''The Daredevils'' was a comics magazine and

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

published by

Marvel UK Marvel UK was an imprint (trade name), imprint of Marvel Comics formed in 1972 to reprint United States of America, US-produced stories for the United Kingdom, British weekly comic market. Marvel UK later produced original material by British cr ...

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

. Aimed for a more sophisticated audience than typical light superhero adventures, ''The Daredevils'' featured

Captain Britain Captain Britain is a title used by various superheroes in comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with Excalibur. The moniker was first used in publication by Brian Braddock in ''Captain Britain'' #1 by writer Chris Cl ...

stories by

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', Swamp Thing (comic book), ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman: The Killing Joke' ...

and

Alan Davis Alan Davis (born 18 June 1956) is an English comic book writer and artist, known for his work on ''Captain Britain'', ''The Uncanny X-Men'', ''The ClanDestine, ClanDestine'', ''Detective Comics'', ''Excalibur (comic book), Excalibur'', ''JLA: ...

paired with reprints of Frank Miller's '' Daredevil'' stories. It has been speculated this was in response to Dez Skinn's new anthology ''

Warrior A warrior is a guardian specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal society, tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracy, social class, class, or caste. History ...

''.

Publishing history

Editor Bernie Jaye gave writer

and artist

, rising stars in the comics industry at the time, considerable freedom in terms of the material they produced. Aside from the occasional pull-out posters, all contents were printed in black-and-white, not colour. The magazine had a circulation of around 25,000 copies, and lasted eleven issues before merging with '' The Mighty World of Marvel''.

Content

Comic strips

''Captain Britain''

Always the first story in any issue, ''

'' continued the " Jaspers' Warp" storyline from '' Marvel Super-Heroes'', which

had recently taken over writing with

as artist. The strip would be continued in '' The Mighty World of Marvel'' after ''The Daredevils'' was cancelled.

''Daredevil''

Issues from Frank Miller's '' Daredevil'' run were reprinted in black and white, giving the series its title. The stories were originally printed in ''Daredevil'' (Vol. 1) #159-170.

''The Amazing Spider-Man''

Black-and-white reprints of

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book author, writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which later bec ...

and John Romita material, continued from Marvel UK's ''Spider-Man Pocketbook'' series. This feature was dropped after four issues.

"Star Death"/"4-D War"/"Black Sun Rising"

Reprints of Moore's '' Doctor Who Monthly'' strips that introduced the

Special Executive The Special Executive is a fictional group of time-traveling mercenaries appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The characters were decpicted in comic strips published by Marvel UK. The initial incarnation was created by ...

, running in #5-7.

"Grit"

One-off ''Daredevil'' spoof by Moore and Mike Collins featured in #8. It was Collins' first professional work.

''The Origin of the Crusader''

One-off humour strip by Davis and Paul Neary featured in #9. Originally printed in Hulk reprint title ''Rampage Monthly'' #41 in 1981, this was Davis' first published professional work.

''Earth 33⅓''

An occasional three-panel humour strip by Tim Quinn and Dicky Howett.

Prose stories

''Night Raven''

New stories featuring the masked vigilante introduced in '' Hulk Comic'', written by Moore and illustrated by Davis, ran from #6-11.

Text features

*Moore penned opinion columns including an analysis of Frank Miller's ''Daredevil'' in #1, "an affectionate character assassination" of

in #4-5 and ''Invisible Girls and Phantom Women'', a text feature on sexism in #4-6. * Steve Moore contributed pieces on Asian comics in #6-8. *Convention reports from Hasan Yusuff *Fanzine Reviews: pieces on comic-related

fanzines A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleas ...

, again written by Moore. *Early artwork: profiles of artists including Garry Leach (#1),

Jerry Paris William Gerald Paris (July 25, 1925 – March 31, 1986) was an American actor and director best known for playing Jerry Helper, the dentist and next-door neighbor of Rob and Laura Petrie, on ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'', and for directing the majo ...

(#2) John Higgins (#4),

Dave Gibbons David Chester Gibbons (born 14 April 1949) is an English comics artist, writer and sometimes letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries ''Watchmen'' and the Superman story " For the M ...

(#5) and

(#8). *News Feature: American comic industry news column from Frank Plowright. *Comic Mart: where readers could post the comics they had on offer and those they wanted. *Letters: reader letters, including a cartoon sent in by Lew Stringer that would lead to his first professional commission.

Reception

The comic won 'Favourite U.K. Comic' at the 1984 Eagle Awards.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Daredevils, The Comics anthologies Marvel UK titles 1983 comics debuts 1983 comics endings