Daredevils #7

"Rough Justice"
Published July 1983
Writer: Alan Moore
Penciller: Alan Davis
Inker: Alan Davis

What's Going On?
At her trial, Saturnyne explains what happened on Jim Jaspers' world (Earth 238), and justifies her abandonment of Captain Britain in that warped reality; she saw that the Fury was indestructible, so she retreated and saved as many lives as she could.  This explanation is not good enough for the judge, Mandragon, though.  Unfortunately for Saturnyne, he has prevented her Avant Guard underlings from testifying.  That leaves only Captain Britain to corroborate her story; Mandragon discredits him by suggesting that Saturnyne and CapBrit are lovers and that he will lie to save her life.  Predictably, this leads to Captain Britain punching things, and the trial gets out of hand from there; Mandragon sentences Saturnyne to death, while the Special Executive decide to help Captain Britain brawl with the bailiffs.

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- We are finally treated to the story behind the mysterious woman from issue #2.  Her name is Linda, and she is from Earth 238, like Jim Jaspers and the Fury; she was that world's version of Captain Britain.  During a nightmare/flashback sequence, we see the Fury massacre her world's superheroes in quick succession.  Linda was spared at the last moment by her boyfriend, who managed to transport her to our reality.  I suppose watching one Captain Britain escape him at the last moment might help explain why the Fury has such a boner for hunting and killing our CapBrit.

- Captain Britain's reality (Earth 616) has a Jim Jaspers in it, and he is calling for superhero legislation, just like his counterpart did on Earth 238.  Uh-oh.

Writing!
The further I get into this run, the more I find myself enjoying it.  This is another issue that could have felt like the plot was only inching along, but it is just varied (and fun) enough for that not to matter.  At a glance, the intentionally one-sided trial of Sautrnyne is not very interesting, but balancing that obviousness with a massive brawl and the reluctance of Wardog to participate was a nice choice. 

Even better was the wholesale slaughter of the superheroes of Earth 238.  These throwaway characters could have just been analogues to more famous characters (and, okay, some of them definitely were), but they were colorful and odd.  Something about those characters --- particularly the robot, Andy --- just makes me smile and piques my interest.  Too bad they're all dead now.


Art!
Given how good Alan Moore is with facial expressions and comedic moments, I sometimes forget how effective his action scenes can be.  The Fury's attack really gives him an opportunity to flex his violent creativity.  Here we have three different deaths on a single page, all different from each other:

  

I like Davis' choice to keep the figure of the Fury ill-defined in this sequence.  The character has been seen clearly a number of times by now, but shrouding it in these panels places the focus more on the horror of the deaths than the empowerment of the killer.  It may seem like a small choice, but I think it pays huge dividends.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- In case you were wondering, the trial announcer was a reference to British television host Terry Wogan.  I don't know much about him, but let's just assume he's analogous to Dick Clark or Ryan Seacrest, which makes him being squished by a giant robot foot far more amusing.

- I love how cowardly Linda is as her dimension's Captain Britain.  I imagine that this is to give her a redemption character arc, but she is hilariously useless and whiny in this issue's flashback.

Worth Noting:
- This issue slyly references Marvelman (which Alan Moore was writing at the time, and which Alan Davis was drawing around this period), which was under legal dispute with Marvel Comics at the time, regarding the character's name.  This is the first time the character was referred to as "Miracleman."

And while he is not specifically named, Linda's boyfriend, Rick, is definitely wearing Kid Miracleman's costume. 

- This is the first reference to the Marvel Universe as "Earth 616."  It's not a huge deal, since it is primarily used online to differentiate between alternate reality versions of characters and in comics where the characters visit multiple realities, but I've always liked the term.  I just think it's clever to give the "prime" reality a number that implies that it is inconsequential in the larger scheme of things.  I suppose it was originally just intended for the Marvel UK Universe, but when that started being assimilated into American comics (mostly by Chris Claremont), I guess it was broadened to mean all of Marvel comics.