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LEGENDA STATO DI CONSERVAZIONE

condizioni ECCELLENTI (o anche EDICOLA e/o MAGAZZINO) = si intende un oggetto nuovo e perfetto oppure usato senza difetti e praticamente ancora come nuovo, tenendone per quest’ultimo caso in conto ovviamente la datazione ; corrisponde a un range di grading internazionale compreso tra 8,5 e 9,8 (non assegniamo punteggi superiori a 9,8 perchè trattasi di tipi ideali a ns avviso più teorici e scolastici che reali e concreti, ogni manufatto umano in natura ha una percentuale insita e congenita seppur infinitesimale di imperfezione)

condizioni OTTIME = oggetto nuovo (o talora anche usato ma maneggiato e conservato con molta cura) in cui non si riscontra alcun difetto rilevante e degno di nota, tutt’al più qualche minimo segno di lettura o di uso ; corrisponde a un range di grading internazionale compreso tra 7 e 8,5

condizioni BUONISSIME = oggetto usato (ed in taluni casi anche fondo di magazzino soggetto a piccole usure del tempo) con lievi imperfezioni e difetti poco vistosi, generalmente molto marginali ed appena percepibili ; corrisponde a un range di grading internazionale compreso tra 5,5 e 7

condizioni MOLTO BUONE = oggetto usato con imperfezioni vistose e difetti abbastanza spiccati, pur se non completamente invalidanti (generalmente specificati nel dettaglio alla voce CONDIZIONI nella parte inferiore della descrizione di ogni singolo oggetto); corrisponde a un range di grading internazionale compreso tra 4 e 5,5

condizioni PIU’ CHE BUONE / MEDIOCRI = oggetto usato con imperfezioni e difetti evidenti, smaccati, madornali ed invalidanti, assolutamente non collezionabile tuttavia idoneo per la semplice lettura o documentazione ; corrisponde a un range di grading internazionale inferiore a 4

per eventuali ulteriori dettagli aggiuntivi e specifici si prega di fare sempre riferimento alla voce CONDIZIONI nella parte inferiore della descrizione di ogni singolo oggetto

cover italiana ancora una volta strampalatamente inventata dalla redazione Corno : al posto di quella originale si è usata la figura centrale di Daredevil 13 su di un lugubre sfondo tutto nero 

Featured Characters:

• Daredevil (Matt Murdock)

Supporting Characters:

• Karen Page
• Foggy Nelson

Villains:

• Emissaries of Evil (First appearance)
  • Electro (Maxwell Dillon)
  • Stilt-Man (Wilbur Day)
  • Gladiator (Melvin Potter)
  • Leap-Frog (Vincent Patilio)
  • Matador (Manuel Eloganto)

Other Characters:

• New York Police Department
  • Joe

Locations:

• Atlantic Ocean
• New York City New York State
  • Manhattan
    • Hell’s Kitchen
    • Nelson and Murdock Law Office
    • Sutton Place
      • Matt Murdock’s Brownstone Apartment

Items

• Daredevil’s Billy Club
• Stilt-Man Suit

Synopsis

The story opens to Daredevil exercising in his private gym. He is wearing Daredevil’s Suit,
without its mask. He uses the blind glasses of Matt Murdock. He
finishes the final exercise and muses about how quiet things are in his
life at the moment. He uses the elevator to go to his own apartment
upstairs. Both the gym and the apartment are located in a private
building owned by Matt Murdock. There are no other tenants, in order to
protect his secrets. Being a successful superhero is expensive, but he
has money from his successful law practice. He wonders how the other
superheroes finance their careers.

Daredevil realizes that he is talking to himself again. He blames
it on not having anyone in his life to confide in about his secret
identity. He does not dare to take Foggy Nelson and Karen Page
into his confidence, because that knowledge may put their lives in
danger. He does not want risk the safety of either his loyal law partner
ot the girl his loves, just because Daredevil needs an audience. He
just feels lonely at times.

Matt Murdock’s Brownstone Apartment
is protected by electric eye alarms and hidden wall panels. Daredevil
does not feel like he has a real home, and currently has no family. To
get out of his mood of self-pity, he prepares for a night out as
Daredevil. He reasons that in New York City there are 8 million people, so there must be some fascinating feat of derring-do for him to perform.

He uses the cable of Daredevil’s Billy Club
to patrol the city. He is initially quite bored, and his radar sense
fails to locate any trouble-makers. Then he locates two familiar
heartbeats and two familiar voices. The heartbeats and voices belong to Electro and the Matador (Manuel Eloganto),
his old foes. The two super-villains are conversing in the street,
dressed in their uniforms. Electro has spent months creating a new team,
the Emissaries of Evil.
Their purpose is to destroy Daredevil. He has contacted and recruited
the most powerful enemies of Daredevil, and now he wants the Matador to
become the team’s fifth and last member. Electro promises to lead them
to victory. The Matador swears his allegiance to the team, though he
does not care about who will lead them. He thirsts for revenge, because
Daredevil is the only man who ever defeated him. He wants Daredevil to
feel the bite of the Matador’s deadly blade.

Daredevil appears and challenges the two villains to a fight. He
falls on the Matador and mocks him for talking too much. He gives a
double kick to Electro. Electro retaliates with an electric bolt, and
warns Daredevil that he has has no defense against electricity.
Daredevil uses the advance warning to evade the attack. He gives Electro
another double kick. The Matador attacks with his cape, but Daredevil
launches an effective counter-attack. Daredevil suddenly realizes that
Electro is about to attack again, but has no time to properly evade the
attack. An electrical bolt strikes Daredevil’s shoulder. He falls down,
seemingly unconscious.

Electro decides to leave the street before the police arrives,
and the Matador follows him. The Matador points out that they could
simply finish off Daredevil, now that they have the chance. Electro
considers this fight to be a warning to Daredevil, that his days are
numbered. He does not want to end his revenge plan early. When they
leave, it is revealed that Daredevil was playing possum. He hoped that
the villains would get withing grabbing distance for him. He feels dizzy
following Electro’s attack, but he is not seriously hurt. He uses his
cable to leave the street.

As Daredevil swings around the city on his cable, his dizziness
persists. The timing of his moves is off and his balance is affected. He
falls down and lands on a roof top. He is still dizzy and now his
entire body is in pain from the fall. He decides to walk to his
apartment. He feels lucky that the streets are deserted and nobody sees
him entering Matt Murdock’s apartment. He feels worried. He has
overheard that the Emissaries consist of five members, but he knows the
identities of two of them. He has to figure out who the other three
villains are.

A private jet is flying over the Atlantic Ocean transporting the Gladiator, who has spent some time living in Europe as a member of the Maggia.
Electro contacted the Maggia in order to get in contact with the
Gladiator. The Gladiator found the recruitment offer to irresistible,
because it promised to give him a chance to triumph over Daredevil. His
previous defeat at Daredevil’s hands still haunts him. The scene shifts
to a secret chamber within Melvin Potter’s costume shop. The villain
changes into uniform, now wearing a modified version of the Gladiator’s
suit. He feels ready to face Daredevil.

The scene shifts to a flashback, taking place months before the main story. Electro rescues an immobilized Stilt-Man
from the waters of a river. He has decided to make Stilt-Man his first
recruit. The scene shifts to Electro’s residence. It is a strange,
lonely house atop a lonely hill. The villain has created an electrical
storm around his residence. Electro uses the storm to restore power to Stilt-Man’s Suit. He tells his new recruit that he will need his strength to destroy Daredevil. The flashback ends.

At the Nelson and Murdock Law Office, Matt Murdock is strangely late to arrive, and Karen Page is worried
about his safety. She considers him helpless, a blind man trying to make
his way through life. She finds him so brave and so helpless. Foggy
Nelson tries to relieve her fears. He is secretly quite frustrated.
Foggy is attracted to Karen, but she has fallen for his partner. He is
getting worried about Matt himself and suggest calling his home. The
office phone rings. Matt is calling to explain his absence. 

He claims he
has overslept this day, and he has to attend to a few personal matters.
He will not be coming to the office at all, but promises to come to
work early for the next day. Karen is unaware that she is speaking to
Daredevil, who is in full costume and about to search for the
Emissaries.

Following a good night’s sleep, Daredevil feels back into shape.
He spends hours searching around town. Office workers stop their works
and gaze at him through their windows. As he approaches the docks of the
city, the Matador prepares to face him in battle. He has been hiding in
the docks for a while. He notes that Daredevil is moving slowly, as if
he wants to be discovered. The Matador waits to ambush the man, then
uses his cape to cover Daredevil’s eyes. Daredevil recognizes him anyway
and punches him in the face. The Matador is puzzled at how Daredevil
saw where to strike from beneath the cape.

The Matador is on the ground and has lost his cape, but holds on
to his sword. He uses the sword to attack Daredevil, but his opponent
evades his attacks.

Daredevil punches the Matador again, causing the
Matador to drop his sword. The Matador has no more weapons, but charges
Daredevil like a bull. He gets his hands around Daredevi in a powerful
grip. They wrestle for a while, but Daredevil manages to throw the
Matador to the waters below them. Daredevil waits for his opponent to
surface, but the Matador swims away.

Daredevil returns to patrolling the city. He uses nutriment
capsules as his only meal. As night falls on New York City, Daredevil
returns to ground level. In an alley, Daredevil is quickly approached by
the Stilt-Man, who has been following him. 

The Stilt-Man starts
shooting at him with his energy weapon, but Daredevil evades the attack. 

Daredevil confirms that Stilt-Man is one of the Emissaries, then uses
his cable to tie himself around Stilt-Man’s Suit.
Daredevil then gives a powerful kick to Stilt-Man’s armor. The kick has
no effect on the Stilt-Man, but injures Daredevil’s leg.

As Daredevil is in pain, the Stilt-Man gets overconfident. He
lowers himself to Daredevil’s height, pulls his energy weapon, and
prepares to finish off his opponent. He is within striking distance of
Daredevil, and the Daredevil indeed strikes him. The Stilt-Man thinks
the attack will have no effects, but Daredevil actually clicked the
button which activates his stilts. The rapidly emerging stilts send the
Stilt-Man in collision course with a wall, which he strikes with all the
power of a projectile weapon. The wall of the building collapses.
Meanwhile, Daredevil escapes. A police car arrives to investigate the
scene. 

The police officers find a giant hole in the building’s wall, and
suspect that someone used a battering ram. Daredevil limps his way to Matt Murdock’s apartment, with his
injured leg in pain. He finds a recording tape left at his door. He
enters the apartments, strips off his costume, and wraps his ankle in
bandages. He then listens to a message from Foggy Nelson. Foggy informs
Matt that the Stilt-Man has been sighted in the city. He does not want
Matt to walk the city alone, in case the villain threatens him. He
should not even come to the office alone, but alert Foggy and Karen to
escort him. Matt is pleasantly surprised that Foggy is worried about his
safety.

A few time after,  walking in a park, Matt has recovered. He is thinking about the
Emissaries, but then his thoughts drift to his feelings about Karen
Page. Night falls and the full moon appears. The Leap-Frog
turns up in the park, searching for Daredevil. He is one of the
Emissaries. He pays no attention to Matt Murdock, seeing him as just a
blind man on a park bench. Matt recognizes him, and swiftly changes into
Daredevil. 

He ambushes the Leap-Frog and grabs one of his legs. Daredevil swings the Leap-Frog around and throws him to the
ground. The Leap-Frog moves his legs to get Daredevil to let go of them,
and regains his freedom. He kicks Daredevil in the face. Daredevil
retaliates with his own kick to Leap-Frog’s face, and then punches the
villain. Leap-Frog suddenly escapes, while challenging Daredevil to
follow him. Daredevil does manage to trail the leaping villain. He is
aware that the Leap-Frog is leading him to a trap, but he wants to face
the Emissaries.

The trail led Daredevil to the largest electric power plant in
New York City. He realizes that has lost track of the Leap-Frog, and
that the high-voltage lines serve to confuse his super senses. Daredevil
is then ambushed by the Gladiator, who starts beating him up. The other
Emissaries protest, as they want their own chance to fight Daredevil.
Electro is the first in line, and uses an electric bolt to attack.
Daredevil barely evades the attack.

Suddenly the Gladiator and the Matador team-up against Daredevil.
Electro orders them to stop, but the Gladiator reasons that they need
to all jointly attack the “slippery” Daredevil. The Matador holds on to
Darevil, as Gladiator beats him up. The Leap-Frog agrees with them and
wants to attack as well. Daredevil uses a back-flip to throw the Matador
to the Gladiator. He delivers a powerful punch to the Gladiator’s
torso, and then another one to the Gladiator’s face. The Leap-Frog
attempts to attack Daredevil from behind, but Daredevil turns around and
kicks him. Daredevil then uses his Billy Club to strike the heads of
the Stilt-Man and Electro.

A recovered Gladiator attempts to leap at Daredevil, but misses.
Electro declares that Daredevil’s speed and agility are no match for his
shattering electrical power. Daredevil evades an electrical bolt by
Electro, and the bolt strikes the Stilt-Man. Daredevil does not give
Electro time to recharge and knocks him down. He hears two sets of
footsteps approaching and decides to evade the attackers. He moves out
of danger, as the running Leap-Frog and Matador collide with each other.

With the rest of the Emissaries disoriented, Gladiator challenges
Daredevil to a single fight. This time, he attempts to cut Daredevil
with his wrist discs. 

Daredevil evades his initial attack and then uses a
steel beam to protect himself. The Gladiator easily destroys the steel
beam, but fails to avoid a physical attack by Daredevil. The Gladiator
is out of the fight.

With Daredevil momentarily distracted, the Matador tries to cover
him with his cape. The Matador feels there is someone under the cape
and delivers a beating. He feels confident about his victory, but then
discovers that the man under the cape is a knocked-out Leap-Frog.
Daredevil is actually standing behind the Matador and sucker-punches
him.

Electro and the Gladiator are still dizzy from the battle and try
to stand on their feet. Electro blames the defeat to their
overconfidence, and attempts to rally his team. There is no
counter-attack coming. Daredevil uses a coil of wire as a lasso, tying
up the dizzy Electro, Gladiator, Leap-Frog, and Matador. There is no
need to also tie up the Stilt-Man, who is unconscious. The villains try
to use their combined strength to break through the wire, but Daredevil
connects the wire to a power transformer. The transformer increases
Electro’s electricity and shocks the other three villains into
submission. Electro’s own strength is insufficient for him to escape.
Daredevil promises that the police will release them, before
transporting them to a prison. He thanks them for the workout.

The scene shifts to the Nelson and Murdock Law Office.
Matt Murdock returns to work, claiming that Stilt-Man has been captured
and it is consequently safe for him to get back to work. Karen Page
tells him that she and Foggy have been phoning his home repeatedly, and
they were getting worried. Matt claims that he was visiting his brother
Mike. He finds an excuse to reprimand Karen over unfinished work. She
does not like his attitude and storms out of the office. Foggy Nelson
silently follows her. Matt feels like a heel for hurting her feelings,
but he needed this argument to protect his secret identity. He is alone
in the office, and reasons that he has always been a loner. And he will
remain a loner for as long as Daredevil exists. 

Notes

• Electro was previously seen in Fantastic Four Annual Vol 1 3 (in Italy in F4C #39). He is next seen in Amazing Spider-Man Vol 1 82  (in Italy in URC #83). 
• The Gladiator was previously seen in Daredevil Vol 1 23 (in Italy in DEVC #18). He is next seen in Iron Man Vol 1 7  (in Italy in DEVC #94).
• The Leap-Frog was previously seen in Daredevil Vol 1 26 (in Italy in DEVC #21). He is next seen in Defenders Vol 1 64 (in Italy in URCSETT #42). 
• The Matador was previously seen in Daredevil Vol 1 5 (in Italy in DEVC #5). He is next seen in Daredevil Vol 1 129 (in Italy in URC #196-197).
• The Stilt-Man was previously seen in Daredevil Vol 1 27 (in Italy in DEVC #22). He is next seen in Daredevil Vol 1 48 (in Italy in DEVC #45).
• The profile for the Masked Marauder
  is marked “in memoriam” and mentions him as a deceased character. A
  later retcon established that the Marauder simply faked his death.

Featured Characters:

• Stan Lee
• Gene Colan

Locations:

• Long Island
• New York City

Synopsis

A short story
featuring Stan Lee and Gene Colan. In many ways, this three page short is the
highlight of the comic, very similar in tone to a
piece Steve Ditko did for Spider-man once. Here Gene sheds light on the comic
book writing process, revealing, in a less than adulatory fashion, Stan’s role
as a writer. Gene drily notes at one point, “I brought the last ten pages of
Daredevil for you to write.”

Next page, he’s telling Stan, “How about you dreaming
up the plot just this once?” On the final page, Stan talks about implausibly
making a mountain in a storyline into a volcano, perhaps a reference to the
nadir of Daredevils to date, the Owl’s island being located on the very same.
Gene expresses exasperation. “No wonder all the artists are nervous wrecks” (possibly a reference to the aforementioned Ditko short).
Frankly, I’m amazed this vignette saw the light of day. Either Stan’s very easy going or he saw it as tongue in cheek. Whichever, it’s still
an intriguing and enlightening three pages.

If you ignored the main story and just read this,
consider your money well spent.

 Featured Characters

• Daredevil
• Karen Page (Cameo)
• Foggy Nelson (Cameo)

Synopsis

A short explanation of Matt Murdock’s “brother” Mike Murdock in an extra feature/story at the back of the book.

Daredevil Vol 1 #5

December, 1964

Editor-in-Chief

Stan Lee

Cover Artists

Jack Kirby
Wallace Wood