In the pages of Wastelanders: Hawkeye #1, the Man Without Fear shows, even older, he’s the Marvel Universe’s smartest fighter.
Nothing stops the Juggernaut. So why not just let him go?
That’s how Daredevil solves the problem of one of the X-Men’s most powerful enemies in the pages of Wastelanders: Hawkeye #1 by Ethan Sacks, Ibraim Roberson, Dijjo Lima, and VC’s Cory Petit. When the Juggernaut charges, the aged Hornhead simply steps asides. Cain Marko, full of rage and propelled by a mix of momentum and an oil puddle, can’t even think to stop before he goes tumbling over a cliff. As DD points out to an impressed Hawkeye, Juggie will survive the fall, but, for now, problem solved.
Fans of Daredevil know this is hardly the first time the Man Without Fear has boxed above his weight class. And no, that isn’t a Kingpin pun. Despite incredibly heightened senses, Daredevil has no super strength, healing factor, or energy blasts. All he has is inherent athleticism, years of training and experience, and, arguably most importantly, his brain.
That last factor has arguably proven his biggest asset over the years. His brain helped him beat an Ultron to destruction with only a large stick. His brain repeatedly kept him alive despite facing waves of Hand ninjas. His brain helped him defeat villains like Doctor Octopus and Electro that usually gave the decidedly more super-powered Spider-Man fits.
However, the fight most comparable to his triumph over Juggernaut is likely when Hornhead faced off with a diamond-powered Absorbing Man. Not only did he live to tell the tale, he quite literally took the villain apart piece by piece.
The Absorbing Man, Crusher Creel, possesses the ability to take on the properties of any matter he touches. In Daredevil #360 by Karl Kesel, Cary Nord, Matt Ryan, Jim Novak, and Christie Scheele, Creel uses brick, concrete, steel, and hot coals to brutalize DD. When the Man Without Fear manages to get off a lucky shot and briefly separate the Absorbing Man from one of his hands, though, the villain decides to get serious.
Using his strength to squeeze some coal into diamond, Creel then absorbs the gem’s natural properties. Thus, he becomes as strong as the hardest natural substance on Earth. If Daredevil was struggling against fists that hit like concrete, imagine him taking a punch as hard as diamond.
Diamonds, however, are not flawless. Literally. Every diamond, when uncut, has natural flaws. It’s how jewelers can cut them in the first place. And with a diamond as large as Creel, Daredevil’s radar sense is more than enough to detect those flaws. So using that knowledge, Matt Murdock goes to work on the bad guy.
With Creel’s own ball and chain and the butt of a revolver, Murdock pounds on Absorbing Man. He hits each flaw over and over, doing his best to dodge the villain’s blows. DD takes his arm, a hand, and a considerable chunk of Creel’s mid-section. In the end, Absorbing Man is simply too shattered to keep on fighting. The super-powered criminal surrenders rather than let Daredevil completely break him in half. He’s led away in power dampening cuffs as Hornhead teeters unsteadily on fatigued muscles.
As with Juggernaut, Daredevil seemed faced with an impossible opponent. Under the best of cases, Absorbing Man is stronger than the hero. He has frequently fought Thor is standstills. Adding in the power of Earth’s strongest natural material should’ve spelled doom for the Man Without Fear. Instead, Murdock outthought the bad guy. Not only did DD live to fight another day, he scored a total victory, albeit one that left him bruised and exhausted.
That’s why Daredevil has survived as long as he has. That’s how he survives to be an old man in Wastelanders. No matter the enemy’s strength, no matter their ruthlessness, DD can outthink them. So whether it is Absorbing Man in the middle of a New York City street, Kingpin in a plush penthouse office, or, like here, Juggernaut outside a ravaged village, the Man Without Fear is the Man Without Peer.
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