Daredevil #5

DAREDEVIL #5 (1964)
by Stan Lee & Wally Wood

When it comes to lame early Daredevil villains, the poster boy is typically Stilt-Man… but he has his moments and is not a completely useless character.
But I’m willing to bet that nobody, NOBODY has ever liked what I honestly consider the lamest Marvel supervillain of the Silver Age… the Matador.

This story is historically significant for a minor detail: Wally Wood redesigns the Daredevil logo into the two intertwined DDs, instead of a single letter like in the previous 4 issues.
We are only 2 issues away before Daredevil dons his classic red costume, so it’s easy to forget the new logo technically predates it.
Also, notice Wally Wood is given a prominent credit on the cover.

As if that wasn’t enough, the first page has a direct acknowledgment of all the artists who worked on Daredevil before. So I don’t want to hear about Stan Lee not giving credit to the artists.

But let’s move to the main event: the debut of the Matador. Or rather the Masked Matador.

Now… his look is a bit ridiculous, but not that much and Wood does put a lot of work into the details of his costume. So it’s not like the Matador is automatically lame; he could work, if only he could bring anything interesting to the table.
But his main ability is throwing a blanket at his opponents!!!

And… yeah, that’s about all he does. He waves around his cape. That’s it.

The only reason Daredevil doesn’t immediately knock him out is that BY SHEER COINCIDENCE he has to save someone else from a completely unrelated accident!!!

The Matador takes the opportunity to escape. And while I hoped he was the one to sabotage the scaffolding to distract Daredevil… it was just good luck.

At first I thought I’d make the joke “we interrupt this superhero story to bring you a sitcom plot”, but… has this really been a superhero story so far?

Also I’m pretty sure Foggy and Karen are fully aware Matt has the hots for her and they’re both engineering a threesome. Prove me wrong.

Has there ever been a costume party in a superhero story where a supervillain DOESN’T infiltrate the party without anyone noticing? You’d think in a world full of costumed heroes and villains people would pay more attention to this kind of stuff.

Are we sure Matt Murdock is the only blind person at this party? How come nobody else notices!?

The other guests notice him only when Matt makes them look, and the Matador continues to show he’s a one-trick bull.

If this were any other series, I’d be willing to bet Karen is actually the superhero.

Now this is just embarrassing.

Like really, really, REALLY embarrassing.
Also: while the art is quite good in this issue, this second panel is… yeeesh.

Usually I don’t like stories where the public turns on the hero because he lost a fight with a supervillain. But when IT’S AGAINST THE MATADOR, this is 100% justified.

One interesting thing about these very early Daredevil stories is that the Radar Sense is quite underplayed. Unlike the Spider-Sense that is a constant throughout Spider-Man’s career, the earliest Daredevil stories put MUCH more emphasis on his super-hearing than the Radar Sense.

Superman has Kryptonite.
Martian Manhunter has fire.
Silver Age Green Lantern has yellow.
Golden Age Green Lantern has wood.
Daredevil’s weakness? A BLANKET.

Once again I have to make a comparison to Spider-Man’s villains.
In Amazing Spider-Man #3, he suffers a humiliating defeat against Doctor Octupus… and in Daredevil #5, the same happens against the Matador.
And yet it’s Spider-Man who decides to quit in shame!!!

*sigh*

Okay Matador, since Daredevil apparently decided to suck this issue, I’m giving you a second chance. Can you please do anything, ANYTHING remotely impressive!?

I’m filing that under “no”.

Slow news day I guess!?
Also: “stores report record sales on matador suits”? Sounds legit.
Then again, selling TWO matador suits would still qualify as a record.

Sure, Matt, sure. It’s “for justice” and not “because I was beaten by the lamest supervillain ever”.

Unlike Spider-Man, where Peter Parker’s daily life was often as interesting if not more interesting than the superhero stuff, the civilian drama in Daredevil is typically a chore to sit through.
Compared to the Matador plot, however, this is a breath of fresh air!

This plot really goes to show how the times have changed. At this point Foggy has been on a couple of dates with Karen… but none of them seemed to be romantic in the slightest, plus there’s the iffy detail that he’s her direct boss. But he’s willing to propose out of the blue!

Also, for some reason Daredevil thinks he’s not husband material. You could interpret this as the standard “the life of a superhero is too dangerous”… but no, in this stories it’s crystal clear that he doesn’t believe blind people can get married. Yeeesh.

On second thought, MAYBE the Matador plot is the better one?

So the Matador is really just a disgruntled matador. Who apparently was despised by the Spanish public for being too cruel towards the bull… not that we get to see exactly how, Comics Code and all.

So the Matador’s “secret identity” was not that hard to figure out. So of course Matt Murdock decides to hold a press conference (???) to reveal that the Matador is actually Daredevil.
Wait, WHAT!?

I am AMAZED that Matt’s public image survives this.
Also, I’ll bet you anything that J. Jonah Jameson wanted to print a story about the Matador secretly being Spider-Man.

This is blatantly a trap, and the Matador falls for it showing up at Murdock’s place only to find Daredevil is there. And while the plot is stupid, this is an AWESOME panel!!!

Okay, Daredevil, you’ve made a fool of yourself before. Can you PLEASE knock out this idiot and keep a shred of dignity!?

While an admittedly well-choreographed fight scene, that doesn’t erase the shame of being defeated by the Matador in the first round.

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Historical significance: 0/10
The minor change in Daredevil’s logo doesn’t even justify a 1/10.

Silver Age-ness: 10/10
COME ON!!!

Does it stand the test of time? 0/10
The artwork is the only saving grace; despite some slip-ups here and there, it’s mostly great. But even Wally Wood can’t salvage this one.
The Matador is just the worst. Not because he’s not a real threat, but because he doesn’t even have any charm or personality or entertaining tricks! He’s just lame, through and through.

How close is this to the modern character? What modern character?
It’s not that hard to track the rest of the Matador career.
He returns in 1967, recruited by Electro in a group that includes Daredevil’s worst enemies: the Discount Sinister Six Emissaries of Evil.
I’m not making this up: the Matador teamed up with ELECTRO.

He wouldn’t show up until 1976, when in Daredevil #129 he teamed up with Man-Bull.
I’m not making this up: the Matador teamed up with MAN-BULL.
I’m pretty sure Daredevil doesn’t even learn of the Matador’s involvement.

Aside from flashbacks and retellings, that’s the extent of the Matador’s Silver Age criminal career.

He shows up in U.S.Agent #1 in 1993, where he’s the target of the supervillain-murdering Scourge. Apparently he spent the remaining years in prison.

His last appearance to date is Daredevil vol.2 #23 from 2001, where he shows up in a plot involving giving people false memories…

…but the real villain turned out to be Ringmaster, who was just using the Matador as a distraction.

So… yeah. The Matador is so lame that Ringmaster barely has any use for him. RINGMASTER.

As of 2022 it’s been over 20 years since the last time we saw Matador, 46 years since the last put the costume on, and an astounding 55 years since he last fought Daredevil.
Will we ever see him again? Well he’s still the worst Marvel supervillain ever, but it’s not like there’s a lot you can do with him except point out he’s exceedingly lame.
The best he can hope at this point is to show up in Deadpool or Squirrel Girl.