Episode 67 - Murdock and Marvel: 2004 Part 2 2004 was a relatively quiet year in comics, but there were some critical developments that made waves into the future.  Big movies, heroes back from the dead, and some important new faces! This is part 2 of the podcast. that will feature the year in Daredevil, the Spotlight story and the Takeaway for 2004.   The Year in Daredevil  Appearances: Daredevil #54-66, Daredevil: Father #1, Daredevil 2099 #1, Punisher #35-37, Exiles #39 and #43, Spider-Man Unlimited #1, Elektra #35, Marvel 1602 #8, Secret War #2-3, Powerless #1-5, Ultimate Elektra #1-3  Writing: David Mack (#54-55), Brian Michael Bendis (#56-66)  Pencils: David Mack (#54-55), Alex Maleev (#56-64 and 66), Maleev, Michael Golden, Greg Horn, P. Craig Russell, Phil Hester, Chris Bachalo, Jae Lee, David Finch and Frank Quitely (#65)  Inks: David Mack (#54-55), Alex Maleev (#56-64 and 66), Maleev, Michael Golden, Greg Horn, P. Craig Russell, Phil Hester, Chris Bachalo, Jae Lee, David Finch and Frank Quitely (#65)  The year begins late in 2003, as we noted two weeks ago with our 2003 discussion, with the return of David Mack to writing and art and Maya Lopez in the book itself. She’s returned to New York and is looking to reconnect with Daredevil. After he shares he’s now with someone else, she instead visits with a chief her father knew and goes on a vision quest. There, with the help of a man shaped in the form of a wolverine, helps her understand a story her father used to tell her and helps her realize who she is. She goes back to Daredevil and bids him goodbye with a kiss.  From there, Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev return with a story called The King of Hell’s Kitchen. We learn it’s been a year since the confrontation between Kingpin and Daredevil and according to Ben Urich – Daredevil has been very busy cleaning up the kitchen while also taking some flack about his methods from other superheroes.   His latest dealings have been against the Yakuza and after a large battle Daredevil’s gone missing. Milla Donovan reached out to Urich to find him and during their discussion we learned that 4 months ago she and Murdock got married. Urich finds Murdock and reunited the married couple – but not before suggesting the events of the last year are all his way coping with the death of Karen Page. With a little help from some super powered friends, Daredevil puts a stop to the Yakuza plot to take over Hell's Kitchen. Milla confronts Matt about his problems over the death of Karen Page and before leaving her husband.  Next we get storyline featuring another of Matt’s love interests, the Black Widow, in a story called “The Widow”. Black Widow gets “called in” be SHIELD and realizing it’s a trap – instead goes to visit Matt Murdock in New York hoping she can hide in plain sight. The pair take down Jigsaw and upon making bail – he goes back to Murdock asking permission to run crime through Hell’s kitchen (since he’s the new Kingpin). Matt isn’t amused.  Turns out the hiding in plain sight didn’t work as the two get shot at by a hired assassin while having lunch. The pair go after the assassin and after that Natasha finally shares the reason for her visit. Though the conversation is cut short as Jigsaw and his men have entered Murdock’s home and Matt can’t fight them as daredevil and revealing his lie. In the end, we learn a Bulgarian minister and Natasha’s ex-husband were behind the ordeal and Matt begrudgingly gives Milla the annulment to their marriage.  In November, we get a HUGE 40th Anniversary Special issue. This story backtracks over the 1 year time period that Matt Murdock was outed as Daredevil that Ben Urich told us about during the King of Hell’s Kitchen story earlier this year. To do so, the Bendis and Maleev called on a host of other artists to tell the story. This seems like the perfect book for this week’s spotlight.  There is one more book this year, But it starts another storyline – so we’ll save that for our 2005 discussion.  This Week's Spotlight: Daredevil #65 November 2004 “The Universe” Recap Why We Picked This Story Daredevil Rapid Fire Questions The Takeaway Reading Marvel is great, but when you see Jean Grey die for the second time, Marvel has told you its story, and its time to start looking into other publishers. Questions or comments We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime. ------------------ THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES  Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm.  You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/.  The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts.  Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data.  Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History  DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_based_on_English-language_comics  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Marvel_Comics_superhero_debuts  https://comicbookreadingorders.com/marvel/event-timeline/  https://www.comic-con.org/awards/eisner-awards/past-recipients/past-recipients-1990s/ 

Episode 63 - Murdock and Marvel: 2001 Part 2 The world was a dangerous and frightening place, and America was trying to come to terms with how to move forward, both internally and on the world stage.  And comics showed a lot of that anxiety.  But even so, 2002 was a big year for all involved in the comics world, as sales of actual honest to goodness comic books actually rose 10% this year to 230 Million dollars, the first time that the industry had seen that occur since 1993, when comic sales had peaked at around 850 Million.  And even as traffic in stores was increasing, Hollywood was starting to understand how to make comic properties work on the screen, both small and large.    This is part 2 of the podcast. that will feature the year in Daredevil, the Spotlight story and the Takeaway for 2002.   The Year in Daredevil  Appearances:  Daredevil #27-38, Daredevil: Yellow #6, Paradise X: Heralds #1-2, Elektra #6, Giant Size Mini-Marvels: Starring Spidey #1, Marvel Knight: Millennial Visions #1, Peter Parker: Spider-Man #39 and 41, Essential Marvel Team-Up #1, Paradise X #0-5, Marvel Knight #2-6, Marvel Knights Double Shot #1 and 4, Amazing Spider-Man #2, Ultimate Spider-Man Special #1, Order #5-6, Spider-Man/Daredevil #1, Marville #2 along with Marvel Masterworks: The Submariner #1 and Daredevil: Yellow, Fantastic First, Life and Death of Captain Marvel graphic novels  Writing: Brian Michael Bendis (#27-38)   Pencils: Alex Maleev (#27-37), Manuel Gutierrez (#38)  Inks: Alex Maleev (#27-37), Manuel Gutierrez (#38)  The year for Matt Murdock and Daredevil begins with a 6-part story called Underboss that began in December 2001. In that story we see a bombing attempt on Matt Murdock’s life just outside of the courthouse and we see Sammy Silke and several of the Kingpin’s other bosses repeatedly stab the kingpin leave him dying on the floor.  So, who put a hit out on Matt Murdock and who is this Sammy Silke who rallied Kingpin’s underlings against him? We start to get answers about this over the next 5 books through flashbacks while the story continues forward. Silke is the son of a crime boss in Chicago who needed to get out of town. He came to New York and went to work for the Kingpin – but when the Kingpin wouldn’t let him put a hit on Matt Murdock – He caught wind of Murdock’s seemly open secret within the Kingpin network and set in motion a plan to take out Murdock and Kingpin with the help of Kingpin’s son – Richard.  Vanessa Fisk finds out her husband has been stabbed and in critical condition (and not killed as reports claim). She goes to New York and despite objections from his doctor, wants Kingpin taken to the airport and flown out of the country. She also orders those that betrayed Kingpin to be killed -including her son Richard whom she visits and kills herself.   Underboss ends with Silke, fearing for his life, turning himself into the FBI and asking for protection. When the FBI refuse, he tells them Murdock’s secret identity.    From there, things start to really go crazy for Matt Murdock. An FBI agent, needing some cash, sells Murdock’s secret to the Daily Globe (the Bugle’s rival paper) and it’s ran as a front-page story and a media circus descents on Murdock’s brownstone.   Ben Urich and Peter Parker tell J. Jonah Jameson the DD secret identity story is a hoax but both refuse to tell him who DD really is; Foggy tries to get Matt to give up his life as DD. Seeing the story, Mr. Hyde shows up and starts destroying Murdock’s house before Daredevil and Spider-Man can intervene.  After some time away, Matt Murdock holds a press conference denying he’s Daredevil. We’ll jump into more detail about that during this week’s spotlight.  After a rooftop chat with Elektra at the urging of Black Widow, it looks like things will be settle with the Daily Globe after Daredevil visits the FBI agent who gave up his secret, but then the Globe owner Rosenthal nixes the deal because Murdock was being so smug about the agreement.  The year ends with part 1 of the next named storyline, The Trail of the Century, which we’ll talk about in 2003.  This Week's Spotlight: Daredevil volume 2 #36 October 2002 “One Hundred Percent Untrue” Recap Why We Picked This Story Daredevil Rapid Fire Questions The Takeaway Big Box Office does not necessarily translate to big bucks at the comic shop. Questions or comments We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime. ------------------ THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES  Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm.  You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/.  The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts.  Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data.  Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History  DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_based_on_English-language_comics  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Marvel_Comics_superhero_debuts  https://comicbookreadingorders.com/marvel/event-timeline/  https://www.comic-con.org/awards/eisner-awards/past-recipients/past-recipients-1990s/ 

Episode 55 - Murdock and Marvel: 2002 Part 1 The world was a dangerous and frightening place, and America was trying to come to terms with how to move forward, both internally and on the world stage.  And comics showed a lot of that anxiety.  But even so, 2002 was a big year for all involved in the comics world, as sales of actual honest to goodness comic books actually rose 10% this year to 230 Million dollars, the first time that the industry had seen that occur since 1993, when comic sales had peaked at around 850 Million.  And even as traffic in stores was increasing, Hollywood was starting to understand how to make comic properties work on the screen, both small and large.    Preshow  The Year in Comics  Notable and Newsworthy Sales & Industry Information Beginnings & Endings Eisner Awards Dan's Favorite The Year in Marvel TOTAL SERIES: 219TOTAL NEW SERIES: 167 TOTAL ENDING SERIES: 149THIS YEAR'S EVENT(S): Infinity Abyss.  BEST SELLING COMICS: Ultimates #1 was the best selling book of the year.  X-Men and Spider-Man books also did well Events & Happenings New Titles (Ongoing and Limited) New Characters Series Ending Who's in the Bullpen/Passings ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Jason Aaron Dan's Favorite   Next week: 2002 Part 2 - The year in Daredevil    Questions or comments We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime. ------------------ THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES  Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm.  You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/.  The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts.  Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data.  Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History  DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_based_on_English-language_comics  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Marvel_Comics_superhero_debuts  https://comicbookreadingorders.com/marvel/event-timeline/  https://www.comic-con.org/awards/eisner-awards/past-recipients/past-recipients-1990s/ 

Episode 61 - Daredevil Born Again Episode 9 Welcome to a special edition of the Comics Over Time podcast. We'll be discussing Daredevil Born Again episode 9 that was released on Disney+ on April 15th.  Initial Thoughts 1:00 Recap and Blurbs  Episode 9: Straight to Hell (9.2 rating on IMDB)  The Disney+ blurp: Mayor Fisk becomes Mayor Kingpin, and Daredevil is unleashed as chaos takes over the city. Dan’s Non-Wikipedia, Non-AI Recap Discussion Topics Frank is back!! Violence is visceral, and not idealized Hard to watch sometimes, because of current real-world parallels Fisk is a monster corrupting everything around him Many dual scene moments Safer Streets Initiative We need an army No Foggy Nelson revival Big Question: Was it worth the wait? Next Week: The year in comics - 2002 Questions or comments We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime.

Episode 60 - Daredevil Born Again Episode 8 Welcome to a special edition of the Comics Over Time podcast. We'll be discussing Daredevil Born Again episode 8 that was released on Disney+ on April 8th.  Initial Thoughts 1:00 Recap and Blurbs  Episode 8: Isle of Joy (9.2 rating on IMDB)  The Disney+ blurp: At his inaugural Black and White Ball, Mayor Fisk tightens his grip on New York City. Dan’s Non-Wikipedia, Non-AI Recap Discussion Topics Double Agent BB Urich Empathize with Dex? Fisk and Vanessa Use of Color - Blue, Red and White What good men do Big Question: Is Daredevil a good guy this week?  Next Week: Daredevil Born Again Episode 9 - Season Finale Releases on Disney+ on April 15th Podcast Release on Friday, April 18th Questions or comments We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime.

Episode 52 - Murdock and Marvel: 2000 Part 2 The new millenium started with some big endings, and comic book sales kept slipping this year.  But 2000 featured some big developments that would point the way to the future of comics.  Welcome to the Oughts, everyone!  This is part 2 of the podcast. that will feature the year in Daredevil, the Spotlight story and the Takeaway for 2000.   The Year in Daredevil  Appearances:  Daredevil #10-13, Earth X #10-12 and X, Fantastic Four #27, Avenger #27, Essential Fantastic Four #3, Marvel Knights #5-6, Daredevil: Ninja #1, Maximum Security #1, and Nick Fury: Agent of Shield graphic novel.    Writing: David Mack (#10 – 11 and 13), Quesada and Palmiotti (12)  Pencils: Joe Quesada (#10 – 11 and 13), Rob Haynes (12)  Inks: Jimmy Palmiotti (#10 – 11), Rob Haynes (12), Mike Morales (13)  A very light year for Daredevil as the main run only released four books this year – all part of the Parts of a Hole storyline started in December 1999. The story would continue until March 2001 when Parts of a Hole conclusion called Vision would reach stores. Visions will be our spotlight for this week.  Issue 12, Gun Play, feels like a fill-in story covering a series of vignettes about Hell’s Kitchen residents (featuring some very adult themes) while Echo and Daredevil fight rooftop-to-rooftop that was written by Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti, with art by Rob Haynes. Although it was well written, it does stall the pacing of the story for an issue.  Outside of the main title, many of the Daredevil appearances this year were reprints including the Daredevil Visionaries: Frank Miller collection that was released in October which included 10 stories from the Frank Miller era and a second printing of the Punisher kills the Marvel Universe graphic novel.   One other original story was started in December and spilled over into 2001 - Daredevil: Ninja which was a limited series written by Brian Michael Bendis and Rob Hayes that saw Daredevil dealing with the Hand and reuniting with Stone in Japan. When the scene shifts back to New York, Baby Karen (From Daredevil Vol.2 #1-8) turns out to be the next great hero of Japan.  This Week's Spotlight: Daredevil volume 2 #15 March 2001 “Parts of a Hole Conclusion: Vision”  Recap Why We Picked This Story Daredevil Rapid Fire Questions The Takeaway A lot of great work can get done when expectations are low and no one is watching.  Questions or comments We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime. ------------------ THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES  Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm.  You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/.  The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts.  Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data.  Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History  DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_based_on_English-language_comics  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Marvel_Comics_superhero_debuts  https://comicbookreadingorders.com/marvel/event-timeline/  https://www.comic-con.org/awards/eisner-awards/past-recipients/past-recipients-1990s/  https://www.manwithoutfear.com/daredevil-interviews/Mack

Episode 50 - Murdock and Marvel: 1999 Part 2 Last week we closed the curtain on the first volume of Daredevil, and now we are reaching the end of the millennium itself, as comics continue to barrel towards their own version of Y2K.  Sales keep dropping and more publishers leave the field, but signs of life start to show if you look in the right places.  It's 1999, and comics still are not dead.  This is part 2 of the podcast. that will feature the year in Daredevil, the Spotlight story and the Takeaway for 1999.   The Year in Daredevil  Appearances: Daredevil #3-9, Earth X #0-2 and 5-7, Mutant X #6, Avengers #15-16, Avengers Forever #8, Black Widow #1-3, Spider-Man: Chapter One #9 and 12, Fantastic Four #21 and 23, Uncanny X-Men #370, Wolverine/Punisher: Revelations #3, Deathlok #1, along with Marvel Masterworks: Daredevil #1 and the Avengers 1999 and Contest of Champions graphic novels Writing: Kevin Smith (#1-8), David Mack (#9) Pencils: Joe Quesada (#1-9) Inks: Jimmy Palmiotti (#1-9) The year for Daredevil actually began in November 1998 when the first book of the Guardian Devil storyline hit comic book stores. We briefly touched on what happened during the first two books a couple weeks ago, but with this storyline taking up half the year – we’ll be looking at the story in-depth as our spotlight story this week.  After the guardian Devil storyline ended in June 1999, we didn’t get another book in the main Daredevil title until December. When we get the start of another multi-book storyline called Parts of a Hole with a new writer in David Mack. We won’t go into much detail on this until we look at Daredevil in 2000, but it starts with The Kingpin sends a hitman after a stoolie being questioned by Nelson and Murdock.  This Week's Spotlight: Daredevil volume 2 #1-8 November 1998 – June 1999 “Guardian Devil”  Recap Why We Picked This Story Daredevil Rapid Fire Questions The Takeaway Setting up the foundation to the future. Questions or comments We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime. ------------------ THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES  Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm.  You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/.  The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts.  Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data.  The American Comic Book Chronicles: Published by TwoMorrows, these volumes provide an excellent analysis of American comics through the years.  Because these volumes break down comic history by year and decade they are a great place to get a basic orientation on what is happening across the comic industry at a particular point in time. 

Episode 49 - Murdock and Marvel: 1999 Part 1 Last week we closed the curtain on the first volume of Daredevil, and now we are reaching the end of the millennium itself, as comics continue to barrel towards their own version of Y2K.  Sales keep dropping and more publishers leave the field, but signs of life start to show if you look in the right places.  It's 1999, and comics still are not dead. Preshow  The Year in Comics  Notable and Newsworthy Sales & Industry Information Eisner Awards Dan's Favorite The Year in Marvel Marvel continued to contract and retrench, as it reduced the number of books it published, and concentrated more and more on proven creators and characters, especially the X-Men. The company also sold off their remaining trading card companies at a catastrophic loss and tried to undo some of the damage that had been inflicted on fans and characters in the last few years.  TOTAL SERIES: 142TOTAL NEW SERIES: 101 TOTAL ENDING SERIES: 89 THIS YEAR'S EVENT(S): Earth XBEST SELLING COMICS: X-Men Events & Happenings New Titles (Ongoing and Limited) New Characters Series Ending Who's in the Bullpen/Passings ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: David Mack Dan's Favorite   Next week: 1999 Part 2 - The year in Daredevil    Questions or comments We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime. ------------------ THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES  Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm.  You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/.  The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts.  Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data.  The American Comic Book Chronicles: Published by TwoMorrows, these volumes provide an excellent analysis of American comics through the years.  Because these volumes break down comic history by year and decade they are a great place to get a basic orientation on what is happening across the comic industry at a particular point in time. 

Episode 48 - Murdock and Marvel: 1998 Part 3 Things continued to be grim in the comic world, but it seemed as though the freefall might be over.  Marvel had escaped bankruptcy without missing even a single month of publishing, most of the other companies still in business made it through the year (but not all) and some very interesting new players entered the scene.  This is part 3 of the podcast. that will feature the Takeaway for 1998 - which is a look back at volume 1 of Daredevil. The Takeaway Daredevil Vol 1 is an interesting journey.  Age  Issues  Writers  Artists  Silver  1-50  Stan Lee  Ditko, Wood Colon  Bronze  51-157  Thomas, Conway, Gerber  Colan, Brown  (Black Widow)  (92-107)  (Gerber)  (Colan)  Miller  158-234  Frank Miller  Miller, Mazzuccelli  Nocenti  237-291  Ann Nocenti  John Romita, Jr, Lee Weeks  Chichester Era  292-342  DG Chichester  Scott McDaniel, Weeks  The Long Goodbye  343-380  Various  Various   

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Episode 47 - Murdock and Marvel: 1998 Part 2 Things continued to be grim in the comic world, but it seemed as though the freefall might be over.  Marvel had escaped bankruptcy without missing even a single month of publishing, most of the other companies still in business made it through the year (but not all) and some very interesting new players entered the scene.  This is part 2 of the podcast. that will feature the year in Daredevil, the Spotlight story. The Takeaway for 1998 - which is a look back at volume 1 of Daredevil - will be released next week as it's own episode.   The Year in Daredevil  Appearances:  Daredevil #371-380, Marvel Knights: Daredevil #1-2, Uncanny X-Men #351, Thunderbolts #10, Unlimited Access #2, Shadow & Light #1, Cable #55, Ka-Zar #15, Spider-Man Made Men #1, Nighthawk #1-3, Avengers #10-11, and Bring Back the Bad Guys graphic novel.  Writing: Joe Kelly (#371-373) Kelly and Jonathan Barron (#374), Kelly and Chris Claremont (#375), Scott Lobdell (#376-379), Dan G. Chichester (#380)  Pencils: Ariel Olivetti (#371-372, #374), Richie Acosta (#373), Cary Nord, Olivetti, John Paul Leon, Tom Lyle, Brian Denham and Rick Leonardi (#375), Cully Hamner (#376-379), Lee Weeks (#380)  Inks: Pier Brito (#371-372, #374), Bud LaRosa (#373), Mark Lipka, Brito, John Paul Leon, Robert Jones, Chis Carlson and Scott Hanna (#375), Jason Martin (#376-379), Robert Campanella (#380)  The year begins with Black Widow and Daredevil discussing their recent run-ins both professionally and personally. Meanwhile Karen goes shopping with Rosalind. Matt and Karen do make up despite Daredevil leaving for a bit  Next Mr. Fear pops back up after we learn something weird happened during the prison riot he planned last year. DD tries to talk to the warden, but Ghost Rider beats him to it. Fear and DD play cat and mouse for a couple issues before things come to a head. Meanwhile, we are introduced to Charlie, a likely cop whose working for Fear, who first tries to kill Fogy’s sister Candice before going after Karen.  In a double sized issue #375, We learn Charlie has been killed and Karen is awaiting trial for his murder. Mr. Fear is trying to manipulate things so that she will go to jail and DD will suffer a breakdown as a result. Matt is Karen’s lawyer and while the case slowly slips away from him, he continues to search for Fear as Daredevil hoping it will save his case. We won’t spoil the ending, as this is the spotlight story for the week.  And just like that, the story quickly shifts to France...  In the final named story arc of volume 1, Flying Blind, we meet Laurent Levasseur whom very much seems like our man without fear – though he thinks his just an artist. Turns out Murdock is working deep undercover for SHIELD and had his memory reprogrammed. Murdock is there to stop the sale of agent information to international buyers of the Kingpin. After spending most of the story trying to remember who he is and save the doctor who initially treated him at the start of this tale, Murdock gets his memories back from a mutant named Synapse just as SHIELD locates him and busts in as the cavalry.   One side effect of the reprogramming was Murdock was able to actually see. He loses it after getting his memories back but he’s able to see his friend Foggy for the first and only time.  In November, Volume 1 ends with one last issue – issue #380 – and the return on Dan G Chichester and Lee Weeks for “a tale from Daredevil's past” dedicated to Archie Goodwin. A pretty straight-forward story though told non-sequentially in which the Kingpin tries to frame a Middle Eastern man for terrorism so he can get his hands on a shipment of weapons; Matt defends the patsy and wins in court; Meanwhile DD takes on several of his deadliest foes to foil the Kingpin's scheme. (The Hand/Bushwacker/Bullseye)  The final page sees Murdock and his mom Maggie walking and having ice cream with narration “You want to know the truth? The good guys don’t always win. But because of who they are, they never stop fighting. There’s always a Daredevil willing to take a risk on our behalf. And in a city that never sleeps, we can all rest easy knowing we have that to protect us.”  That same month, Volume 2 begins under the Marvel Knight branding begins with a new creative team – Kevin Smith, Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti. In the first 2 books of the Guardian Devil storyline, we learn Karen left Matt and NYC for LA 6 months ago and Matt has been trying to move on with his life. A teenage girl brings a baby to Matt that she claims is the new Messiah and leaves the kid in his care but then Murdock is approached by a mysterious old man claims the same child is the Anti-Christ and a curse to those around it.  This Week's Spotlight: Daredevil #375 May 1998 “With a Little Help From My Friends”  Recap Why We Picked This Story Daredevil Rapid Fire Questions The Takeaway - Next week The Takeaway was a recap and discussion of volume 1 of Daredevil. It ended up running long so we will be releasing that separately.  Questions or comments We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime. ------------------ THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES  Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm.  You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/.  The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts.  Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data.  The American Comic Book Chronicles: Published by TwoMorrows, these volumes provide an excellent analysis of American comics through the years.  Because these volumes break down comic history by year and decade they are a great place to get a basic orientation on what is happening across the comic industry at a particular point in time. 

Episode 45 - Murdock and Marvel: 1997 Part 2 We’ve got a pretty quiet week in comic terms, partly because everything has gone completely to the dogs, and there is a lot less happening than there was a few years ago.  Still, I was surprised to find that 1997 had some pretty great things going on under the surface!  This is part 2 of the podcast. that will feature the year in Daredevil, the Spotlight story and the Takeaway for 1997.   The Year in Daredevil  Appearances: Daredevil #360-370, Daredevil #-1, Adventures of Spider-Man #10, Bug #1, Code of Honor #2-4, Punisher #17-18, Venom: On Trial #1-3, Marvel Valentine Special #1, Silver Surfer #128, Essential Spider-Man #2, Electra #-1, Ka-Zar #5 and 8, Uncanny Origins #13, Elektra #10-11 and 13, Marvel Heroes & Legends 1997 #1, Spider-Man El Hombre Arana #30, Spider-Man Unlimited #18, Thunderbolts #8 along with Daredevil/Batman, Untold Tales of Spider-Man ’97, Kingpin, Origin of Marvel Comics Revised Edition and Son of Origins of the Marvel Comics Revised Edition graphic novels  Writing: Karl Kesel (#360-364), Joe Kelly (#365-370 and #-1)  Pencils: Cary Nord (#360-362, 364-365), Gene Colan (#363, -1, 366-368, 370), Ariel Olivetti (#369)  Inks: Matt Ryan (#360-362, 364-365, -1), Cam Smith and Paul Neary (#363), Al Williamson (#366), Bud LaRosa (#367-368, 370), Pier Brito (#369)  The year begins with Daredevil taking on the Absorbing Man as he tries to take down NYC with no Avengers to stop him. While that’s going on, we learn why Foggy was so keen on partnering with Rosalind Sharpe – she’s his biological mother.  And it’s Sharpe who thinks Foggy and the firm need to play up Foggy’s “best bud” status with Daredevil – which leads to work for the firm as Molten Man (Mark Raxton) seeks help with break-ins at Osborne Chemicals. Daredevil is reunited with the Black Widow as the pair take down the Grey Gargoyle.  We learn a bit about Rosalind’s Sharpe’s past after Daredevil saves her from an armed man in the firm’s lobby then follow’s her to visit the gangster responsible.   Next we get a multi-book story involving a new villainous, Insomnia – he’s try to keep Daredevil and the rest of New York up at night. We eventually learn she’s working for Mr Fear – who himself is causing trouble by enlisting a friend of Molten Man to release a gas during a Osborn Chemicals boardroom meeting which causes Raxton to freak out and start tearing the place apart.  Before we can get a resolution to Mr Fear, we get a Flashback issue of Daredevil (Daredevil #-1) in which Jack Murdock is taking his son Matt to college. This story, from writer Joe Kelly and art by Gene Colan and Matt Ryan is a lot of fun and will be our spotlight story of the week.  Returning back to present time, Daredevil must, once again, deal with Mr Fear’s plotting – this time on Ryker’s Island when Fear releases a gas to start a prison riot. Daredevil must then take on new and improved Gladiator. (what happened to fear???)  The year ends with a multi-book storyline called “widow’s Kiss” that starts with Daredevil helping a firm client who’s facing a hostile takeover by the Russians – only to have to tangle Omega Red. Black Widow comes to the aid of Daredevil only to then shoot him herself. She tries then save DD by bring him to Karen for help, before returning to meet with a Russian general we eventually learn she’s trying to take down. Despite just being shot, Daredevil goes after Widow and gets the pair captured. The story ends Daredevil escapes and convinces Ursa Major and Vanguard that they are being used by the General – and that he’s being running experiments on Vanguards sister – Darkstar.  One other secondary story that ran through much of the year involves Foggy and Liz Osborne. Rosalind Sharpe isn’t pleased with their relationship and continually tries to undermine it – with other women. In the final book of the year Foggy and Liz's attempt to have a romantic evening together is derailed when he receives a constant stream of phone calls from other women.  This Week's Spotlight: Daredevil #-1 July 1997 “A Time to Say Farewell”  Recap Why We Picked This Story Daredevil Rapid Fire Questions The Takeaway Marvel messed up more than their own fortunes with their unwise expansions.  Questions or comments We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime. ------------------ THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES  Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm.  You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/.  The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts.  Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data.  The American Comic Book Chronicles: Published by TwoMorrows, these volumes provide an excellent analysis of American comics through the years.  Because these volumes break down comic history by year and decade they are a great place to get a basic orientation on what is happening across the comic industry at a particular point in time. 

Episode 44 - Murdock and Marvel: 1997 Part 1 We’ve got a pretty quiet week in comic terms, partly because everything has gone completely to the dogs, and there is a lot less happening than there was a few years ago.  Still, I was surprised to find that 1997 had some pretty great things going on under the surface! Preshow  The Year in Comics  As harsh as 1996 had been, 1997 was in most senses even worse.  Sales continued to plummet, Marvel had to dig out from a messy financial mess, and other publishers felt the pain as well.  Once again, as they had before in the 50s and in the 70s, people were asking if this was the end for American comic books.  Notable and Newsworthy Sales & Industry Information Eisner Awards Dan's Favorite The Year in Marvel It was a rough year to be Marvel.  The line continued to shrink, sales plummeted, and fewer and fewer series seemed to last more than a few issues.  Plus, both the sticker company and the distribution company had to go.   TOTAL SERIES: 179TOTAL NEW SERIES: 120 TOTAL ENDING SERIES: 126 THIS YEAR'S EVENT(S):   Operation: Zero Tolerance Unlimited Access (with DC) Heroes Reborn: The Return Flashback BEST SELLING COMICS: Uncanny X-Men 345, Heroes Reborn #1 Events & Happenings New Titles (Ongoing and Limited) New Characters Series Ending Who's in the Bullpen/Passings ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Leinil Francis Yu Dan's Favorite   Next week: 1997 Part 2 - The year in Daredevil    Questions or comments We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime. ------------------ THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES  Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm.  You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/.  The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts.  Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data.  The American Comic Book Chronicles: Published by TwoMorrows, these volumes provide an excellent analysis of American comics through the years.  Because these volumes break down comic history by year and decade they are a great place to get a basic orientation on what is happening across the comic industry at a particular point in time. 

Episode 43 - Murdock and Marvel: 1996 Part 2 Well, here we are, Duane.  At the End of Days.  I have been promising you that everything was going to explode eventually.  And finally we have arrived.  Welcome to the fateful year 1996, when Marvel came crashing down.  This is part 2 of the podcast. that will feature the year in Daredevil, the Spotlight story and the Takeaway for 1996.   The Year in Daredevil  Appearances:  Daredevil #348-359, Punisher #4, What if…? #83, Marvel versus DC / DC versus Marvel #2-3, Green Goblin #6 and 12, Doom 2099 #40-42, Over the Edge #6 and 10, Wolverine #103-104, New Warriors #73, Spider-Man Unlimited #13, Essential Wolverine #1, Essential X-Men #1, Spider-Man #74, Elektra Megazine #1-2, Essential Spider-Man #1 and Age of Innocence: The Rebirth of Iron Man, Spider-Man’s Greatest Team-Ups and Elektra Lives Again graphic novels  Writing: J.M. DeMatteis (348-350), John Rozum (351), Ben Rabb (352), Karl Kesel (353-357), Joe Kelly (358-359)  Pencils: Cary Nord (348-349, 353-357), Ron Wagner (350), Shawn McManus (351-352), Pasqual Ferry (358), Nord and Larry Hama (359)  Inks: Bill Reinhold (348, 350), Al Williamson (349), Shawn McManus (351-352), Matt Ryan (353-357, 359), Pasqual Ferry (358)  The year begins with Matt trying to reconcile his recent identity crisis while Foggy is angry about the secret he’s finally learned. Matt tries visiting with his mother Maggie, but it’s his old Mentor Stick that helps him – though in the process he ends up taking on the Chaste.  Foggy and Matt begin practicing law together again. From there, things return to normal (or at least what’s normal for Daredevil or Matt Murdock), He takes out Agent Vice who’s extorting money from other criminals. Daredevil must take on Mastermind who is also Matt Murdock’s client.   In June we get a new creative team that was teased at the end of issue 352. Karl Kesel and Cary Nord. We also get a re-imagined Mr. Hyde from John Romita Jr. Hyde seems to be totally unhinged (with an equally terrifying look). Daredevil confronts Hyde in an old Osborn warehouse where a woman has been murdered. Hyde continues to act crazy and is ultimately arrested.   During this issue Foggy and Matt (mostly Matt) are asked to partner with hotshot lawyer Rosalind (Razor) Sharpe. Sharpe tells Matt privately that the two are a package deal. She doesn’t just want Foggy. Foggy seemed weirdly eager to join her so Matt accepts.  And as a first case under the new partnership, Sharpe was Murdock to represent Mr. Hyde. At first, Murdock doesn’t want to do it, but after meeting with Hyde – Matt doesn’t think he killed the girl. The leads to Daredevil taking on Pyro and looking for clues at the warehouse – with the help of Misty Knight – which leads to a secret tunnel and a group of criminals called the Enforcers and their newest member the Eel – who captures our hero. The story ends when Daredevil escapes and captures the Eel and presents the Eel to the courtroom waiting for the trial of Mr. Hyde to start.  The year ends with two standalone stories that have a much different look and feel from the rest of the year. In the first, Daredevil takes on Mysterio who’s working on a super-hero insurance scam. This fun story will be our spotlight story for the week. In the second, we see a night of Daredevil fighting crime while Karen Page talks to people of New York about their thoughts on Daredevil (now that the Fantastic Four and Avengers are gone) during her late-night radio call in show.  This Week's Spotlight: Daredevil #358 November 1996 “Aftermath”  Recap Why We Picked This Story Daredevil Rapid Fire Questions The Takeaway Stick to what you are good at.  Questions or comments We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime. ------------------ THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES  Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm.  You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/.  The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts.  Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data.  The American Comic Book Chronicles: Published by TwoMorrows, these volumes provide an excellent analysis of American comics through the years.  Because these volumes break down comic history by year and decade they are a great place to get a basic orientation on what is happening across the comic industry at a particular point in time. 

Episode 42 - Murdock and Marvel: 1996 Part 1 Well, here we are, Duane.  At the End of Days.  I have been promising you that everything was going to explode eventually.  And finally we have arrived.  Welcome to the fateful year 1996, when Marvel came crashing down. Preshow  The Year in Comics  As usual, there was a lot of great stuff going on in comics this year.  There was also a lot of junk, though, and 1996 is the year we start seeing that problem sort itself out.  Notable and Newsworthy Sales & Industry Information Passings Eisner Awards Dan's Favorite The Year in Marvel The year at Marvel started rough and just got worse, with fans, industry insiders and the stock market all seeming to be against them.  Layoffs, failed storylines and an end of year bombshell made this a year to forget at Marvel comics.  TOTAL SERIES: 232TOTAL NEW SERIES: 155 TOTAL ENDING SERIES: 169 THIS YEAR'S EVENT(S):   Onslaught Saga Heroes Reborn BEST SELLING COMICS:  Events & Happenings New Titles (Ongoing and Limited) New Characters Series Ending Who's in the Bullpen/Passings ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: David Finch Dan's Favorite   Next week: 1996 Part 2 - The year in Daredevil    Questions or comments We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime. ------------------ THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES  Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm.  You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/.  The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts.  Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data.  The American Comic Book Chronicles: Published by TwoMorrows, these volumes provide an excellent analysis of American comics through the years.  Because these volumes break down comic history by year and decade they are a great place to get a basic orientation on what is happening across the comic industry at a particular point in time. 

Episode 41 - Murdock and Marvel: 1995 Part 2 It was a tough year in comics, especially for the big two.  Comic shops were having trouble, readers seemed to be moving on to other things, and corporate overlords continued to demand ever higher profits.  1995 was a bit of an…apocalypse.  This is part 2 of the podcast. that will feature the year in Daredevil, the Spotlight story and the Takeaway for 1995.   The Year in Daredevil  Appearances: Daredevil #336-347, Elekrta: Root of Evil #1, Marvel Super-Heroes Megazine #4 and 6, Spider-Man: Power of Terror #2 - #4, Sabertooth Classic #11, Marvel: Portraits #2 - #4, What if…? #73, Ghost Rider #61, X-Universe #1 – #2, Ruins #1, Incredible Hulk #434, Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe #1, Over the Edge #1, and Double Edge: Omega graphic novel    Writing: Gregory Wright (336-337), Alan Smithee [actually Dan G Chichester] (338-342), Warren Ellis (343), J.M. DeMatteis (344-347)  Pencils: Tom Grindberg (336-337), Alexander Jubran (339-340), Keith Pollard (341-342), Pollard and Arvell Malcolm Jones (343), Ron Wagner (344-347)  Inks: Don Hudson (336-337), Andre Parks and Hudson (338), Parks, Hudson Bud LaRosa and Rodney Ramos (339), Parks, Hudson and Marie Severin (340), Art Nichols (341), Tom Palmer (342-343), Bill Reinhold (344-347)  The year begins with the final 2 chapters of the Fathoms of Humanity story arc that started last year. You’ll recall that story stared with Daredevil following a homeless man into the sewers and coming befriending him and a whole group of people who live there. He battled the King of the Sewers and defeated him again. And we also saw the kingpin attempting to slowly grow his power back. In these final two chapters we learn the homeless man Daredevil followed was once a superhero himself – peacekeeper – in order to help Daredevil and his community against the Sewer King’s attempts to take back control of the community and defeat Daredevil. From there, we get the story of Victor “Kruel” Krueller and the Ghost of a Chance diner in flashbacks to explain why Kruel is going after those near and dear to Daredevil/Matt Murdock (Foogy, Glorianna, DA Malpher, Ben Urich). Seems he double crossed Wilson Fisk and at the diner, Fisk caught him and nearly killed him – then covered it up by drugging those same people to wipe their memory. Now Kruel is bent on revenge and is seeking out the witnesses to help him remember what happened. During the quest for information, Kruel kills Glorianna which causes Fisk and Daredevil to team up to locate and confront Kruel. When they do, Fisk ends up killing Kruel.   There’s a side story going on in this story as we see Karen Page trying to get information about some troubling images, she saw on a CD given to her by her former adult movie producers.   After a stand-alone book that was part of the Over the Edge event that didn’t really make a lot of sense involving the Punisher. We get the start of the Inferno story arc. In it, we see a second Daredevil in the original red and yellow costume and a bonding around the city and talking with Foggy and Karen (as well as leaving taunting messages with Matt). We also see a villain names Sir who’s attacking and killing women.   At one point, the two meet and Sir beats up Daredevil so badly, Sir is able to take his costume.  This leads to a very confusing confrontation in which Sir as Daredevil fights the red and yellow daredevil – who happens to be Murdock as an alternate personality. In the end, Batlin as Daredevil defeats Sir as Daredevil and Karen and Foggy come to realize that Batlin is actually Matt Murdock!  Elektra: Root of Evil  Daito of the Snakeroot kills himself with the Sakki sword and makes it impure. So the rest of the snakeroot need to kill three specific people to purify the blade again. (not sure how they know who). There’s a brief cameo by Daredevil is issue 1 where he stops Elektra from killing some random mercenaries who are after her.  Elektra wants to form her own Ryu (ninja group like the Chaste) and works with Nick Fury to get recruits.  We briefly meet Target, Lynch, Impact, Masquerade, Niko and Salvo before most are killed in their very first battle against the snakeroot (like the X-force in Deadpool 2).   Via flashbacks, we learn Elektra has an older brother, Orestez who saved Elektra when she was a child and whom killed their mother for seemly cheating on their father. Though Elektra did turn out to be their father’s daughter  Other flashbacks show Elektra was a member of the Snakeroot and fell in love with Tekagi – whom she ends up killing at the end of this series with new sais covered in poison before they could kill all 3 purity people.  This Week's Spotlight: Daredevil #347 December 1995 “Inferno Part 3”  Recap Why We Picked This Story Daredevil Rapid Fire Questions The Takeaway Sometimes the crossover is actually cool. Questions or comments We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at [email protected] or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime. ------------------ THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES  Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm.  You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/.  The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts.  Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data.  The American Comic Book Chronicles: Published by TwoMorrows, these volumes provide an excellent analysis of American comics through the years.  Because these volumes break down comic history by year and decade they are a great place to get a basic orientation on what is happening across the comic industry at a particular point in time. 

Alt: a back to the future car is driving down a street with a red license plate