Episode 7 - Murdock and Marvel: 1969
Its 1969, and comics are returning to normal after the disruptions of the Marvel Age and Batmania.  Small publishers continue to fail, even as Marvel and DC expand their offerings, and small independent publishers begin to test the waters.  Marvel continues its expansion, but does so in some new directions, and Daredevil decides to stop keeping so many secrets. It’s another busy year in the world of comics! 
Preshow
Announcement: Off next week. Next episode will be March 27th.

The Year in Comics - 5 Key points
Prices skyrocket
Batman sales sink to their lowest level EVER
Generational battles at DC and other publishers
Charlie Brown and Snoopy were on the moon
The alternative comix scene continued to expand
The Year in Marvel
With their distribution bottlenecks removed, Marvel continued to expand their publishing line in 1969, although they did so mostly by turning their eye back towards genres that had been left behind in the superhero boom of the mid-60s.  Stan Lee greenlit three new romance / teen titles, two horror/suspense books, and a western in 1969, while continuing to publish all the Marvel superhero titles that the company had expanded with in 1968.  Signs of change were everywhere at Marvel, as Jack Kirby moved to California and new faces popped up in the bullpen with increasing regularity.   
New Titles
New Characters
Big Moments
Who's in the Bullpen
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Chris Claremont

The Year in Daredevil 
Appearances: Daredevil Issues 48-59 and Avengers #60
Stan Lee is now listed as Editor as of issue 51, with Roy Thomas being brought in to write.
Gene Colan continues as artist for most of the books.   
Barry Windsor-Smith gets artist create for issues 50-52  
Old “Here comes…” and Daredevil logo return in issue 48  
Stiltman returns again to go after Foggy, so Murdock acts like a jerk to him and Karen Page (who just returned to the office) causing another falling out of the group.  
Foggy wins the election for District attorney   
Matt Murdock briefly decides to give up by Daredevil, only to get pulled back in  
Saxon’s robot is defeated by Daredevil and is re-programmed incorrectly by Saxon to take out Biggie Benson – which it does before Daredevil can stop it.  
Daredevil is in need of an antidote or could potentially die, but is nowhere to be found. The Black Panther assists in finding him before it’s too late.  
Issue 54 was a retelling of the Daredevil origin story that convinces Daredevil that Matt Murdock is no longer necessary – leading Murdock to fake his own death because Saxon knows Murdock is Daredevil.  
Now only Daredevil, he’s challenged by Mr. Fear (and old foe from early in the DD run) who gets the better of him and makes him look bad. In the rematch, we learn that Mr. Fear is actually Starr Saxon. Saxon battles Daredevil and loses, breaking his neck in a fall from a flying hovercraft platform.  
Daredevil follows a grief-strickened Karen Page to Vermont and her parents' home where he must help tangles with a horseman threatening people that go near the estate – which turns out to be Karen’s father. It is after the events of this story he shows Karen that Matt Murdock and Daredevil are the same person.  
Daredevil finishes off the year taking down Stunt-Master and Torpedo, who were hired by crime boss Crime Wave, much to the dismay of Karen who agreed to marry him if he retired his DD identity. 

New Powers, Toys or Places
New Supporting Characters
New Villains
This Week's Spotlight: Daredevil #56 Sept 1969 “... And Death Came Riding!” and Daredevil #57 Oct 1969 “In the Midst of Life...!”   
Recap
Why We Picked This Story
The Takeaway
Comics were everywhere in daily life
Questions or comments
We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at questions@comicsovertime.com or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime.
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