Cover: Frank Miller & Klaus Janson

Daredevil #184

Jul 1982 · Marvel · 0.60 USD; 0.25 GBP

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“Good Guys Wear Red!”

★ 1st appearance — Mr. Spindle

About this Issue

Daredevil #184 concludes the two-part 'Angel Dust' arc — the first time Daredevil and the Punisher ever shared a story together — and makes that team-up immediately and permanently contentious: the issue ends with Daredevil shooting the Punisher with his own gun, a climax that crystallizes the philosophical gulf between law-bound heroism and lethal vigilantism that would define the relationship of these two characters for decades. Frank Miller used the arc to argue, through Matt Murdock's words to young Billy O'Koren, that rules and laws are fragile but essential — a moral position that gains weight precisely because the story does not make following those rules easy or cost-free. The two-parter also represents a landmark in comics-and-censorship history: the material was originally drafted for Daredevil #167, rejected by the Comics Code Authority for its frank treatment of PCP ('angel dust'), and then substantially reworked before finally seeing print here in 1982, demonstrating the growing limits of the CCA's authority as the direct-sales market expanded. As the penultimate arc of Miller's own writer-artist run, it sits at the creative peak of one of the most consequential runs in Marvel's Bronze Age history.

"Good Guys Wear Red!" marks a pivotal moment in the Daredevil mythos, as Frank Miller and Miller (writing and art) deliver a tense, morally charged showdown between two iconic Marvel antiheroes. In this 1982 classic, Daredevil and the Punisher pursue the drug dealer Hogman, their conflicting approaches to justice sparking a volatile clash that ends with a shocking moment of violence. Klaus Janson’s stark cover art captures the issue’s raw intensity, while Miller’s storytelling and Janson’s inks heighten the drama of a hero pushed to the edge.

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

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (Fine) $8

CGC 9.8 · 669 in census $144

CGC 9.6 · 822 in census $61

CGC 9.4 · 473 in census $46*

CGC 9.2 · 253 in census $40*

CGC 9.0 · 180 in census $40

CGC 8.5 · 154 in census $38

Show all 16 grades ▾

CGC 8.0 · 93 in census $33

CGC 7.5 · 66 in census $20*

CGC 7.0 · 71 in census $20*

CGC 6.5 · 40 in census $20*

CGC 6.0 · 19 in census $20*

CGC 5.5 · 11 in census $20*

CGC 5.0 · 12 in census $20*

CGC 4.5 · 2 in census $20*

CGC 4.0 · 1 in census $20*

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

Newsstand $10 FN $10.99 NM- $12 FN+ $12.3 FN · Newsstand $12.5 VF+ $12.99 VF $14.23 VF $16

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History

The story was scripted by Frank Miller with uncredited plotting contributions from Roger McKenzie, with Klaus Janson providing finished art over Miller's breakdowns — the same division of labor that defined their celebrated collaboration throughout the run. Editor Denny O'Neil oversaw the book under editor-in-chief Jim Shooter, and the production team acknowledged real-world consultants (Ed Pollock and Ken Dias of Phoenix House, a drug rehabilitation organization) in the credits, a signal of Miller's commitment to grounding the story in social reality. The arc was originally planned to appear as early as Daredevil #167, but the Comics Code Authority rejected it; the team reworked the drug-related elements and it was eventually cleared for publication, appearing in issues #183–184 in mid-1982 — by which point the Code's grip on Marvel was visibly loosening alongside the rise of the direct market.

Trivia · 7 facts

First team-up of Daredevil (Matt Murdock) and the Punisher (Frank Castle) — Key Collector Comics and multiple sources confirm this as the primary key designation for the issue.
Story title: 'Good Guys Wear Red!' — written and laid out by Frank Miller, with finished art by Klaus Janson; Roger McKenzie received an uncredited co-plotting contribution.
The issue's cover blurb, 'No More Mr. Nice Guy,' is a direct reference to the 1972 Alice Cooper song of the same name.
The 'Angel Dust' arc (DD #183–184) was originally written for Daredevil #167 but was rejected by the Comics Code Authority; it was reworked and published here roughly two years later.
Climactic story beat: Daredevil shoots the Punisher with the Punisher's own gun — a narrative turning point that dramatizes the two characters' incompatible moral philosophies.
The issue was reprinted in the 1988 Marvel trade paperback Daredevil and the Punisher: Child's Play (collecting DD #182–184), one of Marvel's earliest collected trade paperback volumes, and later in the Daredevil Visionaries: Frank Miller Vol. 3 TPB, the Frank Miller & Klaus Janson Omnibus, the Essential Punisher Vol. 1, and the Punisher: Back to the War Omnibus.
A 2000 one-shot, Punisher v. Daredevil, also reprinted this issue alongside DD #183 and #257, further cementing the arc's status as a touchstone of the two characters' shared history.