The 45th Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast: Daredevil, Man Without Fear.

I could have just as easily continued talking about the Fantastic Four movie again but nah, I thought I'd give it a rest.  We all know the movie sucks, the studio, the producers and especially the Director had no idea what they were doing, so I'll leave it at that.

Okay, welcome to the 45th Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast: Daredevil the Man Without Fear.  I remember I talked about Daredevil in a short broadcast.  I recall I wrote a little bit about Frank Miller and how he wrote a story that radically changed the world of Ol" Horn Head.  Remember the "Born Again" story line.  That was my introduction to the story telling skills of Frank Miller.  He and   David Mazzucchelli radically changed the life of Matt Murdock and Daredevil.  The story was gripping and suspenseful.  I still remember the premise of Born Again. Karen Page sells Daredevil's secret identity for a drug fix. Kingpin buys the name and proceeds to wreck Matt Murdock's life.

I missed getting this issue of Daredevil and the other issues that made up the Born Again story line.  Thanks to Trade Paper Backs I was able to read about Born Again. After that I followed the adventures of Daredevil when Ann Nocenti, John Romita Jr and Al Williamson took over as he regular creative team for the title.  I loved the artwork first and foremost, I'm a huge fan of John Romita Jr. from his Amazing Spider Man, Iron Man and Uncanny X Men days.  I was devastated when he left the X Men, followed his work on Star Brand and then when I found out he was the artist on Daredevil, it seemed like the logical choice to start reading Daredevil.  I loved his run on the title but I always wanted to get some earlier Daredevil comics in particular the ones by Frank Miller.

When I started collecting, it was already difficult to get older issues of anything.  My home town wasn't exactly a place that was well stocked with comics books.  I tried and tried but to no avail.  It wasn't until a few years ago that I tried buying comics on ebay.  I had fun tracking down some old comics I wanted but I never made a bid.  I just watched and I felt like a voyeur watching people bid on a comic.  And then it happened, a seller in California (I think) was selling a set of Frank Miller's Daredevil comics.  It was not a complete collection but it had the essential issues.  Well, this was my chance to try and make my first bid.  I couldn't sleep that night, I had my Laptop on and even my smart phone on to make sure I got these issues.  

I guess I was really lucky that night, I bought my first comics on ebay and I was so happy.  I don't remember whether I was happy I had won or happy because I finally made a bid, anyway it was exciting.  I had fun.  I made all the necessary payments and finally the comics arrived.  

Here are the issues I bought:

Daredevil The Man Without Fear # 182 featuring a cover by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson.  Miller also did wrote and penciled this issue, Janson provided the inks. In this issue severely distraught with grief, Matt begins to believe that Elektra is really alive and proceeds to dig her up. The Punisher escapes from prison.  Yeah this is the issue after the death of Elektra.  I was so happy that this issue was part of the collection I bid on.  A really great looking issue and it looks better inside an E Gerber Mylites bag.  I love how it looks when I took this shot.  Next in the collection is this issue:

Daredevil The Man Without Fear # 183, Frank Miller and Klaus Janson did the cover for this issue. 
Although this cover's blurb says "Again...The Punisher," this issue is the first meeting of DD and Castle.  This issue featured the first part of Angel Dust story originally rejected by the Comics Code Authority (Slated for Daredevil #167 but pushed back here). A young girl on drugs takes a dive out of her school window and dies, and her brother, DD, and the Punisher are all trying to track down the dealer responsible. Matt proposes to Heather Glenn.  I remember that I saw a trade paper back for the "Angel Dust" Story Line, I can't recall if I bought that TPB but I was happy this was in the collection.  That brings me to this next issue:

Daredevil The Man Without Fear # 184, a simple cover that says so much thanks to Miller and Janson: No More Mister Nice Guy.  This is the second part of Angel Dust story originally rejected by the Comics Code Authority.  DD and the Punisher hunt down Hogman for selling drugs to kids, but the two heroes clash over their methods. DD ends up shooting the Punisher with his own gun.  in this issue there were two pages of letters reacting to the death of Elektra in Daredevil #181. No editorial responses, just a note at the start that letters are still pouring in four weeks after #181 was released.  This issue also featured two writers Frank Miller and Roger McKenzie.

Before I go to the next issue, when I was reading this comic, I saw something really interesting on the first page of this issue.  I didn't notice it at first but when I did, I was just over the moon, I'll tell you what I found at the end of the broadcast.  Stay around okay?

Daredevil The Man Without Fear # 185 with another Frank Miller/Klaus Janson cover.  The story in this issue is narrated by Foggy Nelson. This issue also marks Frank Miller doing rough breakdowns with Klaus Janson doing the major penciling work. (Miller is listed as "scripter + storyteller," Janson as "penciler + inker + colorist.") Foggy begins to investigate why Heather's company is making bombs and this causes him to run up against both Eric Slaughter and the Kingpin. No problem for "Guts" Nelson and his partner Turk. DD is caught in an explosion that messes up his radar sense.

Daredevil The Man Without Fear # 186.  Frank Miller/ Klaus Janson on the cover, story, interior artwork and colors as well.  Wow, Miller and Janson wore alotta hats those days.  In this issue Matt begins gathering criminal evidence to sink Glenn industries. Turk steals the Stilt Man armor and tries to prove himself to the Kingpin (and fails miserably). DD's hyper-senses start going wild. Matt pressures Heather into accepting his proposal of marriage.

Daredevil The Man Without Fear # 188.  As you can see I am missing issue 187 which is disappointing but overall I am happy with this purchase.  It would have been better if it was a complete set but what're you gonna do?  In this issue the Widow is dying of poison she got in a fight with the Hand and is desperately trying to find Daredevil to help. Matt is recovering his hyper-senses in an isolation chamber under the watchful eye of Stick and his ninja.  Miller also provides a splash page for this issue demonstrating the difference between Frank Miller's rough breakdown sketch and Klaus Janson's pencilled art. It replaces letters page.

So there you have it, my Frank Miller Daredevil comics collection, six issues, not a huge collection but I'm hoping that one day I'll be able to expand this collection.  Okay before I go here's that little surprise I found in Issue 184.  As I was looking over the six issues, I noticed after a second maybe third glance that there was something on the first page of # 184.  At first I was a little angry, I thought maybe the seller's kids had taken a pen and scribbled on the first page.  Then I took another look, a closer look.

I was like, is that?? No wait, is that?  It is! Isn't it?  I kept staring at it for I don't know how long.  I had to have a closer look.

I still wasn't sure, I think it looks like a signature, well at least I hope it is.  I took a shot of it and sent it over to a friend, who's also a collector by the way.  He says, it is Frank Miller's signature.  I was elated.  I was so happy.  I sent the pic to the seller to get some sort of confirmation.  The seller was surprised to see the signature, he said he had no idea this book had a signature on it, he made a comparison with a Frank Miller signed book and said: "It looks like the same signature"

I did some checking on my own and it seems that Miller has this weird way of never signing anything the same way.  Have a look at these pics:

And this one:

While this one looks similar, I just couldn't say for sure.  I've read that there's no way to authenticate it as there's no note or certificate attached to the comic.  Well, I still have this issue and I'm keeping it.  Maybe I have Frank Miller's signature, maybe I don't.  We'll never know but it was exciting to find something like this.  It's always a collector's dream to come across something like this, I hope to have more surprises like this in the future, I hope you do too.

Thanks for dropping by for the 45th Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast, take care, see you next time!