Daredevil #131(March 1976 cover, 25¢) — “Bullseye Never Misses!” », Marv Wolfman on screenplay, Rich Buckler on drawing, Marvel Comics. The next issue arrived on newsstands on January 6, 1976. Characteristic feature: he does not have neither power nor established origin, and this absence is the result of an editorial choice maintained for decades. A British edition at 9p also exists.
Here is an antagonist who contradicts everything his genre was based on: no superhuman ability, no founding accident, not even a coherent past. He knows how to aim, that's all.
This analysis, far from having done it any harm, explains its longevity - and it produces a collection file with unusual characteristics.
A character without origin, deliberately
Let's attack the line that separates this file from all the others.
Almost all the figures in this universe have a founding story: an exhibition, an accident, a lineage, an oath. This character has no authoritative one.
This is not an oversight. Several versions of his past have been proposed over the decades, and they contradict each other - sometimes in the same mouth, the character himself telling different stories depending on who he is talking to. This inconsistency was deliberately maintained.
The process produces a specific effect:the impossibility of understanding it. An opponent whose injuries we know becomes explainable, therefore reducible. It remains opaque, and its lack of identifiable motivation makes it disturbing in a way that tragic origins never achieve.
For the collector, this particularity has a direct consequence:there is no “original number” to acquire. On most files, the booklet which explains the character constitutes a sought-after secondary key. Here, this number does not exist — which focuses attention on the first appearance alone.
The context of 1976
The booklet is displayed at 25 cents, an amount which limits the era and disqualifies any republication.
One dating point is worth noting because it illustrates the limitations of the available sources. The catalog does not indicate the date of sale of this specific issue, although it indicates that of the following:January 6, 1976. We deduce from this that the issue that interests us arrived on newsstands a few weeks earlier, at the end of 1975 - despite a cover dated March 1976.
This gap of several months between the vintage displayed and arrival on the shelves then constitutes the rule. He explains that an ad can describe the same object as a comic from 1975 or 1976 without being mistaken.
As for the host series, it was then going through a discreet period. The title was not among the best-selling in the catalog, and it frequently changed creative teams. This instability has a material translation:the circulations were modest and the readership not very loyal, two factors which today weigh on availability in good condition.
The low point of the mid-1970s
A useful market observation, and which goes well beyond this character.
The attention of collectors is overwhelmingly focused on two periods: the 1960s, for their founding creations, and the 1980s, for the shift towards an adult readership and the birth of the specialized circuit.
Between the two lies a less frequented area. The mid and late 1970s suffered from a poor reputation: too late for the Silver Age, too early for what followed, with declining manufacturing quality and often unstable series.
This reputation produces a measurable effect. Of comparable narrative importance,a 1976 key trades significantly below a 1966 or 1986 key. The character introduced here may well have become a major antagonist, but his founding booklet remains in a price range incommensurate with what an equivalent from a decade earlier would be worth.
For a buyer, this is an avenue to explore: this period concentrates sustainable creations at levels that the surrounding decades have long since left behind.
Wolfman and Buckler
Marv Wolfman signs the script, Rich Buckler the drawing.
Wolfman then constructed antagonists based on a simple idea taken to fruition, rather than on an accumulation of powers. The formula applied here — someone who turns any object into a deadly projectile — is exactly this approach.
Buckler provides solid and readable drawing, in the tradition of his time. He designed a costume whose main merit was clarity: a target drawn on the forehead, a pattern that says everything about the character without a word of explanation.
This design has survived fifty years without substantial modification, which testifies to its accuracy. Few creations from this period can say the same.
A nuance on this last point: Buckler worked at a fast pace, on several titles at once, which was the norm for a regular series artist at this period. The quality of execution therefore varies from one issue to another - something to keep in mind when you compare two copies of the same issue and think you see a printing defect where it is the original line.
The British edition
This booklet exists in two official editions, and the distinction is read at the printed price.
The American version announces 25 cents. The one intended for the United Kingdom displays 9p, in decimal pence — the country having switched to this system at the start of the decade.
This detail also allows us to roughly date a British copy: the earlier prints bear old pence, those later carry decimal pence. It is a useful benchmark for all the production of this period.
For the value, the usual rule applies: the American market, which is the reference, places the pence copies below. On a file whose rating remains moderate, the difference is real but less spectacular than on a major key.
However, ask for a photo of the corner where the price appears. On this type of booklet, many sellers are unaware of the very existence of this distinction.
Why the lack of power served the character
A paradox deserves to be elucidated: how did a figure without superhuman abilities survive fifty years in a genre that relies entirely on superhuman abilities?
Three reasons combine.
It can never be upgraded. An opponent defined by his strength becomes obsolete as soon as a stronger character appears. This does not fit into any power scale: its advantage is precision, which cannot be compared to anything.
He remains mortal. This vulnerability allows him to be defeated without his threat suffering. He can be beaten, imprisoned, injured - and brought back without anything seeming forced.
It adapts to all registers. Lacking cosmic or technological ties, it works just as well in an urban story as in a team confrontation. Few antagonists offer this flexibility.
For the collector, this versatility explains one thing: we find him scattered in a considerable quantity of publications, so that his corpus is difficult to define but his founding booklet all the more identifiable.
What the number says
The plot introduces a hitman who publicly chooses the hero of the series as his opponent, in order to establish his professional reputation.
Two elements are worth noting.
The first is due to pattern. It is neither about revenge, nor about ideology, nor about greed in the ordinary sense: the character seeks to make a name for himself. It is a career motivation, almost prosaic, applied to a monstrous profession - and this discrepancy constitutes the essential part of its interest.
The second is due to the ability which defines it. It is presented without explanation and without limits: any object becomes a weapon in his hands. The story does not seek to justify it, which, in 1976, was bolder than it seems.
The tone remains that of its time – abundant dialogue, explicit narration – and a reader of recent versions will find here something much less dark.
What to look at
The 1975-1976 issues pose their own problems.
Manufacturing quality. This is the dominant point over this period. Control had become lax: oblique cuts, off-center backs, poorly placed staples are common. These faults come from the factory and limit the note forever.
The paper. Its performance is improving compared to previous decades, but a view of the block taken from the side remains the most telling examination.
The back fold. Examine under oblique lighting, as always.
Integrity. The advertising pages still included cut-out vouchers on this date.
One final research pointer: this booklet circulates quite freely, without sellers always marking it as a key. On a series which was not among the best followed of its time, the lots covering this numbering range remain affordable - and this is often where it is found at the best price.
Where to start
Three entries, depending on your objective.
The first appearance, in the edition that suits you. Central piece of the file, and its price remains reasonable compared to the keys produced before and after.
The next number, arrived on January 6, 1976, which concluded the inaugural confrontation. It forms a coherent diptych with the previous one and costs a fraction of the price.
Subsequent clashes, numerous, where the character gradually acquires the depth that he lacks here. This is what made him famous — and we're devoting a separate article to it.
Pricing issues are included in ourrating analysis; the notable stories in ourbest bows.
What collectors ask for
Daredevil #131, whose cover is dated March 1976, priced 25 cents. The story is called “Bullseye Never Misses!” », with Marv Wolfman on screenplay and Rich Buckler on drawing, at Marvel Comics. The next issue hit newsstands on January 6, 1976.
By editorial choice maintained for decades. Several versions of his past have circulated, and they contradict each other - the character himself tells different stories depending on who he is talking to. This opacity makes it impossible to understand, therefore irreducible: an opponent whose injuries we know becomes explainable, this one not.
No, and this is a singularity of this file. On most characters, the booklet which explains the origins constitutes a sought-after secondary key. Here, that number simply doesn't exist, focusing attention — and value — on the first appearance alone.
Because the catalog does not provide information for this specific issue, while it indicates that of the next one - January 6, 1976. We deduce an arrival on newsstands a few weeks earlier, at the end of 1975, despite a cover dated March 1976. This gap between printed date and sale date was the norm at the time.
Because of the period. Attention is overwhelmingly focused on the 1960s, for their founding creations, and on the 1980s, for the shift towards an adult readership. The mid-1970s suffer from a poor reputation - too late, too early, declining production - so much so that for comparable importance, a key from 1976 trades well below a key from 1966 or 1986.
By the printed price: 25 cents for the American one, 9p for the one intended for the United Kingdom. Note that these are decimal pence, as the country changed its monetary system at the start of the decade — a useful dating benchmark on all production from this period. The American market places these copies below.
Three reasons. It can never be outclassed: its advantage is precision, which does not fit into any power scale. It remains mortal, which allows you to defeat it without its threat suffering, then bring it back without forcing. And in the absence of cosmic or technological ties, it works in all registers, from urban narrative to team confrontation.
Above all, manufacturing defects: quality control had become lax, and oblique cuts, off-center spines or poorly placed staples are common. They come from the factory and cover the bill forever. Then come the browning of the paper, which a view of the block taken from the side immediately reveals, the fold of the spine, and the integrity of the advertising pages.
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