Issue(s): Daredevil #146, Daredevil #147
Cover Date: June-Jul 77
Title: "Duel!" / "Breaking point!"
Credits:
Jim Shooter - Writer
Gil Kane - Penciler
Jim Mooney / Klaus Janson - Inker

Review/plot:
Daredevil follows up on the loose thread from DD #142 wherein Bullseye failed to kill Daredevil but Daredevil didn't catch him either. Jim Shooter's Bullseye is a little bit less of an over-the-top clown character and more of a true psychopath. There's a scene with an out-of-costume Bullseye that is quite good.

But later, in a standard cliche, Bullseye takes over a television station and challenges DD to a duel. So it's a mixed bag.

On DD's side, Shooter has Daredevil lose his radar sense after the golfball injury during his first encounter with Bullseye. He takes time to re-establish focus on the fact that Murdock really is blind, and forces him to live up to the Man Without Fear moniker by having him confront Bullseye despite his power loss. Pretty good.

After he defeats Bullseye, Daredevil learned that he was hired by Heather's father. Heather herself is actually being held prisoner. I thought this scene of her resisting Stockholm syndrome was rather well done.

But it turns out that Glenn was actually being controlled by Killgrave the Purple Man, who was building an empire out of business leaders for himself.

DD is able to resist being possessed...

...but Killgrave escapes but DD is able to rescue Debbie Harris and break up the scheme.

Overall, not bad. A little more serious than Wolfman but still kind of corny. Better art might have helped.

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 2

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References:

• Bullseye has been on the loose since he captured Daredevil in Daredevil #141-142.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Man, you're rough on Gil Kane. That sequence above with Daredevil resisting the hypnosis looks great to me.

The classic Gil Kane psychedelic up-nostril shot. See here, here, here, and, like, everywhere. ;-)

If it ain't broke...

Yes, I wanted to see what year Essential Daredevil 6 went to, went by a page or two here, scrolled down, saw that psychedelic-nostril panel and went 'Oh, Gil Kane huh?'

If it ain't broken don't fix it indeed. I got a soft spot for that guy's art. Wish he did more monsters though.

Gil sure does love the old up-nostril shot. I actually like this one.

Just for variety's sake, here's a link to some DC work of Kane's with up-nostril shots.

Though, to be fair, I don't remember this as a big thing on his late 50's / early 60's classic DC Green Lantern run.

This art is great. So dynamic. The nostril thing Reminds me of a friend of mine who didn't like Kirby because of the way he drew fingers.

I don't think Bullseye should have ever become Daredevil's main nemesis. Not that he's a terrible character, but it would have worked better if Mr. Fear (Larry Cranston) was his chief adversary. An old law school rival with a personal grudge. A guy who could create fear gas to use against the Man Without Fear. Ed Brubaker saw it, and Mr. Fear nearly destroyed Matt's life during that run. Heck, Matt was never the same after that, as he lost his wife to madness and became susceptible to domination during the SHADOWLAND storyline.

Otherwise, if not Mr. Fear, then the Purple Man should be Daredevil's main foe. But somehow it became Bullseye.

Shooter's portrayal of Bullseye here is very good, and makes him a solid addition to DD's rogues. The scene where he is in civilian clothes is very good and chilling. And the fight scene in the TV station is great. Kane's artwork here is very good.

DD does have some very good foes from his earlier days, but most lie in the realm of "has potential, but hasn't been used properly." Mr. Fear is a good example of that. Decent name and costume, and at least some of his incarnations have good backstory. But few writers have the imagination to use "scary" villains properly - instead of we get "fear gas" that substitutes for any kind of atmosphere or chills. Death-Stalker is another, and it is a shame that we lost him just as Miller's run began. The Owl could have been a Kingpin like mastermind abetted with some superpowers, but instead becomes a schmuck. The Purple Man was lame until Bendis turned him into a real menace. Amazing what some writers can do with a character (for good or bad).

I've always seen these issues as the beginning of Daredevil's transition away from 2nd-rate Spider-Man to something else. Shooter drops Daredevil's quipster dialogue here, and the plotting goes into some darker places than it has in the past.

Roger McKenzie will further that transition, of course, and then Frank Miller comes aboard....