Random Happenstance

I won't usually post two issues from the same title that close together, but I only got four pages into this one and figured I had to: from 1976, Daredevil #134, "There's Trouble in New York City...That's Trouble with a Capital 'T' Which Rhymes with 'D' That Stands for Daredevil!" Written and edited by Marv Wolfman, pencils by Bob Brown, inks by Jim Mooney. The GCD points out, the title's a riff on the play the Music Man; which I know but couldn't tell you why. (Probably because "Marge vs. the Monorail" is a riff on that.)

The previous issue featured real-world 'psychic' Uri Geller, and the two before that were the debut of Bullseye; but this issue catches up on a subplot from #130, as the nightly news runs a story claiming Daredevil had gunned down three cops! Matt is furious, while his girlfriend Heather is just confused: apparently the TV news had not been particularly reliable of late, with the newspapers refuting most of their stories--presumably including the Kennedy story from #130.

Meanwhile, the 'new' Chameleon, in a rather drab suit, gasses a rich man, to take his place, buy a bunch of jewelry on his credit, then take off running. A cop tries to gun him down, since he's trying to prove himself and keep his job during budget cuts; and the nearby Brock Jones--the new Torpedo hears as well. He wonders if he should go into action, for an entire panel before doing just that. Matt hears the shots and the Torpedo's jets, and has to knock Heather out with a nerve pinch so he can get her home and go into action himself. Putting aside the unhealthiness of that, that sequence would've taken ten, twenty minutes, easy; but he's still able to catch up to the Torpedo and the Chameleon, meaning the jet-powered Torpedo couldn't catch the Chameleon on foot? Maybe he kept overshooting him.

Also, I had leapt to the conclusion the Chameleon was behind the fake news reports, but no! It's longtime DD-foe the Jester, using innovative deep-fake technology--no, he's cutting audio and video from DD's appearance at a muscular dystrophy telethon into a threat. Doubtful that would've worked with 70's technology, but there you go. After a moment's fight amongst themselves, DD and Torpedo team up to catch the Chameleon; who, weirdly, could "instantly duplicate any possible combination of clothing" with his new costume, but still used Mission: Impossible style latex masks for the faces. He says his skills give him that power, but he can apparently do that instantly as well? Not unlike beating the hypnotist Brother Zed in #130, Daredevil is well-suited to take care of the Chameleon: he can hear and recognize his heartbeat. DD punches Chameleon out, largely demolishing a newsstand in the process.