Issue(s): Daredevil #58
Cover Date: Nov 69
Title: "Spin-out on Fifth Avenue!"
Credits:
Roy Thomas - Writer
Gene Colan - Penciler
Syd Shores - Inker

Review/plot:
Last issue was saw that Willie Lincoln had resurfaced with some details on a new crime lord called Crime-Wave, and yes, we really are going to have a multi-issue story about a guy with that for a name.

In this issue, Crime-Wave hires a guy called Stunt-Master to attack Daredevil. It's possible these characters were actually created by a 9 year old.

More importantly, last issue we also saw Daredevil reveal his secret identity to Karen Page. In this issue we learn via flashback that she passed out immediately after learning this...

...but don't be too hard on her. Her father had just died, and more importantly she's learning that the man she knew and worked with for years has been involved in a years-long deception at her expense, which involved the invention of a twin brother and the faking of the imaginary brother's and later his own death. So it was either passing out or ripping Matt's head off.

But when she wakes up, Matt placates her by promising to give up his Daredevil persona if she'll agree to marry him. I'm sure in that exact instant he meant it, too, but given a moment's reflection he must have realized how impossible that would be for him.

And indeed the charity event where he's about to announce his retirement to the world is when the Stunt-Master arrives to attack him. "Let the police handle him", Karen pleads, sensibly realizing he's just a guy on a motorcycle. But Matt refuses.

So Stunt-Master is defeated, his 500 lb cycle crushing him.

Earlier, to placate Foggy for pretending to be dead, he agrees to become an assistant to the D.A.'s office...

...so Matt also handles the prosecution of the Stunt-Master as well.

Karen, however, has had enough.

The Stunt-Master (i.e., a regular guy on a motorcycle) has a surprising number of additional appearances, mostly in Ghost Rider (i.e. a guy with a flaming skull head on a motorcycle).

I think Gene Colan may be a bit bored with the plotting lately, because he's taken to drawing in interesting random stuff where he can fit it, like this Asian man reading a newspaper.

Quality Rating: C-

Historical Significance Rating: 3 - first Stunt-Master, Matt Murdock begins working for the D.A.'s office

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Roy later admitted that Stunt-Master wasn't one of his best moments.

Daredevil's secret ID reveal in #57-58 was taken from an idea by Tony Isabella.

When Stunt-Master turned up in Kurt Busiek's Avengers run, I assumed he was a character created just then to be deliberately pathetic.

It's never been pointed out anywhere that I can find as an alteration or assist, but that floating Matt Murdock head by the first panel of page 19 looks nothing like Colan or Shores. It looks more like Romita.