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by Dave Scrimgeour and Kevin McCluskey    Writer- Frank Miller Artist- David Mazzucchelli Colours- Christie Scheele Letters- Joe Rosen Editor- Ralph Macchio Editor In Chief- Jim Shooter Publisher- Marvel Comics synopsisKaren Page sells Matt Murdock's identity as Daredevil for a single fix of heroin, giving Wilson Fisk the perfect ammunition with which to construct and implement a Machiavellian scheme to systematically dismantle both lives of "The Man Without Fear." Dave So, this is from 1986, right? Kev '86, yeh. Dave What do you make of the cover to the first issue, 'Apocalypse?' Kev I think it's an excellent cover. It's got a lovely New York skyline, a good rendition of the Kingpin's face as the sky and the cross hairs tracking DD’s movement are a nice touch also. What do you think about it? Dave I think it’s striking. It's still simplistic too, but it's nice and catchy on the cover. Daredevil in the sights of the Kingpin. Kev He certainly is. It's good stuff by Mazzucchelli. It's arresting. The art on the opening page is very noir-ish, with the sunlight streaking through the blinds.  God light.....with blinds. Dave Yeah, that first page really strikes a noir-ish tone. Kev It really does, doesn’t it? It sets the tone for the rest of the issue actually. There's a palpable sense of impending doom throughout these pages. Frank Miller is really selling the idea of urban and societal decay here, what with Karen Page uttering lines like, “It’s the eighties. You do what you have to.” Kingpin holding his meetings on a yacht is a smart move, as is diversifying into legitimate business concerns. Dave The next page takes a more colourful route. I love the uses of the red and purple, and the shadows too. Kev Ha, ha! I had the same thing in my notes. Almost verbatim. It's superior stuff by Christie Scheele. Particularly those last two panels on page 6. These panels on this page almost look like they're bathed in blood, don't they?  "We're gonna need a bigger boat." Y'know? Because the Kingpin is so vast and that.  Nothing quite beats holding a late night meeting in the dusky twilight, in the middle of the ocean. Dave Yeah, it's a clever use of plain background colours, so as not to ruin the panels. Kev Definitely. They still keep that noir-ish vibe with the use of light and shadow. Like the sun streaking through the blinds of the office in the previous scene. Dave That’s an imposing picture of the Kingpin standing covered half in shadows.  This fetching Kingpin summer shorts and sandals look. Kev It isn't half. I love the fact that he's just rocking his shorts, sandals and shades on his yacht, at sunset. Fashion-forward, Fisk. I also love that panel of him removing his sunglasses as the meeting piques his interest. We also get this idea of Fisk being inhuman in a way. “.....nobody’s quite sure if the word “man” quite covers him...” Like he's somehow more than human. A force of nature, or elemental. Dave It shows how much of an indomitable force he is. Especially his sheer size. Kingpin is such a classic iconic comic book villain. Kev He really is, isn't he? That's a good point, man. Even if you only see his silhouette, you immediately know it's the Kingpin. You only need look at Bill Sienkiewicz's take on the character to see how effective this is. His version of Fisk is ALL silhouette. And look at how well it works, even in motion, in 'Into The Spider-Verse.' Dave The first few pages of Matt Murdock shows quite a bright homely lifestyle that he lives in. Much different to the dark, dingy house he inhabits in the Netflix series. Kev That’s true. This one here is depicted as being a far more traditional Manhattan apartment when compared to the more converted, open-plan nature of the one they use in the show. Dave It’s very spacious, and well decorated, I have to add. Mr. Murdock lives well. Kev He certainly does. At least for now. Maybe not so much as the story unfolds. Practising law has been good to him. The narrator’s voice in these introductory caption boxes is interesting, it makes it feel like this story is being read to you, like 'Jackanory.' This is something we’ve spoken about before; this idea of superhero comics as modern day fairy tales. Dave True. The panel of Matt sitting in his kitchen, on the stool, talking on the phone is great. There's just so much attention to detail drawn in this image. It really is a standout panel. With us having recently covered Spider-Man, there is certainly a change in tone for the central character, and humour is not prevalent in this story.  'Matt Murdock's Amazing Spaces.' Kev Yeh. This is completely different, tonally. There's no wisecracks here. It's dark,i t's moody, it's adult and to use a good Scottish word, it's "dour." Dave It suits the mood of the piece though. Kev Definitely. It suits it perfectly. The atmosphere of this story is so well conveyed, it's tangible. You can feel the grime and the decay in this. “.....the bruise that is his mind...” ”...the muffled bleeps and bleating of a grouchy city gone grouchier.” This is very good foreshadowing. There’s an undeniable sense that things are about to get much worse. Miller also does a cracking job of describing Matt’s abilities through the description of him reading his mail. And as we’re reading this, we become all too aware that none of these events are coincidental; this is the Kingpin’s plan unfolding. We bear witness to Matt’s life beginning to crumble over the space of these two pages. Dave It’s a very maniacal, carefully orchestrated plan by the Kingpin. Things just go from bad to worse for Matt. Kev It's so well thought out. So methodical. Miller’s not messing around here. There’s no long, drawn-out, decompressed narrative with this one. Dave Not at all, no. The pacing is snappy, to show how quickly and how badly things are turning sour. Plus, again, with the number of pages in these issues, it has to unfold quickly. Foggy Nelson is quite a snappy dresser. He’s the ever reliable side-kick to Matt. Kev He is indeed. It looks like law has been pretty good to Foggy too. He's a great friend to Matt, and as we see later, probably a better friend than Matt really deserves. Which, of course, Matt freely admits himself. By having Glori say, “-- hateful city, hateful -- scares me worse than Belfast bombs and all --” Miller is really punching the New York as a cesspool thing, pretty hard. Dave Yeah, and the artwork really is top notch. It creates a down to earth, gritty, everyday life that is going on around Matt, and the panel of Ben Urich sitting alone in his office with the black background, highlights a sense of isolation.  "All the things I'll ever see. All the things I'll never be. All there is that's left for me, is here in this eternity of....." Kev Yep. Mazzucchelli is top notch. Put him with Miller and you've got a top tier creative team. And definitely, already Fisk is doing an excellent job of isolating Matt from everyone and anyone that’s close to him. Isolation is certainly an emerging theme here. We have our third narrator here now, in Ben Urich too. Miller is giving us an insight into several different characters and changing the perspective on the tale, whilst also having an overall, third person narration too. Dave It’s another complex narrative, something our young preteen minds wouldn't have been able to comprehend back then. Kev Yeh, you're right. I wouldn't have understood half of this when I was nine or ten. I probably would've just been waiting for the showdown between Matt and Fisk. “I grab the weightless bundle of cloth -- the only part of my life worth living any more......the one relief I can give myself......when it all gets too much.” More insight into Matt’s psyche by Miller here and evidence as to how well the Kingpin's plan is working, in that Matt no longer perceives his civilian life as worth living. Dave Yeah, that’s interesting about his psyche. He needs to be Daredevil more than Matt Murdock. Matt Murdock is, in fact, the alter ego. Kev Certainly at this stage, as his life as Matt Murdock is being systematically stripped away from him by Fisk. It's the only way Matt can exert any form of control over his own existence here. Dave Those are four good panels of Daredevil swiftly and deftly moving through the city.  Oh, these Marvel, New York based superheros and their skylights. Kev Definitely. There are some excellent gymnastic poses in these panels. “Getting nasty out there, huh?” Foggy is not just talking about the weather here and Miller is using said weather to make his New York seem even more inhospitable. Jeez man, there’s a lot of broken, hyphenated words in these caption boxes. That takes me out of it a bit. It doesn't flow particularly well. I'm maybe nit-picking, but I'm not keen on that. Dave There was clearly a missed opportunity between Foggy and Glori there. Also, the use of colour as a way to set the mood in this is excellent. In lesser hands it could have done more blandly. Kev I totally agree, man. It's a small, intimate scene, but Mazzucchelli and Scheele make it visually interesting and it shows the part of the story between Foggy and Matt's ex, Glori unfolding. Dave The next couple of pages are a good display of the vast array of skills Daredevil has, by entering the apartment unnoticed and casually leaning against his table. Kev Definitely. That's a lovely piece of breaking and entering by Matt. I love the use of the putty on the glass. Dave "I could force the truth from him, tough as he is....I'd have to use torture." This is a superb example of the moralities and lines Daredevil still has. Kev Yeh. He has lines that he is unwilling to cross. Not yet anyway. Kingpin may still force him to step over those lines in later issues, as his plan continues to unfold. That's an excellent reveal panel of Daredevil vanishing in Nick Manolis’ apartment on page 19 and I love that establishing panel of the New York skyline at dawn, at the top of page 21. Cracking stuff again by Mazzucchelli. Dave That’s brilliant, that panel with his super senses at work there.  Always on the outside, looking in, aren't we Matt? Kev The one where he's outside the window? Dave Yeah, that one. Kev Yeh, it's a class panel. Dave I love how that page finishes with him putting his head down. "It’s been a day." Kev That's a great panel to finish the page on. Matt's behaviour is so out of character here. He's almost just accepting the situation he's finding himself in. The Kingpin's psychological warfare on him is working to great effect. “.....a warrior whose fists are no help against the corrosive gas that fills his life...” Matt isn’t going to be able to just punch his way out of this one. Dave Yeah, the odds are completely stacking up against him. Yet he knows he must keep going on. Kev He does just kind-of stubbornly, keep going, doesn't he? Dave Yep. Strength of character, he has an abundance of that. Kev The whole of page 22 is outstanding. Every panel is superb. The use of black and white to show Fisk's plan unfolding from his perspective, through the monitors, and the last panel of his smug expression as he enjoys his cigar, are all fantastic. Dave That is really good, that panel. Kingpin is an almost a Shakespearean type of villain, even the language used, "So carefully woven, so neatly placed". Manipulation is like an art form to this man. Kev Yes. You're right. I hadn't thought of it like that. He looks upon his plan like it's his art, doesn't he? Like a sonnet, or a concerto, or a painting. I also like that Fisk is so impressed by Foggy managing to keep Matt out of jail that he wants to hire him. Plus, Fisk wants to own Matt by hiring him too after he has broken him. He’s one sick, manipulative fuck. It's interesting to think that despite all his surveillance, Fisk still believes that Matt is somehow faking the blindness. The narration with Karen on page 25 is interesting; it changes from third to first person in the same panel. Then it changes back to third person again within the same page. Dave I think that actually works in that scene. Though perhaps her narrative should have been done in thought bubbles, or is that too cliche? Kev I don't mind it switching between narrators, at all. It might not be for everyone, some people might feel it's technically wrong, but this whole issue is dealing with narrators that, if they're not unreliable, they're at the very least not clear-headed, or focused. For example, the paranoia is really starting to set in with Matt. Dave Those last three pages are just the start of the tipping point with this. Explosive to say the least. Then there's the final realisation that Kingpin is behind this. It's a great way to end the first issue in this series. Kev It's excellent, isn't it? It's a great opening gambit to the story. And as you say about it being a tipping point, it's where the Kingpin makes the mistake of showing his hand. “It was a nice piece of work, Kingpin. You shouldn’t have signed it.” because this just gives Matt the opening to mount his comeback. Ding, ding! Round 2! Dave Yeah it sets the set scene for the upcoming war. (D) & (K) Next: 'Purgatory.'   "Hold tight, wait till the party's over. Hold tight, we're in for nasty weather. There has got to be a way."
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