I: Feature Story: "Duel With Daredevil"

Pages: 22

Script: Stan Lee
Pencils: Steve Ditko
Inks: Steve Ditko
Letters: Sam Rosen

Villain: Ringmaster and the Circus of Crime

Guest Appearance: Daredevil/Matt Murdock, Karen Page, Foggy Nelson, J. Jonah Jameson, Betty Brant, Aunt May

Marvel Milestones: First mention of Mary Jane Watson by name

Synopsis: Aunt May nags Peter about asking Mrs. Watson's niece, Mary Jane, out for a date; nags him out of the house, in fact! He decides to suit up as Spider-Man to get away from it all, when he spots a robbery taking place right in the vicinity of a blind man walking down the sidewalk. He dispatches the thieves quickly, suggesting to the blind man that he stay off the streets at dark. The blind man walks into an alley and takes his suit and tie off revealing his costume beneath - the blind man is Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil! To make up for lost time, he swings through the alleyways and rooftops using his heightened senses of awareness, and arrives at his law offices to greet his associate, Foggy Nelson, and his secretary, the lovely Karen Page. They ask him to join him at the circus that evening, but he declines.

At that same circus, the Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime are planning to execute their next big escapade after their defeat by the Hulk (see HULK #3.) Their plan is to distribute a poster promising Spider-Man as a featured act under the Big Top, thus drawing big crowds that they will then hypnotize and rob. Of course, Peter Parker sees the poster advertising his "appearance", and he decides to make the appearance anyway, since the poster claims all proceeds will benefit charity. He goes to the Bugle offices to see if he can get some business from Jameson, when Betty Brant says she has a great recipe for spaghetti that she'd like to try out on Peter that night. Just as Peter tells her he can't make it, a ticket to that night's circus slips out of his hand, and Betty realizes he's got other plans, and starts to pout. There's no way Peter can explain...

At the law offices of Nelson and Murdock, when Matt Murdock finds out Spider-Man will be at the circus, he agrees to go. Later, as Karen, Foggy and Matt settle in to be entertained, Spider-Man sidles down the main tent pole of the big top and makes his first appearance to much applause, as well as to the shocked visage of the Ringmaster! The crowd goes wild with every thrilling feat of acrobatics that Spider-Man performs, when finally the Ringmaster makes his move. He rushes up to Spider-Man and hypnotizes him, then turns his powerful hat of hypnotics to the crowd, putting everybody else under his spell. Everybody, that is, except for the blind Matt Murdock, who lowers himself beneath the grandstand and changes into Daredevil.

The Ringmaster is amazed to see Daredevil, and commands Spider-Man to defend him against attack. Spider-Man rushes Daredevil, and the two super-heroes fight each other fiercely. Daredevil realizes that Spidey is under hypnosis, so he tries to find a way to get him to snap out of it. After evading Spider-Man, he knocks the Ringmaster off balance and his hat topples off. Daredevil grabs it and turns it towards Spider-Man, releasing him from his trance. Daredevil explains to the dazed web-swinger what has happened, and the Ringmaster rallies his circus criminals to action against the pair. Daredevil does a fine job knocking a few heads around, but Spider-Man tells him to take it easy and he'll do the mop-up chores. DD agrees and changes back into Matt Murdock and takes a seat to watch the action.

Spider-Man takes on the circus strongman, the clowns and man-on-stilts, and knocks the great trapeze artists from their high perch. For the coup de grace, he webs up the human cannoball speeding toward him and redirects him around the big top to land as a missile in the crowd of criminals. His final target is the Ringmaster, who he chases down, but when "Ringy" grabs his hat, he thinks he can once again hypnotize him. What he doesn't know is that Spidey has his eyes closed, and thus cannot be hypnotized. One punch is all it takes to knock out the villainous mesmerizer. Spider-Man uses the Ringmaster's hat to release the audience from their trance, and except for Matt Murdock, they are none the wiser. Matt Murdock heads over to the Ringmaster and hands him his card, suggesting his services in case he needs a lawyer.

--synopsis by Gormuu

Issues Reprinted
Spider-Man from
Amazing Spider-Man #11-19 and Annual #1

Click on cover image to learn more about each issue.