Daredevil Month: The Man Without Fear…Powerless?!

Image taken from theothermurdockpapers.com

Welcome back to Daredevil Month everyone. After our trip with the Exiles, I thought it’d be fun to continue exploring alternate universes and see as many different Daredevils as we could cover before Daredevil Month is over. That having been said, let’s take a look at the 2004 series Powerless, a comic set in a world where Marvel’s superhumans existed in a more realistic setting, without their abilities.

In this series, Daredevil is simply Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer. He first appears in issue #1 defending Frank Castle in court, calling on William Watts (this world’s version of the Watcher) for help. Castle is accused of killing the man who killed his family, something the latter confessed to after 36 hours of interrogation. Watts, in true Watcher style, ignores Murdock’s pleas and goes on about his business.

In issue #2, Murdock’s ex-girlfriend Karen Page is attacked by a bald man, later revealed to be someone working for the Kingpin. In the same issue, Murdock calls Wilson Fisk to the stand and begins verbally battling the man. By the end of his accusatory statements, Fisk is dismissed and tells Murdock, “I hope you had fun today.” Murdock discovers his apartment has been ransacked before being beaten during a sparring match against a man he thought was his friend Foggy (Foggy himself was actually tied up and left in a locker at the gym).

Image taken from marvel.wikia.com

The same bald man from earlier kills Page before Murdock can make it to the hospital, then takes Murdock on a drive to intimidate the lawyer from trying to attack Fisk again. Left in the middle of a cornfield, the blind lawyer still manages to find his way back into the city, where he is found by Watts. Watts and Foggy watch over Murdock while Foggy explains some of Murdock’s history (all of which is more or less the same from the 616 universe: the blindness, the boxer father, etc.) before Watts goes off to talk to Castle on his own.

During the visit, Watts discovers that one of Castle’s interrogators wasn’t actually a police officer, giving Murdock a solid chance at defending the man in court. During the day in court, Murdock manages to present enough evidence to where the prosecution has to change up their entire case. Murdock’s actions were enough to anger Fisk, who orders a hit on Murdock. After having his men clear the room, Fisk presents evidence that shows Murdock being his ex-girlfriend’s introduction to hard drugs before bashing the lawyer in the head with his cane.

Murdock is later revealed to be dead, to which Fisk gleefully adds information (like the drug abuse) that tarnishes Murdock’s reputation. Fisk is killed by a vengeful Castle soon after, who then questions if anyone else deserves punishment.

My Thoughts

It’s interesting to see a world without super powered individuals, but still with heroes and villains. Even without radioactive waste or a blind martial artist strengthening his body and mind, Matt Murdock was still as strong as he is in the 616 universe.

One other thing I want to point out is that, in this universe, Murdock actually wins against the Kingpin. He may not have the advantages super powers give you, but Murdock isn’t a slouch in the legal department. Fisk had him killed yes, but that doesn’t make a difference. In my book, Matt Murdock won their decades long struggle. It doesn’t hurt that his death motivated Frank Castle to become the Punisher and take out Fisk either.

Do you think this powerless Daredevil should have done something different against a man like Fisk? How do you think this version of Matt Murdock would fair in a universe like 616? Leave a comment below, follow me on Twitter, and don’t forget to check out the Comic Books vs The World Youtube channel. Keep returning to the blog to enjoy daily content during Daredevil Month!

Daredevil Month: Punisher vs Daredevil

Image taken from marvel.com

Welcome back to Daredevil Month everyone. Looks like we only have a little bit of time left before Daredevil makes his triumphant return to the screen, so why start these last two weeks with a bang? Yes, that is indeed a pun on “The Punisher vs The Marvel Universe”, a 1995 What If? styled story about Frank Castle’s rampage throughout the superhero community. Despite the name, it does feature a good bit of Daredevil in it, and it gives a version of how a fight between the Punisher and the Man Without Fear would go.

The Plot

In this comic, Matt Murdock and Frank Castle are shown to have a pseudo friendship since Frank saved Matt from neighborhood bullies as children. Despite Matt’s declaration that he shouldn’t fight back, Frank tells him to do so in order to keep himself safe.

In the present, police officer Frank Castle is speeding towards Central Park. Apparently, his wife took their kids there, only to be caught in a massive conflict between Marvel’s heroes and the alien Brood and Skrull species. Despite the heroes’ resistance, Frank’s family is killed in the crossfire. In his rage and frustration, Frank kills a large number of the gathered heroes before being subdued by Wolverine.

Image taken from youtube.com

Matt Murdock later offers his law services to Frank, although the latter is still sentenced to life imprisonment. Frank is later taken to the home of Kesselring, a rich man who also suffered loss thanks to the actions of super heroes (his face was scarred by the Human Torch during a fight with Dr. Doom). After showing a large number of people who had suffered some kind of loss through super powered activity, Kesselring pleads with Frank to punish everything labeled a superhuman. Frank agrees.

With a new name and new weapons, Frank becomes the Punisher, taking down the likes of Spider-Man, the Hulk, and the Kingpin before being captured again. As like last time, Matt pleads with the Punisher to stop the killing before the Punisher is sent to jail. Again like last time, Kesselring frees him, leading the Punisher to Latveria, where he kills and steals the weapons of Dr. Doom.

Using these weapons, the Punisher slaughters large numbers of super humans before being left with only a single target remaining: Daredevil. Kesselring tries to talk, and later intimidate, the Punisher into continuing his killing spree if and when other super humans emerge. He refuses, gunning down Kesselring before leaving.

Arriving in Hell’s Kitchen, the Punisher and Daredevil brawl, with Daredevil trying his hardest to talk sense into the Punisher before either of them dies. The Punisher responds by stabbing Daredevil through the chest, killing him. After realizing that Daredevil was his childhood friend, the Punisher commits suicide, commenting that there’s “one more to go”.

My Thoughts

Image taken from toplessrobot.com

I want to start by saying that this is a great book. It’s a great look at the Punisher’s mindset, and it shows that Frank Castle will always attempt to punish those he feels deserve punishment, no matter what.

That having been said though, I honestly don’t feel that the Punisher should be able to kill almost any of these heroes/villains, especially Daredevil. All of these characters had to have been extremely powered down for the Punisher to do any real damage to any of them (Dr. Doom killed with a magnetic explosive? Really?). Daredevil especially seems pretty weak here; there’s no chance he’d ever approach a wounded enemy, one who’s been shown to kill without hesitation, the way he does in the last few pages in this comic.

Here’s how the fight should have gone: Daredevil and the Punisher meet and begin to fight. Like in the book, Daredevil dodges pretty much everything thrown at him before taking the Punisher down with a few well placed blows. He then beats the Punisher unconscious before returning the killer to jail. None of Kesselring’s people will go after him, due to an earlier threat the Punisher made, and Daredevil will have saved his own life.

How do you think a fight between Daredevil and the Punisher would go? Do you think any of Marvel’s heroes or villains could stand a chance against Frank Castle, or vice versa? Leave a comment below, follow me on Twitter, and don’t forget to check out the Comic Books vs The World Youtube channel. Keep returning to the blog to enjoy daily content during Daredevil Month!