Comics Over Time

Murdock and Marvel: 1986 Part 2

Episode 24 - Murdock and Marvel: 1986 Part 2
If you are every arguing with friends about what was the best year in the history of comics, you could do worse than arguing for 1986.  With a ton of interesting independent books, vibrant small-press publishers popping up everywhere, and four of the most beloved stories in the history of comics, ’86 was definitely a banner year!
This is part 2 of the podcast. that will feature the year in Daredevil, the Spotlight story and the Takeaway for 1986.
 
The Year in Daredevil 
Appearances: Daredevil #226-237, Spectacular Spider-Man #110, Amazing Spider-Man #277, Marvel Age Annual #2, Avengers Annual #15, Marvel Fanfare #27, Elektra: Assassin #1 and 4, Marvel Saga the Official History #13, and Marvel Graphic Novel: Daredevil Love and War 
Writing credits: Frank Miller and Denny O’Neil (226), Frank Miller (227-233), Mark Gruenwald (234), Danny Fingeroth (235), Ann Nocenti (236), “John Harkness” (237)  
Pencilers: David Mazzucchelli (226-233), Steve Ditko (234-235), Barry Windsor-Smith (236), Lois Williams (237) 
Inks: Dennis Janke (226), David Mazzucchelli (227-233), Klaus Jansen (234), Danny Bulanadi (235), Windsor-Smith and Bob Wiacek (236), Al Williamson and Bulandi (237) 
The year begins Frank Miller returning to the title and a story where Daredevil helps Gladiator save Betsy Beatty after confronting him stealing from a museum 
Next, Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli start an iconic run of books that you’ve probably heard of “Born Again” that starts with book 227 and finishes with 233. This incredible will be the spotlight for this week. 
After Born Again, we get four stand-alone stories by four different writers to finish out the year. The first against a weird “hero” named Mad Cap who spouts nonsense and seemly can’t be killed. Next Daredevil takes on Mr. Hyde yet again. Then Daredevil and the Black Widow team up to track down another deranged member of the Super Soldier Project. Finally, Daredevil takes on the Klaw who’s looking to re-establish himself by taking him down. 
Issue #237 was initially going to be the start of Steve Engelhart’s run on DD, but he was replaced by Ann Nocenti after writing just one issue, which he had his name taken off of, and the pen name “John Harkness” was credited 
Daredevil: Love and War GN told the story of how the Kingpin kidnapped a psychiatrist’s wife to coerce him to help his wife, who was not recovering well from her accident and her captivity in the sewers.  By the end of the story we find out Vanessa only wants to escape from Fisk, and he sends her away to Europe with the doctor and his wife so she can heal and start a new life. 
Elektra: Assassin is completely batshit.  Fully painted by Bill S., it is wildly experimental and confusing.  Elektra and a cyborg who is obsessed with her try to stop a presidential candidate who looks kind of like Dan Quayle from doing the will of “the beast” and causing a nuclear holocaust. 
New Powers, Toys or Places
New Supporting Characters
New Villains
This Week's Spotlight: Daredevil #227 February 1986 “Apocalypse” through Daredevil #233 August 1986 “Armageddon”
Recap
Why We Picked This Story
The Takeaway
It was the Best of Times, but it led to the Worst of Times. 
Questions or comments
We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at questions@comicsovertime.com or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime.
------------------
THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES 
Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm.  You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/. 
The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts. 
Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data. 
Man Without Fear: Kuljit Mithra’s Daredevil site contains a staggering collection of resources about our hero, including news, interviews and comic details.   
The American Comic Book Chronicles: Published by TwoMorrows, these volumes provide an excellent analysis of American comics through the years.  Because these volumes break down comic history by year and decade they are a great place to get a basic orientation on what is happening across the comic industry at a particular point in time. 
Joshua and Jamie Do Daredevil: A fantastic podcast that does a deep-dive into Daredevil comics.  This ran from 2018-2020, and covered most of the first volume of Daredevil, and was a fun way to get an in-depth look at each issue of Daredevil from 1-377. 
My Marvelous Year: This is a reading-club style podcast where Dave Buesing and friends chose important or interesting books from a particular year to read and discuss.  This helped me remember some fun and crazy stories, and would be a great companion piece to Murdock and Marvel for those who want more comic-story-specific coverage. 
BOOKLIST 
The following books have been frequently used as reference while preparing summaries of the comic history segments of our show.  Each and every one comes recommended by Dan for fans wanting to read more about it! 
Licari, Fabio and Marco Rizzo.  Marvel: The First 80 Years: The True Story of a Pop-Culture Phenomenon.  London: Titan Books, 2020.  This book is sort of a mess, as the print quality is terrible, and Titan doesn’t even credit the authors unless you check the fine print.  It’s like this was published by Marvel in the early 60s! But the information is good, and it is presented in an entertaining fashion.  So its decent, but I would recommend you see if you can just borrow it from the library instead of purchasing. 
Wells, John.  American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960-1964.  Raleigh: Two Morrows, 2015.  Not cheap, but a fantastic series that is informative and fun to read. 
Wright, Bradford.  Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America.  Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.  This is the revised edition. 
Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History.  New York: DK Publishing, 2022.  The academic in my rails at using information from any work that doesn’t have an author credit, but this is a decent (if very surface) look at each year in the history of Timely / Marvel from 1939 to 2021.   
Cowsill, Alan et al.  DC Comics Year by Year: A Visual History.  New York: DK Publishing, 2010.  Because its nice to occasionally take a peek at what the Distinguished Competition is up to. 
Dauber, Jeremy.  American Comics: A History.  New York, W.W. Norton & Company, 2022.  An excellent, relatively compact history of the domestic comic industry from its 19th century origins through to recent 21st century developments.  An excellent successor to Bradford Wright’s Comic Book Nation. 

Murdock and Marvel: 1986 Part 1

Episode 24 - Murdock and Marvel: 1986 Part 1
If you are every arguing with friends about what was the best year in the history of comics, you could do worse than arguing for 1986.  With a ton of interesting independent books, vibrant small-press publishers popping up everywhere, and four of the most beloved stories in the history of comics, ’86 was definitely a banner year!
The Year in Comics 
Notable and Newsworthy
Industry Trends
Kirby Awards
Dan's Favorite
The Year in Marvel
Events & Happenings
New Titles
New Characters
Series Ending
Who's in the Bullpen
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Alan Davis
Dan's Favorite
Due to the time it took to get through this and to fully cover Daredevil, we've split 1986 into 2 podcasts. Next week you'll hear the rest of this episode - which will be entirely on Daredevil. 
 
Questions or comments
We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at questions@comicsovertime.com or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime.
------------------
THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES 
Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm.  You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/. 
The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts. 
Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data. 
Man Without Fear: Kuljit Mithra’s Daredevil site contains a staggering collection of resources about our hero, including news, interviews and comic details.   
The American Comic Book Chronicles: Published by TwoMorrows, these volumes provide an excellent analysis of American comics through the years.  Because these volumes break down comic history by year and decade they are a great place to get a basic orientation on what is happening across the comic industry at a particular point in time. 
Joshua and Jamie Do Daredevil: A fantastic podcast that does a deep-dive into Daredevil comics.  This ran from 2018-2020, and covered most of the first volume of Daredevil, and was a fun way to get an in-depth look at each issue of Daredevil from 1-377. 
My Marvelous Year: This is a reading-club style podcast where Dave Buesing and friends chose important or interesting books from a particular year to read and discuss.  This helped me remember some fun and crazy stories, and would be a great companion piece to Murdock and Marvel for those who want more comic-story-specific coverage. 
BOOKLIST 
The following books have been frequently used as reference while preparing summaries of the comic history segments of our show.  Each and every one comes recommended by Dan for fans wanting to read more about it! 
Licari, Fabio and Marco Rizzo.  Marvel: The First 80 Years: The True Story of a Pop-Culture Phenomenon.  London: Titan Books, 2020.  This book is sort of a mess, as the print quality is terrible, and Titan doesn’t even credit the authors unless you check the fine print.  It’s like this was published by Marvel in the early 60s! But the information is good, and it is presented in an entertaining fashion.  So its decent, but I would recommend you see if you can just borrow it from the library instead of purchasing. 
Wells, John.  American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960-1964.  Raleigh: Two Morrows, 2015.  Not cheap, but a fantastic series that is informative and fun to read. 
Wright, Bradford.  Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America.  Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.  This is the revised edition. 
Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History.  New York: DK Publishing, 2022.  The academic in my rails at using information from any work that doesn’t have an author credit, but this is a decent (if very surface) look at each year in the history of Timely / Marvel from 1939 to 2021.   
Cowsill, Alan et al.  DC Comics Year by Year: A Visual History.  New York: DK Publishing, 2010.  Because its nice to occasionally take a peek at what the Distinguished Competition is up to. 
Dauber, Jeremy.  American Comics: A History.  New York, W.W. Norton & Company, 2022.  An excellent, relatively compact history of the domestic comic industry from its 19th century origins through to recent 21st century developments.  An excellent successor to Bradford Wright’s Comic Book Nation. 

Murdock and Marvel: 1985

Episode 23 - Murdock and Marvel: 1985
This year Marvel is all about the cash grab, and so we get Secret Wars II, a bunch of vaguely copyright-infringing kids books, and some fantastic Bill Sienkiewicz art that makes everything else worth it.  Let’s talk 1985 in comics, Marvel and Daredevil.
The Year in Comics 
Notable and Newsworthy
Comics and Sequential Art: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33476.Comics_and_Sequential_Art
Industry Trends
Eagle/Kirby Awards
Dan's Favorite
The Year in Marvel
Events & Happenings
New Titles
New Characters
Series Ending
Who's in the Bullpen
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Peter David
Dan's Favorite
The Year in Daredevil 
Appearances: Daredevil #214-225, Fantastic Four #281, Marvel Tales #181, Spectacular Spider-Man #108-109, Marvel Fanfare #23  
Writing credits: Denny O’Neil (214-18, 220-222, 225), Frank Miller (219), O’Neil and Jim Shooter (223), Jim Owsley (224) 
Pencilers: David Mazzucchelli (214-17, 220-223, 225), Sal Buscema (218), John Buscema (219), Dan Jurgens and Geof Isherwood (224) 
Inks: David Mazzucchelli (214-17, 220-221, 225), Ian Akin and Brian Garvey (218), Gerry Talaoc (219), Kim DeMulder (222-223), Mel Candido and Bruce Patterson (224) 
The year starts with the conclusion of the Micah Synn story that took most of 1984. Synn is weakened and running for his life. Daredevil saves Synn from Kingpin’s men and some homeless men before himself asking for help. 
Next was an interesting if not confusing western inspired story taking place in two different places and times that seemed to have a connection to Daredevil 
We learn in a story with the Gael that Glorianna works for the I.R.A. as the Old Woman of Beare 
We get another story with the Jester who breaks out of prison just so he can kidnap a noted actor and take his place for a tv production of Cyranno De Bergerac. In that story we see Daredevil dress up as the Jester and lead police around as a distraction allowing the Jester to finish his flawless performance. 
We got a really fascinating story from Frank Miller in which Matt Murdock doesn't appear as Daredevil at all nor does he even speak. 
Next, we get a tragic end to a long-time character. This will be our spotlight for this week. 
The follow-up to that story takes Daredevil/Murdock to Venice, Italy in which he succeeds in getting the patents back – but it doesn’t help his feelings of guilt. 
The Mudd Brothers kidnap Glorianna and Daredevil and Black Widow come to her rescue. 
We get a tie-in to Secret Wars with a character called the Beyonder that…in all honesty… Didn’t make much sense.  
The year ends with Daredevil taking down a new villain, the Saturion, and returning a locket to a blind man and then taking on another Spider-Man villain – the Vulture. There is also an epilogue with Black Crow was never followed on. 
New Powers, Toys or Places
New Supporting Characters
New Villains
This Week's Spotlight: Daredevil #220 July 1985 “Fog”
Recap
Why We Picked This Story
The Takeaway
Quality counts less than we’d like.
Questions or comments
We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at questions@comicsovertime.com or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime.
------------------
THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES 
Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm.  You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/. 
The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts. 
Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data. 
Man Without Fear: Kuljit Mithra’s Daredevil site contains a staggering collection of resources about our hero, including news, interviews and comic details.   
The American Comic Book Chronicles: Published by TwoMorrows, these volumes provide an excellent analysis of American comics through the years.  Because these volumes break down comic history by year and decade they are a great place to get a basic orientation on what is happening across the comic industry at a particular point in time. 
Joshua and Jamie Do Daredevil: A fantastic podcast that does a deep-dive into Daredevil comics.  This ran from 2018-2020, and covered most of the first volume of Daredevil, and was a fun way to get an in-depth look at each issue of Daredevil from 1-377. 
My Marvelous Year: This is a reading-club style podcast where Dave Buesing and friends chose important or interesting books from a particular year to read and discuss.  This helped me remember some fun and crazy stories, and would be a great companion piece to Murdock and Marvel for those who want more comic-story-specific coverage. 
BOOKLIST 
The following books have been frequently used as reference while preparing summaries of the comic history segments of our show.  Each and every one comes recommended by Dan for fans wanting to read more about it! 
Licari, Fabio and Marco Rizzo.  Marvel: The First 80 Years: The True Story of a Pop-Culture Phenomenon.  London: Titan Books, 2020.  This book is sort of a mess, as the print quality is terrible, and Titan doesn’t even credit the authors unless you check the fine print.  It’s like this was published by Marvel in the early 60s! But the information is good, and it is presented in an entertaining fashion.  So its decent, but I would recommend you see if you can just borrow it from the library instead of purchasing. 
Wells, John.  American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960-1964.  Raleigh: Two Morrows, 2015.  Not cheap, but a fantastic series that is informative and fun to read. 
Wright, Bradford.  Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America.  Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.  This is the revised edition. 
Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History.  New York: DK Publishing, 2022.  The academic in my rails at using information from any work that doesn’t have an author credit, but this is a decent (if very surface) look at each year in the history of Timely / Marvel from 1939 to 2021.   
Cowsill, Alan et al.  DC Comics Year by Year: A Visual History.  New York: DK Publishing, 2010.  Because its nice to occasionally take a peek at what the Distinguished Competition is up to. 
Dauber, Jeremy.  American Comics: A History.  New York, W.W. Norton & Company, 2022.  An excellent, relatively compact history of the domestic comic industry from its 19th century origins through to recent 21st century developments.  An excellent successor to Bradford Wright’s Comic Book Nation. 

Murdock and Marvel: 1984

Episode 22 - Murdock and Marvel: 1984
This week we enter continue with the massive expansion era for Marvel and the Direct Market, with important new creators, new companies, and a whole lot of turtles…its 1984! 
The Year in Comics 
Notable and Newsworthy
Industry Trends
Cartoon Art Museum: https://www.cartoonart.org/
Eagle Awards
Dan's Favorite
The Year in Marvel
Events & Happenings
Box Brown’s “The He-Man Effect”: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250261403/thehemaneffect 
New Titles
New Characters
Series Ending
Who's in the Bullpen
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Arthur Adams
Dan's Favorite
The Year in Daredevil 
Appearances: Daredevil #202-213, Incredible Hulk #291 and 293, Defenders #127, Spider-Man and Daredevil Special Edition #1, Marvel Team-up #140-141, Elektra Saga #3-4, Marvel Age #17 
Writing credits: Denny O’Neill (202, 204-207, 211-213), Steven Grant (203), Harlan Ellison and Arthur Byron Cover (208), Arthur Byron Cover (209), Denny O’Neill and David Mazzucchelli (210) 
Pencilers: William Johnson (202, 205, 207), Geof Isherwood (203), Luke McDonnell (204), David Mazzucchelli (206, 208-13) 
Inks: Danny Bulanadi (202-206, 208-11, 213), Bulanadi and Mel Candido (207), Bulanadi and Pat Redding (212) 
The year starts and ends with Micah Synn – Chief of an East African Kingorge Tribe who are also descendants of British explorers who have been isolated until very recently. Synn, his two wives and a group of other followers have traveled to the United States. Many of the books this year chronicle Synn turning from a media darling to a wanted criminal hunted by Daredevil and Kingpin. 
It starts off in Assistant Editor’s month where we meet Micah Synn, his group and Professor Horactio Piper who wants to Enlist Nelson & Murdock to help with legal documents for Synn and company. Synn gets arrested for stealing food and then attacking a store owner as well as 3 police officers, upon release one of Micah’s wives walks into the street and is hit by a car. At the hospital, Synn attacks another office before Daredevil intervenes.  
One of the few detours from the Synn story, Daredevil takes on a new foe – The Trump – whom has one of Daredevil’s childhood bullies is accused of helping. Daredevil stops Trump from taking a shipment of weapons. After being confronted by Foggy, Murdock drops Schmidt as a client. 
Back to Synn, An assassination attempt on the chief that has ties to his family is thwarted by Daredevil and Debbie Harris throws a party and becomes infatuated with the Synn. 
Next we meet Glorianna O’Breen, Debbie Harris’ niece from Ireland, who is in New York over concerns she’s in danger after her father is killed. Which turns out to be true. Daredevil saves her from being abducted and then saves her from a friend of her father’s that turns out to be a killer called the Gael. 
Micah Synn and company crash a Christmas Party and Matt Murdock’s house which leads to a stolen kiss with Debbie Harris and another battle between Daredevil (aided by Kingpin no less) and Synn. 
Another side story, As Daredevil must find a Russian defector and stolen microchip for Hydra in order to save a captured Black Widow. Daredevil finds the defector but not the chip and instead saves widow without it and the pair take down the Hydra agents who captured her. 
Next Daredevil stumbles into a murder house trap set by the mother of a former villain. This story will be our spotlight story for the week. 
Back to Synn, Chief Micah files a restraining order against Daredevil and his men have a run-in with Kingpin. During yet another battle between Synn and Daredevil, Synn learns of Murdock’s secret.  
Micah captures Becky and Vanessa for a human sacrifice to his god; DD intervenes, but Vanessa is killed; Kingpin reveals that Vanessa was really an actress he hired to keep his wife safe; DD and Kingpin team-up to take down Micah. 
Matt Murdock holds a press conference to get the word out on Micah Synn, but his and Becky Blake’s account is called into question by Foggy Nelson (at the urging of his wife Debbie). Harris then goes to Synn and professes her love to him and it’s met with indifference and a needless slap to the face sending her to the ground. 
As the year ends, the story with Synn is still going. Harris remains captive by Synn. Professor Piper seems able to look the other way on Synn until a friend and colleague of his is inadvertently killed. Piper creates a diversion and frees Harris who returns home and tells him what happened with Synn. When Foggy goes to confront Synn, he finds Piper dead and Synn’s men looking to fight. Daredevil arrives and makes quick work of the tribesmen, but they aren’t able to find Micah Synn. 
New Powers, Toys or Places
New Supporting Characters
New Villains
This Week's Spotlight: Daredevil #208 July 1984 “The Deadliest Night of My Life”
Recap
Why We Picked This Story
The Takeaway
This is a golden age.
Questions or comments
We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at questions@comicsovertime.com or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime.
------------------
THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES 
Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm.  You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/. 
The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts. 
Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data. 
Man Without Fear: Kuljit Mithra’s Daredevil site contains a staggering collection of resources about our hero, including news, interviews and comic details.   
The American Comic Book Chronicles: Published by TwoMorrows, these volumes provide an excellent analysis of American comics through the years.  Because these volumes break down comic history by year and decade they are a great place to get a basic orientation on what is happening across the comic industry at a particular point in time. 
Joshua and Jamie Do Daredevil: A fantastic podcast that does a deep-dive into Daredevil comics.  This ran from 2018-2020, and covered most of the first volume of Daredevil, and was a fun way to get an in-depth look at each issue of Daredevil from 1-377. 
My Marvelous Year: This is a reading-club style podcast where Dave Buesing and friends chose important or interesting books from a particular year to read and discuss.  This helped me remember some fun and crazy stories, and would be a great companion piece to Murdock and Marvel for those who want more comic-story-specific coverage. 
BOOKLIST 
The following books have been frequently used as reference while preparing summaries of the comic history segments of our show.  Each and every one comes recommended by Dan for fans wanting to read more about it! 
Licari, Fabio and Marco Rizzo.  Marvel: The First 80 Years: The True Story of a Pop-Culture Phenomenon.  London: Titan Books, 2020.  This book is sort of a mess, as the print quality is terrible, and Titan doesn’t even credit the authors unless you check the fine print.  It’s like this was published by Marvel in the early 60s! But the information is good, and it is presented in an entertaining fashion.  So its decent, but I would recommend you see if you can just borrow it from the library instead of purchasing. 
Wells, John.  American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960-1964.  Raleigh: Two Morrows, 2015.  Not cheap, but a fantastic series that is informative and fun to read. 
Wright, Bradford.  Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America.  Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.  This is the revised edition. 
Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History.  New York: DK Publishing, 2022.  The academic in my rails at using information from any work that doesn’t have an author credit, but this is a decent (if very surface) look at each year in the history of Timely / Marvel from 1939 to 2021.   
Cowsill, Alan et al.  DC Comics Year by Year: A Visual History.  New York: DK Publishing, 2010.  Because its nice to occasionally take a peek at what the Distinguished Competition is up to. 
Dauber, Jeremy.  American Comics: A History.  New York, W.W. Norton & Company, 2022.  An excellent, relatively compact history of the domestic comic industry from its 19th century origins through to recent 21st century developments.  An excellent successor to Bradford Wright’s Comic Book Nation. 

Murdock and Marvel: 1983

Episode 21 - Murdock and Marvel: 1983
This year things really start to accelerate in the comics world, as the direct market kicks into high gear. Marvel leads the way again, with a truly astounding number of new books. Welcome to the crazy years, folks. Its time to talk 1983. 
Convergence Con: https://www.convergence-con.org/
The Year in Comics 
Notable and Newsworthy
Industry Trends
Eagle Awards
Dan's Favorite
The Year in Marvel
Events & Happenings
New Titles
New Characters
Series Ending
Who's in the Bullpen
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Paul Neary
Dan's Favorite
The Year in Daredevil 
Appearances: Daredevil #190-201, Incredible Hulk #279, Marvel Two-in-One #96, Marvel Fanfare #7, Iron Man #169 and Fantastic Four #255 
Writing credits: Frank Miller (190-91), Alan Brennert (192), Larry Hama (193), Denny O’Neil (194-201) 
Pencilers: Klaus Janson (190, 192-96), Frank Miller (191), Larry Hama and William Johnson (197), William Johnson (198-201) 
Inks: Klaus Janson (190, 192-96), Terry Austin (191), Larry Hama and Klaus Janson (197), Danny Bulanadi (198-201) 
The year starts with another Double Issue as DD, Widow and Stone race to keep the Hand from resurrecting Elektra; Unbeknownst to DD, Stone finishes the job the Hand started, and Elektra lives again.
Daredevil visits Bullseye telling him a story about a recent client and how’s he’s questioning what he’s doing. This amazing story is our spotlight story this week.
Next, we have a story about kingpin trying to get Ben Urich under his thumb by using his wife's desire for a new house to turn Urich dirty; ultimately Ben must decide how best to be a good reporter, a good husband and a good man.
DD is on the trail of some stolen missiles, and they lead him to a cruise ship and a traveling magician who doesn't know the gun she stole from a guard she killed at the heist doesn't work.
Tarkington Brown, who works for the mayor, finds that he only has a few weeks to live, so he recruits some cops to form a criminal killing murder squad as his way of making a final contribution before he dies; While she is drunk at a party, Heather tells Tark that Matt is DD, and Tarkington sends his squad to take down the Man Without Fear.
The incapacitated Bullseye is kidnapped from his hospital by mysterious Asian agents. In the process, they shoot a visiting Wolverine, who tries to intervene. When Daredevil investigates, a recuperated Wolverine insists that the two team up and work on the case which sends Daredevil to Honshu Japan (the largest island). 
There he meets up with Dark Wind’s daughter, Yuriko, who offers to help Daredevil find Bullseye if he’s able to help her save her love interest from the power sway of her father. We learn Dark wind took Bullseye to repair his paralyzed body with adamantium so he can kill a Japanese delegate he doesn’t agree with. Now healed, Bullseye betrays Dark Wind and makes his way back to the States; while Yuriko kills her father to save DD's life.
The 5-book story arc ends with Bullseye back in New York who is looking to get back on Kingpin’s payroll as a hit man. Black Widow comes checking in on Daredevil and a climactic battle in an old arena Jack Murdock once wrestled in to try to make ends meet. After a lengthy battle, Daredevil looks to finish Bullseye once and for all but is stopped by an image of his father that reminds him who he is (which is not a killer).
The year ends with someone takes a shot at Foggy, and a wounded Daredevil enlists the Black Widow's aid in trying to find out who is trying to kill his partner. Issue 201 cover is by John Byrne. 
New Powers, Toys or Places
New Supporting Characters
New Villains
This Week's Spotlight: Daredevil #191 February 1983 “Roulette” 
Recap
Why We Picked This Story
The Takeaway
The start of superstar creators.
Questions or comments
We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at questions@comicsovertime.com or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime.
------------------
THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES 
Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm.  You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/. 
The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts. 
Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data. 
Man Without Fear: Kuljit Mithra’s Daredevil site contains a staggering collection of resources about our hero, including news, interviews and comic details.   
The American Comic Book Chronicles: Published by TwoMorrows, these volumes provide an excellent analysis of American comics through the years.  Because these volumes break down comic history by year and decade they are a great place to get a basic orientation on what is happening across the comic industry at a particular point in time. 
Joshua and Jamie Do Daredevil: A fantastic podcast that does a deep-dive into Daredevil comics.  This ran from 2018-2020, and covered most of the first volume of Daredevil, and was a fun way to get an in-depth look at each issue of Daredevil from 1-377. 
My Marvelous Year: This is a reading-club style podcast where Dave Buesing and friends chose important or interesting books from a particular year to read and discuss.  This helped me remember some fun and crazy stories, and would be a great companion piece to Murdock and Marvel for those who want more comic-story-specific coverage. 
BOOKLIST 
The following books have been frequently used as reference while preparing summaries of the comic history segments of our show.  Each and every one comes recommended by Dan for fans wanting to read more about it! 
Licari, Fabio and Marco Rizzo.  Marvel: The First 80 Years: The True Story of a Pop-Culture Phenomenon.  London: Titan Books, 2020.  This book is sort of a mess, as the print quality is terrible, and Titan doesn’t even credit the authors unless you check the fine print.  It’s like this was published by Marvel in the early 60s! But the information is good, and it is presented in an entertaining fashion.  So its decent, but I would recommend you see if you can just borrow it from the library instead of purchasing. 
Wells, John.  American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960-1964.  Raleigh: Two Morrows, 2015.  Not cheap, but a fantastic series that is informative and fun to read. 
Wright, Bradford.  Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America.  Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.  This is the revised edition. 
Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History.  New York: DK Publishing, 2022.  The academic in my rails at using information from any work that doesn’t have an author credit, but this is a decent (if very surface) look at each year in the history of Timely / Marvel from 1939 to 2021.   
Cowsill, Alan et al.  DC Comics Year by Year: A Visual History.  New York: DK Publishing, 2010.  Because its nice to occasionally take a peek at what the Distinguished Competition is up to. 
Dauber, Jeremy.  American Comics: A History.  New York, W.W. Norton & Company, 2022.  An excellent, relatively compact history of the domestic comic industry from its 19th century origins through to recent 21st century developments.  An excellent successor to Bradford Wright’s Comic Book Nation. 

Murdock and Marvel: 1982

Episode 20 - Murdock and Marvel: 1982
Have you noticed that every year for about a decade we have been recounting the impending death of the comic industry, with sales seemly slipping another 10% and publishers falling to the wayside?  I am happy to say that at least for Marvel this is the year that things started to turn around.  Its 1982, and the Direct Market is showing its power as Marvel and others pile onboard the comic shop train.
The Year in Comics 
Notable and Newsworthy
Industry Trends
Passings
Eagle Awards
Dan's Favorite
The Year in Marvel
Events & Happenings
New Titles
New Characters
Series Ending
Who's in the Bullpen
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Paul Smith
Dan's Favorite
The Year in Daredevil 
Appearances: Daredevil #178-189, Power Man and Iron First #77, Defenders #103-106, Marvel Graphic Novel #1, Fantastic Four #242, Contest of Champions #1-3, Dazzler #21, Marvel Team-up #123, Incredible Hulk #277-278 
Writing credits: Frank Miller (178-189), Roger McKenzie (183) 
Pencilers:  Frank Miller (178-184), Klaus Jansen (181,185-189)
The year begins with Kingpin trying to and successfully recruiting Elektra and Matt Murdock looking into Mayoral Candidate Randolph Cherryh as an intern has come forward with evidence he’s working for Wilson Fisk. Meanwhile, Nelson and Murdock have a new office in a New York high rise.  
Elektra then “encourages” Daredevil and Ben Urich to drop the Cherryh/Fisk story he’s about to run for the Daily Bugle. The latter getting a Sai in the chest.  
Despite this, Urich and Murdock realize Vanessa Fisk may still be alive and are able to find/rescue her from the King of the Sewers. Daredevil then hands her over to Fisk. In exchange, Cherryh (who was just elected Mayor of New York) is forced to resign his new post. Kingpin orders Elektra to kill Murdock’s partner, Foggy Nelson, as payback. 
In a BIG double Issue narrated by Bullseye, we see the villain escape prison, learn Matt Murdock’s secret, attack and kill Elektra before battling and losing to Daredevil which puts him in the hospital. This is our feature story this week. 
Murdock has trouble dealing with Elektra’s death and starts acting out at work and as our horned hero. At one point he accuses Kingpin of hiding her.  
A young girl on drugs takes a dive out of her school window and dies, and her brother, DD and the Punisher are all trying to track down the dealer responsible; Matt proposes to Heather. Daredevil and the Punisher get into a fight over how to bring the dealer to justice.  
The cover blurb "No More Mr. Nice Guy" is a reference to the 1972 Alice Cooper song of the same name. 
This is a reworking of a story that was pulled because of code concerns 
Next Foggy begins to investigate why Heather's company is making bombs and this causes him to run up against both Eric Slaughter and the Kingpin; Daredevil ends up caught in an explosion that messes up his radar sense. 
That doesn’t stop Murdock from gather evidence to take down Glenn Industries even as his other sense go haywire. Meanwhile He’s also pressuring Heather to accept the proposal. 
As Daredevil's hyper senses continue to get worse and he seeks out Stick for help; In a fight with the Hand, the Black Widow is poisoned. The ninja villain Kirigi is reanimated, and his body is made whole from his previous decapitation by Elektra. (Kah Ear Ah Gee) 
Black Widow is dying of poison she got in a fight with the Hand and is desperately trying to find DD to help; Matt is recovering his hyper senses in an isolation chamber under the watchful eye of Stick and his ninja. 
The year ends with The Black Widow dying to the poison but then resurrected by Stone (Stick’s right hand man); Daredevil and company have a free-for-all with the Hand, in which Stick gives his life to save Matt; Widow and Foggy break up Heather and Matt using handwritten notes; Stone tells Daredevil that the Hand is planning on resurrecting Elektra like they did Kirigi. 
Daredevil sales went up from 130,000 copies an issue in 1981 to 180,000 in 1982. 
New Powers, Toys or Places
New Supporting Characters
New Villains
This Week's Spotlight: Daredevil #181 from April 1982 “Last Hand” 
Recap
Why We Picked This Story
The Takeaway
Early Returns on Direct Market prove promising
Questions or comments
We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at questions@comicsovertime.com or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime.
------------------
THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES 
Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm.  You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/. 
The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts. 
Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data. 
Man Without Fear: Kuljit Mithra’s Daredevil site contains a staggering collection of resources about our hero, including news, interviews and comic details.   
The American Comic Book Chronicles: Published by TwoMorrows, these volumes provide an excellent analysis of American comics through the years.  Because these volumes break down comic history by year and decade they are a great place to get a basic orientation on what is happening across the comic industry at a particular point in time. 
Joshua and Jamie Do Daredevil: A fantastic podcast that does a deep-dive into Daredevil comics.  This ran from 2018-2020, and covered most of the first volume of Daredevil, and was a fun way to get an in-depth look at each issue of Daredevil from 1-377. 
My Marvelous Year: This is a reading-club style podcast where Dave Buesing and friends chose important or interesting books from a particular year to read and discuss.  This helped me remember some fun and crazy stories, and would be a great companion piece to Murdock and Marvel for those who want more comic-story-specific coverage. 
BOOKLIST 
The following books have been frequently used as reference while preparing summaries of the comic history segments of our show.  Each and every one comes recommended by Dan for fans wanting to read more about it! 
Licari, Fabio and Marco Rizzo.  Marvel: The First 80 Years: The True Story of a Pop-Culture Phenomenon.  London: Titan Books, 2020.  This book is sort of a mess, as the print quality is terrible, and Titan doesn’t even credit the authors unless you check the fine print.  It’s like this was published by Marvel in the early 60s! But the information is good, and it is presented in an entertaining fashion.  So its decent, but I would recommend you see if you can just borrow it from the library instead of purchasing. 
Wells, John.  American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960-1964.  Raleigh: Two Morrows, 2015.  Not cheap, but a fantastic series that is informative and fun to read. 
Wright, Bradford.  Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America.  Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.  This is the revised edition. 
Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History.  New York: DK Publishing, 2022.  The academic in my rails at using information from any work that doesn’t have an author credit, but this is a decent (if very surface) look at each year in the history of Timely / Marvel from 1939 to 2021.   
Cowsill, Alan et al.  DC Comics Year by Year: A Visual History.  New York: DK Publishing, 2010.  Because its nice to occasionally take a peek at what the Distinguished Competition is up to. 
Dauber, Jeremy.  American Comics: A History.  New York, W.W. Norton & Company, 2022.  An excellent, relatively compact history of the domestic comic industry from its 19th century origins through to recent 21st century developments.  An excellent successor to Bradford Wright’s Comic Book Nation. 

Murdock and Marvel: 1981

Episode 19 - Murdock and Marvel: 1981
Welcome, my friends, to the dawning of a new Golden Age for Marvel Comics! Researching this episode was also a trip down memory lane for for Dan, because this was the summer when he first pulled a comic book off the spinner rack.  Let's take a look back at the wonder that was 1981 in comics!
Announcement:
This Week in Marvel Unlimited – Hiatus while we rethink the format.  Siena has tired of current Marvel comics offerings...
The Year in Comics 
Notable and Newsworthy
Industry Trends
Eagle Awards or lack thereof
Passings
Wally Wood
https://www.fantagraphics.com/products/the-life-and-legend-of-wallace-wood-volume-1  
https://www.amazon.com/Wallys-World-Brilliant-Tragic-Worlds/dp/188759180X  
Fredric Wertham
https://www.amazon.com/Seal-Approval-History-Studies-Popular/dp/087805975X
The Year in Marvel
Events & Happenings
New Titles
New Characters
Series Ending
Who's in the Bullpen
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Ann Nocenti
The Year in Daredevil 
Appearances: Daredevil #168-177, Defenders #91, Amazing Spider-Man #218-219, Marvel Team-Up #107, Marvel Two-in-One #78, Marvel Team-Up Annual #4, Rom #23 and Moon Knight #13 
Writing credits: Frank Miller (168-177) 
Pencilers:  Frank Miller (168-177)
Inks: Klaus Janson (168-1977) 
The year begins with a bang as we are introduced to a previous love interest of Murdock’s, Elektra Natchois. This fantastic story is this week’s spotlight.  
Next Daredevil saves Bullseye who has a brain tumor and needs surgery. 
After that, We meet Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin. Who is negotiating giving up information on his former colleagues as an East Coast crime boss to the US government. His wife, Vanessa, goes to New York to hire Nelson and Murdock but is captured by the mob. She ultimately “dies” during a botched exchange that nearly kills Fisk. Angry, Kingpin reasserts control of the East Coast mob scene and hires a now healthy Bullseye as an assassin. Daredevil comes calling and takes Bullseye down but leaves the Kingpin in power to rebuild his organization. 
It’s during the previous story arch that - on the cover of issue 171, June 1981 – the cover notes Daredevil is back to a monthly title. 
Next, A lady killer is roaming the streets, and he looks exactly like Melvin Potter. Daredevil tracks down the man responsible for crippling Becky and clears the Gladiator. Important background information is given this issue on Rebecca Blake. She had been assaulted years ago by Michael Reese and lost the use of her legs. She had not reported the assault, but does so this issue at the urging of Matt Murdock. 
Kingpin secretly hires the Hand to take out Matt Murdock, but Elektra and Gladiator get in the way; When the Hand blows up his law office at the storefront, Daredevil loses his radar sense. 
Daredevil is without his radar sense and teamed-up with Elektra against the Hand and their master assassin, Kirigi. While Matt is off fighting ninja, Foggy is defending the Gladiator in court. 
Daredevil and Elektra hunt down Matt's old teacher Stick to try to get Murdock’s radar sense back; meanwhile Turk steals the Mauler uniform to try and take down Daredevil. Elektra has a final confrontation with Kirigi. (Kear-ah-gee) 
The year ends with Stick successfully helping Murdock get his radar sense back through training and some very vivid dreams. We learn Wilson Fisk is trying to put a figurehead in his control in the mayor’s office but is exposed by Ben Urich at the Daily Bugle. This angers Fisk who appears planning some sort of action – that may involve Elektra, whom he wants to find. 
New Powers, Toys or Places
New Supporting Characters
New Villains
This Week's Spotlight: Daredevil #168 from January 1981 “Elektra” 
Recap
Why We Picked This Story
The Takeaway
Women have been a big part of comics – in the stories and making them – for a LONG time now.
Questions or comments
We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at questions@comicsovertime.com or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime.
------------------
THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES 
Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm.  You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/. 
The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts. 
Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data. 
Man Without Fear: Kuljit Mithra’s Daredevil site contains a staggering collection of resources about our hero, including news, interviews and comic details.   
The American Comic Book Chronicles: Published by TwoMorrows, these volumes provide an excellent analysis of American comics through the years.  Because these volumes break down comic history by year and decade they are a great place to get a basic orientation on what is happening across the comic industry at a particular point in time. 
Joshua and Jamie Do Daredevil: A fantastic podcast that does a deep-dive into Daredevil comics.  This ran from 2018-2020, and covered most of the first volume of Daredevil, and was a fun way to get an in-depth look at each issue of Daredevil from 1-377. 
My Marvelous Year: This is a reading-club style podcast where Dave Buesing and friends chose important or interesting books from a particular year to read and discuss.  This helped me remember some fun and crazy stories, and would be a great companion piece to Murdock and Marvel for those who want more comic-story-specific coverage. 
BOOKLIST 
The following books have been frequently used as reference while preparing summaries of the comic history segments of our show.  Each and every one comes recommended by Dan for fans wanting to read more about it! 
Licari, Fabio and Marco Rizzo.  Marvel: The First 80 Years: The True Story of a Pop-Culture Phenomenon.  London: Titan Books, 2020.  This book is sort of a mess, as the print quality is terrible, and Titan doesn’t even credit the authors unless you check the fine print.  It’s like this was published by Marvel in the early 60s! But the information is good, and it is presented in an entertaining fashion.  So its decent, but I would recommend you see if you can just borrow it from the library instead of purchasing. 
Wells, John.  American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960-1964.  Raleigh: Two Morrows, 2015.  Not cheap, but a fantastic series that is informative and fun to read. 
Wright, Bradford.  Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America.  Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.  This is the revised edition. 
Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History.  New York: DK Publishing, 2022.  The academic in my rails at using information from any work that doesn’t have an author credit, but this is a decent (if very surface) look at each year in the history of Timely / Marvel from 1939 to 2021.   
Cowsill, Alan et al.  DC Comics Year by Year: A Visual History.  New York: DK Publishing, 2010.  Because its nice to occasionally take a peek at what the Distinguished Competition is up to. 
Dauber, Jeremy.  American Comics: A History.  New York, W.W. Norton & Company, 2022.  An excellent, relatively compact history of the domestic comic industry from its 19th century origins through to recent 21st century developments.  An excellent successor to Bradford Wright’s Comic Book Nation. 

Murdock and Marvel: 1980

Episode 18 - Murdock and Marvel: 1980
It’s a rough time for America and for comics in general, but big things are happening at Marvel this year, and it’s a great time to be a Daredevil fan.  Let’s talk a bit about the start of a new decade, and a new era for this podcast’s featured hero – welcome to 1980!
Announcement:
Duane screwed up... That's why the podcast was late last week. Sorry.
The Year in Comics 
Notable and Newsworthy
Industry Trends
Eagle Awards
The Year in Marvel
Events & Happenings
New Titles
New Characters
Series Ending
Who's in the Bullpen
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Louise Simonson
The Year in Daredevil 
Appearances: Daredevil 162-167, Avengers #191, Marvel Treasury Edition #25, Captain America #250, Defenders #88-90 and Marvel Two-in-One #69 
Writing: Michael Fleisher (162), Roger McKenzie (163-4), McKenzie/Miller (165-6), David Michelinie (167) 
Art: Steve Ditko (162), Frank Miller (163-7) 
After absorbing a large amount of radiation while stopping a malfunctioning reactor, Daredevil passes out and comes to with amnesia. Mr. Hyle, a boxing promoter, tries to recruit him to be a prizefighter – but when he refuses to fight - Hyle shoots his trainer causing Daredevil to regain his memories and he quickly defeats Hyle, his henchmen and a pet leopard. 
Next, Daredevil confronts the Hulk as he wreaks havoc in NYC. Daredevil convinces him to turn back in Bruce Banner. Banner agrees to leave the city, but in trying to do so the Hulk comes out again. Daredevil confronts again only to be badly beaten and collapses. Rather than killing Daredevil, a confused Hulk leaps out of the city. Daredevil lays motionless as our story ends.  
While in the hospital recovering from the Hulk attack, we finally get a payoff in the Ben Urich investigation into Murdock/Daredevil. Urich questions Daredevil and he admits the two are the same person. We get another recap of his origin story. After recounting his story, Matt tells Ben that if he publishes his story, he can no longer be Daredevil. After some reflection, Ben burns his papers keeping Murdock’s secret intact.  
Heather finds out that her company is doing business with Doc Ock, and Daredevil (alone) comes to her rescue when she is captured. The Widow realizes her relationship with Matt is through and leaves New York. This is our spotlight story for the week. 
Foggy’s wedding day with Debbie Harris finally arrives, but the Gladiator holds a group of kids (and their teacher/chaperone) hostage. Foggy “loses” the wedding ring giving Murdock an excuse to take down the Gladiator and return during the ceremony. Turns out the ring was in Foggy’s pocket the whole time. 
Issue 166 featured a new cover logo said to be designed by Miller. Slanted “Daredevil” with it getting smaller to larger. And just below it “The Man without Fear!” 
In Defenders, Matt Murdock acts as Kyle Richmond’s (aka Nighthawk) Lawyer and ends up fighting Fem-Force and is captured before being broken out by Nighthawk. The two then help the Hulk fight Fem-Forces along with Hellcat and Valkyrie – who are being mind-controlled by Mandrill. They free the defenders but Mandrill escapes. 
The year ends with a new villain, the Mauler who is going after Edwin Cord – who’s trying to recruit Murdock for a lawyer job at his company Cordco Incorporated. We learn Mauler is Aaron Soames, a 30+ year employee of Cord’s who was recently denied his pension due to a clerical error (he never existed). Mauler gets a bit of revenge by destroying Cord’s driver’s license and credit cards before being shot and killed by Cord’s security team. Because of his security clearance and the mauler suit being government property, Cord can’t be brought to justice beyond getting knocked out by Daredevil. 
New Powers, Toys or Places
New Supporting Characters
New Villains
This Week's Spotlight: Daredevil #165 July 1980 “Arms of the Octopus”
Recap
Why We Picked This Story
The Takeaway
Marvel is in an interesting place and an appreciation of Jim Shooter
Questions or comments
We'd love to hear from you!  Email us at questions@comicsovertime.com or find us on Twitter @comicsoftime.
------------------
THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING CREATORS AND RESOURCES 
Music: Our theme music is by the very talented Lesfm.  You can find more about them and their music at https://pixabay.com/users/lesfm-22579021/. 
The Grand Comics Database: Dan uses custom queries against a downloadable copy of the GCD to construct his publisher, title and creator charts. 
Comichron: Our source for comic book sales data. 
Man Without Fear: Kuljit Mithra’s Daredevil site contains a staggering collection of resources about our hero, including news, interviews and comic details.   
The American Comic Book Chronicles: Published by TwoMorrows, these volumes provide an excellent analysis of American comics through the years.  Because these volumes break down comic history by year and decade they are a great place to get a basic orientation on what is happening across the comic industry at a particular point in time. 
Joshua and Jamie Do Daredevil: A fantastic podcast that does a deep-dive into Daredevil comics.  This ran from 2018-2020, and covered most of the first volume of Daredevil, and was a fun way to get an in-depth look at each issue of Daredevil from 1-377. 
My Marvelous Year: This is a reading-club style podcast where Dave Buesing and friends chose important or interesting books from a particular year to read and discuss.  This helped me remember some fun and crazy stories, and would be a great companion piece to Murdock and Marvel for those who want more comic-story-specific coverage. 
BOOKLIST 
The following books have been frequently used as reference while preparing summaries of the comic history segments of our show.  Each and every one comes recommended by Dan for fans wanting to read more about it! 
Licari, Fabio and Marco Rizzo.  Marvel: The First 80 Years: The True Story of a Pop-Culture Phenomenon.  London: Titan Books, 2020.  This book is sort of a mess, as the print quality is terrible, and Titan doesn’t even credit the authors unless you check the fine print.  It’s like this was published by Marvel in the early 60s! But the information is good, and it is presented in an entertaining fashion.  So its decent, but I would recommend you see if you can just borrow it from the library instead of purchasing. 
Wells, John.  American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960-1964.  Raleigh: Two Morrows, 2015.  Not cheap, but a fantastic series that is informative and fun to read. 
Wright, Bradford.  Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America.  Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.  This is the revised edition. 
Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History.  New York: DK Publishing, 2022.  The academic in my rails at using information from any work that doesn’t have an author credit, but this is a decent (if very surface) look at each year in the history of Timely / Marvel from 1939 to 2021.   
Cowsill, Alan et al.  DC Comics Year by Year: A Visual History.  New York: DK Publishing, 2010.  Because its nice to occasionally take a peek at what the Distinguished Competition is up to. 
Dauber, Jeremy.  American Comics: A History.  New York, W.W. Norton & Company, 2022.  An excellent, relatively compact history of the domestic comic industry from its 19th century origins through to recent 21st century developments.  An excellent successor to Bradford Wright’s Comic Book Nation.