Cover: Frank Miller & Klaus Janson

Daredevil #166

Sep 1980 · Marvel · 0.50 USD

☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join free

“Till Death Do Us Part!”

★ 1st appearance — Betsy Beatty

About this Issue

Daredevil #166 marks the debut of Betsy Beatty, the social worker whose compassionate relationship with Melvin Potter would eventually redeem the Gladiator and become one of Bronze Age Marvel's most quietly affecting character arcs. The issue also delivers two milestone domestic events for the supporting cast in a single story: readers finally learn that the Gladiator's civilian name is Melvin Potter, a detail withheld since the character's 1966 introduction, and Foggy Nelson marries Debbie Harris — a union that anchored the series' personal drama until Daredevil #214. Coming at the very end of writer Roger McKenzie's tenure, it is the last chapter of the McKenzie–Miller co-plotting partnership that laid the narrative infrastructure Frank Miller would build his defining solo run upon, beginning just two issues later.

In "Till Death Do Us Part!", Daredevil races against the clock when Gladiator takes a group of children hostage in a museum, forcing the masked hero to confront a deadly threat while trying to reach Foggy's wedding on time. Written by Roger McKenzie and Frank Miller, with bold artwork by Frank Miller and inks by Klaus Janson, this 1980 issue captures the intensity of a hero stretched thin—between duty and friendship—on a cover by Miller and Janson.

writer Roger McKenzie · writer, artist Frank Miller · inker Klaus Janson · colorist Glynis Wein · letterer Joe Rosen · cover Frank Miller, Klaus Janson

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (Fine) $8

CGC 9.8 · 59 in census $275

CGC 9.6 · 86 in census $131

CGC 9.4 · 61 in census $107

CGC 9.2 · 36 in census $42

CGC 9.0 · 19 in census $42

CGC 8.5 · 15 in census $42

Show all 16 grades ▾

CGC 8.0 · 13 in census $30*

CGC 7.5 · 11 in census $27*

CGC 7.0 · 5 in census $23*

CGC 6.5 · 8 in census $21*

CGC 6.0 · 6 in census $20*

CGC 5.5 · 3 in census $20*

CGC 5.0 · 3 in census $20*

CGC 4.5 · 2 in census $20*

CGC 4.0 none in existence

CGC 3.5 · 2 in census $20*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

More listings for this title

GOOD $6 VG · Newsstand $7 FN · Newsstand $7.5 GOOD · Newsstand $8 VF $9.99 FINE $9.99 MINT $9.99 VF+ $10

Related listings we couldn't confirm as this exact issue · 73 total · seen 28 days ago

Sell my copy

Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.

We Buy Collections ▸

Fast, fair offers · we handle grading & shipping

History

The issue was written by Roger McKenzie and co-plotted with penciler Frank Miller, with inks by Klaus Janson, colors by Glynis Wein, letters by Joe Rosen, and editing by Denny O'Neil under editor-in-chief Jim Shooter — the same core team that had been steadily elevating the title's quality since Miller's arrival. It carries a September 1980 cover date and released June 3, 1980. Notably, production history around this period was turbulent: according to comics historian bloggers who tracked the run in detail, Miller had already drawn an earlier, different version of issue #166 that was scrapped and replaced by this story, meaning the eventual printed issue was essentially rebuilt from scratch under time pressure. The new cover logo that debuted on this issue was also designed by Frank Miller, one of several quiet design contributions he made to the book's visual identity before assuming full writer-artist control.

Trivia · 8 facts

Title: 'Till Death Do Us Part!' (September 1980, Marvel Comics, Vol. 1 #166)
Creative team: Writer Roger McKenzie, co-plotter/penciler Frank Miller, inker Klaus Janson, colorist Glynis Wein, letterer Joe Rosen, editor Denny O'Neil
First appearance of Betsy Beatty, Melvin Potter's social worker, who would later become his therapist and eventually his wife
First issue to reveal that the Gladiator's civilian name is Melvin Potter — information withheld from readers since the villain's debut in Daredevil #18 (1966)
Foggy Nelson marries his longtime fiancée Debbie Harris in this issue, with Matt Murdock serving as best man; the marriage would last in continuity until Daredevil #214
Final Daredevil issue written by Roger McKenzie; Frank Miller would take over as sole writer beginning with #168
Features a new cover logo for the series, designed by Frank Miller
Reprinted in the Daredevil by Frank Miller & Klaus Janson Omnibus (2007, with subsequent editions in 2013 and 2016) and in the collected edition Daredevil: Frank Miller & Klaus Janson Vol. 1