Daredevil 14
Phew! Part three of a very peculiar saga, which opens with the butler Feepers seemingly the kingpin of crime in the shires of England. Daredevil and Kazar were supposedly knocked out by a grenade at the end of the last issue but this episode tells us that it's DD's superb reflexes and radar that have enabled him to remain conscious (which seems an extraordinary use of power that will please The Other Murdock Papers' blogger, Christine).
The Plunderer meanwhile is back on top this issue, disposing of the admirable Feepers early on. I must say that I really quite liked Feepers and Slagg, well drawn out henchmen if ever there were. However, I'm guessing that Lee felt that his readership would think Plunder the really interesting bad guy and so concentrates on him when really he's just another megalomaniac that constantly crops up in these kinds of escapades. Perhaps it's only his relationship as Kazar's brother that keeps a fresh angle on the story. The more modern storytelling of Frank Miller where a character like Turk can live, breathe and have a big impact on storylines is many years away at this point.
As if to emphasise to the readership Plunder's status, Lee gives him deadly ray guns and a costume this issue but I'm still not getting that excited. In fact, Plunder's accomplices, mere pirates an issue ago, are now decked out as he in very futuristic looking white and blue (as you can see from this issue's cover).
Despite all this business going on in England, we still have an opportunity to drop in on Foggy and Karen - hurrah! There's more ambivalence from Foggy who is both relieved that Matt's alive and, worryingly, deflated at the thought that it means that Karen will never be his. The two are soon on their way to London. In a thought bubble, Matt mentions that he has left instructions at 'London airport'. I'm not sure how many airports London had in the sixties, but it's interesting to hear this phrase. London's main airport is called Heathrow but it may not have been known as that to international travellers 40 years ago, so I'll give Lee the benefit of the doubt here that he hasn't made a bit of a faux pas.
More English fun is to be had with Foggy in court with a plummy voiced British lawyer in full legal dress. "Murdock had best make an appearance soon, old boy," he tells Nelson. If this is a bit ripe, later on Lee gives homage to England calling it the land of "Bacon, Byron, Bowell and the Beatles". That's more like it, Stan.
The last two issues have had John Romita's art over Jack Kirby's layouts, but this time he's on pencilling duties with Frankie Ray on inking. It's interesting to see how like Kirby his earliest Marvel artwork is.
On page 14 there is one of those annoying self-referential quips that appear in comics from time to time - "If this were on TV or in a comic book, I'd say the writer had flipped," Daredevil remarks. This really grates. I never like hearing this because, of course, the reader's automatic reaction is, "well, duh, this is a comic book." I supposed it's meant to emphasise the extraordinariness of the enemy's exploit. Instead I can't help it feels like it cheapens the story.
Not a bad conclusion to the story, with yet another location added to the mix and the return of Foggy and Karen to more substantial roles, though I thought the notion of 'costuming' Plunder and Matt seeming to wrap things up a little too neatly, a little too easily a bit of a minus . Overall, not upset to see the end of this saga.
2 out of 5 stars.
