Daredevil knows this is one fight he’s going to lose, and that he’ll probably be killed. But he fights on anyway.
Early Marvel Comics storytelling ascended to a pinnacle in Wally Wood and Stan Lee’s Daredevil 7 (April 1965).
The manic anti-superhero Sub-Mariner had been attacking Manhattan like King Kong on and off since 1939, but during this particular onslaught all the other superheroes were off somewhere else. Only Daredevil stood between Namor and the ordinary citizens who would be harmed.
We readers were aware that Prince Namor’s strength rivaled the Hulk’s, and that, aside from his super-senses, Daredevil was merely a well-trained costumed acrobat. We also knew that a fight between them would be like pitting a colorful sports car against a Sherman tank.
The storytelling is satisfying on several levels, including its defiance of the genre convention that superheroes must always finally win their battles.
Not this time, gang.
Aided by the restrained power inherent in Wood’s art, Daredevil puts up a valiant fight against the Sub-Mariner, delaying Namor from causing more destruction before finally collapsing, battered and beaten, at Namor’s feet.
Desperately, he grabs Namor’s winged ankle and is slowly dragged along behind the inexorable amphibian superman.
“Come back!” Daredevil whispers. “You – you mustn’t fight the others – They’re innocent! Mustn’t be harmed — Mustn’t…”
Namor turns and gazes down at Daredevil.
“I have fought the Fantastic Four, the Avengers and other super-powered humans, but none have been more courageous than he, the most vulnerable of all!”
Touched, Namor abandons his war, flying serenely out to sea.
The story makes a strong ethical point — that, if you are to call yourself a real person, a mensch, there are things for which you must stand up even if you know you will be knocked right back down.
And the world will be better for this,
That one man, scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage.
To fight the unbeatable foe.
Paul Zuckerman said, "A good story by Lee and Wood. Subby has been the most contradictory character at Marvel. Sometimes he is just plain evil, other times good, and other times somewhere in between. In recent years, he's done some really awful things but a recent series tried to explain why he acted so contradictory.
ReplyDelete"Still, one of the classic characters. So much more could be done with him."