A few people have been wondering why I chose to introduce Daredevil at this point in the story. I'll admit it seems awkward, since I seemed to be developing this interesting little Hulk tale, then I suddenly stopped dead in my tracks and started talking about something else. The reasons are two. First, I had this planned as a Father's Day 2005 tribute, which as you can see, is quite late. Second, Daredevil plays a very important role later on in MKA in relation to Banner's quest. I love DD, and I wanted to establish him as a character prior to his eventual meeting with Banner so he wouldn't just come across as a "guest star". Plus, in order to understand DD's later role, I needed to establish the similarities between Banner and Murdock, or at least hint at them. They have a lot in common, and that's a huge part of why I've chosen for them to meet face-to-face.

Say what you will about fan-fiction: It's pointless in a way, true. I mean, who cares? I suppose most, if not all, comic books creators are fans first, and you have to start someplace. But I take this story seriously, and given my space and time constraints, I don't have the luxury of putting in pointless fight scenes or "team-ups" that are so common in mainstream comics. I'm not being arrogant and saying that I'm better than official Marvel books, not at all, because I love a good pointless fight once in a while. I love watching Hulk and Thing pummel each other for no good reason for 20+ pages. That's fun. I just don't have the opportunity to do that here, because my main goal is telling a story and making sure that all my plot points fall in a row. It takes me three months to finish one 12-page issue for crying out loud! Rest assured, Hulk and Thing will fight in MKA, and it's a good one, but there's a reason for it.

There's also a reason why Banner and Murdock will meet and try to help each other. Hint: They both have childhood/father issues; they both have had the love of their life taken; they both feel responsible for those deaths; they both have a lot of anger and fear built up inside of them. Plus, Hulk and DD is the classic "man of science, man of faith" confrontation. Banner is losing his faith in science, while at the same time Matt is losing his faith in God and the law. Both men will try to help the other regain some of what he's lost. But we can discuss all that when we get to it in three or four issues.

Going back to Issues 4 and 5, I sort of gloss over the anger that Matt felt as a child, what with his mother leaving, his father's murder, as well as the death of Elektra later on and his frustrations with the Kingpin. I also gloss over the religion aspect of DD. There are a few crosses here and there, but his faith in God is essentially a non-issue right now. Originally religion played a bigger role, as it should in DD's world, and I had Matt narrating this story to Father Everett, a character from the Daredevil film that I've adapted for my story. He's still telling the story to Everett, but it also works as if he were talking directly to us. Everett will appear in the flesh in the upcoming DD/Hulk story. Yet another thing I left out was Matt's training at the hands of Stick. There just wasn't room in these two issues for him, so he wound up on the cutting room floor. I may try to squeeze him into the Hulk/DD story. Matt's relationship with Stick is another source of anger and frustration, and the whole anger thing is really at the forefront of the later story. It sounds like I'm covering my butt and making excuses for the shortcomings of my comic, and maybe I am, but it's a real challenge to squeeze only the most important story points into 12 pages. Certain things get pushed back, others get eliminated altogether. Them's the breaks.

Anger is really what this overall story is all about. It's about the anger of Banner, Ross, Frank, Matt, Peter, Otto, Reed and Ben, and so on and so forth. Everybody's a little upset and they each have perfectly good reasons for it. I hope to explore WHY they feel the way they do. Banner is the poster boy for anger management issues and his interactions with the people he encounters help to unlock a little about his own past and why he turns green. And like the Bixby show, Bruce is able to help everyone he comes across but can't seem to help his own plight. The answers are right in front of him but he can't even see them. It's tragic, really.

Regarding the things I've left out or only hinted at in Issues 4 and 5: Since this was originally designed as one 16-page issue, and I split it up mid-production, certain things got messed up. In Issue 4, I mention the "promise" that Matt made to his father, but then I realized that I rearranged the scene where that promise is made, pushing it back until Issue 5. So when you're reading Issue 4, you don't really know what that promise entails. I take care of that right away in Issue 5, and beginning that issue with another childhood flashback works great in my opinion.

Another thing I introduced without really explaining was Salvatore Costa. He's a semi-original character I've created, based on the Jose Quesada character from the Daredevil film. In MKA, he's connected to the same "Costa" crime family that gunned down the Punisher's family. I'm aware that Matt Murdock is technically a defense attorney, not a prosecutor, but is anyone really keeping score here? You can use your imagination and assume that Sal Costa did something naughty. Let's pretend he owns an apartment building and he's trying to kick out a bunch of poor old folks that can't afford to pay the rent after he raised it to some insane amount. Sal took the old folks to court in an attempt to get them thrown out on the street, and Matt is defending them. Matt loses the case, Kingpin and Sal shake hands (Issue 4, Page 10), Daredevil assaults him (page 11), and that's that. Maybe I should add some elderly people in that courtroom scene, no?

Anyway, Sal's a despicable guy and he's done more terrible things that you'll see at a later date. His role isn't finished yet. Of course, I'm counting on you having perused the MKA character designs page, since I never mention Sal's last name in the issue. Oh well. Suffice to say, he ain't dead and DD's not finished with him yet. And neither is Frank Castle.

Speaking of Frank: looking ahead to the immediate future with Issue 6, we finally meet the Punisher and "the chase" begins. Frank stands in for Jack McGee from the old Hulk TV series, only he's even more persistent and a tad more violent. Err--maybe more than just a tad. Issue 6 signals the end of "Act 1" of 'MKA'. From there we move to New York City (Banner's destination hinted at in Issue 3) where the "meat" of my story takes place. Banner's searching for help and answers, and he'll get a little of both, plus some unfortunate obstacles.

Until then, I hope you're all enjoying what I've done so far, and I hope you stick around for the long haul. I think it will be worth it.