His inks add more power and energy to the subjects. And his sense of lighting and atmosphere. Especially when he inks and colors. He did all three on an issue of “DC COMICS PRESENTS”, with Superman and Adam strange, written by Cary Bates. Just great stuff.
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“To achieve greater control over the finished pages, Klaus also took up the coloring of the title, which allowed him to get across wonderfully evocative effects operating from a single viewpoint.”
I think that in the pre-digital days, some of the best colorists on standard newsprint comics were actually inkers like Janson, Tom Palmer, and Kevin Nowlan (penciler/inker). They had a sensitivity to tone and an understanding of color theory that a lot of regular colorists just didn’t seem to have. There was a visual sophistication to the color choices that those inkers made.
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