Issue(s): Daredevil #86
Cover Date: Apr 72
Title: "Once upon a time -- the Ox!"
Credits:
Gerry Conway - Writer
Gene Colan - Penciler
Tom Palmer - Inker

Review/plot:
This story revisits the Ox mind-swap plot that happened way back in Daredevil #15. In that issue, the Ox was tricked by his cellmate, Dr. Karl Stragg, into doing a mind-swap. Stragg - in Ox's body - went on a rampage and was killed. Ox - in Stragg's body - eventually decided to turn himself in and went back to prison. Now he's served out his sentence but his body is mutating back to his original, and he's losing his mind.

Daredevil never learned about the mind-swap so he doesn't really know who he's fighting for most of the issue.

He realizes that the more the Ox strains himself, the quicker he grows, so Daredevil eventually tricks him into growing so large he can't support himself anymore. Daredevil likens this to Goliath's 15 foot limitation, so i'm giving him the benefit of the doubt and assuming that Daredevil didn't realize he was effectively accelerating the Ox's death, although that's what happens.

The MCP gives an appearance for both Ox (Raymond Bloch) and Ox II (Karl Stragg) for this issue, but really it's Bloch in Stragg's body which mutates to look more like Bloch's original body. And then at the end Stragg's mind seems to return, just before he dies, which leaves you wondering if the mind-swap technology was really fully baked (or DD is simply wrong 'till the end, miscalling Bloch "Stragg").

Mewanwhile, Karen and Matt have announced their engagement and have been "enjoying" the attention of the press that comes with Karen's life as a movie actress. Karen is, however, having doubts (i'll say, considering she was just seen making out with her agent, Phil, last issue)...

...and eventually when Matt comes home from his fight with the Ox to find that Karen isn't home waiting for him, they come to an understanding.

It briefly seemed to me like the understanding was going to be that "we each have our separate lives but we can still love each other" but instead they break up. There's a very literal hand-off to the Black Widow as well.

We also finally learn what the hell Mr. Kline had been blackmailing Foggy about. It turns out back when Foggy had an assistant, Hollis, that later turned out to Crime-Wave, Hollis tricked Foggy into signing "certain papers". We don't learn what the documents said ("I am a poopy head.").

Despite the obvious intention to change the status quo for Daredevil, Conway writes the interaction between Matt and Karen very well; it's probably the best thing i've seen in his Daredevil run. The Ox fight is fine too although with Colan's pencils you can't really expect a dynamic fight.

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 3 - death of the original Ox. Matt and Karen break-up, with DD moving to San Francisco with the Black Widow.

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References:

• The mind-swap between Ox and Stragg happened in Daredevil #15.
  
• Mr. Kline was blackmailing Foggy from Daredevil #78 to Daredevil #84.
  
• Crime-Wave posed as Foggy Nelson's assistant in Daredevil #60.
  
• Daredevil and the original Ox first met in Daredevil #6.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

FOOM#15 announced Conway was bringing back an Ox in Daredevil later in 1976, but didn't specify if it was the original, Stragg, or a 3rd one.

This appears to be the end of Karen Page as a supporting character in DD until her reappearance in Born Again 140 issues later! That is more than a decade later (almost 15 from 1972 to 1986 so I assume DD must have gone bimonthly at some point)! It is kind of amazing how such an important supporting character was gone for so long. By the time she is reintroduced, she's been gone longer than her original stay in the title.

Karen Page became a supporting character in Ghost Rider for a little while, during which she turned up int he crossover between Ghost Rider and Daredevil (drawn by John Byrne!)