Daredevil Epic Collection, Vol. 5: Going Out West

Daredevil Epic Collection

by Gerry Conway (Writer), Gil Kane (Cover Art), Gene Colan (Illustrator)

Daredevil and the Black Widow ditch New York City and are going out West get some peace, love and appreciation. No, scratch that: It’s new challenges and classic villains alike—Electro, Killgrave the Purple Man and Mr. Fear, just to new a few. All courtesy of Gerry Conway and the unmatched art team of Gene Colan and Tom Palmer! Then, Steve Gerber introduces adversaries weirder than anything on Haight-Ashbury. The Dark Messiah and Angar the Screamer lead the charge until Stilt-Man comes to strut his way across the Golden Gate. Topped off with a crossover adventure co-starring the Avengers and X-Men, a Spidey team-up and a fight with Kraven the Hunter turns decidedly cosmic. 

COLLECTING: Daredevil (1964) 87-107, Avengers (1963) 111

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Science Fiction, Crime, Superheroes, Fantasy, Comic Book

472 pages, Paperback

First published January 25, 2022

About the author

Gerard Francis Conway (Gerard F. Conway) was an American writer of comic books and television shows. He was known for co-creating the Marvel Comics' vigilante the Punisher and scripting the death of the character Gwen Stacy during his long run on The Amazing Spider-Man. At DC Comics, he was known for co-creating the superhero Firestorm and others, and for writing the Justice League of America for eight years. Conway wrote the first major, modern-day intercompany crossover, Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man.

On April 27, 2026, Marvel Comics announced on its website and social media accounts that Conway had died at the age of 73.

News of Conway's death from Wikipedia

Reviews

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was rolling along pretty good. Daredevil and Black Widow have left NY and set up shop in San Francisco along with Ivan. I learned about Ivan in the Black Widow Strikes omnibus. The first major story is with with Mr. French and the mysterious Project Four. After that, one by one, these other villains start showing up. Ramrod, Angar the Screamer, and the Dark Messiah. We learn they are all connected, created by the same person for one ultimate goal. All this stuff was pretty good but what hurt this score was the treatment of Black Widow. She in my top 5 favorite Marvel characters so it was tough to read her with that “1970s” haze on here. Woman weren’t handled or treated that well in this era and it shows here. She was always running to the arms of someone to hold her as she cried. Or treated as an object as Daredevil and Hawkeye fought over her. Man, that issue was one of the most cringiest things I ever read. 🤦🏾‍♂️ But again, outside of that, some solid stories in here.

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm just going to say this: Daredevil flies a quinjet. And to add to the seriousness of the writing here, there's an issue where Hawkeye makes an appearance and throughout the story, he wants to kill Daredevil because "he stole" "his girl" Black Widow. I mean.. how the series managed to reach 100 issues while the X-Men was canceled, it's just amazing.

[Sean Gibson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Things get appropriately weird when DD and Black Widow relocate to San Francisco. Gene Colan continued his masterful run that, while it had a slightly unhealthy obsession with working in Angar the Screamer as much as possible, expanded and diversified the DD universe in fun ways.

Also: who knew DD would instantly have a thing for bald chicks when he briefly got his sight back?

[Caleb · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another mixed bag volume. There are some good stories in here, but there are also a few slogs to get through. I don't actually have a ton to say otherwise. The transition to San Francisco continues here and is neat at times, as is the pairing with Black Widow. This team-up makes for some clever moments here and there. Granted, this also shows off more than it's fair share of sexist characterization by making Widow little more than a damsel in distress a few too many times.

Oh, and that Avengers crossover might be the worst Daredevil story I've read so far. To have a whole issue devoted to Daredevil and Hawkeye fighting over Black Widow is just dumb, and the continuation of the story after that isn't much better. I can only hope that I run into some better stories in the next volume.

[Shawn Gallagher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This not the best Daredevil, but I have such a soft spot for this type of storytelling. Long thread line told in short bursts. The intro of Thanos and the other characters from Titan, is weird nostalgia. I would really call this 3.5 stars but I'm nice.

[Al McCarty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the points go to the Colan/Palmer art, some go to the Gerber scripts ar the end.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is wonderful Bronze Age Marvel. So far-out. Gene Colan art. Surprised at how nothing turned out as one would expect. The villains were all the weirdest and with the most inscrutable motives. The teaming of Daredevil and Black Widow is the most stylish and beautiful thing to see. Frank Miller's runs were the deepest and most respectful but this stuff is quirky and just delightful.

[Rick Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Daredevil makes the trip the Bay Area alongside his current fling, the Black Widow in Daredevil Epic Collection, Vol. 5: Going Out West.



Collecting the tail end of Gerry Conway's run and beginning the Steve Gerber era of Daredevil, this era was marked by a bit of decreased interest (and sales) of the title. To revitalize interest, Black Widow was used to spruce up the series. By issue #92, the series would feature covers establishing the title as Daredevil and the Black Widow, something that would continue on to issue #107 (the entirety of which is collected in this Epic Collection). Though the initial introduction of Black Widow helped, many readers felt the emphasis on her over Daredevil was diluting the quality. Gerber begins to re-emphasize Daredevil's role during the latter stretch of the Daredevil and the Black Widow era, and that began to ignite higher sales once more.



This stretch of Daredevil certainly feels its age, with Black Widow often portrayed as a hysterical damsel in distress with Daredevil talking down to her in these instances. A clear soap opera quality also emerges here, with the pair establishing a "will they or won't they?" dynamic that was sure to keep readers on the edge of their seats back in the early '70s. Since this smack dab in the Comics Code Authority era, there are some intriguing byproducts of this time. Since Widow and DD aren't an established couple, their shared house in San Francisco involves them living on separate floors, with Widow's handler, Ivan Petrovich hanging around nearby as a chaperone of sorts.

Aside from this, the title was a pretty standard fare superhero beat 'em up for this period. Daredevil and Black Widow take on villains like Electro, the Purple Man (both individually and then in an immediate supervillain team up), Mr. Fear (the third such version of the character), Stilt-Man, Man-Bull and Kraven the Hunter. This was definitely a forgettable era of Daredevil stories, with just the title and location change being the more memorable aspect. What works really well here is Gene Colan continuing to establish a more distinctive style, one that is much more in line with his lauded work on Tomb of Dracula.

[Caio Amaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

E não é que, apesar dos diferentes escritores e artistas, esse volume é o que mais tem uma consistência do que hoje chamamos de arco? O quadrinho passa literalmente a se chamar Demolidor a a Viúva Negra e acompanhamos as aventuras desses dois super-heróis em São Francisco, onde passaram a morar juntos! Essa estabilidade do personagem demolidor (ele passa essas 30 edições sem questionar se deve continuar sendo herói ou trocar de namorada) possibilita uma estrutura que hoje conhecemos como "série de TV", com monstro da semana e uma história principal que vai se desenvolvendo bem aos poucos. É realmente divertido acompanhar para a onde a história vai e, apesar de terminar com uma trama cósmica, que acaba tirando a urbanidade dos dois personagens, é uma novidade para o demolidor que, até então, nunca havia lidado com um problema dessas dimensões (e confesso que eu vibrei quando, no fim, o Matt põe em risco sua identidade secreta para lutar com o vilão sem fantasia e também precisa abdicar de "enxergar" novamente para poder salvar o dia)
Curioso como a recém criação do Thanos na HQ do Homem de Ferro já foi impactando as histórias dos outros heróis tão cedo.
Estou bem feliz dessa guinada que as histórias do demolidor tiveram desde a edição #81 no encadernado anterior e acredito que tem a ver com a entrada do Gerry Conway e Steve Gerber nos roteiros, até a arte do Gene Colan passou a me agradar mais!

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few issues into this collection, the editors came up with a clever idea. They change the title to Daredevil and the Black Widow. Does this mean the protagonist share equal time on the page? Hell no. Most issues Natasha runs off to do her own thing because DD makes an asshole remark or treats her like she needs his protection. There is an implied relationship, but more romance with the friendly police officer, who loves giving out hugs, than anything else.

The series has taken a step down in quality this collection. The main reason is that it has changed from a romance comic to a recycled villain comic. Within 10 issues we have two different bad guys who start out little and use a magic item to get bigger and suck the life out of people. We have the fifth time Stilt Man has returned. Characters like Magneto, Electro, Kraven the Hunter, And Moon Dragon who have temporarily been borrowed from comics where they were better suited.

But it’s not all bad. Angar the Screamer is a disillusioned hippie that distorts reality with his voice. Daredevil and Hawkeye fight for Natasha’s affection. And it’s as awkward as you can imagine. Ernie Chan inks a few issues, and even though it’s not as good as his Buscema stuff, it’s still pretty good. And even though Moon Dragon is out of place, her appearances are still pretty cool. And come on, Madame McEvil is a fantastic name.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

70s Conway is not a favorite. Unfortunately Gerber doesn’t save the day.

This isn’t Colan’s best work either. It feels like his attention is elsewhere and his inker is finishing up (more than normal).

Forgot Moondragon’s first (adult) appearance is here. DD feels like a weird place for Starlin’s cosmic war against Thanos to bleed over. And Drax’s lost daughter is as annoying in her first appearance as she will continue to be.

It was fun to see Claremont do one of those fuller one-shots as he tries to break into the American side of Marvel’s publishing.

[Doug Duncan · Rating 3 out of 5]

i will always appreciate the gene colan drawn issues of daredevil, but I will also say that after he leaves the art is still very good. im a bit mixed on a lot of the stories in here, I definitely feel this is a weird time for the character where it almost feels like that have no idea what to do with him for the most part.

[✨! · Rating 1 out of 5]

The emotion I felt when I finished reading this was akin to me waking up from a nightmarish fever dream where I don't quite remember what happened but am still left with a powerful feeling of disdain and incredulity. This whole thing felt like a shitty fanfic I'd read at like 4 AM when my sleep-deprived brain is complete sludge and my bar is at the bottom of the ocean. They do some weird shit in this comic and I'm really not a fan of any of it.

Black Widow is written horribly in this. She's always saying that she's not a damsel in distress, but the authors have literally no idea how to write women in any other way. She's always getting knocked out or treated like shit and it gets old very fast

At the end of the collection Daredevil suddenly meets a woman from space??? When a bald lady named fucking Moon Dragon shows up I was actually this close to rage quitting. Maybe this fits in with the overall arc of Marvel comics as a whole, but as a person who was just reading Daredevil this came entirely out of left field I was absolutely flabbergasted

Idk the Chris Claremont Stilt-Man issue (#102) was ok

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

This holds up much better than most old comics. Gerry Conway scripts and Gene Colan's art are both very good. Midway through Steve Gerber and Don Heck take over.

Daredevil and Black Widow move to San Francisco where they fight the likes of Electro, Kilgrave the Purple Man, Mr. Fear, Stilt-Man, and Kraven the Hunter. Plus, team ups with the Avengers, Spider-Man and Captain Marvel. In issue #100, Daredevil meets and is interviewed by Jann Wenner, the editor of Rolling Stone. The funniest thing about this is that Moon Dragon reveals she used to be called Madame McEvil.

[Gary Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Great Marvel Readthrough, pt 290