Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Is he even called "Death-Man" in this issue?

Over the course of seven hundred years doing this blog, we've looked a bit at Thor comics from before Walt Simonson rebuild the book, and we've seen a few from before Frank Miller did the same for Daredevil. The latter seeming like a longer stretch now: from 1976, Daredevil #130, "Look Out, DD--Here Comes the Death-Man!" Written and edited by Marv Wolfman, pencils by Bob Brown, inks by Klaus Janson.

Daredevil is racing across New York City, but not to stop a crime; he's late for the opening of his new legal clinic, the Storefront. He's so late, he's stripping off his DD-costume mid-swing! There's something for the ladies, although I really thought Matt would have more stylish shorts. Matt gives a business card to his longtime partner Foggy, who is a bit distracted since he's getting crushed in the polls. (He was trying to get re-elected as district attorney; and I gotta ask: has that ever been a super-big deal in NYC? It got so much page time you'd think he was running for Jesus.) Also at the little party: Matt's current girlfriend Heather Glenn, and Foggy's possibly underage sister Candace; both of whom seem more than willing to stab the other to bang Matt.

Meanwhile, somebody--or somebodies--keep burying chicken heads in Central Park. Yep, it's a voodoo story; with the skeleton-man Brother Zed telling a young widow if she can't come up with the cash, she's going to have to come up with a better sacrifice than a chicken; like her son.

More interestingly, that night Foggy Nelson appears on live TV, with a list of why he was unworthy of re-election--but Foggy was at home, watching the broadcast! And that's burying the lead: the prior story was the shocking return of both John and Robert Kennedy, as well as allegations that a past president had been kidnapped and replaced! But back to the district attorney race. Actually, no, it would barely come up the rest of this one: DD hears the voodoo cultists after they bury the kid up to his neck. Brother Zed makes a little Daredevil-effigy voodoo doll right quick, and uses it to cast a spell that kills DD in moments!

Yeah, no. DD was playing possum, all the better to hear all of Brother Zed's plan. Which wasn't much, it's pretty basic voodoo extortion. He is at a loss as to how DD resisted his hypnotic trance, but a scoffing DD isn't about to tell him. This was a rare, clean win for DD; especially since only he could've avoided Brother Zed's hypnosis: (tapping forehead gif) can't hypnotize a blind guy. The next morning, back at the Storefront, a sad Foggy shuffles in, having lost the election, to beg for a job. Matt tells him, he should've looked at the card he gave him yesterday: it already had Foggy's name on it. Matt was trying to make a friendly gesture, that Foggy would always be his partner, but it could also be read as 'yeah, I totally knew you were gonna lose, loser.'

Per the GCD, this was the first issue with a UPC barcode; and the Marvel Value Stamp...is a chunk of the Hulk's hair?

1 comment:

Mr. Morbid's House Of Fun said...

Just the sheer image of Matt swinging from rooftop to rooftop while almost butt-ass naked is comical beyond belief! I know he had weird kinks being Catholic and all, so this shouldn't surprise anyone that he likes the feel of the cold, crips night air graze his ass and Lil' DD. I bet with his heightened senses, it's just another way of masturbating w/o actually touching yourself.
Jesus...When I first saw that image, the first thing that came to my mind was that Ray Stevens' song "They call him the streak."