DAREDEVIL #174

"THE ASSASSINATION OF MATT MURDOCK"
Story & Art : Frank Miller | Finished Art : Klaus Janson
Colors: Glynis Wein & Klaus Janson | Letters: Joe Rosen
Editor: Denny O’Neil | Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The Plot: Elektra is on the trail of a bounty in Paris when her prey is killed by a ninja assassin from the Hand organization. Elektra follows the ninja back to his lair, where she learns the Hand’s next targets are Matt Murdock and his current client. Elektra hops a plane to New York.

The next night, after a court date for Melvin Potter, Daredevil returns home where, as Murdock, he's attacked by the Hand. Matt fights them off with some aid from an unseen Elektra. The next day, Matt arrives at the law offices of Murdock and Nelson to find Foggy present. As they talk, the Hand move in on the building but Elektra fights them off — however one ninja launches an explosive which hits the building and injures Matt.

Matt comes to in the hospital to find his radar sense gone. But before he can dwell on this, he learns that Melvin is being transferred and takes off to protect him. Meanwhile, Elektra busts Melvin out of a paddy wagon and provides him with his Gladiator paraphernalia. They're attacked by the Hand and are on the defensive when Daredevil shows up to help. The Hand retreat, leaving DD and Melvin alone. As Melvin describes the woman who aided him, Daredevil realizes who she is.

Meanwhile, the defeated Hand operatives are executed for their failure by a towering ninja, who is then presented with a photo of his next target: Elektra.

FANTASTIC FOUR #234

"THE MAN WITH THE POWER!"
Story and Art: John Byrne | Lettering: Joe Rosen | Colors: Bob Sharen
Editor: Jim Salicrup | Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The Plot: A man named “Skip” Collins, an army veteran with the unconscious ability to manipulate reality, goes about his daily business, changing the world around him even as he is unaware of the alterations. Skip’s boss sends him to New York City on business, and once there, Skip heads for the Baxter Building to look up the Fantastic Four. He spots Reed and Sue Richards leaving the building on a date and follows them.

Soon, Skip’s desire to see the FF in action causes his power to create a massive earthquake which levels Manhattan and reverberates across the globe. The Fantastic Four conduct damage control, and Reed eventually determines the source of the quakes is a gravity wave from deep space. The FF board their rocket ship and take off to investigate.

Skip watches from ruined Manhattan as the FF depart, and wishes that things hadn't turned out this way. His power returns things to normal and then leaves him forever. Meanwhile, the FF find the source of the gravity waves: Ego, the Living Planet.

PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #58

"RING OUT THE OLD, RING IN THE NEW"
Writer: Roger Stern | Penciler: John Byrne | Inker: Vince Colletta
Letterer: Jean Simek | Colorist: Ben Sean | Editor: Tom DeFalco
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The Plot: At a lab that once belonged to the Tinkerer, the criminal called the Ringer picks up his newly refurbished costume. But another, mysterious villain enters, takes out the Ringer, then leaves the lab with both him and a large crate in tow. Later, the shadowy figure instructs the Ringer to find and battle Spider-Man or he will be blown up by a device attached to his costume.

The Ringer finds Spider-Man web-swinging across the city and challenges him. The wall-crawler trounces the Ringer and leaves for a date, then returns later to finish the villain off. The "explosive device" self-destructs after their fight but proves to be a hoax, leaving the Ringer unharmed.

Later, the mysterious figure, having gathered data on Spider-Man via hidden sensors attached to the Ringer's armor, reveals himself as the Beetle and announces his plans to challenge Spider-Man.

IRON MAN #150

"KNIGHTMARE"
A tale of magic and majesty told by
Plot/Writer: David Michelinie | Plot/Finished Art: Bob Layton
Pencil Art: John Romita, Jr. | Letters: Joe Rosen | Colors: Bob Sharen
Editor: Jim Salicrup | Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The Plot: Iron Man and Dr. Doom arrive in Camelot, where a group of King Arthur's knights bring them before the King himself. Arthur allows Iron Man and Doom to stay the night as his guests while he determines what to do with them. However, Doom hypnotized a courtesan, forcing her to give him the location of the sorceress Morgana Le Fay, then departs for Morgana's castle. The next day, Iron Man promises Arthur that he will aid Camelot against whatever Doom has planned.

Meanwhile, Doom reaches Castle Le Fay, where he explains to Morgana that he seeks her tutelage in the mystic arts to aid him in rescuing his mother's soul from Mephisto. Morgana agrees, if Doom will first lead her army of undead warriors against Camelot.

Soon, Doom marches on Camelot with Morgana's legion, and Iron Man stands beside Arthur and his knights in the kingdom's defense. But Iron Man soon realizes that Doom could not have raised these warriors himself, and heads for Morgana's castle. Unable to counter Iron Man's technology with her magic, Morgana retreats to another dimension, her warriors dying upon her departure.

Enraged, Doom flies to Morgana's castle. Realizing any spells he might have learned are now gone with Morgana, Doom agrees to a truce with Iron Man. The pair dismantles components from their respective armors, crafting a device to return them to the present day. The gambit is successful, and Iron Man and Doom appear on a snow-capped Balkan mountain. They go their separate ways, with Doom vowing that they will meet again.