—DaredevilThe gas. It's dulling my senses -- no -- eliminating them. Taste and smell are gone...and judging by the growing numbness around a broken rib that should be agonizing, touch is fading, too.
Appearing in "Damned If You Do...Damned If You Don't"
Featured Characters:
- Daredevil (Matt Murdock) (Main story and flashback)
Supporting Characters:
- Nelson & Murdock
- Foggy Nelson (Main story and flashback)
- Kuljit (First appearance)
- Kirsten McDuffie
Antagonists:
- Chancellor Exchequer Beltane (First appearance)
- Doctor Doom (Victor von Doom) (Mentioned)
- Dr. Hantmarr (Scientist) (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- New Avengers (Mentioned)
- Avengers (Mentioned)
- Black Spectre (Mentioned)
- Silver Sable (Named only)
- Mole Man (Mentioned) (Only in flashback)
- Moloids (Mentioned) (Only in flashback)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Latveria
- United States of America
- Africa (Mentioned)
Items:
- Ganzfield Mist
- Daredevil's Billy Club
- Omegadrive (Mentioned)
- Daredevil's Avengers ID card
Synopsis for "Damned If You Do...Damned If You Don't"
After nearly a day of being trapped in a transparent cell, Daredevil begins to pick up clues to his whereabouts from the sounds and smells of his surroundings. The chime of a distant cuckoo clock, the time difference between his location and New York City, and the scents of flowers native to Eastern Europe all lead Matt to the startling revelation that he is in Latveria. Suddenly, armed guards enter the room where he is being held, accompanying a man who identifies himself as the Minister of the Bank of Latveria, Chancellor Exchequer Beltane.
Beltane tells Daredevil he owes Latveria a debt. Daredevil’s theft of the Omega Drive ruined Beltane’s arrangements to launder Megacrime’s finances and collect interest for his country’s use. Beltane says since Daredevil stole from Latveria, he will now steal from Daredevil. Beltane’s men insert a device into the air holes of Daredevil’s cell and begin to fill the chamber with gas. Thinking the gas is lethal, Daredevil tries to hold his breath but cannot. Much to his surprise, Daredevil survives inhaling the gas. Beltane tells him his debt has been paid and orders his men to release him.
Free from the chamber, Daredevil seizes Beltane and demands to know what was done to him. Daredevil fights with Beltane’s guards and then flees, jumping out the nearest tower window and down into the market below. Starving from his captivity, he grabs a piece of fruit as he runs and marvels at how tasteless it is.
Back in New York, Foggy has Matt’s office repainted. He reflects back on Matt’s discovery that the Mole Man had stolen every body in the cemetery where Jack Murdock was buried. His thoughts are interrupted by the phone ringing. On the other end of the line is Kirsten McDuffie. Kirsten tells Foggy her and Matt’s date was cut short by Black Spectre, and asks if he’s heard from Matt or Daredevil. Foggy says he hasn’t, and warns Kirsten that Matt is good at keeping secrets. He tells her has to go back to work, then turns his attention to Matt’s appointment book and rips out a page.
Still on the run in Doomstadt, Daredevil tries contacting the Avengers on his ID card to no avail. He manages to fight off a group of soldiers, but is blindsided by a concussive blast that knocks him into a flower shop. To his horror, he realizes he can’t smell the flowers, and that his other senses are disappearing as well.
In a lab at Castle Doom, Beltane gets a demonstration of the gas they used on Daredevil. Rather than a poison, it is an agent that carries nanobots into the subject’s system, which proceed to operate on the brain.
Though his senses continue to fade, Daredevil saves a shopkeeper from a careless soldier. The grateful man tells him the quickest way out of Latveria is northwest. Daredevil is able to steal a horse and uses his rapidly deteriorating sense of hearing to locate an approaching train that runs along the border. He rides hard along the border fence with Latverian soldiers hot on his tail, ropes at the ready. He attempts a jump from the horse onto the passing train, and as the world goes black he believes he’s made it. But in reality, he’s been lassoed and is being dragged back to Doomstadt behind the soldiers’ horses.
Solicit Synopsis
ASM 50TH ANNIVERSARY VARIANT ALSO AVAILIBLE
ASM IN MOTION VARIANT ALSO AVAILIBLE
“Megacrime and Punishment” continues!
• Daredevil imprisoned in Latveria for crimes against the state – and no amount of lawyering can get him out of there!
• Meanwhile, Foggy uncovers more evidence that Matt’s not quite the man he seems.Notes
- Despite the mask of Doctor Doom being on the cover, he does not appear in this issue though he is mentioned.