DAREDEVIL #176

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

The Plot: Kirigi awakens and seeks shelter to rest and recover. Three days later, still without his radar sense, Daredevil leaves Heather behind at his apartment to go search for his one-time mentor, Stick. Heather decides to seek out Stick as well, unaware she's being watched by Elektra, who then takes off after Daredevil while she herself is shadowed in turn by Kirigi.

At Josie's, Daredevil questions Turk for Stick’s whereabouts. When one of Turk’s associates gets the drop on DD, Turk realizes he's not well and departs with Grotto to acquire a weapon capable of taking the hero out. Meanwhile, Heather links up with a hood named Snuff, who promises to lead her to Stick. Elsewhere, Turk and Grotto break into the Cord Conglomerate’s headquarters in search of a battlesuit.

Elektra listens in as two informants direct Daredevil to Wall-Eyed Pike, the last man to see Stick. She then kills the men as they attempt to shoot DD in the back when he leaves. Soon Elektra, Turk, Daredevil, and Heather and Snuff visit Pike one at a time in turn, and he directs all of them to a pool hall called Duke’s.

There, Heather arrives first followed by Daredevil. DD takes out several roustabouts in a brief skirmish, then easily knocks out Turk when he arrives in the Mauler armor. Then, as DD asks Stick for help, outside Elektra is assualted by Kirigi. She manages to kill him and then finds herself pining over Matt Murdock.

Sub-Plots & Continuity Notes: There aren't really any sub-plots in this issue. It's just a wall-to-wall wild goose chase as everyone and their mother searches for Stick.

This is, however, the very first appearance of Stick, who will go on to become a major part of the Daredevil mythos in the future.

And it should perhaps also be noted that when Daredevil visits Josie's, her plate glass window is neither seen nor even mentioned!

My Thoughts: This is one of my favorite Miller/Janson issues. It's a fast, breezy read, but it's magnificently illustrated with an outstanding climax as Elektra battles Kirigi in a sequence of big, bold, dialogue- and narration-free panels.

We also have one of my all-time favorite “bits” in the run, as everyone visits Wall-Eyed Pike in an increasingly hilarious sequence. A lot of people seem to remember only the “grim ‘n gritty” aspects of Miller’s DAREDEVIL, but the truth is that he peppered the run with a number of really funny bits and even a couple of entire issues played for laughs, as we'll soon see.

Perhaps it's his much shorter second run, the “Born Again” saga, that makes everyone recall Miller’s DD as unrelentingly dark and utterly joyless. But, while it has its rock-bottom moments, this initial run also has several genuine laugh-out-loud moments, with the Wall-Eyed Pike scene here being one of the best. Miller won't lose his sense of humor for a few more years yet.