Cover: John Romita Jr. & Al Williamson

Daredevil #270

Sep 1989 · Marvel · 1.00 USD; 1.25 CAD; 0.50 GBP

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“Blackheart!”

★ 1st appearance — Blackheart

About this Issue

Daredevil #270 is the origin and first appearance of Blackheart, Mephisto's demonic 'son' — one of Marvel's most durable supernatural villains of the modern era. The issue marks the decisive pivot of Ann Nocenti's run from gritty street-level storytelling into full-blown cosmic horror: rather than fighting gangsters or corrupt institutions, Matt Murdock now faces a creature born entirely from centuries of accumulated human evil, a theological escalation that reshaped the book's identity. Blackheart's philosophical purpose — corrupting heroic souls rather than defeating them through brute force — gave Nocenti space to explore the nature of moral corruption and Catholic guilt in ways no Daredevil story had attempted before. Though debuting in a Daredevil title, the character migrated and became most strongly associated with Ghost Rider, cementing the issue's cross-title significance across Marvel's supernatural line.

In "Blackheart!", Daredevil faces his most monstrous adversary yet—a being forged from the world’s accumulated evil—born on a hill steeped in sorrow and suffering. With Spider-Man joining the fray, the battle tests both heroes’ limits in a fight that feels like a war against the very essence of darkness. Written by Ann Nocenti, with dynamic art by John Romita Jr. and Al Williamson, and colored by Max Scheele, the issue’s cover by Romita Jr. and Williamson captures the grim intensity of the moment.

writer Ann Nocenti · artist John Romita Jr. · inker Al Williamson · colorist Max Scheele · letterer Joe Rosen · cover John Romita Jr., Al Williamson

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (VF) $11

CGC 9.8 · 179 in census $208

CGC 9.6 · 242 in census $104*

CGC 9.4 · 175 in census $75*

CGC 9.2 · 80 in census $62

CGC 9.0 · 70 in census $60*

CGC 8.5 · 52 in census $54

Show all 17 grades ▾

CGC 8.0 · 34 in census $49*

CGC 7.5 · 8 in census $47*

CGC 7.0 · 10 in census $23*

CGC 6.5 · 8 in census $23*

CGC 6.0 · 4 in census $20*

CGC 5.5 · 5 in census $20*

CGC 5.0 · 3 in census $20*

CGC 4.5 none in existence

CGC 4.0 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 3.5 none in existence

CGC 3.0 · 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

VF $8.25 FINE $9.99 VF+ $9.99 Direct $10.5 FN $10.5 NM $11 VF · Newsstand $11.98 VF $11.99

Related listings we couldn't confirm as this exact issue · 77 total · seen 27 days ago

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History

By September 1989, Ann Nocenti had been the regular Daredevil writer since issue #238, and John Romita Jr. had joined her as penciler from #250 onward — a pairing Nocenti herself credited with elevating her ambitions toward 'something with a little more class.' The issue arrived in the immediate wake of Marvel's Inferno crossover, which had already dragged Hell's Kitchen into literal demonology; Nocenti channeled that momentum into an original creation rather than a borrowed Inferno villain, giving the creative team something purely their own. Ralph Macchio served as editor, with Marc Siry as assistant editor, and the full production team — inker Al Williamson, colorist Christie Scheele (credited under the pseudonym Max Scheele), and letterer Joe Rosen — was the same tight unit responsible for the run's visual consistency. Tom DeFalco was Marvel's editor-in-chief at the time of publication.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance of Blackheart (Earth-616), a demon created from centuries of accumulated evil at a cursed New York location called Christ's Crown — his origin and debut are both contained within this single issue.
First appearance of the fictional location Christ's Crown, New York, which becomes a recurring setting in subsequent Blackheart and Ghost Rider stories.
Written by Ann Nocenti; penciled by John Romita Jr.; inked by Al Williamson; colored by Christie Scheele (credited here as 'Max Scheele'); lettered by Joe Rosen; edited by Ralph Macchio.
Spider-Man (Peter Parker) appears as a co-star, teaming with Daredevil against Blackheart in an abandoned amusement park — Romita Jr. drawing one of his signature characters alongside his current title character.
Mephisto appears in a substantial supporting role, establishing the father-son dynamic with Blackheart that drives multiple subsequent story arcs, including Daredevil #278–282.
The story's central conceit — that Blackheart's true weapon is soul corruption rather than physical combat, attempting to lure Daredevil into an act of killing — is established in full within this debut issue.
Blackheart became a playable character in multiple Capcom arcade and console fighting games (Marvel Super Heroes; Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter; Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes) and was portrayed by Wes Bentley as the main antagonist in the 2007 Columbia/Marvel film Ghost Rider.
Marvel collected the surrounding Nocenti/Romita Jr. run, including this issue's broader story arc, in the Daredevil by Nocenti & Romita Jr. Omnibus series, preserving the creative context of Blackheart's debut in a major reprint format.