shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Feb 26, 2022 1:29:48 GMT -5
I was re-reading Daredevil #1 tonight when I realized that a few really odd things happen during the famous scene in which Matt gains his powers. For one, though we are told a cylinder of radioactive chemicals broke loose from the truck and struck Matt, we never see this happen, nor is there any indication in the visuals that there was even a way in which this could have occurred, as the truck hit Matt head on, with nothing stored overhead and all contents presumably stored in the back. And what about the truck, itself? We only see it clearly in one panel, and in that panel the visuals are again telling us something very different than the writing. Note the Chinese(?) license plate, as well as the stereotypically slanty-eyed look of the guy riding shotgun (the driver is terrified, so it's hard to make anything from his eyes). If you take away the writing on the truck, this is a Chinese laundry truck, and what's being played out is a bad stereotype about Asian drivers. Assuming this is, in fact, what Bill Everett was going for before Stan Lee stepped in, then that fundamentally changes the very nature of Daredevil. Lee's script initially calls into question whether the radioactive waste is what heightened Matt Murdock's senses, but perhaps there was no radioactive waste in the original plot at all, and Daredevil was just a blind kid who decided to work his butt off to become the best in spite of his handicap. It certainly suits the theme of the story better, but it comes off more improbable and leaves Daredevil as no better than a blind Batman. So perhaps DD's entire extra-sensory ability was a last minute addition by Stan. Another possibility is that, in the very same style as Fantastic Four #1, the origin portions of this story were recycled from some other abandoned non-superhero story, thus explaining Stan's seemingly blatant rewrites during the truck collision. Neither DD nor 1960's Marvel are my specialty, so I'd love thoughts on this.
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Post by commond on Feb 26, 2022 5:11:42 GMT -5
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Post by tarkintino on Feb 26, 2022 6:55:02 GMT -5
....unless the truck--considering its identified service--was constantly exposed to radioactive materials to the degree that its very surface was so irradiated, the hit was enough to cause Matt to develop his power.
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Post by Cei-U! on Feb 26, 2022 7:07:46 GMT -5
Somebody at Marvel must've agree with you, Shax, because when Roy Thomas and Gene Colan retold (using Stan's dialogue) the origin in Daredevil #53, Colan made a point of staging it so the cylinder was in plain view.
Cei-U! I summon the after-the-fact fix!
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Post by commond on Feb 26, 2022 7:33:33 GMT -5
The Colan panels aren't convincing either. I think it's an issue of the artists not knowing how to draw the scenario.
EDIT: JRJR did a pretty good job with the gallons in Man Without Fear.
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 26, 2022 8:22:02 GMT -5
Not buying the Asian theory, at all. First, the driver has typical caucasian features. Second, the story is still set in the US and the license plate wouldn't have Chinese characters. The truck looks like an average large scale commercial truck, bigger than an average laundry van of the era. The reuse of a plot or staging I can buy; but, I propose an alternate to some of your "evidence." The passenger is conveying heightened emotion and has furrowed his brow. The lettering on the license plate is Everett knowing the poor reproduction in Marvel's books, based on the cheap paper they used in that era and he just implies lettering on the plate, probably in the inking stage. Most inking was done with a brush and the inker may have just made a few quick swirls. Those aren't even close to Chinese characters or even the stereotypical comic book equivalent; they just look like random strokes, with a definite number 4. That panel was originally the first panel, in the upper left, on the page and was not especially large. Everett was more likely adding only the detail necessary, which leaves it open to individual interpretation. The panel you are showing is magnified, which brings the minimal strokes into the foreground, instead of the background, where it was in the printed panel. The focus was intended to be the blind man passing into the path of the truck, while the passenger reacts. The previous page shows a laundry van, heading the other direction, before the man even steps out into the street, but of a different design than this truck, with a cleaner's logo on it.... (from a re-colored reprint, obviously) The lettering is crude in both cases. No, not buying the Chinese laundry theory. I think it is just poor staging, as the plot doesn't lend itself well to a cannister logically being ejected from the van in a way that it would impact Matt, after he knocks the blind man out of the path of the oncoming truck.
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Post by zaku on Feb 26, 2022 8:29:51 GMT -5
No, not buying the Chinese laundry theory. I think it is just poor staging, as the plot doesn't lend itself well to a cannister logically being ejected from the van in a way that it would impact Matt, after he knocks the blind man out of the path of the oncoming truck. Yep, I remember that in all subsequent depictions (until Man Without Fear mini) that scene has always been a bit awkward.
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Post by MDG on Feb 26, 2022 8:36:32 GMT -5
I don't buy the laundry truck idea, but I always figured the radioactivity was grafted on as an excuse to bump DD's powers
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Post by kirby101 on Feb 26, 2022 9:06:16 GMT -5
At least Colan showed the cylinder in DD #53.
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Post by foxley on Feb 26, 2022 9:38:22 GMT -5
Given it was written by Stan Lee, it was probably originally intended to be a truck from an electronics plant, and Matt was supposed to be hit in the eyes by a canister of transistors.
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 26, 2022 9:50:00 GMT -5
Here’s my theory.
The contract for transporting dangerous radio-active materials went to the lowest bidder. That’s why the brakes went out because they were not very diligent on maintenance.
Also these drivers - YEESH! - they were distracted when they were loading the canisters, eating chili dogs and drinking grape Nehi and talking about the Yankees or something. They left one of the canisters on the hood and didn’t notice it when they drove away and it slid off and hit Matt in the face (or something) during the incident.
Or something.
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Post by tarkintino on Feb 26, 2022 9:56:07 GMT -5
Not buying the Asian theory, at all. First, the driver has typical caucasian features. Second, the story is still set in the US and the license plate wouldn't have Chinese characters. The truck looks like an average large scale commercial truck, bigger than an average laundry van of the era. I agree; the plate characters are just the result of Everett just scribbling marks there instead of bothering with writing letters and numbers. I doubt the illustrations and plate scribbles were meant to be an Asian stereotype.
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Post by tarkintino on Feb 26, 2022 9:58:04 GMT -5
I don't buy the laundry truck idea, but I always figured the radioactivity was grafted on as an excuse to bump DD's powers ...and being the Silver Age, almost every new character at Marvel and DC was the product of science, whether deliberate or accidental.
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on Feb 26, 2022 9:59:42 GMT -5
To me, yes the grim and gritty 90’s I know, Ruins, following the popularity of Marvels (though I don’t remember if DD was in it) showed the realistic “origins” of many of our favorite Marvel heroes with the understanding we have now of technology as oppose to 6-7 decades ago when a lot of these characters were created.
Heck even as old as The Incredible Hulk show or Rami’s Spidey movies reflected the then present unknown about science and technology. Which I think is a good thing to reframe heroes’ origins with present knowledge for newer generations so that they can be better relatable to younger readers.
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,709
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Post by shaxper on Feb 26, 2022 10:39:02 GMT -5
Not buying the Asian theory, at all. First, the driver has typical caucasian features. Are you sure? Exaggerated ears and jaw is what I'm seeing, giving him an almost monkey-like look. Of course, to your later point that this image is blown up, I doubt much thought/energy was given to facial features. Not sure whether or not you intended this, but putting the word evidence in quotation marks implies a snarky dismissal of the work I put into my OP. Vibrant debate is always welcome, but please try not to belittle someone for taking a leap and attempting to further the community's discussion and enjoyment. I'm working from a masterworks edition, as I definitely don't own an original, which means some degree of clean-up/restoration has certainly occurred, but wouldn't it have been easier to just draw some random numbers? Those slant characters do not imply numbers and most certainly would look like Asian characters to someone who doesn't know any better. [/quote]
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