Betrayal
DAREDEVIL — Issue no. 153, April 1978
Book: Daredevil
Issue No.: 153
Published: April 4, 1978
Title: “Betrayal”
Cover Price: 35¢
There’s a credit in this issue welcoming back Gene “The Dean” Colan. Based on that and some notes in the letters-to-the-editor column, I’m assuming he’s returning as regular pencil after some fill-in issues by Carmine Infantino. From the 1978 stuff I’ve read so far, Colan was also working on Howard the Duck and Tomb of Dracula at the time. So that’s a horror book, a hero book, and a Howard book. I’ve written about how Colan is Howard’s secret weapon — his sketchy-yet-realistic style plays nicely against the inherent silliness of the book’s titular talking bird. Daredevil is a superhero book, but (from what I’ve seen so far) it’s darker and grittier than most of the other 1978 Marvel capes-and-spandex books. So it’s no surprise that Colan’s realistic style adds a little extra grit to the proceedings.
All that said, this issue isn’t quite as dark as the previous issue. Though there is a light swear, which still surprises me in these Comics Code Authority-approved books. After getting outflanked by Daredevil, one of the baddies mumbles, “Damn you, Daredevil.” That bad guy is Hyde (who is ugly and super-strong, so I guess he’s named for Hyde of Jeckyll-and-Hyde fame), and this issue is basically a long fight scene with Hyde and Cobra against Daredevil. I am not familiar with this Cobra, though I did read a Superman book years ago featuring DC’s Kobra.
Daredevil doesn’t seem surprised that Hyde and Cobra have teamed up. Are they usually partners? No idea. But toward the end of the book, Daredevil figures out that something weird is going on and that someone else is pulling Hyde’s and Cobra’s strings. Before we get any details on the string-pulling, Hyde catches Daredevil by surprise and knocks him out cold. The book ends with Hyde and Cobra escaping to the sewer with an unconscious Daredevil as hostage.
It might be just a long fight scene, but it’s a good one. And Gene Colan treats us to not one, but two dynamic mid-issue splash pages. This issue is definitely more my speed than the previous one.
Next time — Another Gene “The Dean” Colan book, Tomb of Dracula!