Marvel 1975.08 - Daredevil #124

Daredevil #124

Title: In the Coils of the Copperhead!

Writer: Len Wein, Marv Wolfman

Artist: Gene Colan

Villain: Copperhead

Regulars: Black Widow, Ivan, Foggy Nelson

This comic is the end of an era. The Black Widow has been appearing in Daredevil's comics since Daredevil #81, and they've been in a romantic relationship since Daredevil #84. I've always been critical of Gerry Conway's run in Daredevil (Daredevil #72 to #99), but the romance between Daredevil and Black Widow was a great achievement. The comic was even renamed "Daredevil and the Black Widow" from issues #92 to #107. Starting in issue #92 the Black Widow's picture appeared on the cover, in the top right, and this continued even after the series reverted to its original name in Daredevil #108. An exception was Daredevil #111, in which Shanna the She-Devil was shown on the cover, but this was a glitch, probably a joke by Steve Gerber. Their relationship has been on-off ever since Daredevil #100 – the issue Gerry Conway left – but Daredevil #124 is the issue in which they finally break up. It's the last issue in which her picture appears on the cover.

It's a strange break-up. Natasha claims to love Matt, but she leaves him anyway. Her reasons are simple. She's an independent woman, and she doesn't want to be dependent on a man. When they first met, she was wealthy. Now she's poor, probably due to bad budgeting, and she doesn't want Matt to support her. She'd rather sleep in the back of her car than in his New York apartment. She also feels out-classed by him when she's in action. He's a better fighter than she is, and she doesn't want to be his sidekick. Her career as a crime fighter is more important than her romance.

But I can say one thing from my own experiences with women: If a woman ever says, "When I've found whatever I'm looking for, I'll be back, I promise I'll be back", one thing is certain: she won't be back. That was my prediction when I read this comic, and today, 48 years later, she still hasn't come back. I'm not saying she was just making excuses when she left him. She really meant it. What I'm saying is that a woman who says she loves her career more than she loves a man doesn't really love him at all.

I wonder what would have happened if Gerry Conway had remained as the writer. Would he have kept them together? And I also wonder at what level in Marvel the decision was made to separate the couple. Steve Gerber's issues with an on-off romance were bittersweet, and it could have continued like that for years. The break-up story was written by Len Wein, who was Marvel's editor-in-chief at the time. So it was an editorial decision? I don't know. It would be interesting to hear an interview with one of the writers about the relationship.

According to the credits, the first half of this issue was written by Len Wein, the second half by Marv Wolfman. It says pages 1 to 14 and 15 to 31 respectively, but we have to remember that Marvel always numbered their pages including the advertisements. It's an 18-page story, and Len Wein wrote the first nine pages, which is exactly half. In the last issue Len announced that he'd be taking over as the new writer for Daredevil, but he gave up after only half an issue. My guess is that he was over-worked. I'm no expert in the comics business, but I believe that being an editor is a lot of hard work. Roy Thomas was one of Marvel's most prolific writers, but when he became the editor in 1972 his output slowed down. In the 1970's the editors were frequently changed. Six different editors from 1972 to 1978. Despite reading about it, I've never been able to understand why. Len Wein was editor from 1974 to 1975. At the time he was the writer for "The Incredible Hulk". He was probably overworked and unable to find time for another monthly title like "Daredevil".

As is well known, Marvel separated the writer's job into two halves. The writer wrote the story's plot, then the artist drew the comic, after which the writer wrote the dialogue itself. My assumption is that Len Wein plotted the whole issue, and only the dialogue was split between the two. There's a noticeable difference between the two halves, maybe because of the different subject matter, but it could be because of the different writers. In the second half Daredevil is back to his joking self, which was strongest in the first 71 issues.

Now to the story itself. After the Black Widow leaves town, Matt Murdock visits his good friend, District Attorney Foggy Nelson. Maybe he shouldn't have turned down the job at SHIELD last issue, because now he's panicking about being re-elected. There's a rival candidate who has no political experience but much better looks. As I've often said, it's a weakness of democracy that votes are cast based on feelings, not on the skills of the candidates. I'm not going to name any examples, but think back to all the politicians who were unjustly elected in your lifetime.

There's a new vigilante in town called Copperhead. If he sees someone committing a crime he sentences him to death, however trivial the crime might be. For instance, stealing a woman's purse is wrong, but does the thief deserve to die?

Matt hears about Copperhead and remembers that he was the hero in pulp fiction novels from the 1930's. He visits the author's home address as Daredevil, and he's told that he was murdered a week previously. A short time later Daredevil sees two gangs fighting. Not knowing what's going on, Daredevil sides with the underdogs. Copperhead arrives and starts killing. Daredevil fights Copperhead to protect them, but he's knocked out. Copperhead prepares to shoot Daredevil.