Daredevil #17

[cyberghostface]

 

Comments

[beyondthefringe]

"Who do we have on retainer?"
"Bullseye."
"Oh, you mean the guy who Daredevil has beaten two dozen times over the years? Splendid plan."

[zachbeacon]

Costumed criminals really have some major diminishing returns. Oh sure, you're the world's greatest assassin, thief, or jaywalker NOW but you're bound to run into a superhero sooner or later. When you do you're probably going to lose. Once you one into one superhero, you're more likely run into another. You're probably going to lost again. Repeat.

(I maintain that the Ringmaster's Circus of Crime was a decent idea but they were doomed the second they went to NYC)

Taskmaster marketing himself as an expert on STALLING superheroes instead of someone who can BEAT them is weirdly kinda brilliant.

[donnblake]

Batroc's taken that approach too, I believe, pitching that he'll fight Captain America and, while he won't win, he'll provide enough a distraction to significantly increase his employer's chance of getting away with a bunch of loot.

[beyondthefringe]

One of the best/silliest villain plans was that of the Calculator, who would face off against a different DC hero in each caper, and upon being defeated, press some sort of button on his gizmo that would supposedly prevent him from ever being defeated by that hero again.

Yeah. Great plan, as long as he doesn't run into anyone new. I don't know what would have happened if someone who had defeated him just changed identities and gimmicks, also.

It's truly hard to be the world's best anything as a villain, when the laws of storytelling dictate that you have to lose, or at least not win, more often than not. Sure, you can be the world's best assassin as long as you go after normal people, but the second you try to kill Batman, there goes your streak. Keep trying for Batman or Daredevil, you're still gonna lose. The best you'll ever accomplish is to kill some C-list hero who no one's actively using. :)

And then Batman will kick your ass again.

[zachbeacon]

Ah yes, the Calculator. I mostly think of him as Barbara Gordon's virtual punching bag*. Is "shitty mastermind" considered a legitimate villain archetype? I'm going to say it is.

I was more of a Marvel fan as a kid so I associate this with the Mad Thinker. He's always saying things like "I didn't plan for the human variable" when his plot falls apart thanks to Speedball or whoever. You didn't plan for PEOPLE? Then it was a bad plan.

*Though the specific Calculator plot you're describing sounds like Prometheus (the poster boy for diminishing villain returns) with the added step of getting beat up a lot.

[zylly]

Honestly, after American Eagle beat the stuffing out of him, his credibility should have gone in the toilet.

(Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE that fight. But that should have been the end of him getting work)

[goattoucher]

Yeah. I never bought the "Bullseye::Daredevil as Joker::Batman" bit.

[nyadnar17]

You know how much of an asshole you have to be to piss off both Fisk and Murdock?

[silverhammerman]

I know everyone's kind of sick of Bullseye, but I do wonder how Zdarksy will handle him. Also, greatly looking forward to seeing someone kick these villains' teeth in.

[alliterator]

These rich assholes hiring Bullseye is going to be like the Black Hand trying to recruit the Joker: it's not going to go the way you think. Bullseye doesn't give two shits about money, he likes *murder*.