Featuring: Daredevil
Release: February 3, 1966
Cover: April 1966
12 cents
Unsurpassed story by: Stan Lee
Unexcelled pencilling by: John Romita
Unparalleled inking by: Frankie Ray
Unabashed lettering by: Artie Simek
20 pages
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|---|---|---|
| Sgt. Fury #29 | Reading order | X-Men #19 |
| Daredevil #14 | Daredevil | Daredevil #16 |
The cover is evocative of Kirby’s style with the high melodrama and sense of characters leaning forward out of the page, but it is by the now regular Daredevil artist, John Romita, with inks by Frank Giacoia.
John Romita passed away last month. I thought about making a note of it on this blog at the time but didn’t quite have the words.
I didn’t really know John Romita. Never met him or spoke to him. I just know his work. So my reaction to his death isn’t the same as that of his family, or even those professionals or fans who knew him better. The question is, what does the death of someone I just know through their work mean to me.
I’ve had cause to ask this too many times in the last several years. Tom Palmer. George Pérez. Steve Ditko. Stan Lee. The first artist death to really hit me was John Buscema about 20 years ago. What do these people I only know through their work mean to me?
Everything. They mean everything. Their deaths fill me with a profound sense of sadness and loss.
That said, John Romita was 93 when he passed. He lived a full and good life and leaves behind an extraordinary legacy. Not the least of which is his son, John Romita Jr., a legendary comic artist in his own right.
We’ve seen John Romita’s work a few times now, starting with his early superhero work on Captain America. He’s recently joined Marvel full-time and has become the primary artist on Daredevil.
Romita’s already an accomplished artist by 1966, but the next issue of Daredevil will be his first step into becoming a legend.
This issue focuses on Daredevil’s battle with the Ox, who he’d met in issue 6 as part of the Fellowship of Fear. This issue, the dull-witted Ox gets his mind swapped with that of Dr. Karl Stragg. This seems to be similar technology to what Gorilla Man had used.
We see that Romita can depict Daredevil athletically passing through the air. And also use shadows effectively to help accent the pure red costume.
His romance background makes him effective at conveying the soap opera within the office, Karen’s longing glance toward Matt’s feigned indifference.
He develops an unsettling look for Ox, where you often can’t quite see the character’s eyes.
Here we see him illustrate the brawl between Daredevil and Ox, with Karen as a bystander. It’s well done, but his action scenes will improve rapidly in the issues to come.
The issue ends with a bit of pathos, which again is Romita’s specialty. Ox in his new body decides to make a new life for himself and resolves to go back to jail and serve his time. Which brings us back to the law office with its attractive people seeing a happy ending; again, Romita’s specialty.
The layout of the page (which would be due to Romita) is interesting because it sandwiches Ox’s morose self-reflections around the more expository epilogue. So we end on the note of pathos.
Next issue: Spider-Man! ‘Nuff Said!
Here’s a sampling of John Romita’s early work:
- True Secrets #4, Marvel, 1951
- All True Crime #44, Marvel, 1951, inks by Les Zakarin
- Strange Tales #3, Marvel, 1951, inks by Les Zakarin
- War Adventures #7, Marvel, 1952
- Spaceman #1, Marvel, 1953
- Young Men #24, Marvel, 1953
- Love Romances #35, Marvel, 1954
- Western Outlaws #1, Marvel, 1954
- Captain America #76, Marvel, 1954
- Jungle Action #2, Marvel, 1954, feat. Jungle Boy
- Secret Hearts #27, DC, 1955
- Black Knight #4, Marvel, 1955, feat. The Crusader
- Lorna the Jungle Girl #17, Marvel, 1956, feat. Greg Knight
- Heart Throbs #50, DC, 1957, inks by Bernard Sachs
- Heart Throbs #74, DC, 1961
- Young Romance #125, DC, 1963
And his later Marvel superhero work:
- Daredevil #12, 1966
- Daredevil #16, 1966
- Daredevil #17, 1966
- Amazing Spider-Man #39, 1966
- Amazing Spider-Man #40, 1966, inks by Mike Esposito
- Amazing Spider-Man #41, 1966, inks by Mike Esposito
- Amazing Spider-Man #42, 1966
- Amazing Spider-Man Annual 3, 1966, inks by Mike Esposito
- Amazing Spider-Man #47, 1967
- Amazing Spider-Man #50, 1967, inks by Mike Esposito
- Amazing Spider-Man #51, 1967
- Amazing Spider-Man #59, 1968
- Spectacular Spider-Man #2, 1968
- Amazing Spider-Man #86, 1970, inks by Jim Mooney
- Fantastic Four #103, 1970, inks by John Verpoorten
- Amazing Spider-Man #97, 1971
- Savage Tales #1, 1971, feat. Femizons
- Hero for Hire #1, 1972
- Amazing Spider-Man #121, 1973
- Strange Tales #169, 1973
- Romita’s first sketch of Punisher, circa 1973, based on an initial design by Gerry Conway
- First sketches of Wolverine, circa 1974
- Early sketch of Bullseye, circa 1975
- Amazing Spider-Man #365, 1992
I associate him with being a primary artist, but here are a few examples of Romita inking other artists.
- Falling in Love #25, DC, 1959, pencils by Tony Abruzzo
- Girls’ Romances #58, DC, 1959, pencils by Mike Sekowsky
- Tales to Astonish #77, Marvel, 1966, pencils by Jack Kirby
- Amazing Spider-Man #90, Marvel, 1970, pencils by Gil Kane
- Captain America #148, Marvel, 1972, pencils by Sal Buscema
- Amazing Spider-Man #129, Marvel, 1974, pencils by Gil Kane
We’ll end with a page I’ve always appreciated from Amazing Spider-Man #400, 1996, drawn by John Romita, Jr., and inked by his father. A beautifully sad collaboration of father and son.
Rest in peace, John Romita. You were the best.
Rating: ★★★☆☆, 54/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆
I read this story in Daredevil Epic Collection vol. 1: The Man Without Fear.
Characters:
- Daredevil/Matt Murdock
- Foggy Nelson
- Karen Page
- Ox/Karl Stragg
- Dr. Karl Stragg/Ox
Story notes:
- Matt went out as Daredevil while Karen and Foggy went to dinner. Foggy almost passed out in the elevator returning. Foggy still feels the after-effects of the blow from Ox in issue 6.
- DD feels Ox was most dangerous member of Fellowship of Fear, but his feeble-mindedness stopped him from being a greater threat.
- Ox shares cell with Dr. Karl Stragg, who promises to increase his intelligence scientifically if they escape.
- Ox and Stragg escape and take over Mr. Fear’s old laboratory.
- Stragg cheats Ox and instead swaps their minds.
- Stragg finds his mind not quite like before in Ox’s body. He feels more savage, his brain foggy.
- Ox threatens Karen. He stumbles upon her and wonders why she recognizes the Ox. (Maybe she watches the news?)
- Ox disguises Daredevil in his clothes and absconds with Karen.
- Daredevil arrested, but DAs uncertain if they have legal right to remove his mask. (Of course they do.)
- Ox falls from building to perhaps his death.
- Ox in Stragg’s body thinks he is better off.
- Daredevil hires Foggy to get himself a writ of habeas corpus.
- Ox decides to go to prison and serve out Stragg’s sentence.
| Previous | #474 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Sgt. Fury #29 | Reading order | X-Men #19 |
| Daredevil #14 | Daredevil | Daredevil #16 |
