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Daredevil (1964 series) #169

on-sale: Dec 2, 1980
Frank Miller

Daredevil (1964 series) #169 cover

Story Name:

Devils


Synopsis

Daredevil (1964 series) #169 synopsis by Anthony Silvestro
Rating: 5 stars

While a guest on a talk show, Matt Murdock hears a news bulletin that Bullseye has escaped from a hospital just as he was going to undergo surgery. As Daredevil, he talks with Lieutenant Nick Manolis, who tells him that Bullseye killed his doctors, apparently fueled by his hatred to find Daredevil. Both men are approached by the head doctor, Dr. Gloss, with more worrying details about Bullseye’s current condition. We then see Bullseye struck with fear in the middle of Times Square, as he sees everyone around him as Daredevil! Bullseye kills several of the “Daredevils” before everything suddenly goes back to normal. Thinking it’s unfair that they all have costumes and he doesn’t, Bullseye heads to a nearby tailor and forces him to make him a new costume before killing the man. Bullseye is then overcome by an intense, terrible headache, thinking that too is somehow Daredevil’s fault!

Back at the hospital, Dr. Gloss explains that Bullseye has a brain tumor, causing him intense headaches and hallucinations. She posits that it was the cause for Bullseye’s emotional collapse last time he and Daredevil faced off. She says that Bullseye’s hatred for Daredevil causes him to perceive everyone around him as Daredevil when his headaches flare up, and that if the tumor is not removed, Bullseye will die soon. Bullseye takes refuge in a small movie theater and while there, one of his headaches flares up, and he attacks the moviegoers, perceiving them as Daredevil once again! One guy leaves, and his complaints are heard by the real Daredevil, pointing him in Bullseye’s direction.  Meanwhile, at Nelson and Murdock, Foggy wonders why Matt is missing their Christmas party. Heather makes a comment about Matt’s secret life, joking that he moonlights at Barnum and Bailey, before she heads back to Matt’s apartment.

Bullseye continues his rampage through the theater, when the real Daredevil arrives and tries to tell Bullseye about his tumor. Bullseye takes two nerdy moviegoers hostage and threatens to kill them unless Daredevil lets himself be killed. Daredevil drops his billy club and lets Bullseye throw a knife into his chest, apparently killing him! Meanwhile, Elektra drops by Matt’s apartment, finding a small statue that Heather got for Matt. She smashes the statue, her feelings for Matt evidently not completely gone, and leaves when Heather hears the commotion. Manolis and the other cops arrive at the theater after Bullseye has fled, finding Daredevil injured but alive, having been able to mostly block the knife with his hand. Manolis finds throat lozenges on the floor, and Daredevil notes that one of Bullseye’s hostages has a bad cough. A couple blocks away, Bullseye makes his two hostages take him back to their apartment.  Daredevil stealthily inspects the throat lozenges, finding them to be heavily medicated.  Daredevil realizes he can use the man’s cough to his advantage and perches atop a rooftop, as the sounds of the city flood his ears. He listens, drowning out the noise, until he’s able to zero in on the man’s cough, giving him Bullseye’s location!

Daredevil finds Bullseye just as he’s about to kill the two men and they start a brutal fight! Bullseye ducks into the subway, where Daredevil knows he'll be at a disadvantage. The loud blare of the subway trains temporarily deafens Daredevil, throwing off his radar and leaving him effectively helpless! Bullseye capitalizes on this and just as he’s about to kill Daredevil, Daredevil fights back, reasoning that as long as he can hold on to Bullseye, he knows where he is. Daredevil gives Bullseye all he has, smashing into him until he’s unconscious on the tracks. Still weak and disoriented, Daredevil considers letting Bullseye get run over by the approaching train, but after several seconds of inaction, he saves Bullseye at the last second. At the hospital, Manolis chastises Daredevil for saving Bullseye, but Daredevil argues that he can’t play God, and that if Bullseye is a threat to society, then society must make him pay the price, not him. Manolis says that anything Bullseye does from now on will be on Daredevil, who walks off, unsure if he did the right thing, as they hear from the doctor that the operation was a success. Bullseye will live.


Characters
Good (or All)
DAREDEVIL
ELEKTRA
FOGGYNELSON
Plus: Becky Blake, Heather Glenn, Nick Manolis.

Enemies
BULLSEYE

> Daredevil (1964 series) comic book info and issue index



Excelsioring your collection:
statue
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Main/1st Story Full Credits

Frank Miller
Klaus Janson
Glynis Wein
Frank Miller (Cover Penciler)
Klaus Janson (Cover Inker)
Unknown (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Joe Rosen.



Review / Commentaries


Daredevil (1964 series) #169 Review by (January 29, 2025)

Review: The devils have taken over! Last time Daredevil and Bullseye fought, I expressed it was weird that Bullseye had a sudden emotional breakdown at the end of their fight. Miller thought so too, explaining it away here as the result of a brain tumor with the added bonus of making Bullseye see everyone as Daredevil! It’s a great concept, which also perfectly covers up an odd writing decision from before. Bullseye obviously kills a lot of people while hallucinating them as Daredevil, though it should be noted that he sees people as themselves, just in Daredevil costumes, rather than everyone actually looking just like Daredevil. Miller clearly has a lot of fun drawing Bullseye’s delusions. Miller’s framing and panel use is excellent, using it multiple times throughout the issue to show tense progression during dramatic moments. The scene where Daredevil is able to zero in on one guy’s cough through a sea of noise is particularly epic.

Everything of course builds up to Daredevil and Bullseye’s most brutal and personal fight yet. Ending in a subway, Daredevil gets deafened and left seemingly helpless from the trains, beating Bullseye by holding on to him and giving him the most brutal beatdown he’s given anyone so far. There’s then a tense sequence (using the aforementioned great panel use) where Daredevil actually considers letting Bullseye die, before ultimately saving him. I really like Daredevil’s explanation for this too. It makes perfect sense that a Catholic lawyer would want the law to ultimately be what punishes Bullseye, not wanting to play God and decide Bullseye’s fate himself. His refrain from killing makes more sense than a lot of other heroes who don’t or didn’t kill simply because it was expected. Not that Daredevil is always as careful as he could be in this regard and he will certainly be tested on this belief many times. I love the ambiguity around if Daredevil ultimately made the right decision or if he’s responsible for anything Bullseye does from now on, in a poignant ending to this epic issue!

Comments: At the beginning, the talk show host mentions the “Angel Dust Murders” which would not actually occur for many more issues, likely a holdover from when they were supposed to happen a couple issues ago. The movie playing at the theater Bullseye hides out at is the Humphrey Bogart version of the Maltese Falcon. The objects Bullseye uses as weapons this issue include knives, a woman’s purse, and a lamp.





Thor

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