New Defenders #130 (April 1984)

Much like in our world, the 1980s of the Marvel Universe had the specter of the Cold War hanging over it. And there were plenty of supervillains who wanted to use that to achieve their own goals. One villain wanted to not only heat up said Cold War, but ignite it to the point it would destroy the Earth. And only one team of heroes could stop it. Not the Avengers, not the Fantastic Four, not the X-Men. The ragtag bunch of heroes known as the New Defenders. Can they succeed? Let's find out in New Defenders #130!

The cover is a Frank Cirocco piece. It focuses on Valkyrie herself, depicting her holding a sword in the background while a smaller version of her is shown flying on Aragorn. It's well-drawn, but it's not a very dynamic cover, in my opinion. Would make a great poster, though. I'd love to have this as a poster.

"And in the End!"
Writer: J.M. DeMatteis
Penciler: Mike Zeck
Inker: Kim DeMulder
Colorist: Christie Scheele
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Editors: Carl Potts, Ann Nocenti
Editor in Chief: Jim Shooter

The story begins with New Defenders Valkyrie and Moondragon on a rocket as it's taking off. 

Ladies, that is not how you ride a rocket!

Sheesh, can't they just go inside the rocket like normal astronauts? 😖

The rocket is part of a plan by a resurgent Secret Empire led by a villain named Professor Anthony Power to start World War III. Valkyrie is able to damage the rocket's guidance systems with her sword Dragonfang. The rocket starts to fall...only to go back upwards towards space. Evidently the Secret Empire put a backup system. Unfortunate for the Defenders.

Back on the ground, it's revealed the Empire operative known as Mad Dog was able to get the rocket back on course. The young metahuman and future New Defender known as Cloud blasts the control panel the villain used to fix the rocket's trajectory...which somehow blows up the rocket.

Uh yeah, they were aware Val and Moondragon were on the rocket, right? 

Thankfully, the two heroines were able to get off in time. Angel and Gargoyle grab them out of the air, and Iceman ensures they have a safe landing. 

And then they get ambushed by Mad Dog and the Mutant Force.

"Surprise, mothatruckas!"

This leads to a big ol' fight.

Nick Fury and some SHIELD agents run up (accompanied by Colonel Razumihin, Fury's Soviet ally), thinking they may need some back up.

"Yo, Fury! Where's the pizza?!"

I think they got it handled, Nicky. Between SHIELD and the New Defenders, most of the Empire has been captured. The head of the new Empire and his immediate advisers have escaped, but they're scattered and we'll likely never hear from them again.

Angel points out that they won today, but things are still rather tense between the USA and the Soviet Union. Remember, this comic is from the 1980s. There's still a chance that the war Professor Power wants can still happen. Razumihin sadly agrees, hoping the leaders of both superpowers can find some sanity before it's too late. He heads out with the Soviet superagent Sonya "Seraph" Tolsky (she was working undercover in the Empire), but Cloud wants a word with her.

Seraph was there when Cloud was kidnapped and their parents were killed in New Defenders #128. Yeah, it was believed at first that Cloud was a superhuman, but later it would be revealed that they're actually a living nebula.  

Yeah, I love this title, but it can be weird at times. Anyway, Cloud is furious with Seraph for not stopping it. Seraph does give her an apology and tries to soothe the metahuman by saying that she did not order that, nor did she directly do the deed. Not to mention that if she could have stopped it, she would have. The thing was, she had a mission to infiltrate the Secret Empire, trying to save Cloud's parents would have compromised it. Needs of the many, and all of that. Cloud rears to attack the pink-and-white-haired superagent, but she gets comfort from a surprise source: Moondragon.

The other New Defenders are understandably shocked. Moondragon had shown herself to be a cold and arrogant sort in the past. She was so far up her own butt that she even proclaimed herself a goddess! In fact, Odin put that metal headband on her head to limit her powers so she could learn humility. Valkyrie is especially shocked. She should be happy about this. The cold Moondragon showing warmth and caring towards the young Cloud? That's a good thing. But instead...she feels a strange terror. 

That will have to be tabled for now, though. "Why's that", you may ask. Well, when the heroes head back to their headquarters in New Mexico, and they find the place wrecked. Warren's girlfriend Candy Southern is injured, and their housekeeper Dolly Donahue missing. 

"Who threw a party in here?! And why were we not invited?!"

The perpetrator didn't leave the scene of the crime. In fact, he was waiting for our heroes.

They can destroy his satellite. It's not a problem to him. It's not a big deal. Because of the New Defenders, Power lost his castle home. It's not a problem to him. It's just a material thing, and material things don't matter to him. They wrecked his rebuilt Secret Empire. It's not a problem to him. Life has setbacks. He's overcome them before, and he'll do so again. No, what enrages him is that thanks to them, his son Matthew won't get any vengeance. Thanks to his high-tech armor, Power is shown to be quite a match for the New Defenders. And keep in mind, this group includes a couple powerhouses in Iceman, Gargoyle, and Valkyrie. 

Moondragon reminds Beast there is one way to stop him. Beast gets what she means...and he does not like it. You see, part of Power's desire for vengeance is because he believes that Charles Xavier destroyed his son Matthew's mind back in Marvel Team-Up #118. Afterwards, Anthony Power had his son's body put in that suit and transferred his own consciousness into Matthew's body. 

Moondragon reveals that contrary to what Anthony Power believes, Matthew's own consciousness is still in their now-shared brain. Moondragon wants to use her telepathy to guide Matthew's mind back into control, while pushing Anthony down. Beast warns her that she's not at full strength thanks to her headband. And even if she was, her plan could end up truly destroying Matthew's consciousness and killing Anthony. The self-proclaimed "Goddess of the Mind" ignores Beast's warning and proceeds with her plan. After all, as far as she's concerned, she has a divine right to do this.

The plan...sort of works. Moondragon leaves Power alive, but a gibbering wreck. A few days later, the New Defenders are enjoying some well-deserved R&R. The story ends with the Beast making an announcement...well, two. He's got his first college lecture booked (which means he's going to get a fat check), and the New Defenders have official government clearance, meaning they are now a legit superhero team.

Everyone is happy about this...except for a certain bald telepath...

I enjoyed this issue, even though it did have a couple flaws. The big fight with the Mutant Force could have been expanded on, but I can imagine that the limit was due to page count. I also felt a bit more with Cloud and Seraph could be done. It's a shame Seraph never reappeared in the book again. I think it would have been nice to show the spy having some remorse over what happened to Cloud. Speaking of Cloud, I liked the scene with her and Moondragon. It's nice to see that even the self-proclaimed goddess has a heart.

If you want to read the story for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2018 trade paperback Defenders Epic Collection Vol. 8: The New Defenders or the 2011 trade paperback The New Defenders Vol. 1.  

New Defenders #126 (December 1983)

In Marvel Feature #1 (December 1971), a certain quartet of the "outsider" characters in the Marvel Universe were brought together to form a new team called the Defenders. Those four heroes were Doctor Strange, Namor the Savage Sub-Mariner, the Silver Surfer, and the Incredible Hulk. The next year, they would get their own book, naturally called The Defenders. The Defenders were more of a "non-team" than the likes of the Fantastic Four or the Avengers, a group of outsiders who just happened to hang out together. The series would go on for many years, and like with many team books, the roster would undergo changes. Characters like Valkyrie and Nighthawk would become prominent members of the group.

With issue number 125, the book would be renamed The New Defenders. After the original four Defenders are forced to leave thanks to an alien prophecy, former X-Man Hank "Beast" McCoy would try and reform the team as a more "official" one, similar in vein to the Avengers. J.M. DeMatteis was writing the book at the time (he had been doing so since issue #92) but left the book after six issues of the New Defenders era. Peter Gillis would take over penning duties after him. New Defenders would be a moderately successful book during this time, and I personally think it's an underrated era. Sadly, the book would be cancelled with issue #152 due to Marvel needing space for the New Universe line. 

Despite that, the Defenders would not stay gone, but that's a story for another time. For now, let's take a look at an adventure from the early New Defenders era. This is New Defenders #126!

The cover is a Mike Zeck and John Beatty piece. 

"State of the Union"
Writer: J.M. DeMatteis
Penciler: Alan Kupperberg
Inker: Alan Kupperberg
Colorist: Paul Becton
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Editors: Carl Potts, Ann Nocenti
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The story begins with our heroes at SHIELD headquarters, looking over a bunch of prisoners with Nick Fury.

This odd bunch of villains were working for a revived Secret Empire, after they were presumably smashed by Captain America in Captain America and the Falcon #175 (July 1974). One of the villains there, Buzz "Mad Dog" Baxter, had been employed by a company called the Brand Corporation. However, Brand's been shut down, so he went to the new Empire for work. Iceman points out that there were three other characters there: Harridan, Seraph...and Cloud. Remember that name. That name will be very important to the Defenders in the future.

Fury is unaware who those two are. That makes no sense to the Defenders as they turned the three over to a SHIELD squad after they fought at the home of the Vision two weeks earlier (as shown in Defenders #123). Fury realizes that the Empire has infiltrated SHIELD.

With the New Defenders leaving SHIELD HQ and heading home, we get some character moments here. Both Iceman (he would not be retconned to being a closeted gay man for a few decades) and Angel are shown to be, well...mooning over the arrogant bald telepath called Moondragon (heh heh heh)

Yeah, sorry. Couldn't resist. Angel is crushing a bit on Moondragon...even though he is currently dating Candy Southern. Beast is feeling some doubts about this new team. Bobby gets so lost in his thoughts that he hits a water tower and falls, needing to be saved by Valkyrie. 

Meanwhile, we look in on the Smoky Mountains of Virginia. In the mountains lie a castle. 

Huh. You'd expect this castle to have a thunderstorm brewing behind it.

But this isn't a transition into a medieval fantasy world, this castle contains a modern-day conspiracy. The Secret Empire are meeting there, and the leader orders them to get the captured Mad Dog and Mutant Force out from SHIELD custody. We don't see who this new Number One of the Empire is, but we do know that one of the books on his desk is The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire.

Anyway, back to Manhattan! An incident is going down in level "L" of SHIELD headquarters. The electricity and elevators to there are dead, so Fury gathers a group of agents (and some flashlights) and goes down to take a look. This makes Fury a bit nervous. After all, Level "L" is where some...rough stuff is kept. The leftovers of a SHIELD operation in the Caribbean. The scientists there were working on something behind SHIELD's back. The operation was shut down, but not without claiming the lives of fifty agents. And the body count has grown.

The group hears a noise. Fury turns around and is horrified by what he sees.

But let us get away from this scene of death and horror, and come look in on something more wholesome: The New Defenders enjoying some dinner. It's a special occasion, as Hank McCoy, the Beast, has plans. He wants to draw up a charter for the new team and get to work establishing them as a proper superhero team, including a formal headquarters and even talk over who should lead. Valkyrie offers to lead the team. She believes she is perfect for the job as A) Odin chose her to lead the Valkyrior, and B) She had the most experience and time with the Defenders as a group, being associated with the original version of the group. Beast nominates himself to lead, which causes Val to burst into a laughing fit.

Meanwhile, Warren is, well...still mooning over Moondragon. he notes that even though she was forced on to the team by Odin, as well as being forced to wear a mystical headband that limits her psionic powers (as a way of forcing her to learn some humility), she still carries herself like she's in complete control over everything. 

Beast and Val's debate threatens to break out into a brawl. Val thinks Beast is too much of a clown to lead, Iceman stands up for Hank, etc. Gargoyle does try to play peacemaker, though. Warren is driven into a huff, and basically tells them "If this is what the New Defenders will be like, I'm out of here!" The angelic mutant flies off in a huff.

While he soars, he contemplates his life. He thinks about how the New Defenders are acting like a bunch of children, like they were still teenage X-Men...in Hank and Bobby's case, anyway. He also reflects on the time he spent in the Savage Land (as will be shown in the then-upcoming Marvel Fanfare), and how it allowed him to find a real sense of purpose with his life. He also thinks about how despite his love for Candy Southern, he can't help but find himself, well...mooning over Moondragon.

Yeah, sorry. Anyway, Warren nearly gets hit by a flying car.

“Man, the Cybertruck has more problems than I thought!”

He sees other cars are sent flying, too. Naturally, he goes to check it out. Meanwhile, the other New Defenders are going after Warren, realizing how childish they were acting. The group spots what looks like half the NYPD racing down the street. And they find out what all the commotion was all about.

Yup, a giant is on the loose! This giant was once a man. A man named Edward Cobert. He was once the head scientist of the Olympus Project, whose goal was to create superhumans that would loyally serve the United States in response to independent superhumans like members of the Avengers and X-Men. However, Cobert and his team wanted to go one step further. They didn't want to just respond to superheroes and supervillains, they wanted to eliminate them completely. Hmm, I wonder if this could be a precursor to Orchis from the Hickman's X-Men...

Nahhh, Hickman ain't that clever. Anyway, Cobert volunteered for an experiment to create a superhuman. It worked...kind of. He became a powerful giant, but his mind didn't quite survive the empowerment. Despite his being simple-minded, this Leviathan of a man is able to walk through our heroes. He's even able to knock the Asgardian Valkyrie for a loop. With one punch.

Everyone tries to stop him on their own, but that didn't work. Gargoyle yells that everyone needs to get their heads out of their butts and work together. They are a team, it's time to act like one! They can't stop Cobert on their own, but by working together, they can. After all, if the Lilliputians can work together to imprison Gulliver, a group of disparate superheroes can stop Cobert. And work together they do. Beast and Angel distract him. This allows Iceman, Gargoyle, and Moondragon to blast him with a mix of cold, bio-energy, and brainpower. And the Valkyrie finishes it with a Mighty Punch. Cobert goes down like a redwood. TIMBERRRRRRRRRRR!

As SHIELD comes to slap special manacles on the giant, Fury compliments the New Defenders. They did pretty good. The story ends with Fury getting an alert: Mad Dog and the Mutant Force have escaped. Fury finds that quite an interesting coincidence...

I enjoyed this issue, but then again, I think the 80s New Defenders stuff is underrated in general. I do find it interesting that DeMatteis would revive the Secret Empire from Steve Englehart's Captain America run, but I guess you can't keep an evil conspiracy down, especially if someone else decides to pick up the pieces. The real fun of the issue is in the character stuff, Beast trying to turn this bunch of New Defenders into an actual superteam. The conflicts between the characters, Angel's finding a dedication to the team, Valkyrie's desire to lead, Moondragon's arrogance, Gargoyle's being the wise old man, it's classic Marvel character conflict. it's fun stuff. 

One thing I liked about this era is the roster. It links much of the various "corners" of the Marvel Universe. Beast, Angel, and Iceman are veteran superheroes and represent the "mutant" corner, Valkyrie and Moondragon represent the "Asgardian/Cosmic" corner, and Gargoyle represents the "mystical/demonic" corner. I just think that it needed a street-level character to represent that corner. Too bad Hellcat left, she could have fit that. Or maybe Daredevil. 

If you wish to read this for yourself, I highly recommend tracking down the 2011 trade paperback The New Defenders Vol. 1 or the 2018 trade paperback Defenders Epic Collection Vol. 8: The New Defenders. Thanks for reading this blog entry! if you liked ti, show it off! Take care of yourselves, and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, 

Defenders #116 (February 1983)

Love. Exciting and new. Come aboard, we're expecting you...sorry about that. But love is an interesting thing. It can inspire. It can blind. It can redeem someone, but also drive another to madness. And like regular folks, superheroes are far from immune to the power of love. Marvel's resident "non-team", the Defenders (a group I have talked about before here), know it all too well. So, as a belated Valentine's Day gift, let's take a look at Defenders #116!

The cover is really cool. It focuses on a brazier, and the flames of it summarizes what the book is about, albeit Daimon and Patsy are a bit exaggerated. And the shadows on Gargoyle's face does make him look like he has some...disturbing intentions.

"Two by Two"
Writer: J.M. DeMatteis
Penciler: Don Perlin
Inkers: Diverse Hands, Mike Mignola
Colorist: George Roussos
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Editor: Al Milgrom
Editor-In-Chief: Jim Shooter

The story begins with Doctor Strange staring at the flames of a brazier.

I think if he keeps doing that, he's going to end up blind. He's visited by the Overmind, who sensed that Strange is in a bit of emotional turmoil. They sensed that Strange is feeling a bit down and lonely. The Sorcerer Supreme admits that he is feeling a bit down. He's thinking of his beloved Clea. After the events of Doctor Strange #55 (October 1982), she is no longer at his side. Strange may be the one of the greatest and most powerful sorcerers in the world, but he is still a man. A man who yearns for love. The Overmind sympathizes, as they were once six human minds now merged and residing in an alien body (It's a long story). The Overmind also remembers that unrequited love may be hard, but it can be just as hard for those who are together. The alien gestalt demonstrates this by using the "Cauldron of the Cosmos" to call forth a vision of yesterday.

In their brownstone, the Defenders have returned from a massive adventure on Earth-S, the home of the Squadron Supreme. The events of that story would lead up to the big Squadron Supreme miniseries I examined last year. Hulk and Silver Surfer have already left. The Vision and the Scarlet Witch are saying goodbye to them.

The two want to head back home to New Jersey, as they have plans to live a "normal" life away from superheroics. Perhaps even start a family. Yeah, that's going to end well. Dolly, the Defenders' housekeeper, remarks that they are a lovely couple. Isaac Christians, the Gargoyle, agrees and remarks that Dolly must've been an even more beautiful woman in her youth, which makes her blush.

Hank McCoy, the Beast, is eager for some chow, but his girlfriend Vera Cantor is not. She and Hank have not had any real alone time in weeks, and she is not waiting anymore. She drags him away. Bruunhilde the Valkyrie asks if Namor is leaving as well, and he is. He's been away from Atlantis for a while, and his people need him. I'm hoping the Atlantean government had something in place for situations like this. Val wants to accompany him there as the trip back there can be rather long. Namor actually agrees to it. She and Namor fly off on her winged horse named Aragorn.

But its not all goodbyes. One member is coming back. A taxi pulls up to the brownstone, and the driver asks if he just saw Namor and Val fly off on Aragorn. The fare jokes about Namor's pointed ears. The woman heads inside.

Yup, it's Patricia "Patsy" Walker, aka Hellcat. She had been out finding herself and reuniting with her father. Dolly and Gargoyle are overjoyed to the point of tears. Daimon Hellstrom's reaction is more reserved, but he's no less happy to see her back. Strange is annoyed by seeing this, as he has no idea what the point of this exercise is. Overmind explains that new love may be born, but no birth is without pain, as he shows with Beast and Vera Cantor.

The two just had some falafel, and Hank is hoping to get down to some serious eating. Vera grumbles that Hank knows nothing about being serious. She says that Hank has become nothing more than a clown, in her own words: "The Steve Martin of the super-hero set!" Hank counters that life was made for living. Things are complicated further when a group of fangirls spot the Beast and go crazy over him. It's a shame it's not like this anymore with Beast.

Beast eagerly goes to greet them, much to Vera's consternation. She stomps away, with Beast pursuing her, wondering what her deal is. He sees that she is in tears. Hank explains that he's the way he is because it helps him keep his sanity through the crazy life he has as a superhero.

This is actually a pretty clever way to explain Hank's various personality changes over the years. Hank has always had an obvious mutation, whether it was the ape-like body with the big hands and feet, or the blue fur, or the later cat-like form, Hank has always been the most obvious mutant of the original five X-Men, and it would have an effect on the self-esteem. Hank admits that after he got the blue fur, he needed to create a new mask, going from the brainy Hank McCoy Vera knew in the past to the party-hardy happy-go-lucky Hank of the Avengers. He admits sometimes, he has no idea who he is. Vera tells him she can help him...if he wants her to. They share a kiss. Vera mistakenly thinks he agreed, but his silence is of uncertainty and fear.

The scene shifts again to the ocean, with Namor and Valkyrie flying over it with Aragorn. Namor is...actually happy for once. It's been a while since he allowed himself the simple joys of laughter and camaderie. You'd think he'd have found some of that with his fellow Defenders. Valkyrie agrees with the King of Atlantis. Namor then dives to the ocean. Brunnhilde doffs her battle costume (conveniently wearing a pink short dress underneath), and dives in afterwards. The two then happily swim together, and then share a kiss. Namor then pushes her away and leaps out of the water.

Val wonders what was wrong. Namor feels what they did was not right. He's never really gotten over the death of his beloved Lady Dorma in Sub-Mariner #37 (May 1971), and he also is esssentially married to his kingdom. That is one bride that will never leave him. Val tells him he can't close off his heart forever. She does have a point, Namor. The Sub-Mariner appreciates her concern, but tells her not to worry about it. As he dives into the water, he tells Val he has a path to follow, and he must walk it alone. Val is left confused. She may be a goddess, but even the gods know little of love. The brazier changes scenes again, this time to focus on Daimon Hellstrom and Patsy Walker.

Patsy is telling Daimon about her father she just recently reunited with. Daimon is happy for her. She also tells him she plans to write a book. The two head to a cake shop, and the redheaded ex-gymnast and superheroine is in the mood for a tasty sweet treat. Daimon wants to talk to Patsy, but she's too interested in deciding what sweet treat to snack on. Having had enough, the Son of Satan transforms into his superhero garb and drags Patsy out.

I can't help but wonder, what does Damian do when it's cold outside? He's not wearing a shirt. DOes he get cold? Anyway, he takes to the air with his trident and explains he wants to talk to her privately. Patsy angrily squirms out of his grip and uses her gymnastic skills to land on a rooftop. She confronts Daimon, and he explains that he didn't mean any harm, but he just wanted to be alone with her for a while. Patsy admits that she was trying to avoid talking to Daimon about...them. The two had been attracted to each other he rejoined the Defenders in Defenders #92 (February 1981).

He had confessed his love to Patsy, but then got taken to Hell in Defenders #100 (October 1981). Patsy missed Daimon, but he managed to come back in Defenders #105 (March 1982), having also finally triumphed over his inner demons due to his half-demonic heritage. Patsy then herself realized that in order to have a relationship with Daimon, she had to conquer her own inner demons. She had to find herself, because she had wondered about her own heritage. You see, there was a time when she thought she herself was a daughter of the Devil. Which would have made her...Daimon's half-sister.

Yeah. Thankfully, Defenders #111 (September 1982) shot that down, and she found her biological father. Thank God. She then notices that Daimon is crying. Daimon explained that Patsy was his first taste of love, something he has rarely experienced. Patsy's love made him feel like a man for the first time in his life. Patsy admits that she doesn't know if she herself can love him. Daimon screams in rage and flies off.

Strange asks Overmind what the point was of all this, as it seems that all the alien gestalt is showing that all love is doomed to failure. Overmind claims that every man must walk the path of love in their own way. He suggest another image in the brazier, going back to the Gargoyle and Dolly. Dolly is making some cookies, and Gargoyle is eager to eat another one. She asks what he thinks of Daimon Hellstrom. Gargoyle admits that Hellstrom is a man that can't really be summed up in a few words.

Dolly sees Patsy as a daughter, and she admits that she as concerns about him. She feels that a man like Daimon is not someone she needs in her life as she's getting things together. She also admits he scares her a bit. Which makes sense, he is the son of the Devil. Gargoyle asks if he scares Dolly. He doesn't, because she can see his good heart underneath his monsterous. Let's remember folks, this was a man who sold his soul to a group of demons, and he was given his gargoyle body to act as their agent. Yeah, he did it to save the town his family founded, but...yeah. He did that.

Dolly hopes she didn't offend him, but Isaac reassures her he's comfortable as he is. He says that it is nice for him to have someone closer to his own age to talk to. He loves his fellow Defenders (even thinking of them as the children he never had back when he was human), but bridging the gap between himself and the much younger members can be exhausting at times. He hugs Dolly, thanking her for caring and being here for him.

He then says that at his age, he came to a bit of an epiphany. The kind of love that Strange is pining for can become...unimportant. Gargoyle himself was never married, but he noticed something about all the successful marriages he witnessed in his time...they were friends first. Passion, lust...they come and go like the tides. But the love borne from friendship...that can last forever. Strange ponders this as the flames on the magic brazier die down.

He then magically opens his door, and the Sorcerer Supreme and the Overmind fly off. At the Defenders' brownstone, Isaac, Betsy, Hank, Val, and Dolly are listening to some of Gargoyle's war stories when the Beast notices something at the window. The group head there and see this.

Gargoyle is overjoyed by the fireworks display, as it reminds him of the Fourth of July fireworks when he was a boy. Wait, Gargoyle is a veteran of World War I. If we assume he was 18 when he signed up to serve, he would have had to have lived his boyhood in the 1900s. Were firework displays on the Fourth of July a thing back then? Well, fireworks did exist back then, the Chinese invented them in the 7th century to ward off evil spirits. I did some checking, and the first Fourth of July celebration in 1777 did have a fireworks display, so it's surprisingly plausible.

A colorful comet erupts from the fireworks, and heads for the brownstone. The heroes duck, and the comet hits, revealing Doctor Strange and the Overmind. Never let it be said that Strange has no flair for the dramatic. The story ends with Strange explaining the reason he was there.

Yup, Strange wanted to spend some time with some people that he loved: His friends and fellow Defenders.

This issue was really good. It's nice seeing a quieter issue like this, focusing more on the characters themselves. And such an issue makes perfect sense after a big epic storyline like the group's adventure with the Squadron Supreme. I do like that there's a variety of reasons for their troubles, like Namor's still not letting go of Dorma, and Hank's struggle with who he is. I also liked the showing that love can come in many forms, and just because you don't have a significant other in your life, does not mean you are not loved. Strange may not have his romance with Clea, but he still has the love of his fellow Defenders. It's rather touching.

This era of Defenders, in my experience, is criminally underrated. I think it's a massive shame no one talks about this era of Defenders very much. It was so unique from anything else being put out by the Big Two at the time. I hope this helps brings more attention to it, because it deserves to be lauded. If you are interested in reading it for yourself, Marvel has released two Epic Collections covering some of this era: The Six-Fingered Hand Saga and Ashes, Ashes... A third, The New Defenders, will be out in August.

I hope you all enjoyed this rather admittedly belated Valentine's Day gift. Next time, we stick with the Defenders...well, one of them, as we take a look at the beginning of Namor the Sub-Mariner's 1990s adventures...