Daredevil #265 (April 1989)

Since October is the month of scares and frights, I wanted to look at a spooky comic this week. As such, I thought it would be nice to revisit the time New York City was caught in the fires of the Inferno.

A basic primer here if you don't know, Inferno was a 1988 crossover storyline that centered around a demonic invasion of New York City. The main storyline was centered around the X-Men family of books: Uncanny X-Men, New Mutants, X-Factor, Excalibur, and the X-Terminators miniseries. However, the events of the storyline would tie in with many other books. Which made sense, as many of Marvel's many other superheroes tended to operate in New York City. 

Back in 2018, I took a look at how Spider-Man and his supporting cast were dealing with the invasion here, here and here. But there was another hero who was also suffering through the Inferno: Daredevil. It makes a bizarre bit of sense for Daredevil to be dragged into the Inferno, a Catholic man dressed as a devil fighting demons and monsters. So, how did the Devil of Hell's Kitchen get through the conflagration? Let's find out in Daredevil #265!

The cover is a John Romita Jr and Al Williamson piece. It's pretty cool. You have our man himself, the Man Without Fear, staring down a giant looming demon while standing atop a pile of demon bodies. It promises an epic confrontation.

"We Again Beheld the Stars"
Writer: Ann Nocenti
Penciler: John Romita Jr.
Inker: Al Williamson
Letterer: Max Scheele
Colorist: Joe Rosen
Editors: Ralph Macchio, Marc Siry
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The story beings with New York City being in the midst of the Inferno, the demonic invasion of New York City. And for an unfortunate dentist named Ned Zane, it will be the beginning of some horrors, as his own devices turn on him and transform him into a cyborg demon monster.

“Honey, I mutilated the kids!”

He decides to take some lunch, carrying on some casual conversation with his patients and secretary, all seemingly not noticing that Zane is now a cyborg demon monster. Outside, a couple of cops are chilling in their cruiser, casually remarking about all the demonic craziness. They're on a lunch break themselves...and they end up Zane's lunch. Yeah, New York City has literally become a hell on Earth.

That one demon is so happy he got a hot dog.

Two truckers are stuck in traffic and decide to gun their engine and spew some smoke. Because they're idiots, I guess.

They discover that someone has bent the exhaust pipe of the truck. The perpetrator? Our man Daredevil.

Daredevil really hates polluters.

The Man Without Fear gets to work, saving lives, beating up demons, that kind of thing. He's acting rather strange, though. He's moving mechanically, emotionlessly, like he's a preprogrammed robot instead of a man. This oddness is noticed by a young boy named Butch. He's a member of a group of young skaters known as the Fatboys. First introduced in the Longshot miniseries (that was also written by Ann Nocenti), the Fatboys were a group of Hell's Kitchen kids that loved to skateboard. At this time, they were associated with Daredevil, and acted like sort of sidekicks to him. 

Another Fatboy skates up to Butch, a girl named Darla. However, Darla is acting strange, being more interested in looting a store than helping DD.

“Hey, Butch! Wanna get lunch? I’m craving baby.”

Yeah, as part of the demonic chaos infecting New York, some people started acting more monstrous or got possessed by demons. Darla is the latter. Butch explains that this started when he told Daredevil that his legal clinic closed down and Karen Page left. Yeah, that was a whole thing going on in the book at the time. The Kingpin was at it again, and he brought in Typhoid Mary to help ruin him again. Butch believes that if he can get Daredevil back to normal, then all the madness will go away, too. Good luck, kid.

Meanwhile, a regular Joe (I'm gonna call him Joe) is waking up, hearing a bunch of noise. He yells out his window to the neighboring building to shut up already.

He finds a pair of demons doing some "remodeling". He figures it's time to wake up...and he got robbed, again. 

Joe decides that he needs to get out of the city. 

Meanwhile, the demonic Zane is out on a rampage, ranting about how much he hates yuppies...this comic was from the 80s. He blows some smoke in a chained man's face, saying that's what he thinks of the anti-smoking laws. He laughs and claims that it's time to arrest the meek, cull the timid, and kill all the artists. He wants to turn New York into a chaotic hell...well, more of a hell than it is right now. Meanwhile, Joe tries to drive out of the city (chanting that he hates New York), but is caught in gridlock. He then gets a flat and calls for a taxi...that has a demon driving it. Nice knowing you, Joe. 

Let's get back to our man Matt, shall we? After all, the comic is not called "Joe". Daredevil saves a woman from some demons, but continues on his way, ignoring her thanks. Daredevil just wordlessly helps people out. Butch tries to get his attention, but the demonic Darla wants him to leave the Devil of Hell's Kitchen alone. Nearby, some demons prepare to ambush two citizens, but Matt just literally tears them apart.

Butch tries to show Darla this isn't Matt. Something is very wrong with him. Darla doesn't care. Joe continues on foot, somehow escaping the demonic taxi. He's repeating his chant of "I Hate New York". Zane continues on his rampage.

You can tell NYPD hiring standards just keep going down.

He's ranting about carbon monoxide and burning out the ozone layer. Cancer for everyone! He and Daredevil's paths then finally cross. Zane accuses Daredevil of obstructing justice, aiding and abetting criminals, insulting a law enforcement officer, and also dressing as a devil in a "No Devil Costume Zone". He blasts the Man Without Fear with a dose of what appears to be fire breath, but Daredevil is unfazed and fights back. Zane rants about how New York seduces people with its gleaming towers, and that all that matters here is money. You win if you get the most money. 

People watching this fight note that he's fighting back, but some ask why he's bothering. After all, he'll only get beaten down in the end. Like everyone else. Some have even started taking bets. My money's on Daredevil. 🎵 We're in the money, we're in the money... 🎵

As demons hurl fireballs on the streets from the buildings above, Zane and Matt continue their struggle. Zane continues ranting and raving about how you can't beat the city, how it always finds a way to win in the end. Matt seemingly shuts the demonized Zane up by impaling him with his billy club. That'll hurt.

However, even after this and Matt ripping his arm off like it was made of paper, Zane still won't shut up. As Matt beats him with said arm, Zane rants about how the city turns people into essentially robots. Numb beings who feel nothing, just going about their daily routine, and that's it. The city takes away your dreams, your hopes, everything that makes you human. Butch finally catches up to Daredevil, begging him to stop being like this. Surprisingly, it seems to have some effect on the man, as he gives Butch a pat on the head.

He then starts picking up some litter and putting it in a garbage can. This inspires some New Yorkers to do the same. Help clean up the city. That's always a nice thing. But I bet you're wondering something very important right now: Where is Joe? Did he manage to get out of New York? Well, yeah...sort of.

Joey got himself a nice little helicopter tour. From it, he's able to take a break from the chaos of New York. And he already finds himself missing it. The two then notice a giant pentagram in the sky, sucking up the demons like a vacuum cleaner sucking up dirt. This is something from the X-Books. After the Inferno, Daredevil marches into a bar, still seemingly out of it. Someone buys him a beer and offers a toast to New York City. For the first time in the entire issue, Matt Murdock...smiles as he's about to imbibe the foamy libation.

I enjoyed this comic, it was a fun read for Halloween. I do believe I've talked about Ann Nocenti's run on Daredevil's book before, and honestly, at times, I found it...weird. However, weird doesn't necessarily mean bad. This story was a good one. I see this tale as Nocenti paying tribute to New York City, the resilience of the city and its people. The main thing I noticed was Daredevil himself in this story. At this point, he was pretty battered and broken, both physically and mentally. He was literally operating on autopilot in this issue. And he was still fighting. Still trying to save the city. Because that's Matt Murdock at his core. At his heart, the man is a fighter. He never gives up. This issue is a great demonstration of that. 

It makes him a great foil to the demonized Ned Zane. Zane ranted and raved to him about how New York City grinds you down, which is shown by Joe. But ultimately, Daredevil proves him wrong. The ending helps show just how resilient (and maybe jaded) New Yorkers are. Daredevil's little smile is a nice bit of symbolism. He's survived the worst, and now there's nowhere to go but up.

John Romita Jr.'s art actually fits this story very well. His rough, jagged style is perfect for drawing demons and monsters. It really helps sell the idea that the city has been turned into something...unnatural.

Hope this helped make your Halloween a little more fun! If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2016 trade paperback Daredevil Epic Collection Vol. 13: A Touch of Typhoid. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves, and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get your vaccine/booster! See you next time!