Continuing out series where I read old Daredevil comics so you don't have to...
Daredevil #49
In which Matt Murdock decides he is giving up the role of Daredevil...FOREVER. I give him less than this issue to reverse that decision. Let's see.
Comic chronology is super weird, and this is no different. By Matt's own admission, he's been doing the Daredevil gig for "years" at this point. We're 49 issues in. I would have pinned the internal chronology as somewhere near 2-3 months. This series lasted 380 issues, making Murdock a very, very old man.
So Matt goes to hang up his duds only to find a LITERAL ARMORED ROBOT OF DEATH hiding out in his closet and watiting to kill him. I need to take up whatever back exercises Daredevil is doing.
The robot beats the shit out of Murdock.
Who should show up but our good friend Willie Lincoln! Lincoln's presence scares off the armored robot of death, because nothing says intimidation factor like a blind dude with a cane.
It turns out that the mob boss put behind bars for attempting to frame Willie Lincoln doesn't take too kindly to his current circumstances, and hired AN EVIL GENIUS SCIENTIST (aren't they all?) to build the robot and destroy Daredevil. So here we are. And now the robot and Daredevil are fighting again! It's a pretty close fight, but the robot wins out by WRAPPING OLD HORNHEAD IN A GYM mat. Turns out Daredevil is vulnerable to gym mats.
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Daredevil #50
The moment we've all been waiting for! 50th issue hype. Which starts out with our hero wrapped up like a burrito in a gym mat. Thanks, Stan! Preliminary spoiler:
Daredevil escapes the same way he always escapes these moments: he uses his billy club. Something something attaches it to a nearby pole and voila! Now the two go mano a robotic mano. The robot kicks Daredevil's ass.
At that exact moment, Karen tries calling Matt to make up with him. Because she loves him so damn much! But Matt is busy being tossed around like a ragdoll, so he's unable to answer. Their love is doomed forever.
The robot malfunctions, as robots are apt to do, and decides to return back to evil headquarters for some recalibration. Daredevil follows it back and is able to confront the mastermind behind all this robotic mayhem.
Now here's where things get convoluted! The evil scientist accidentally reprograms the robot to go after the imprisoned bad guy who originally hired him to kill Daredevil. So the robot heads off to the slammer to kill the guy footing the bill. Daredevil being Daredevil refuses to let it kill, even if the target is an evil scumbag. Murdock has to beat the robot into the prison, which involves taking down another innocent person, this time a cop! Heroic.
Daredevil gets into the villain's prison cell just in time for the robot to crash in. Daredevil is unconscious. Cliffhanger ending. Issue #50 hype was not rewarded at all. This issue was straight trash.
