Episode 132: The Bad Way to get Someone's Attention (Daredevil #2 & Fantastic Four #27) -- May-June 1964

In this episode:

Mike and Ed discuss how the newest vigilante, Daredevil, has quickly moved from battling common criminals to taking on supervillains. Also, what was his motivation for stealing the Fantasti-car? Is he trying to get the attention of a major superhero team, in the hopes of joining? Is he going to break into StarkCorp next? How should we feel about people without powers taking the law into their own hands?

Behind the Issues:

Daredevil #2 ups the stakes a little by having the hero battle a true supervillain rather than “common criminals”. Daredevil’s abilities become a little more impressive now as well. In issue #1 he was just “well trained” with enhanced hearing. This issue introduces his “radar sense” which effectively allows him to “see” everything close-by with 360-degree vision. DD also interacts with the Fantastic Four. Maybe there was negative feedback from putting the FF and Spider-man on the cover of issue #1 when they did not actually appear in the issue.

The Fantastic Four issue mostly takes place behind closed doors, so it is barely mentioned in the episode. It is notable though for the first guest appearance by Dr Strange in the title. Strange is unusual at this point because his magic-stuff in his own issues is very self-contained from the wider world. But Lee has clearly seen the value in having his heroes cross-over. The hope was that Strange’s appearance here would boost sales of Strange Tales (Where Strange gets half the book - but the covers are still focused on the Human Torch).

In these issues:

Daredevil #2

Ben “The Thing” Grimm retains the law firm Nelson and Murdock about an issue with their building lease. Unbeknownst to him, attorney Matt Murdock is the costumed vigilante Daredevil. This matters because Matt was too busy fighting the supervillain Electro as Daredevil to deal with this lease issue (come on, Matt - don’t quit your day job; seriously, you need it).

Daredevil’s fight with Electro was a battle for the ages. It included Electro, while trying to rob the Fantastic Four while they were away from the Baxter Building, beating Daredevil, loading an unconscious Daredevil into the Fantastic Four’s space ship, launching it into space, and Daredevil (who is blind) piloting the ship back to Earth, safely landing in Central Park. Then, Daredevil stole a horse, raced to a helicopter launch pad, grabbed onto a departing helicopter, and then dropping into the Baxter Building through a skylight to continue his battle with Electro. Ultimately, Daredevil wins the fight, and Electro is taken away by the cops. But Matt lost the building lease file.

Fantastic Four #27

Namor the Sub-Mariner is obsessing over Sue “Invisible Girl” Storm in his undersea kingdom. He decides that he must win her over, which leads to him breaking into the Baxter Building and fighting the Fantastic Four. After taking care of the Thing and the Human Torch, he pleads his case to Sue, and she rejects him. Undeterred, he knocks her unconscious with sleeping gas and steals her away to his kingdom. Reed Richards then arrives home and completely loses it when he hears that Namor has kidnapped Sue. He races off, on his own, to rescue her. Ben and Johnny are worried about Reed going off on his own and decide to enlist Dr. Strange for help. Johnny does that by writing a message to Dr. Strange in the sky in fiery letters. Dr. Strange meets up with Ben and Johnny in astral form and offers to locate Sue. He finds her being held prisoner in Namor’s undersea kingdom. At the same time, Reed busts into Namor’s palace and attacks Namor, who fights him off along with the help of his solders. Ben and Johnny come to Reed’s aid, and they battle on until Sue puts an end to the fight with an invisible shield. She then explains to Namor that she loves Reed.

Assumed before the next episode:

People are excited about this new superhero, Daredevil, who lives up to his name.

This episode takes place:

After Daredevil has defeated Electro.

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