Issue(s): Daredevil #265
Cover Date: Apr 89
Title: "We again beheld the stars"
Credits:
Ann Nocenti - Writer
John Romita Jr. - Penciler
Al Williamson - Inker
Marc Siry - Assistant Editor
Ralph Macchio - Editor

Review/plot:
John Romita Jr. was unable to complete this issue in time for #264 due to his wedding, so Ann Nocenti plotted a different story for Steve Ditko to draw for that issue while allowing JRJR to finish Daredevil's final Inferno issue. This issue continues the surreal madness that we saw in issue #263, but it's less focused solely on depicting a world invaded by hell and becomes more a commentary about New York City. And it's also different in that it takes place after Daredevil has learned that Karen has left him, so he's completely silent and just driven by his task throughout this issue.

Note that one of the Bratpack kids has succumbed to Inferno as well, and the other one is as usual clinging to his weird obsessive hero worship.

Some of the anti-city stuff plus other weirdness (the first one definitely falls in the "other" category).

I'm the dentist:

Drunk driving anti-environmental truckers:

Noisy construction workers and burglaries:

Muggings and corrupt cops:

Materialism:

And to sum it all up:

We also have a guy that takes a helicopter ride just to get away from the city for a while, and he sees Illyana's pentagram as she sucks all the demons back to Limbo.

And when it's all over, DD cracks a smile and toasts to the greatest city in the world.

I can see how with this issue and last (meaning #263) Nocenti is continuing the themes of her series while also working with the elements of Inferno, but i also imagine if i were a regular reader of Daredevil and not the X-books i would have hated how two issues were devoted to very little plot development. By contrast, when i tried these issues in realtime because of the crossover, they had nothing that made me want to stick around. Reading them all together today, though, i appreciate these more, maybe because i'm just older and appreciate the change of tone here or maybe it's because the proper way to read your Marvel comics is in obsessive chronological order and without skipping any titles.

Statement of Ownership Total Paid Circulation: Average of Past 12 months = 182,310. Single issue closest to filing date = 182,200.

Quality Rating: B

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Daredevil #264 is a sort-of fill-in, or at least takes place out of sequence. This issue concludes towards the end of Inferno; the pentagram sucking the demons up is from New Mutants #73 (i don't think it was actually a pentagram there but close enough).

References: N/A

Crossover: Inferno

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

How would the announcer on the radio know the number of babies that were kidnapped, that Illyana was from Limbo, etc.? An afteraffect of the spell?
Matt still is wearing the bandage in issue 266, and he's not in issue 264, so issue 264 is probably intended to take place before Inferno. He's drinking in what looks like the same bar in issue 266, but obviously that doesn't mean it takes place immediately after.

To be fair, as a NYer growing up during those times, the city was really a hellhole (no pun intended) at the time.

Seems like Ann Nocenti predicted "rolling coal" about 25 years ahead of time.