This Grade A issue starts with an action packed splash page: The Jester is fleeing the scene of a bank vault robbery, with unconscious armed guards in his wake. It’s a great drawing—the grin on his face is maniacal. And Stan Lee’s title, exploding at the top of the page, is perfect.
It takes four issues to introduce Jester, a villain who could just as easily have been a one-note joke. I mean, he should be a gimmicky idiot.
And yet…
He’s hardcore. It would hurt like hell to get blasted in the face with a yo-yo. The Jester was really a pretty brutal villain. If Daredevil is similar to Batman, Jester is similar to Joker, I guess.
Jester gets hired by a corrupt politician to kidnap Matt Murdock, which the politician will then use as leverage to force Foggy Nelson to quit as district attorney. (Why wouldn’t he just kidnap or kill Foggy?)
Daredevil does end up taking Jester down by the end of the issue, and spends #43 fighting Captain America. Because he was exposed to crazy-making radiation. It’s an odd issue of filler, because Jester returns in #44 to frame Daredevil for murder.
It takes three issues for DD to clear his own name. It’s also worth noting that I’m pretty sure this is the first Marvel photo cover.
Also, Foggy and Matt are the opposite of woke.
And it ends with Matt sad that he’s lost Karen Page.
It’s one of Daredevil’s best stories ever.
I’m astonished at how good the artwork is on these old DD issues. I had no idea that it was so sophisticated.
Glad you see that–I feel the same way. I never appreciated Gene Colan so much until I started reading these old DDs.