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Why did Daredevil get a solo comic series from the start?

 
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mghg
Flying Blind


Joined: 12 Mar 2017
Posts: 4

PostPosted: Sun Mar 19, 2017 12:18 pm    Post subject: Why did Daredevil get a solo comic series from the start? Reply with quote

In the early days of Marvel comics after the introduction of Fantastic Four, it seems to have been a general rule that new characters were introduced in existing anthology titles. In addition, Marvel is said to had been limited in the number of titles it could send to market by its distributor, and three double-feature titles were split into six comic series in 1968 after Marvel had negotiated a new distribution deal (e.g. "Tales of Suspense" featuring Iron Man and Captain America were split into the solo series "Captain America" and "The Invincible Iron Man").

In my opinion, the Daredevil comic series is the outstanding exemption to the general rule described above. Is there anyone that knows why Daredevil first appeared in its solo series instead of getting a debut as the second feature in an existing title? Was Stan Lee very confident in the future success of Daredevil?
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Mike Murdock
Golden Age


Joined: 08 Sep 2014
Posts: 1750

PostPosted: Sun Mar 19, 2017 5:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Amazing Fantasy 15 quickly spun off into a solo book rather than continuing with Amazing Fantasy. Daredevil was very much a transparent "let's create a new solo book." It has Fantastic Four and Spider-Man on the cover.

In addition, all the new creations for anthology books had already been created: Ant-Man and Thor were 1962, Iron Man and Doctor Strange were 1963. After that, new characters got solo books: The X-Men, The Avengers, and then Daredevil. Daredevil only stands out for not being a team book. Otherwise, he's not unique.

Admittedly, they went back to anthology books (usually books designed for that purpose like Marvel Feature, Marvel Spotlight, or Marvel Premiere) or had characters spin off of existing books after that for awhile (I think the next new character to debut in a solo book is Luke Cage), but Daredevil himself is consistent with the 1963-1964 period.
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Pete
Fall From Grace


Joined: 29 Jul 2004
Posts: 417
Location: Liverpool, UK

PostPosted: Mon Mar 20, 2017 3:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Marvel, or Lee in particular, were quite clever in getting the most out of their expanding universe in those early days despite the limited number of titles they were 'allowed' to produce each month.

Launching 'Daredevil' as a brand new title did take up much of that allocated space on the racks, but remember it was a bi-monthly title to begin with, as I believe was 'Uncanny X-Men'.

Sales were good enough on DD for it to turn monthly a couple of years after its launch.
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mghg
Flying Blind


Joined: 12 Mar 2017
Posts: 4

PostPosted: Thu Mar 23, 2017 5:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks Mike Murdock and Pete for your responses.

Mike Murdock wrote:
[...] all the new creations for anthology books had already been created [...]

I do not agree. Ant-Man (later Giant-Man) became the main feature of Tales to Astonishin from #35 (cover date Sept. 1962), and about half of each issue was devoted to anthological science fiction and fantasy stories until #60 (Oct. 1964) when Tales to Astonish became a split book for Giant-Man and Hulk. Iron Man became the main feature of Tales of Suspense from #39 (March 1963), and about half of each issue was devoted to anthological stories until #59 (Nov. 1964) when Tales of Suspense became a split book for Iron Man and Captain America. Human Torch became the main feature of Strange Tales from #101 (Oct. 1962), and about half of each issue was devoted to anthological stories until #110 (July 1963) when Strange Tales became a split book for the Human Torch and Doctor Strange, and in #135 (Aug. 1965) the Human Torch was replaced by Nick Fury. Journey into Mystery and Amazing Fantasy evolved differently since Thor and Spider-Man were big sellers.

It seems thus to me that Daredevil, instead of getting a solo series from the start, could have been introduced as a back-up feature in Tales to Astonish or Tales of Suspense, or replaced Human Torch in Strange Tales.

Pete wrote:
Marvel, or Lee in particular, were quite clever in getting the most out of their expanding universe in those early days despite the limited number of titles they were 'allowed' to produce each month.

I agree and I had hoped for getting some information (e.g. from an interview with Stan Lee) about the reasoning behind the Daredevil series.
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