About time we had a general thread for Marvel's BLIND super-hero! Thanks to Kirk G for inspiring me to do this... as well as to dig out another 60's Marvel cover to "restore". Hadn't done any of those in months, and I just did an extensive restoration on DD #2.
I've still got most of these to do yet...
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DAREDEVIL 3 / Aug'64
A massive clean-up / restoration done on a scan from Heritage Auctions. I'm amazed at how many different layers I wound up using to fix this one. First, I used "levels" on 2 different copies of the full image-- one to adjust the bulk of the cover, and a 2nd to adjust the pale blues (and the rest of the logo area), so as not to have the pale blue "blank out" on me while cleaning / brightening up everything else. After that, I adjusted the dark green (gun-man's jacket), the medium blue (Owl's suit), grays (the pedestal of the Owl's throne), skin tones (DD, Owl & the henchmen), and the dark blues ("Here Comes..." and "The Man Without Fear!"), all on separate layers! Sheesh. Haven't had to do that sort of thing in a while.
Before this, I assembled 2 different scans, one for most of the image, and a second one for the left edge, asd I didn't want to lose any of the "explosive" red text blurb.
On top of this, the bright red and yellow in the logo and text blurb were adjusted in "color balance" (that was an easy step). Most of the remaining time, apart from the color adjustments, was used doing copy-and-paste-into to repair damage down the left and right edges, as well as to clean up DIRT.
Maybe not a real Jack Kirby "classic", but at least it's a HUGE step up from DD #2. Even Vince Colletta's inks didn't seem to destroy this one as badly.
I have never cared for The Owl as a villain. He seems too much of an attempt to do a BAD imitation of "The Penguin" from BATMAN, even as many people seem to figure Daredevil is Marvel's version of Batman, because he doesn't have super-strength, but is mostly an athelete and fighter. (Remember, most people have NO IDEA that DD actually does have super-powers. They usually tend to watch him in action and wonder, "HOW did he do THAT?")
Over time, DD developed a growing rogues gallery of his own, and while they were never up to the standards of the FF's or Spider-Man's, they did almost make up for it by being excessively GOOFY. This may be why I tend to think of DD more as Marvel's version of The Flash. His book was often more light-hearted than the rest of the line, his baddies were ridiculous... and then of course, he wore a red costume. Tragically, this went completely against the grain by the late 60's and early 70';s, when "gloom, doom, depression and hopelessness" became the "in" thing, and more so, in the early 80's, when Frank Miller came along and decided Jim Shooter was RIGHT to turn the book into an intense, non-stop NIGHTMARE. Miller has a lot to answer for. As does Shooter.
Since I first got ahold of MARVEL MASTERWORKS Vol.17 (the 1st DD volume), the Everett & Wood issues have become my FAVORITE in the entire history of the run. If I were in a position to do a DD movie, it'd be their stuff (and some of Gene Colan's) I'd use as the basis for my film.
ME? What did I do?
If I recall, you were discussing Daredevil on some non-Daredevil thread. Made me think, hey, we need a "Daredevil" thread!
: )
I also prefer more "general" threads, as that way, it doesn't limit the scope of conversation.
One part Lev Gleason's Daredevil and one part Dr Mid-Nite, I guess. I wonder what prompted Marvel to revive the character (in name only)?
Henry R. Kujawa said:
I just wrote at my blog... "DAREDEVIL, "The Man Without Fear", was apparently the first of 3 instances during the 1960's when Marvel publisher Martin Goodman decided to make use of the names of old characters from defunct publishers."
The other examples of books re-suing names from defunct publishers were, of course, GHOST RIDER (Magazine Enterprises) and CAPTAIN MARVEL (Fawcett).
Then again, not long ago I read online that, apparently, Goodman was threatened with legal action for his blatent reuse of GHOST RIDER-- not only the name, but the character design (although, under Roy Thomas, the characters themselves were changed, and in my view, mutilated almost beyond recognition, or, at least, beyond readability). There's a slew of conflicting stories, but one of them suggests that the motorcycle-riding "Ghost Rider" was created as a way of being able to reuse the character name without running into legal problems. Meanwhile, the western character was re-named, which was just as well, as, having read the original 1950's series, I view the 1967 series as an INSULT to its memory.
I'm sure many fans of the original CAPTAIN MARVEL feel the same way about Marvel's character of the same name.
I wonder-- considering all the criticism Marvel's DAREDEVIL has come under over the years (mostly for its writing, especialy in the 60's & 70's), were there any fans of the Golden Age DAREDEVIL who found Marvel's reuse of the name a sore point?
By the way-- has anyone here besides me read Ronn Foss' character, THE ECLIPSE ?
Another extensive restoration job...
DAREDEVIL #4 / Oct'64
before
during
after
I may take down the "in progress" versions at some point, but as this blog page has so few covers on it, it seems a perfect opportunity to showcase the amoutn of work that really goes into cleaning up these things!
If you bring each one up in a separate browser, you can flip between them easily for comparison.
Just put the finishing touches on my 1st DAREDEVIL blog page. This one's got more text than usual, which is why it only covers the period with Bill Everett & Joe Orlando!
Another restoration down... this one by Wally Wood!
DAREDEVIL #6 / Feb'65
So as not to have Mr. Fear's left foot cut off, I wound up assembling 2 different scans. After fixing all 4 edges with "copy-and-paste", I then adjusted the purple of the corner box, the browns, and the dark blues on separate layers. The solid reds and yellows were much easier, those I was able to do with "color balance".
Wally Wood's 7 issues of DAREDEVIL are my favorite issues in the entire HISTORY of the book. NO S***!!!
Daredevil #4 was my oldest book at one time. I was surprised to learn that the crowd ripped off his hood, and that's why is isn't around any more. With that hoodie, DD looks much more like the prize fighter that his togs were supposed to resemble.
I picked up a worn copy of #6 only a few months ago when selling some back issue for my buddy. I asked for the DD #6 as my payment, and after I succeeded in raising some 60 bucks for him on ebay in my account, I gave him the cash and he let me keep the DD #6 instead of listing it. Most valuable comic that I underestimated? Strange Adventures #167 with the Gorilla's playing baseball on the cover. Who knew??!!
In this country, gorillas usually play football. Or hockey.
: )
I actually have copies of DAREDEVIL #5 & 11 (which is why I did scans & restorations of them several years ago). I got #11 sometime in the 80's. I got #5 in the late 90's (I think). Oddly enough, it was only about $5.00-- because someone had cut out a coupon from an inside page. What did I care? It didn't affect the story.
Imagine my shock when I compared it to the reprint in MARVEL MASTERWORKS Vol.17. I never really checked the interior pages... but the cover-- EVERY LINE had been redrawn from scratch!!! I'm not kidding! It may have looked like "Wally Wood" at a casual glance... but IT WASN'T!
Of course, #11 made no sense to me at all until I read #10 (it was a 2-parter-- and a VERY COMPLEX 2-parter!!). The stories in DD #5-11 were unlike anything else anyone had done at Marvel in all of the 1960's. Which should tell anybody who wrote the things.
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