Issue 12 “Sightless, In A Savage Land” (January, 1966) Released: November 4, 1965 Written by Stan Lee Drawn and inked by John Romita Layouts by Jack Kirby Lettered by Sam Rosen Cover drawn by John Romita
Issue 12 introduces Parnival Plunder, a new villain into Daredevil’s kinda-goofy-so-far rogue’s gallery. To be fair, he’s not quite a full villain yet, but we meet him here before he becomes one! Issue 12 retools a hero from the Timely era with a new backstory and origin! Issue 12 also introduces a new artist to the comic. To hear Rodney and Aaron gush about him, this new artist is the greatest thing since radioactive radar senses. Kyle can’t get past the dinosaurs.
Finally, check behind the cut for our individual grades for this issue and take some time to view the artwork and images that we discuss in the episode!
There isn’t much argument between us about the quality of this issue. We all agree that this is pretty terrible. Aaron and Rodney are, at least, willing to give a little bit of credit to some stellar artwork. Not much credit, though; they both give the issue a D. Kyle gives it an F. Their average overall: D. As in “dinosaur”.
This issue features Ka-Zar in a guest appearance. This is the cover of his first comic (dated October, 1936), published by Timely before Marvel Comics was formed. Back then, Ka-Zar was completely different from the Ka-Zar that appears in Marvel. For starters, his real name was David Rand and he was a toddler when his family’s airplane crashes into the Congo. Also, this version of Ka-Zar is friends with a lion named Zar. This is the cover of The X-Men #10 (cover date: March, 1965). Ka-Zar has a different backstory (which we are not at liberty to spoil just yet) and, instead of taming The Congo, protects The Savage Lands from outside interference. Also of note, Ka-Zar has now befriended sabre-tooth tiger named Zabu.Right off the bat, John Romita wows us with a dynamic full-page of breathtaking art. Say hi to Karen and Foggy in the background! This is all we will see of them in this issue. The plot device of the first several pages involves Matt realizing that he only has a few minutes before he has to board his ship. Really, it’s just an excuse for John Romita to fill page after page with incredible artwork of Daredevil in action. Even unnecessary filler can be pretty!Within seconds of disembarking, Matt’s ship is overtaken by pirates. Actual fucking pirates! As in “avast ye matey with a yo ho ho and a bottle of rum” pirates. Within seconds of the pirate band boarding, Matt becomes Daredevil and starts to beat the Captain Morgan out of them. By the way, in that first panel? The guy dead center in the green jacket? That’s Lord Parnival Plunder aka The Plunderer. Meanwhile, the action is interrupted by a visit to The Savage Land. It is here that we meet Ka-Zar and his loyal companion, Zabu. When we meet them, they are trying to wrangle a Tyrannosaurus Rex. It’s right about now that Kyle began to lose control of his faculties. The Savage Land happens to be the destination of Lord Parnival Plunder, for reasons that are not yet disclosed. How does he plan to get there? By traveling through an undersea channel that passes under Antarctica. How does he plan to do that? By flipping a switch and turning his wooden pirate ship into a steel-enshrouded submarine. Aaron isn’t bothered by the Tyrannosaurus Rex, but this plot element is just dumb. Once at The Savage Land, Parnival and the Pirates of Penzance quickly learn that they are not welcome. Ka-Zar no want crummy people with thunderstorms on Ka-Zar’s land! Naturally, we need several pages of our two heroes duking it out because that’s the formula when two comic book heroes meet for the very first time. Ka-Zar want to be cliche! During the battle, there’s an explosion that concusses Daredevil and causes him to lose his radar senses. Admiring Daredevil’s tenacity, Ka-Zar takes pity on his injured foe and absconds with him to a secret cave where our scarlet-clad hero can convalesce. Avert your eyes, Kyle! There’s a brontosaurus!In order to nurse his new friend back to health, Ka-Zar needs the juice of medicinal ju-ju berries. He leaves Daredevil in the cave for safekeeping and heads out to find some. Unfortunately for Ka-Zar medicinal ju-ju berries are protected by a gigantic man-eating plant that looks like Audrey II. Rodney doesn’t get that reference. Romita draws a great panel during the battle with the gigantic killer plant. The panel is drawn from the perspective of someone who might be inside the mouth of the plant. Oh no! A neanderthal hulking man-beast named Maa-gor has wandered into Daredevil’s cave and found him lying on the ground!
Hey, y’all! Audrey II here! Be sure to update your podcast-listening schedules! Starting today, The Devil’s Archive is now weekly! We’ll be back next week with part two of this really dumb and idiotic story!
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