Cover: Frank Miller & Klaus Janson

Daredevil #186

Sep 1982 · Marvel · 0.60 USD; 0.25 GBP

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“Stilts”

★ 1st appearance — Maxine Lavender

About this Issue

Daredevil #186, subtitled 'Stilts,' occupies a deliberate tonal pivot point in Frank Miller's celebrated run — situated between the death of Elektra in #181 and Miller's final issue at #191, it is widely regarded as the closest Miller came to writing outright screwball comedy on the title, demonstrating his command of narrative pacing and genre range. The issue deepens two long-running subplots that would have lasting consequences: the erratic deterioration of Matt Murdock's hyper-senses, which seeds his arc toward Stick's return, and Miller's morally fraught portrait of Matt's relationship with Heather Glenn — whose coerced marriage acceptance here is a key step in a chain of events that ultimately ends in her death in #220. It also crystallizes Miller's signature approach to street-level ensemble storytelling, weaving together multiple threads of Hell's Kitchen's underworld through Turk Barrett's comedic misadventure with the stolen Stilt-Man armor, a device that simultaneously deflates Stilt-Man's menace and celebrates the richness of the supporting cast Miller had built around Daredevil.

In "Stilts," Frank Miller and Klaus Janson deliver a tense, character-driven chapter of Daredevil’s saga, as Matt Murdock ramps up his campaign against Glenn Industries. With the Stilt Man’s armor in the wrong hands and Daredevil’s senses overwhelmed by unseen threats, Matt’s personal life collides with his vigilante duties—especially as he asks Heather to marry him. The cover by Miller and Janson captures the issue’s dark, brooding intensity.

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

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (Fine) $3

CGC 9.8 · 498 in census $69

CGC 9.6 · 247 in census $49

CGC 9.4 · 113 in census $26

CGC 9.2 · 55 in census $20*

CGC 9.0 · 41 in census $20*

CGC 8.5 · 15 in census $20*

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CGC 8.0 · 16 in census $20*

CGC 7.5 · 7 in census $20*

CGC 7.0 · 3 in census $20*

CGC 6.5 · 3 in census $20*

CGC 6.0 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 5.5 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 5.0 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 4.5 · 1 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

FN $2.69 VF+ $2.99 VF $3.5 VF · Newsstand $3.95 F/VF $4 Newsstand $4.77 NM $4.94 VERY FINE $4.99

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History

Written and laid out by Frank Miller with Klaus Janson providing finished pencils, inks, and colors — a division of labor consistent with their late-run collaboration — the issue was edited by Denny O'Neil with Ralph Macchio as assistant editor and Jim Shooter as editor-in-chief, the same editorial structure that oversaw the entire Miller era. Miller had been hired by O'Neil originally as artist, later taking on full writing duties; by this point in 1982 he was operating as scripter and layout artist while Janson executed the finished pages, a workflow that gave the interior art a recognizable visual cohesion despite the dual-hand approach. The issue went on sale May 25, 1982, carrying a September 1982 cover date, and has since been collected in multiple editions including the Daredevil Visionaries: Frank Miller Vol. 3 (2001), the Daredevil by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson Omnibus (2007), and a Spanish-language reprint in the Planeta DeAgostini Daredevil series.

Trivia · 7 facts

Story title is 'Stilts'; written and laid out by Frank Miller, with Klaus Janson on finished pencils, inks, and colors; lettered by Joe Rosen; edited by Denny O'Neil.
Central comedic set-piece: small-time hood Turk Barrett steals Wilbur Day's Stilt-Man battlesuit, pitches himself to the Kingpin as a new assassin, is flatly rejected, and is then defeated by Daredevil after Day himself reveals the armor's gyroscopic weakness.
Melvin Potter (the reformed villain Gladiator) appears operating a legitimate costume shop — a continuation of his redemption arc within Miller's run — and his store is the inciting location where Turk spots Day.
The issue advances the subplot of Daredevil's hyper-senses going haywire, causing him painful, uncontrolled sensory spikes; this thread directly feeds into the story arc that follows, involving Stick.
Heather Glenn's coerced acceptance of Matt Murdock's marriage proposal closes the issue, a moment that multiple commentators have read as Miller deliberately portraying Matt as emotionally manipulative — part of a character study that culminates in Heather's death in Daredevil #220.
Vanessa Fisk appears; the Kingpin has established a private hospital for her on the sixtieth floor of his tower, a character beat that reinforces Miller's humanizing of Wilson Fisk as a figure defined by obsessive devotion to his wife.
The issue has been reprinted five times: in Daredevil (Planeta DeAgostini, 1983 series) #18; Daredevil Visionaries: Frank Miller Vol. 3 (Graphitti Designs, 2000 series, 2001); Daredevil Visionaries: Frank Miller Vol. 3 (Marvel, 2000 series, November 2001); Daredevil by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson Omnibus (Marvel, 2007); and Daredevil by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson #3 (Marvel, 2008 series, 2009).