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The superhero industry is built on an illusion.
So perhaps I shouldnt be shocked by what comics writer Marv Wolfman says to me.
Im writing a piece about Bullseye, I tell Wolfman over the phone.
No one told you?
No, no, Wolfman replies, matter-of-factly.
I assumed it was a rumor.
Im genuinely taken aback.
Thats lovely, he says.
As will fans of Wolfmans brainchild or so the show hopes.
This Bullseye is a radically different interpretation from the one first seen in 1976s Wolfman-pennedDaredevilNo.
Thats to be expected.
The story of how he got there embodies the hidden collaborative process that powers superhero fiction.
Furys best bud Dum Dum Dugan (God bless comic-book names) shoots Bulls-Eye dead on the final page.
That doesnt mean there wasnt an antecedent to Wolfman and Romitas killer.
The name, too, stuck in his preteen Brooklynite brain.
It would prove useful once the lad grew up and became a professional comics writer.
Nevertheless, whenDaredevilwriter Tony Isabella had to drop that series, Wolfman took up the task of penning it.
Its a tough-but-fair accusation.
His swashbuckling, zinger-filled, mildly superpowered antics in New York City were far from revolutionary.
Nevertheless, he did leave a mark in the form of the nasty man he introduced in issue 131.
Wolfman was mostly just concerned with coming up someone who could lead to good fight scenes.
Were in the job of hurting people, Wolfman says of superhero writers.
How does the villain tax the hero as much as possible?
How does the villain create problems for the hero?
He had to craft an antagonist who could push DD to the limit.
Daredevils power is essentially that he can see things coming at him in radar vision, says Wolfman.
Daredevil is great in hand-to-hand, close-quarters fighting because he can predict where the fighter is.
But what if the villain is half a mile away?
He may not sense him.
Ergo the notion of someone whose specialty was projectiles.
But not just any projectiles after all, Daredevil was pretty used to sensing and dodging bullets.
If you throw a paper plane at him, he may not spot that as a threat.
Whatever else changes about the guy, that notion is his bedrock.
Genius that he was, Romita didnt need much time to come up with something bold and unforgettable.
His tools of choice?
Why, a paper airplane and a pen, of course.
Whats more, Hewants… hecravespublicity.
Figures it willfrightenhis future victims intopayinghim off right away.
The journo turns out to be right: Bullseye adores attention.
Bullseyes dialogue is light-years away from what it would turn into later in his publication history.
AndBullseyemust be the victor!
Id like to say its beenfun but Inever mix business with pleasure!Tata!
Then came the blow-dryer.
Writer Roger McKenzie took over the series and told a three-parter in the summer of 1979.
However, chapter two features him using his newfound skills to attack Daredevils sometimes-paramour, Black Widow.
They took power in one of the great gambles in comics history.
So from issue 168 on, Miller and Janson were the creative forces on the title.
ONeils bet paid off.
Frank did a 360 on the character and made you rethink everything you knew, Wolfman says.
He was a perfect fit for Daredevil, and I wasnt.
Miller was also, as it turned out, a perfect fit for Bullseye.
The baddies first story in the Miller era came in issue 169, a story called Devils.
Its a chiller to this day.
It is an act of mercy for which the villain will never forgive his savior.
But Im getting bored.
And when I get bored, I kill things).
The last words she hears are her killer muttering, through a toothy smile, And, for mynexttrick … Thats a very rare commodity.
My spine is shattered, Bullseye thinks to himself from a hospital bed.
I cant feel my arms or legs.
I cant even talk.
But, man, can Ihate.
I hate you more than ever.
And thatll be enough.
Though his body healed, his comic-book personality has stayed more or less the same ever since then.
He could use guns if necessary, but that took all of the fun out of killing.
Bullseye took pleasure in finding new and interesting ways to kill people using ordinary, everyday objects.
He even used a peanut on an airplane to choke an old woman to death.
In other words, Bullseye has an irresistible combination of sociopathy and innovation.
The best villains, says Johnson, have a way of seducing you.
He certainly seduced Erik Oleson.
However, the more he read about Bullseye, the more he felt hed found fertile ground.
Its true there is no firmly established origin for Bullseye in the comics.
Hell, we dont even know his real name.
There was that bit about the Korean War in his introduction, but that never got explored further.
AKevin Smithpenned issue in 2002 had a possibly-bullshit revelation that his name is Lester.
With Bullseye, Way says, theres always an angle.
Given all that, Oleson and his team had carte blanche to come up with whatever they wanted.
But thats the question for any superhero-comics adaptation, really.
For his part, Wolfman isnt precious about whats happened to his creation.
Hes not even particularly upset that Marvel didnt tell him they were using his brainchild.
I loved the first two seasons.DaredevilandJessica Jonesare my two favorites, andLuke Cage.
I dont watch any of theothers.
(Sigh, hasntIron Fistbeen through enough abuse?)
I enjoyed what I did, he says.
I dont think I did anything special.
