| Slot: |
Daredevil 3 |
| Item: |
Daredevil 3 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0264093005
|
Owner Comments
Overlord of Crime!"
The crooked financier known as the Owl is finally dragged into court on tax fraud charges. Desperate for representation, he flips through the phone book and randomly lands on Nelson & Murdock. Foggy wants nothing to do with him, but Matt insists they take the case—partly out of principle, partly because something about the Owl feels…off.
When the Owl casually skips his own hearing, Matt switches to Daredevil and scours the city for any trace of his new client. Hours of searching turn up nothing. Frustrated, he returns to the office and sends Karen home for the night.
Across town, the Owl is busy assembling his own brand of muscle: two hardened, non superhuman enforcers he nearly kills just to demonstrate his dominance—and his eerie ability to glide through the air. With his ego fully inflated, the Owl decides to make Matt Murdock the perfect patsy for whatever he’s planning next.
Later that night, as Matt prepares to leave the office in his Daredevil gear, he hears faint movement in the adjoining room. The Owl and his hired thugs are already inside. A fight erupts—tight quarters, bad odds—until Karen unexpectedly returns for her forgotten purse. The Owl’s men seize her instantly. With Karen’s life on the line, Daredevil surrenders.
Both captives are taken to the Owl’s cliffside aerie. Once there, Daredevil breaks free, gets Karen safely into a car, and sends her racing away while he confronts the Owl alone. The henchmen scatter to alert other mob bosses, hoping to impress them with Daredevil’s impending death.
The Owl springs a trapdoor beneath Daredevil, dropping him into the river below. Believing the hero finished, he flees his lair as police sirens close in. But Daredevil claws his way out of the water and intercepts the Owl’s escape boat, capsizing it and knocking the villain overboard. In the chaos, the Owl slips away into the night.
Back on shore, Daredevil changes back into Matt Murdock and calmly waits for the police to round up the remaining crooks. When Karen arrives, shaken but safe, she’s startled to find Matt already there—and the uneasy resemblance between him and the masked man who saved her lingers in her mind.
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Notes:
• In this issue, Daredevil develops a hood to store his civilian clothes in when in costume. This hood is later discarded in Daredevil #4, only one issue after its debut.
• Judge Lewis is not named in this issue. He will reappear in Daredevil #20.
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Publication Notes:
• Written with Raw Realism by: Stan Lee
• Illustrated with Daring Drama by: Joe Orlando
• Inked with Actual Artistry by: Vince Colletta
• Lettered with Perfect Precision by: S. Rosen
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I suppose I have two people to thank—and gently blame—for pulling me back into the deep, familiar waters of collecting: my twin, and the gentleman from "Lunch Money Comics," whose YouTube hunts feel like the kind of treasure seeking we all dreamed about when we were kids. Watching him flip through long boxes feels like hearing an old song you’d forgotten you loved.
This Daredevil issue is my first graded copy of him in the original costume, and the moment I held it, something in me slipped back to childhood. It felt like lifting a relic from those old afternoons—when the world was quieter, the colors were brighter, and a single comic could make the whole day feel enchanted again. The timing made it even sweeter. Just the day before, my twin handed me my very first raw Daredevil #6 for my birthday—one of those gifts that feels like it carries a whole childhood with it. That raw copy is already off being graded, beginning its own quiet journey.
Funny how collecting sneaks back into your life. One moment you’re just watching someone else chase memories on YouTube, and the next you’re holding one of your own.
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Collector’s Note — Daredevil #3 (Marvel, 1964)
Actual Publication Date: June 2, 1964
Cover Date: August 1964
This issue marks the first appearance of the Owl, one of the earliest villains to define Daredevil’s world. Though the cover date reads August, the comic truly entered circulation on June 2, 1964, according to U.S. Copyright Office periodical records. That on-sale date is the authentic moment this story stepped into the world—newsstands, spinner racks, and the hands of early Marvel readers.
For collectors, the distinction matters. The cover date is marketing; the on-sale date is history.
Bought from: wheatman24 (eBay Seller)
Sale Date: June 18, 2026
Received: June 27, 2026
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The comic hit the stands just 49 days before my twin and I arrived in the world—a small, almost mythic overlap between its first breath and ours.
|
| Slot: |
Daredevil 25 |
| Item: |
Daredevil 25 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
2053235006
|
Owner Comments
Enter: The Leap-Frog! — Synopsis
Release Date: December 8, 1966
Cover Date: February, 1967
Matt Murdock steps off a plane after a brief adventure in England—only to walk straight into chaos. A man in civilian clothes, a handkerchief mask, and spring loaded shoes is bounding across the runway, disrupting all takeoffs. Police shout warnings, calling him a “human frog,” while Matt’s radar sense measures the height and force of the stranger’s leaps. The man proudly announces himself as the Leap-Frog, insisting he means no harm and is merely “testing his new power.” But Matt can tell he’s dangerous.
When Leap-Frog grabs Matt in a chokehold to stall the police, Matt is forced to play the helpless blind man. He can’t risk revealing Daredevil’s skills in front of a crowd. An elderly woman even threatens the villain with her umbrella—“picking on a poor, helpless young man,” as the document notes. Leap-Frog eventually releases Matt and escapes, convinced his test run was a triumph. Matt lets him go; he has a more immediate problem—explaining his mysterious absence to Foggy and Karen.
Nelson & Murdock: Suspicion and Fear
Back at the office, Foggy and Karen have opened a letter addressed to Matt—supposedly from Spider-Man—claiming he knows Matt is Daredevil. Foggy scoffs at the idea; Matt is “totally blind,” after all. Karen is shaken. Daredevil was seen in England, but Matt has vanished, and she fears he may be gone forever.
Matt arrives just in time to hear Karen’s voice trembling on the verge of tears. He enters with a flimsy cover story: he’d been resting at the seashore and sent them a note that never arrived. He even invents a false flashback of impersonating Daredevil in the arena before the real Daredevil appeared—“a false flashback begins,” the document says. Karen doesn’t buy it. She reveals Spider-Man’s letter, and Matt realizes he needs a bigger lie.
The Birth of Mike Murdock
Cornered, Matt invents a twin brother—Mike Murdock, a secretive, wild adventurer who demanded his existence remain hidden. Foggy is incredulous; they were college roommates, and Matt never mentioned a brother. Matt argues that believing in Mike is still more reasonable than believing Daredevil is a blind man. Foggy insists on meeting Mike.
Once alone, Matt admits he has no idea how to maintain this lie. He dons the Daredevil suit, feeling more himself in crimson than in business attire. Daredevil, he realizes, may be his truer identity.
Leap-Frog’s First Crime Spree
Meanwhile, Leap-Frog—an inventor of novelty items for toy companies—prepares for a criminal career. He unveils his full costume, complete with a battery pack powering his super-springs. “He intends to make the Leap-Frog become the most famous name in the annals of crime,” the document states.
That night, he bounces through New York and robs a jewelry store. Daredevil, three blocks away, hears the alarm and intervenes. Leap-Frog’s speed and ricocheting movement make him nearly untouchable, and he escapes through a window, taunting the hero.
Mike Murdock Makes His Debut
The next morning, Foggy and Karen arrive at the office to find a flamboyant stranger in sunglasses and loud clothes—Matt’s new persona, Mike Murdock. He gushes about rock ’n’ roll, flirts with Karen, and irritates Foggy instantly. When a radio report announces Leap-Frog has robbed a bank, “Mike” dramatically exits, claiming he’s off to his “theme song.”
Karen is charmed; Foggy is repulsed. Both now believe Mike is Daredevil.
Daredevil vs. Leap-Frog:
Daredevil tracks Leap-Frog and ambushes him. The villain fights back, even clubbing Daredevil with stolen loot. Daredevil recovers, snares him with his Billy Club cable, and drags him down. After a brutal exchange—Leap-Frog feigning surrender, kicking Daredevil, and trying to escape—Daredevil knocks him out and sends him flying into a pool before delivering him to the police.
Aftermath:
Foggy and Matt receive a letter from Leap-Frog requesting legal defense. Foggy wants nothing to do with supervillains, but Matt insists on taking the case. The issue ends with the promise of a trial—and more complications for Matt’s new “brother.”
Notes
• This issue features the first appearance of Matt Murdock's second secret identity, that of his twin brother Mike.
• This issue features the first appearance of recurring super-villain Leap-Frog. He is seen in and out of uniform, but his civilian identity as "Vincent Patilio" is not given in the story.
• Two pages of the story are almost entirely devoted to demonstrating the various uses of Daredevil's Billy Club.
• The story continues in Daredevil #26 (March, 1967), with the trial and attempted escape of the Leap-Frog.
Credits:
• Editor / Writer: Stan Lee
• Penciler: Gene Colan
• Inker: Frank Giacoia
• Letterer: Artie Simek
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Purchased on eBay from: “jun-3588”
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