DAREDEVIL #191

"ROULETTE”
Writer/Penciler : Frank Miller | Inker : Terry Austin
Colorist: Lynn Varley | Letterer: Joe Rosen | Editor: Denny O’Neil

The Plot: Daredevil visits Bullseye in the hospital and plays a round of Russian Roulette with him while his inner monolgooue reflects on a boy who recently shot a schoolmate after seeing DD beat up his father, and on his own father as well.

In the end, DD reveals that there are no bullets in the gun.

Sub-Plots & Continuity Notes: For the most part there are none. This is the final issue of Frank Miller’s DAREDEVIL run and is a stand-alone installment. However we do learn that Matt’s dad once hit him after he got into a fight with some classmates.

However, way back when I covered issue 169, Miller's second issue as writer, I noted that he had provided a nice monologue from Daredevil on why, no matter how bad things got, he could never actually kill Bullseye. This issue gives us a very nice bookend to that speech as we see that, sure enough, even at his darkest, Daredevil will hew to his beliefs and Bullseye will live.

My Thoughts: So Matt’s dad once hit him while in a drunken stupor. Because heaven forbid our hero’s idolization of his father be completely earnest. There just has to be some kind of darkness under the surface, doesn’t there? Miller tries to sell this as the moment Matt decided he would become a lawyer, when he recognized that his father had lost control and that laws exist to punish people for doing such things — but why? Isn’t it just possible that a guy could become an attorney and a superhero simply because he was instilled with good values by a father he looked up to? Isn’t that enough?

Apparently not.

FANTASTIC FOUR #251

"INTO THE NEGATIVE ZONE!"
Story & Art: John Byrne | Lettering: Jim Novak | Colorist: Glynis Wein
Editing: Tom DeFalco | Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The Plot: Reed shows Ben his new portal to the Negative Zone, then departs with Sue to host a meeting of the Baxter Building’s tenants. Meanwhile, Johnny visits Julie Angel at acting class, while Ben goes to pick up Alicia Masters from her apartment.

Later, at the Baxter Building, the Fantastic Four leave young Franklin in Alicia’s care and climb aboard Reed’s new Negative Zone Exploratory Module, Mark I. The team heads into the Negative Zone to explore, but less than two hours after their departure, Negative Zone warlord Annihilus emerges from the portal and assaults Alicia.

Sub-Plots & Continuity Notes: Reed and Ben recap the villains of the Negative Zone, as well some of of its recent history.

Reed laments that perhaps buying the Baxter Building wasn’t such a great idea after all, as he now needs to deal with frustrated tenants. He makes plans to have his lawyers put together a service to attend to tenant issues. (Do Nelson & Murdock still represent the FF at this point in time?)

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #237

"HIGH & MIGHTY"
Plot: Roger Stern | Script: Bill Mantlo | Breakdowns: Bob Hall
Finished Art: Frank Giacoia | Letters: Rick Parker | Colors: Bob Sharen
Editor: Tom DeFalco | Tall Person: Jim Shooter

The Plot: Wilbur Day, the villain called Stilt-Man, decides to increase his reputation by defeating Spider-Man, the only hero he's ever beaten before. In order to prepare himself for the confrontation, Day breaks into a CordCo facility on Long Island to upgrade his armored suit. As Stark International security forces respond to Day's entry, Spider-Man spots them en route and follows. He infiltrates the factory and battles Stilt-Man, but when the wall-crawler is knocked out by a sonic weapon while saving Stilt-Man's life, Stilt-Man spares his foe and drops him off outside with the Stark security forces before vanishing into the night.

The Sub-Plots: Peter chats with Aunt May about her newly opened boarding house for senior citizens, then drops by the next day to meet her tenants. He also worries about her ability to pay the mortgage and taxes on the house, then sets out to make some cash after a pep talk from Nathan.