Issue(s): Daredevil #352
Cover Date: May 96
Title: "Smoky mirrors"
Credits:
Ben Raab - Writer
Shawn McManus - Penciler
Shawn McManus - Inker
Joe Andreani - Assistant Editor
James Felder - Editor

Review/plot:
This is a fill-in before the Kesel/Nord run starts. Foggy and Matt are still on the outs and so Foggy isn't interested when Matt is suspicious of the mysterious beautiful woman who comes to Foggy with a job.

When Daredevil goes to investigate he's attacked by super-deformed versions of his old foes (the one on the left is supposed to be Purple Man).

My favorite is the Kingpin. Hee hee!

Most Marvel fans will have recognized that the envelope that Foggy's client gave him was Arcade's calling card, and we are in one of his former testing grounds. But the client actually turns out to be (a) Mastermind.

She drew Daredevil out to test the equipment before claiming it for herself.

Not what was intended, but the "little toad" line reminded me that the Toad bought a bunch of equipment from Arcade once.

Mastermind disappears after the test is over.

In addition to the super-deformed foes, Daredevil also faces a more realistic depiction of the scenes from Daredevil #181 where Elektra went after Foggy and was subsequently killed by Bullseye. In this story, Daredevil had to choose between saving Elektra or Foggy, and he chooses Foggy (and then when Elektra dies she turns into the Black Widow). In the end, Foggy asks DD why he saved him, and Matt says it's because Elektra died a long time ago and "I want to be here for you -- for my friend. Today." and hopes that will get Foggy to forgive him, but it doesn't quite work. Foggy walks away without shaking his hand.

Not bad for a fill-in!

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: For what it's worth, this is the daughter of Mastermind introduced by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale in a 1995 miniseries called Wolverine/Gambit: Victims. Not to be confused with the daughter of Mastermind who will be created by Chris Claremont for X-Treme X-Men in 2001. Both will use the name Lady Mastermind at times but Claremont's version apparently uses that moniker more so for this one i'll just append her civilian name to her tag

References:

• Foggy learned that Matt was Daredevil in Daredevil #347.
  
• Elektra was killed in Daredevil #181.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A