the Defenders

the Defenders, American comic strip superhero team created for Marvel Comics by writer Roy Thomas and artist Ross Andru. The group—which was more of a loose temporary affiliation than a traditional superhero squad—had its first appearance in Marvel Feature no. 1 (December 1971).

The seeds of the Defenders were sown in Sub-Mariner issues no. 34 and 35 (February–March 1971) by writer Roy Thomas and artist Sal Buscema. In that story the Sub-Mariner recruits the Hulk and the Silver Surfer to help him destroy a weather-controlling device. The so-called “Titans Three” initially run afoul of the Avengers, but the two groups soon reconcile. The combination of such seemingly incompatible characters struck a chord with both Thomas and readers. Later that year Thomas brought the Sub-Mariner and the Hulk back together, teaming them this time with Dr. Strange, as the Defenders, for a three-issue run in Marvel Feature. As in the Sub-Mariner story, the three superheroes unite to dispose of a doomsday device, in this case the Omegatron, a robotic construct containing a powerful nuclear weapon. While the heroes parted company at the end of the first issue, the pattern was set for adventures to come.

Shortly after the third issue of Marvel Feature, the team was promoted to its own comic with The Defenders no. 1 (August 1972), under writer Steve Englehart and artist Sal Buscema. Team members—including a returning Silver Surfer—rotated frequently, and Dr. Strange operated as a de facto leader, with the team using his Greenwich Village brownstone as its headquarters. The team gained its first new “regular” team member, the Asgardian warrior Valkyrie, in The Defenders no. 4. The Defenders fought a variety of Marvel villains, and they costarred in “the Avengers/Defenders War,” an eight-issue arc that ran in the titles of both teams. Soon afterward the group was joined by Nighthawk, a former villain who bore more than a passing resemblance to DC Comics’ Batman.

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When Steve Gerber took over as writer with issue no. 20 (February 1975), the comic entered its most memorable era. Gerber pitted the team—now reduced to a nucleus of Hulk, Dr. Strange, Valkyrie, and Nighthawk—against a group of deviant scientists known as the Headmen. One of them had his head transplanted onto the body of a gorilla, while another’s head was a large ruby-red sphere. Other foes included a celestial mind-control cult called the Bozos and an elf with a gun. Fans were by turns amazed, amused, and bemused. Gerber left the comic after issue no. 41 (November 1976); although subsequent writers retained some elements of the book’s trademark strangeness, by the turn of the decade The Defenders was just another superhero title. Issue no. 125 (November 1983) saw the book retitled The New Defenders, and most of the team’s original lineup was jettisoned to make way for former X-Men Angel, Iceman, and Beast in an attempt to capitalize on the X-Men’s soaring popularity. The fans failed to take the revamp to heart, and Marvel—opting to move its more lucrative stars into a comic with an “X” in its title—canceled The Defenders and created X-Factor in its place.

The team was subsequently revived numerous times, the first of which recalled the comic’s original premise of the “nonteam” by showcasing an eclectic assortment of superheroes. The Secret Defenders was based on Dr. Strange’s summoning the likes of Wolverine, Spider-Man, and the Silver Surfer to combat various mystical enemies, and it ran for two years. Other revivals included a 12-issue run (2001–02) by writer Kurt Busiek and artist Erik Larsen, a 5-issue limited series (2005–06) that offered a humorous take on the team, and a 12-issue run (2012–13) by writer Matt Fraction.