Martial Arts Week: Daredevil vs. the Punisher

[starwolf_oakley.insanejournal.com]

Martial Arts Week continues with a fierce fight between Daredevil and the Punisher in DAREDEVIL #257. It is narrated by a criminal named Coppersmith both men are after for different reasons. The Punisher found Coppersmith first. As Ann Nocenti wrote the issue, there is a fair amount of narration.





The other "half" of this fight was in THE PUNISHER #10 from 1987.



So, what do we know about the respective fighting styles of these men? Daredevil was taught ancient fighting styles by Stick, but doesn't go for fatal blows. The Punisher learned Black Ops, will only go for fatal blows if he can't use a gun.



Coppersmith, who poisoned random people with cyanide to spite the company that fired him, is being oddly poetic about the two men fighting over who decides his fate.



I'm not sure who the top fighter in the Marvel Universe is, but Daredevil and the Punisher have to be up there somewhere.



Coppersmith grabs the Punisher's gun, but Daredevil throws his billy club and knocks him out. The last page shows Coppersmith in an interview room, and Matt telling him even if he goes to prison for life, he can do something besides die.

Comments

[amancalledblaze.insanejournal.com]

I always enjoying watching Frank and Mat throw down.
But in a straight up fight I think Frank is totally out of his league, unless he KNOWS before hand he'll have to face DD. Then we've seen him gain the upper hand.
But still a very classic case of opposites.
Great post!

[vignettelante.insanejournal.com]

Wow, thanks for sharing!

That was a pretty great fight. I liked Coppersmith's narration, too.

[ashtoreth.insanejournal.com]

Such a beautiful panel with that side kick. One of Nocenti's better ones.

I always find Daredevil hopeful. For some strange reason, Matt can get a mad-on at ordinary criminals like few other heroes (leading to such things as busting up the Bar With No Name--"They don't deserve a place to drink!"), but so much of his stories are about Matt being forced to find the basic humanity in even the worst of criminals.

[scottyquick.insanejournal.com]

Loved the Nocenti/JRJR run so much <3

[starwolf_oakley.insanejournal.com]

It was a long run, too. Nocenti/JRJR worked together from DAREDEVIL 250 to 282 with only about 2 or 3 fill-ins (one by Steve Ditko).

The drawback: Ann Nocenti, while very talented, was kind of a downer.

Ann Nocenti..

[steverodgers5.insanejournal.com]

I do actually think Ann Nocenti is a very under-rated writer though..I wish we could see more of her back at Marvel..

Oh yeah...

[steverodgers5.insanejournal.com]

Ditto! This was a fine issue, and I never liked JRJR's work more than when he was on this title..