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Daredevil's main title is firmly in the grip of Frank Miller. So, the first time in a while, we see Matt Murdock in Spidey's title instead. (mega-long post below!)


Amazing Spider-man 218. Writer: Dennis O'Neil. Artists: John Romita Jr, Jim Mooney, Al Milgrom. Posted more as a atmosphere thing.

Sandman and Hydroman, after battling over the affections of one Sadie Frickett, have accidentally merged into one being--one mindless behometh that still loved Sadie! Sadie convinces the Mud Thing to come quietly.

The attorney argues that Mud Thing is a new being, and shouldn't be held responsible for the actions of those who went into it.



Amazing Spider-man 219. (22pages) Writer: Denny O'Neil. Artists: Luke McDonnell, Jim Mooney.

This time, Matt is defending Peter, though it has nothing to do with the story that took place just last issue in the title.



The cover is Frank Miller and Dennis O'Neil wrote it, as well as following Miller on DD later. I imagine O'Neil just wanted to tie things closer together.

Peter believes the local prison security is too lax, leading to too many breakouts. Rather than become a grim and gritty Punisher, he breaks into the prison himself then changes into Peter Parker civilian clothes in order to do an expose on the problem.

Unfortunately, there's a breakout already in progress. The guards don't catch the escapees, but they find Peter--who decides not to run since they can see his face. No big deal, after all.



I do not believe it's possible at this point for Matt to not know Spider-man's true identity. Though he might have done his best to forget, being very conscientious about these things.





Matt doesn't exactly hurry. On the other hand, the reference to "Ladykiller" means he's dealing with the serial rapist in Daredevil 173.



Peter hunts down his camera himself, fighting off the criminals trying to frame him. The issue ends in the usual hanging irony Denny O'Neil fashion.

Marvel Teamup Annual 4! (38 pages) Writer: Frank Miller. Artists: Herb Trimpe, Mike Esposito.

Unusual for being written by Frank Miller and for the Purple Man being the villain. He hadn't faced Daredevil since DD 153--and hasn't shown up in DD since, I believe. Odd, considering he's one of DD's originals. A bit like the Vulture not appearing in Spider-man anymore.

The issue isn't very well-written. Pretty sloppy all around, which is very sad considering the lineup.



Spider-man! Daredevil! Moon Knight! Power Man and Iron Fist!

In a relatively benign mood, the Purple Man gets into a traffic accident and orders the men he hit to punch each other out. Spider-man gets involved and is ordered to hang from a traffic light and sing. All are ordered to forget Zebediah Killgrave, the Purple Man, was there.

Daredevil hears about an unusual traffic accident involving a purple rolls royce and deduces "Killgrave is alive!" Visiting Lt. Manolis to find out more, they find the purple rolls is registered under Killgrave and even more unlikely, his name is on an expensive hotel register where he's been staying for some time.

Spider-man's spidersense goes off when he sees a news report about the purple rolls incident. He checks his film and finds a picture of the Purple Man.



And blunder he does, his spidersense bringing him to Killgrave's hotel room at the exact time Daredevil is.



Here you may see one of the Purple Man's weaknesses. His power is based on pheromones and spoken orders, so you can make yourself immune by using nose filters or ear plugs. And his victims are shocked out of their control fairly easily.



The bearded German guy is the Kingpin's assassin. He's a bit goofy.

And rushing the guy who can mind control is insanely stupid on Spider-man's part.



Saving Spider-man takes too much time, and they lose Killgrave. Killgrave has decided to meet the man who sent an assassin after him. He tries to control the Kingpin and fails. Kingpin tells Killgrave that from now on, he follows HIS orders.

I found the ease that Kingpin fought off Killgrave's influence to be trite. However, it's in Killgrave's character to fold immediately to strongwilled villains and become their quisling in turn.

Kingpin sets a trap. Word is spread all over town that something bad will go down at a charity show. Moon Knight, Power Man and Iron Fist all hear independently about it. Spider-man and Daredevil discuss the news with their news contacts first..





If Killgrave wanted to out Matt, couldn't he have done it before now?



I wanted to omit the next page out of embarrassment for the slapstick. But then I remembered that this is S_D, so...





Luke breaks a hole in the wall. Half the heroes escape--the strongest ones. They discover that, for some unexplained reason, the Purple Man also affected everyone watching on television. (Loeb once tried the idea that the reason DD isn't as affected by Killgrave is because the mind control is partly based on the whole purple color thing. Who knows.)

Moon Knight and Daredevil both vanish into the woodwork and catch each other hiding. So DD takes the time to explain the Purple Man's powers.

The Kingpin's goofy German assassin strikes--now that Kingpin's trap is sprung--but is taken out by Moon Knight.







Spider-man, Power Man, and Iron Fist use Daredevil's water trick with one of those handy water towers to free the crowd from the Purple Man's control. Jameson blames everything on Spider-man.



I think Killgrave has potential, but he seems to work best behind the scenes.

1982. Marvel Teamup 123. (22 pages) Writer: J.M.DeMatteis. Artists: Ed Hannigan, Kerry Gammill, Al Milgrom, Mike Esposito



From the heavyhanded soulsearching, you can tell it's DeMatteis. There is also a cast cameo by Dr. Claire Temple, Luke Cage's ex-girlfriend. Spider-man has been brought in for injuries and the fiery Claire gets to patch him up and yell at him to stay in bed. Spidey's feeling just bad enough to listen.



Why was Spider-man comfortable calling Matt his favorite attorney? He might have been remembering all the times Matt has defended freaks, or the times he's helped Peter himself, but as far as Spider-man is concerned, Matt did let him sack out on his office couch once.



It's an exposition fairy!

You can see the costumed assassin coming for Matt's client through the window.





After a while, I guess superheroes quit trying to figure out why other superheroes appear out of nowhere.



The heat image trick is interesting because DeFalco--who is editing this book--would give Darkdevil the same trick years later.

Unfortunately, Daredevil suddenly abandons the fray. As usual, he can tell when things go amiss elsewhere but never explain why he knows.

Matt's client's fear drives him to take an injured child hostage, so he can flee while the assassin is busy.



Spider-man uses Science to figure out the guy named "Solarr" gets less powerful as the sun goes down. Armed with that knowledge, he beats him with a handy water-tower.

Daredevil uses his Super Catholic Guilt Power to drive his client crazy with guilt, aided by the handy prop of the bleeding kid.



Matt's last line is paraphrasing the Bible. Either Matthew 16:26, "What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?" or Luke 9:25, "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?"

1984. Not terribly important, but the three-part "Spider-man goes blind" story is reprinted in its own book with a Frank Miller cover.



A month after, the two team again in Marvel Teamup 140-141. A two-parter story, the first part sees Matt only in his lawyer persona behind the scenes, with Black Widow doing the fighting for him as a favor. Writer: Bill Mantlo, Tom DeFalco. Artists: Ron Frenz, Ed Hannigan, Klaus Janson, Mike Esposito.

(21 pages)



There's been a blackout. The next day, there are so many looters to process the justice system looks like a breadline.





Matt must love being called a mouthpiece.



Or, as Matt decided later in life, you can just get your own gang!

Some legal rigamorale occurs. Juan loses hope easily, Matt vows to see justice with everything in his power.



Honestly, sometimes the only way to explain Matt's behavior is that he's not paying attention most of the time, even with the enhanced senses.

Peter teams up with Natasha, mentally comparing her to the Black Cat, who he is currently seriously involved with. They catch a gangmember with a gun, but the ballistics doesn't match. It's just another gun.

The issue ends with Peter vanished away by the Beyonder's giant teleporter. (...WHY did such a powerful entity need such a large and clunky teleporter..?) Secret Wars 1 starts the next month.

Marvel Teamup 141 (22 pages) Writer: Jim Owlsley, Tom DeFalco. Artists: Mike Esposito, Mike Mignola, Art Adams, Greg LaRocque.

New costume issue!



Matt's new black costume would look so much better without all the muscle highlights. Just saying.

Peter's back and he's deleriously happy about it. He checks in with Ben Urich.



Right, I'm sure there was nobody else involved in that save. Black Widow who?





In Daredevil continuity, this takes place after DD 206. The faint romance between Matt and Natasha indicates it's before Gloriana O'Brien and Matt were too involved. Matt and the Kingpin are still playing footsie without things getting too personal.



Matt finally investigates on his own, Daredevil's presence prompting Kingpin's interest. Matt finds out that his client may be innocent of the murder, but the gang fingered him because he was one of their people and stealing from them. Juan tells Matt to "mind his business."

Anger over a corrupt client already defended by heroes thats been taking up so much of his time and an obsessive desire to catch the real killer influence Matt to make a deal with the Kingpin.









Yes, it's the classic "why doesn't Daredevil care about my costume joke."



Things That Will Not Be Appearing In This Series:

1985, The Death of Jean DeWolff

Spectacular Spider-man 107, vol 1. Spiderfan.org review is here.
Spectacular Spider-man 108: Spiderfan.org review is here.
Spectacular Spide-man 109: Spiderfan.org review is here.
Spectacular Spider-man 110: Spiderfan.org review is here.

Character milestone: After Daredevil is forced to reveal his knowledge of Spider-man's identity, Daredevil tells Spider-man his secret identity. At this time, there weren't that many people who knew. It was a special thing to both of them, as well as an event in comics in general. Spider-man, in particular, was paranoid about it, so it automatically elevated their importance to each other. Peter also introduced Matt to his Aunt May.

Note: The Death of Jean DeWolff is chronologically placed right before Frank Miller's Born Again. Possibly that influenced the decision to allow them to know each other's secret identities.



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