Dedicated to the definitive superhero non-team.


Monday, January 7, 2013

The (Secret) Defenders

Beginning with Secret Defenders #4, an image of eight heroes consistently appeared with the DEFENSE Lines logo on the letters page.

The choice of Wolverine made sense, as he worked as a member of the team in Secret Defenders #1-3.

Captain America and Spider-Man were among the heroes to star in #6-8.

Silver Surfer arrived in #14 and appeared again in #23-24.

Human Torch, Cable, Cyclops, and Iron Man, however, never made their way into the story pages of the 25-issue series.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Days of the Year 2013

Featuring one of the most influential stories of its day, Uncanny X-Men #141 flashed forward to the year 2013 to show the possible fate of mutantkind.

On Halloween 1980, the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants intended to assassinate Senator Robert Kelly, who was leading a national inquiry to assess the threat that super-powered mutants posed to humanity. But if the Brotherhood were to succeed, anti-mutant hysteria would in fact intensify all the more … building toward a future in which government-issued Sentinel robots would eradicate almost all superhuman beings and then assume control of the United States.

In the year 2013 of that possible future, only a handful of mutants remained. To curtail this fate, a mutant named Rachel telepathically sent the mind of Kate Pryde more than three decades back in time.

Mentally in the body of her younger self, "Kitty" Pryde warned the other X-Men of the Brotherhood's plans. The mutant heroes thwarted the assassination attempt in Uncanny X-Men #142. Angel was the only original student of Professor Xavier who was a member of the "new" X-Men at this point.

Angel: Professor, we saved Senator Kelly. Kitty's mind has been returned to her body. Does that mean we changed the future?
Professor Xavier: I do not know, Warren. Cliche though it sounds, only time will tell.

History repeated itself when Senator Kelly appeared in New Defenders #142, speaking about the need for a Mutant Registration Act. This time, Iceman and Beast protected Senator Kelly by holding off an attack by Adrian Castorp, a mutant who accused the senator of instigating racial persecution against mutants.

The image here of Senator Kelly comes from X-Men #142 (February 1981).