Issue 12 of Daredevil The Man Without Fear! is something of a turning point in the Marvel Age of Comics as it is with this issue that John Romita (Sr that is) returns to superhero comic art after an absence of over ten years (he drew Captain America in the mid '50s). After a decade of drawing romance comics exclusively for DC, the splash page of his first issue back in the heroics genre is a homage to that period.

Working from layouts by Jack Kirby for his first 2 issues, Romita quickly establishes himself as a major talent and his 8 issue stint on DD would steady the ship somewhat after the unevenness of the Everett/Orlando/Wood phase.

A two part story features Spider-Man almost on equal terms as DD, one of the better conceived hero partnerships of the era, and it would be no surprise that Romita would be chosen to replace Steve Ditko in Spider-Man's own mag a few months later.

The plots and characterisations are better conceived here too than in the first 11 issues but DD's real glory days were still to come.

With Romita having moved onto Spider-Man, Gene Colan takes over DD with issue 20. This would provide a crucial piece of the creative team required to push Daredevil into the upper echelon of Marvel heroes. Colan's moody, shadowy style would provide a grittier, nocturnal feel to the stories and a darker edge to Daredevil's character. Under Colan's visual direction, Daredevil would realise his potential at last. ( )