Daredevil
Steve Gerber

21 stories published in DAREDEVIL 97-117 (1973-1974).

Writers: Gerry Conway, Steve Gerber (20), Chris Claremont.
Pencillers: Gene Colan (6), Sam Kweskin, Rich Buckler, Syd Shores, Don Heck, Jim Starlin, Bob Brown (8).
Inkers: Ernie Chan, Syd Shores, John Tartaglione, Frank Giacoia, Sal Trapani, Don Perlin, Sal Buscema, Paul Gulacy, Frank Chiaramonte, Jim Mooney, Vince Colletta.
Editor: Roy Thomas.

• He Who Saves - GC/SG/GC - 6/10
  
• Let There Be – Death! - GC/SG/GC - 3/10
  
• The Mark of Hawkeye - SG/SK - 3/10
  
• Mind Storm! - SG/GC - 2/10
  
• Vengeance in the Sky with Diamonds! - SG/RB - 7/10
  
• Stilt-Man Stalks the City! - CC/SS - 6/10
  
• Then Came Ramrod! - SG/DH - 9/10
  
• Prey of the Hunter! - SG/DH - 6/10
  
• Menace from the Moons of Saturn! - SG/DH/JS - 8/10
  
• Life Be Not Proud! - SG/DH - 9/10
  
• Blind Man’s Bluff! - SG/BB - 7/10
  
• Cry… Beetle! - SG/BB - 9/10
  
• Dying for Dollar$! - SG/BB - 7/10
  
• Birthright! - SG/GC - 6/10
  
• Sword of the Samurai! - SG/BB - 6/10
  
• Death of a Nation? - SG/GC - 9/10
  
• When Strikes the Gladiator! - SG/BB - 7/10
  
• A Quiet Night in the Swamp! - SG/BB - 6/10
  
• Death Stalks the City! - SG/BB - 8/10
  
• Two Flew over the Owl’s Nest! - SG/GC - 7/10
  
• Mind Tap! - CC/SG/BB - 5/10

Average: 6.5/10

He Who Saves
The narration has an unusually cynical tone, particularly in the hospital where it’s downright depressing.
Sadly, after a very strong first half, the second half is generic superhero fare.
6/10

Let There Be – Death!
Lame villains and… Um, not much else, really.
There’s a bit of action. But it’s all fairly pointless.
Ivan’s been missing-in-action for a few issues now. Series kinda works better without him.
3/10

The Mark of Hawkeye
It’s cool to see the Avengers, but this slugfest is one of those tedious hero vs. hero tales I don’t much care for.
Hawkeye comes off like a jackass, but Daredevil has some nice character moments.
3/10

Mind Storm!
Kinda boring.
It’s just DD giving an interview to a magazine, which is an excuse for him to (a) ponder his origin tale, and (b) pontificate on the nature of superheroes.
Or something.
2/10

Vengeance in the Sky with Diamonds!
Angar the Screamer.
Interesting baddie, both his personality and his power.
7/10

Stilt-Man Stalks the City!
Self-contained standard fare.
Baddie with plan; Daredevil and Black Widow track him, confront him… End of Plan.
Chris Claremont (in the first of 3 DD-stories he wrote in the 1970s) adds some nice touches: the use of the library late at night is cute, and so is the final scene.
6/10

Then Came Ramrod!
Co-stars Spider-Man (but in a logical way).
Steve Gerber writes a wall-to-wall action issue with lots of story, too.
The script hints at an ongoing story arc, and the baddie is more interesting, and likable, than you’d expect.
Really enjoyable.
9/10

Prey of the Hunter!
Kraven the Hunter.
All-action issue, with ongoing plots simmering in the background.
6/10

Menace from the Moons of Saturn!
A cut-and-paste job that shouldn’t work, but does.
The battle with Kraven the Hunter is finished (quickly) and Daredevil meets Moondragon, hears her origin (which takes up several pages) and learns how Thanos has been her motivation for recent activities in the series.
Sounds like a mess. But it’s not.
8/10

Life Be Not Proud!
Epic!
Villains from recent issues return (as master plan is revealed). City in chaos! Plus: hints of love triangle?
The idea of an attraction between Daredevil and Moondragon seems very sudden, but also: bodes well for future storylines.
Seeing Daredevil get his sight back (briefly) is also kinda cool.
9/10

Blind Man’s Bluff!
Has an unbeatable foe and finds a way to beat him that (pretty much) makes sense.
Captain Marvel makes for an interesting guest-star.
There’s no hint here of the Daredevil/Moondragon attraction from last issue.
The three of them, plus Black Widow, make for a colourful team.
7/10

Cry… Beetle!
Solid mix of soap opera (the love-triangle between Daredevil, Black Widow and Moondragon) and an above-average case-of-the-week (where Foggy Nelson is shot).
9/10

Dying for Dollar$!
Ongoing story arc starts kicking into high gear.
7/10

Birthright!
Devoted to the origin of the villain at the center of the current arc.
It’s a sad tale.
Great Gene Colan art.
Action is kept to a minimum. And, other than Daredevil’s face-to-face meeting/chat with the baddie, nothing happens that advances the story. But, now, we know what’s going on…
6/10

Sword of the Samurai!
An issue packed with events, battles, revelations and even a new sub-plot(?) as the story arc ending looms.
The Silver Samurai makes a formidable foe.
6/10

Death of a Nation?
Satisfying end to the story arc.
Good mix of action and shrewd political commentary/observation.
Particularly liked the opening: A description of what’s happening to the proverbial “innocent bystanders” from Daredevil’s perspective. Clever. Effective.
9/10

When Strikes the Gladiator!
Lots of nice stuff here: the early scenes in the rain, the ties to Man-Thing, the scenes between Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson, the change of location (to Florida) and the cliffhanger.
7/10

A Quiet Night in the Swamp!
Makes very little use of the Man-Thing.
Mostly a battle issue. But the foe IS formidable.
I like the cliff-hanger, though. And it paints Foggy Nelson in good light. Clever, resourceful and brave.
6/10

Death Stalks the City!
Steve Gerber delivers a strong story (with a bleak, realistic aspect) and a formidable foe.
It’s particularly good when Matt Murdock starts to ponder about how ‘sick’ the whole human race is. It works. Fitting the tone of the story perfectly.
8/10

Two Flew over the Owl’s Nest!
Good balance between story, character and action.
And I love the Gene Colan art.
Black Widow’s problems are surprisingly ‘realistic’ and - consequently - have more impact on the reader.
7/10

Mind Tap!
Mixture of silly bad guy plan, guest stars and character conversations that are too ‘on the nose’ to be real.
It’s nice to see Shanna the She-Devil making a return, but her inclusion is barely explained. And seems like a crazy coincidence.
5/10

More info on the this specific run can be found if you log into comicbookdb.com and then click this link.

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Black Widow - Friedrich/Thomas/Colan/Heck (70-1) 4.3/10
Captain Marvel - Thomas/Colan (67-8) 5.5/10 - Drake/Heck (68) 4.8/10 - Friedrich/Thomas/Kane (69-70) 4.1/10 -
Daredevil - Conway/Colan (71-2) 6.7/10 - Gerber (73-4) 6.5/10 -
Deathlok - Moench/Mantlo/Buckler (74-6) 8.8/10
Ghost Rider - Friedrich (72-3) 2.6/10 - Isabella (74-6) 5.4/10 - Shooter/Heck (77) 6.7/10 - McKenzie/Perlin (78) 8.9/10 -
Living Mummy - Isabella/Mayerik (73-5) 7.6/10
Luke Cage - Goodwin/Englehart/Tuska/Graham (72-3) 7.1/10 -
Night Nurse - Thomas/Mortimer (72) 6.3/10
Tales of the Zombie - Gerber/Marcos (73-4) 6.5/10