A changing of the guard before the guard changed…
Daredevil #16 (May 1966) and #17 (June 1966). Pencils for both by John Romita and inks by Frank Giacoia.
By PETER BOSCH
It almost got by us! It’s true there’s been no announcement from Marvel of a Facsimile Edition recognizing this great achievement, but March 3, 2026, must not be allowed to pass into history without acknowledging a very special anniversary. A 60th anniversary, to be exact. It was on this day in 1966 that if you went into your local grocery store to look at the most recent comics just put on the spinner rack, you would likely have been absorbed by the cover of Daredevil #16, with the Man Without Fear in combat with Spider-Man high over the city of New York.
While Spidey visiting another hero’s comic book title was not necessarily an unusual occurrence, inside the issue was the future. It was the first time John Romita would draw Spider- Man in any story. This was two months ahead of The Amazing Spider-Man #39!
Daredevil #16 (and #17) was practically a preview of what comics fans around the world were soon to see on a monthly basis. Per Marvel Year-by-Year: A Visual History (Random House), “Sensing that Steve Ditko was preparing to leave The Amazing Spider-Man, Stan Lee decided to use Daredevil #16 and #17 to test John Romita’s ability to draw the webhead, Aunt May, and J. Jonah Jameson.”
The set up for the story was simple, actually a standard Stan Lee blueprint for the Marvel superhero comics of the Sixties, when practically any two heroes within sight of each other would start a brouhaha. In this case, the bad guy of the yarn, the Masked Marauder, had his gang dress up in Daredevil costumes (in one of the silliest panels ever) and he positioned them around the city.
When one would see Spider-Man, “Daredevil” would do a quick attack upon him – and then run away! It only took a couple of these hit-and-runs for Spidey to go into full-on attack mode when the real DD happened along (which allowed the Marauder and his gang to carry out a major robbery elsewhere). What followed was a four-color battle that would have made Jack Kirby jealous.
In honor of that great “test” from 60 years ago, enjoy this sampling of 13 of those exceptional pages pencilled by Romita (and inked by Frank Giacoia):
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MORE
— Bask in This Original SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN Cover Painting by JOHN ROMITA. Click here.
— This JOHN ROMITA SPIDER-MAN Illo Is So Pretty and I Want to Own It — Don’t You? Click here.
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13th Dimension contributor-at-large PETER BOSCH’s first book, American TV Comic Books: 1940s-1980s – From the Small Screen to the Printed Page, was published by TwoMorrows. (You can buy it here.) A sequel, American Movie Comic Books: 1930s-1970s — From the Silver Screen to the Printed Page, is out now. (Buy it here.) Peter has written articles and conducted celebrity interviews for various magazines and newspapers. He lives in Hollywood.
March 3, 2026
The last panel on page 16, I had a sticker of it up on my bedroom mirror as a kid, but didn’t know until years later where it was from.