The Defenders

About a decade before the formation of the Defenders non-team, Dell Publishing launched a comic book version of The Defenders legal drama, which aired on CBS during the early 1960s.

Along with the main story within the comic book, here are some of the notes about legal terms and legal history appeared on the inside cover and back cover of #2 (February-April 1962).

In medieval times, it was customary for animals to be tried and condemned for violations of the law. Faulty evidence brought against the defendants gave rise to a phrase which exists to this day … "insufficient to hang a dog!"

Go without Day—An expression signifying that a case has been dismissed from court.

Although The Defenders ran four seasons on TV, the comic book was cancelled after two issues.

Antecedent to Arcade

The Defenders never faced the villain Arcade and his Murderworld amusement park, but they came close. In a trip to the 31st century, the non-team instead encountered the host of Super-Death Sweepstakes (Defenders #28). With his showy personality, bow tie, and technological traps, the future game-show host was cut from the same cloth as the modern-day assassin.

Defenders. Vol. 1. No. 28. October 1975. "My Mother, the Badoon!" Steve Gerber (writer), Sal Buscema (artist), Frank Giacoia & John Tartag (embellishers), Joe Rosen (letterer), Al Wenzel (colorist), Marv Wolfman (editor).

Arcade made his comic book debut more than two years later, in Marvel Team-Up #65 (January 1978).