Daredevil Questions AKA I Was Wondering #20

[Philip Portelli]

Daredevil was always a favorite of mine and easy to collect. Unfortunately he spent his Silver Age as a definite Marvel B-Lister and a weaker version of Spider-Man. His title was never one of Marvel's best sellers and was almost cancelled at least once. Of course, he rebounded with Frank Miller's brilliant run in the 70s and is currently one of the best books out there.

However there are several discrepancies and oversights (and outright weirdness) in Hornhead's backstory and some definite questions, so:

• Why did young Matt Murdock keep his heightened senses a secret? Did he tell his father? Did the doctors know? Enhanced hearing and smell must have quite painful in a hospital where normal people can't sleep! It's almost like young Matt was planning for a super-hero career!
• Just using Daredevil #1 as a basis, was he able to act like a regular blind man in college? Did he really use his cane or just go through the motions? No one noticed how independent he was?
• Why did Matt fall in love with Karen Page? How did he know how beautiful she was? Did he do the "feel-your-face" routine? Was it a purer love or were his hormones linked to his radar sense?
• Who was Daredevil's greatest Silver Age foe: the OWL or the JESTER? I'm assuming that the Owl was designed to be (a blind hero versus a night predator) but the Jester made a lot of appearances! Unfortunately, the Owl was never that impressive (he can glide!) and the Jester was always a bargain basement Joker!
• I hate to bring this up but....oh who am I kidding! "MIKE MURDOCK"!!!! What was Stan thinking? A twin brother that Foggy Nelson, Matt's best friend since college, knew nothing about? A twin brother that was never mentioned? And who always wore sunglasses, even at night? Beyond that, both Foggy and Karen were no strangers to Daredevil and he certainly never acted like "Mike"!
• I believe that in #100 it was fully explained by Matt that the "original" Daredevil was "Mike" who got killed and that "another man" was now Daredevil #2. Did any of DD's friends or foes bring that little tidbit up again? "I'll stop you again, Leapfrog!" "Wait I fought the first guy, not you!" "What? Oh yeah! Please to meet you!" *PUNCH*
• Besides the Black Widow, who was the first super-hero to find out that Daredevil was blind?
• Was the Man Without Fear Marvel's second best non-super fighter after Captain America? Where would he rate against the Black Panther, Nick Fury, Ka-Zar or Hawkeye in hand-to-hand combat?
• Why did the AVENGERS never call? We know that DD couldn't accept because being around too many heroes would confuse his radar sense. At least, that's what he claimed. But he was never asked. Cap, Thor and Iron Man worked with him and knew how capable he was. And they asked Spider-Man who was deemed "a menace" and the Sub-Mariner after he tried to conquer New York City!
• Was his blindness a factor as to why it took so long to get animated? They couldn't or wouldn't show a person with a disability, regardless of how he overcame it? Or were they afraid no one would relate to him?
• Neat fact: When they made The Trial of the Incredible Hulk TV movie, with Rex Smith as DD, Stan Lee saw that the mask had no eyeholes and asked why. They said that it was because he was blind. Yeah, said Stan, but no one was supposed to know that! 

That's my testimony. What's yours?

 

[ClarkKent_DC]

Richard Willis said:

ClarkKent_DC said:

Too bad Marvel isn't doing What If ...? any more. "What If Jack Murdock Sued Over Matt's Accident?" is a story I would pay good, cash money to see.

IIRC, Jack Murdock got mixed up with The Fixer because he needed the money. If he'd had a healthy settlement in lieu of going to court he probably would never have been murdered. Hence no Daredevil?

Maybe so ...

One other angle is that Jack Murdock was in litigation, but couldn't wait for it to play out; those things can take years to resolve, with no assurance it'll end in the plaintiff's favor. So he went to The Fixer.

[Philip Portelli]

Perhaps it was the antics of corporate/government attorneys that inspired young Matt to become a defense lawyer in the first place.

[Rich Steeves]

Especially if Bob Ingersoll wrote it

ClarkKent_DC said:

Maybe so, maybe no ... this case isn't a slam dunk.

If it was a truck from a private company, Murdock's lawyer would have to find out about the truck being faulty and counter the company's arguments, whatever they were, about how well the radioactive material was secured. If it was a military transport, he or she would have that burden plus the burden of showing negligence, malfeasance or misfeasance to the degree that it overrides the strictures against suing government officials for actions taken in the normal course of their duties.

This from someone who is not a lawyer, nor does he play one on TV.

Too bad Marvel isn't doing What If ...? any more. "What If Jack Murdock Sued Over Matt's Accident?" is a story I would pay good, cash money to see. 

[ClarkKent_DC]

It occurs to me that "What If Jack Murdock Sued Over Matt's Accident?" is a story they could do in the new She-Hulk series (which we discuss over here). I figure if Matt hasn't sued anybody over it by now, he doesn't want to, but what if there was someone else harmed by that crash who does? And would Matt help or impede the effort?