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1) Hitching a Ride Underneath a Helicopter (June, 1964)Here's Stan Lee’s original narration: "And then, one of the most daring feats ever recorded is witnessed by the few startled onlookers atop the N. Y. Heliport!...(Daredevil) leaps into the air, catching onto the underside of the departing helicopter by a cane handle!...High over the towering skyscrapers of New York swings the fearless adventurer, his every sense (excluding eyesight) alert...knowing that the slightest miscalculation, the slightest mishap, will result in his instantaneous death!" Joe Orlando’s breathtaking splash page beautifully captures the majesty and danger of the scene. Artists: Joe Orlando & Vince Colletta |
2) Avoiding Dr. Doom's Weapons of Death (June, 1965)Walking a tight-rope high above the Manhattan skyline, Daredevil voluntarily sets himself up as a human target of Dr. Doom's fragment grenades - which he successfully avoids - in order to draw the bad doctor's attention away from an impending attack by the Fantastic Four. Artists: Jack Kirby, Wally Wood & Frank Giacoia |
3) Trapping Spider-Man (May, 1966)Displaying an imaginative way of tying up an adversary, with his billy-club cable attached to a thin, round metal chimney and used as a lasso, Daredevil swings several revolutions in mid-air at blinding speed to trap Spider-Man. Artists: John Romita (Sr.) & Frank Giacoia |
4) Tightrope Walking Without His Super-Senses (April, 1967)A potent chemical hurled at Daredevil adversely affected his super-senses, temporarily rendering them totally useless, thereby transforming Daredevil into a "normal" blind man. However, in an effort to quash the nefarious plans of Hyde and the Cobra, DD must demonstrate to them that his super-senses remain intact. In an unprecedented show of sheer bravery and unparalleled acrobatic skill, a blind, superpowerless Daredevil successfully, if somewhat awkwardly, walks across a tightrope twenty stories above the ground. The sheer drama and danger of the scene is captured by Gene Colan’s unique “down shot.” Artists: Gene Colan & John Tartaglione |
5) Aerial Ballet with the Black Widow (August, 1972)In less than a spit second, Daredevil must lunge off a flag pole high above New York, leap through the air, and with his left hand grab the Black Widow, who is plummeting to her death, while his right hand simultaneously directs his billy-club cable to latch onto a building ornament. Colan’s drawing makes it all look like effortless, beautiful ballet. This sample is one of the many dangerous, yet uniquely sensual, high-flying aerial dances the two performed together when they were lovers and crime fighting partners. At the peak of their intense, volatile relationship, Daredevil and the Black Widow were truly in a world all to their own. Artists: Gene Colan & Tom Palmer |
6) Leaping Off the Fantasticar (June, 1974)As a passenger in the Fantasticar high above the "towering spires of Manhattan," Daredevil disengages the flying vehicle by freely and abruptly leaping out of the passenger seat and free falling hundreds of feet through the air, confident that the cable from his billy-club will eventually latch onto a building thus saving his life. Colan’s unique cinematic angle forces the reader to look up at the underbelly of the flying car, Daredevil’s uncanny leap from it and the crystal clear blue sky that envelopes the scene. The artist’s interpretation accentuates the death-defying feel of the situation. (Of course, DD could have simply asked the driver, Ben Grim, to drop him off at his desired destination, but that would have been so uncharacteristic of our dynamic hero.) Artists: Gene Colan & Frank Chiaramonte |
7) Flying Through the Interior of a High Speed Rocket-Car (March, 1975)From mid-air, Daredevil perfectly times a swooping dive through the interior of a "rocket-car" moving at top speed in order to drop-kick the villain through the driver's side door. A truly “once-in-a-lifetime” move brought to vibrant life by former DD artist, Bob Brown. Artists: Bob Brown & Klaus Janson |
8) Contorting to Avoid Poisonous Spikes (July, 1984)In a story aptly titled "The Deadliest Night of My Life!," DD finds himself trapped in a deadly house of horrors. In one of the many death defying incidents he must overcome that evening, a gust of wind propels Daredevil through the air, across the room and into a wall of waiting poisonous spikes. To save his life, within a split second, Daredevil must determine the location of each spike, fight the wind current and awkwardly contort his entire body to prevent from being impaled against the deadly wall. Daredevil’s anguish is clearly shown by David Mazzucchelli’s drawing. Artists: David Mazzucchelli & Danny Bulanadi |
9) Battling the Vulture (December, 1985)Daredevil battles the Vulture in an old fashioned, last man standing, slug-fest. Nothing unusual about that, except it takes place high above the skyscrapers and in the pouring rain! Defeating the Vulture is only problem number one. Once DD’s accomplished that remarkable feat, he's got to find a way of landing without killing himself! A beautiful cinematic angle by Mazzucchelli captures the deadly feel of the fight. |
As he’s done many times in the past, Daredevil's billy-club
cable latches onto a fire escape just as he’s free falling to certain death.
(Ho-Hum.) But this time, there’s a twist. Just as you think he’s about to
safely land, Daredevil instead seizes the opportunity to catapult himself
back up into the deep, murky sky for a perfectly timed body blow on the Vulture.
All told, our hero displays an incredible array of acrobatics, agility, power
and chutzpah! Heck, in his many encounters with The Vulture, not even Spider-Man’s
ever displayed something so amazing.Artist: David Mazzucchelli |
10) Saving The Owl (April, 1992)While clutching an unchecked rope attached to a skyscraper construction site, Daredevil dive-bombs to save the life of his mortal enemy, the Owl, who slipped and was falling to his certain death. What makes this scene truly incomprehensible is the fact that Daredevil’s hell-bent desire to save the life of one of his most dangerous villains is so all-consuming, that DD actually catches up to The Owl before he hits the ground! Artists: M.C. Wyman & Chris Ivy |
11) Grace Under Pressure (May, 1997)Speaking of “great saves,” none may be more insightful than the one portrayed in Daredevil # 364. Once again, DD is called upon to save the life of his current lover. This time it’s Karen Page, who happens to have a substantial head start on our hero. Unlike other similar situations we have seen, the reader gains complete access into DD’s thought process. We observe - with profound astonishment - just how cool and methodical Daredevil remains during these types of harrowing experiences. For instance, he notes how he must streamline his body in order to close the gap between Karen and himself; he thinks about Karen’s beautiful face; and he even demonstrates the ability slyly mock situation by stating he’s “forty stories up. No net. Not even a billy-club this time - just to make things interesting.” This extraordinary ability to compartmentalize such an array of eclectic, non-connecting thoughts while risking your life to save that of a loved one is the ultimate form of grace under pressure. |
By the way, how does Daredevil manage fall forty stories,
rescue Karen Page and land safely *without* the use of his trusty billy-club?
In less than a split second, he coolly develops a back-up plan, of course! He
twists his body to push off a skyscraper like a pinball to gain the proper
trajectory that allows him to land inside a swimming pool.Artists: Cary Nord & Matt Ryan |
12) Unsafe at Any Height (June, 1997)Not all of Daredevil’s most dangerous aerial moves take place high above the city. This sample, on the contrary, occurs thirty feet below the street. A major water main collapses resulting in two sanitation workers stuck underneath the street and on the verge of drowning. DD grabs a cable, ties it to his waist and lowers himself from the “asphalt ceiling” to rescue the surprised victims, unsure if the cable is even long enough to allow him to execute his death defying feat. Artists: Cary Nord & Matt Ryan |
| Note: Nord’s period on the book, in conjunction with writers Karl Kesel and Joe Kelly, represented a temporary return of Daredevil as the grinning, swashbuckling adventurer. It was a pleasant, yet brief, departure from DD’s revised image as the grim, guardian devil. As a result, Nord’s period highlighted a rich variety of hair-raising, death defying aerial moves that originally epitomized and defined our hero as a true daredevil, and more importantly, as a man without fear. |
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