Since I picked on Daredevil in a previous post, I thought I would add a cover that is one of my fav covers and one of my favorite early Dardevil stories. It also features one of my favorite Daredevil villains – The Gladiator.

Oh, The Gladiator went through many incarnations over the years and is his early appearances he was a run of the mill villain with a gimmick. (The saw blades, the decidedly non-Roman look for a Roman) But, this issue did have a bit of special significance. It moved the comic away from the humorous slant it previously possessed which was critical in altering it from a Spiderman clone to a book that stood on its own merits. This would later continue when Roy Thomas took over the series for a very underrated run.

What I like most about the cover is how The Gladiator is presented as such a strong villain. Daredevil is killing himself struggling under the might of a villain who is barely breaking a sweat.

This particular issue is also extremely noteworthy for featuring one of the early works of the legendary Denny O’Neil. This early narrative is a solid one and O’Neil does a fine job developing a new direction for the title hero.