Due to a volcanic ash cloud, caused by the eruption of a volcano in Iceland, planes all cross the U.K. have been grounded. I'm not sure how many, if any, incoming or outgoing flights are allowed. This means that Thursday's Comics were not delivered! What's the deal with all these flying jerks? Given that there were about six comics for me to buy this week, I must say that it will be a bumper edition of Thursday's Comics next week. Depending on how many comics come out, on top of the six I couldn't get today, it may be a two-part post.
It does present me with an opportunity to continue Daredevil Month, however. I planned to do this yesterday, but I was under the weather, health-wise (Again!). Speaking of Daredevil, I have to give a shout out to this website:
The Man Without Fear: A Daredevil Fan-Site.
It's run and operated by a fan of around 25 years and has been running since 1996. It has lists of issues, mini-bios, appearances, wallpapers etc. You name it, it's there. It's a wonderful site and does a great service to newcomers. Check it out!
Anyway, let's talk some delicious fiction!
The Devil's Associates.
Throughout Daredevil's 45 year existence, he has encountered and experienced a number of different associates. Some were friends, some were enemies, some were lovers and some were any variation of those. It's my personal opinion that Daredevil has been blessed with some truly excellent supporting characters, and given that he has always operated on the cusp of the mainstream, but mostly under the radar, a lot of these characters are partially or entirely unknown.
This entry is designed to give you some idea as to who's who (Most importantly, anyway. Who wants to read about Man-Bull? Nobody!) in the world of my favourite vermillion vigilante.
Franklin "Foggy" Nelson.
In the immortal words of Bob Ross, everybody needs a friend.
First appearing where it all began, in Daredevil #1, Foggy is Matt's work collegue and best friend. They first met as Matt studied law at Columbia University, at which Foggy was also studying law. Initially a target for bullies and thugs, Matt defended him and the two struck up a strong bond. A future and very important figure in Matt's life would also meet their acquaintance at Columbia. Some chick named Elektra Natchios...or something.
Matt began dating Elektra to Foggy's disdain, he considered her to be very off-putting and warned Matt to keep his wits about him. This is ironic, actually. At this point she wasn't someone Foggy had any reason to be suspicious of. More on that later...
After Elektra left the university, Matt and Foggy switched to Harvard Law School and graduated together. When deciding to open up the now legendary Nelson & Murdock law firm, they hired a secretary to work in their burgeoning practice. This turned out to be none other than Karen Page, with whom both Matt AND Foggy developed feelings for.
Over the years Foggy has been a concerned and loyal friend to Matt, visiting him in prison after his identity was outed (Currently, it's been covered-up to a degree) and risking his life by being involved with him. He had a very close scrape with death, which turned out to be him faking it as he went into witness protection. Despite his loyalty, he is a strong-willed man who isn't afraid to put Matt in his place. Upon his deal with the Kingpin, Foggy fired Matt from the company they built together.
As it stands right now, they seem to maintain a friendship, albeit strained.
Karen Page.
Also making her bow in Daredevil #1, the apparantly impossible-to-find-pictures-of Karen Page tends to define the "Distress" in the term Damsel-in-Distress a little too much.
As you can read above, she first met Matt when he started up the law firm with Foggy. Karen Page doesn't really have as much of a frequent role in Matt's life as others have, but the impact she left (Yes left) him with, both times, is undeniable.
Aware of Matt's double-life and arguably Matt's truest love, Karen Page eventually left the series after breaking up with him and heading to Los Angeles to pursue her acting dreams. She was not seen again until Born Again, Frank Miller's definitive Daredevil story. It's revealed that she had failed in her attempts to become an actress and had spiralled into a heroin addiction and making money from porn. Her desperate need for money caused her to sell Daredevil's identity, leading to the events of Born Again.
After the end of Born Again (Which I WON'T spoil), she returned at the beginning of Kevin Smith's Guardian Devil arc. Again, Matt was floored by the scent of her perfume before he even saw she'd returned. She most certainly knows how to make the guy's mind do gymnastics. Just after Matt had been told that he must kill a baby due to it possibly being the anti-christ, she turns up and tells him that she has A.I.D.S., falling crying into his arms. I'll save the rest for my review of Guardian Devil! Needless to say, Karen plays a part.
She remains one of the only female characters I really loved reading. SO utterly and truly damaged, she was as much a danger to herself as anyone else. A great character.
Mr. Fear.
Showing his not-so-famous face for the first time in Daredevil #6, the man once known as Zoltan Drago was the proprietor of a wax museum. As it was slowly running out of business, he sought to create an elixer that could turn his wax models to life.
Why would anyone do this? Well, for the very '60s reason of creating an army to strike back at those who have shunned him, of course! It doesn't work, but instead of discovering an elixer capable of spawning an army, he discovers is acts as a powerful gas, a gas that he can use to fill his enemies with paralysing fear. Thus, Mr. Fear! This may remind you of Scarecrow from DC, a character who pre-dates Mr. Fear by about two decades. Oh well!
Zoltan was eventually defeated and imprisoned by Daredevil, but there have been a number of people to take up the mantle. I always feel Mr. Fear, rip-off or not, was underused. He was always promoted as a great contrast to someone being billed as The Man without Fear, but it never seemed to materialise in my opinion. Maybe due to the aformentioned comparisons.
Owl.
Daredevil #3 brings us Leland Owlsley (Because you have to foreshadow your inevitable villain name in your surname), a crooked businessman who used his various businesses as a means to dodge taxes...at first.
Tired with being nothing more than a simple corporate crook, he began recruiting thugs for Owl's Gang (God, the names. I love you Mr. Lee, but come on). Naturally, somewhere along the line he takes a serum that appears to give him owl like abilities (What are the odds?); gliding, razor sharp talons, augmented strength and agility.
It turns out that he's actually a mutant and this actually just improves his strength.
Cliched beginnings aside, I really like Owl. Maybe it's the bird of prey thing, but he has an inherent viciousness to him, even in those early days, that just seemed genuinely threatening. What's better is that he rarely fought anyone in a fight, choosing to delegate such matters to underlings and fellow crimelords. When he DID begin to cross paths with our crimson crime-fighter, he proved to be no slouch. He gave Daredevil one of his most pivotal fights in Daredevil #80/#81, and to be fair, has give him a fair share of war wounds.
After he appeared to be killed at the hands of The Hood in The New Avengers #33, back in 2007, he returned as part of the returning Kingpin's plan. His last great encounter with Daredevil ended with a slightly unhinged Daredevil brutally cutting his nerves and putting him in the hospital. Some villains just don't get breaks.
---
I was going to include Elektra in this post, but I covered her (Ba-zing!) in my co-post with Paul, entitled The Top 10 Best Non-Powered Heroes & Villains, and you can read that here.
Sometimes a curious or intriguing enough supporting character can be enough to draw someone into a comic series, so I hope this post went some way to giving you a bit more to think about. The saying goes that a hero is only as good as his villains, and Daredevil has a great supporting cast.
Again, apologies regarding the lack of Thursday's Comics, but next week will hae so much goodness for you. I'm amped about the next part of Second Coming, man. Saying that, I may end up with the next two parts due to delays! We shall see!
Thanks for reading and giving my blog your time. Don't forget to spread the link around and comment your asses off.
Until next time, peace!
-The Mast
