Neutral Evil: Purple Man

Daredevil #4 marked the first appearance of Zebediah Killgrave (a.k.a. The Purple Man). With the power to control minds, Killgrave would make a career forcing others to do his bidding. Both methodical and self-serving, the vindictive supervillain demonstrated characteristics of the Neutral Evil alignment from Dungeons & Dragons.

Lawful Good	Neutral Good	Chaotic Good
Lawful Neutral	True Neutral	Chaotic Neutral
Lawful Evil	Neutral Evil	Chaotic Evil

Daredevil was the first person with willpower enough to resist the Purple Man. This panel from Daredevil #4 shows the hero in a precarious position. As attorney Matt Murdock, the the court appointed him to defend Killgrave. One could make the argument that Murdock followed one alignment (Lawful Good) when practicing law and adhering to a professional code of ethics but veered outside that alignment (toward Neutral Good) as the costumed crimefighter Daredevil.

Pawns of the Purple Man!

With a TV version of the Defenders just around the corner, I've been looking for comic books that mirror the upcoming series centering on Power Man, Iron Fist, Daredevil, and Jessica Jones.

Marvel Team-Up Annual #4 is the closest I've come. This issue featured Power Man, Iron Fist, and Daredevil, along with Spider-Man and Moon Knight. Their foe was Purple Man (later revealed as a nemesis of Jessica Jones in the comics and on her own TV show).

Marvel Team-Up Annual #4 was published in 1981.

When Did Jessica Jones Battle the Avengers and Defenders?

Through a series of flashbacks, Jessica Jones described how she retired from her career as a costumed adventurer after the nefarious Purple Man emotionally manipulated her—inadvertently leading her into battle against two groups of heroes (Alias #25).

Jessica Jones: And, oh yeah, not only was it the Avengers that I happen to side swipe … But I pick a day where the Avengers and the Defenders, the old school classic Defenders, are doing some big team-up.

When exactly did this skirmish take place?

The following Avengers appeared in the flashbacks: Scarlet Witch, Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Vision, Wasp, Beast, Jocasta, Wonder Man, and Ms. Marvel (Alias #26). That lineup loosely approximated the roster from Avengers #195-199 (May-Sept. 1980), including one or two heroes who were on leave but still appearing in the series at the time.

As for the Defenders, the flashbacks pictured Dr. Strange, Namor, Hulk, Silver Surfer, and Valkyrie (in her original costume). In other words, they appeared to be the non-team from Defenders #6 (June 1973). Perhaps time travel was responsible for the team-up between the "old school classic Defenders" and the later group of Avengers.

It's also possible that the early combination of Defenders temporarily regrouped around the time of Avengers #195-200. This simpler explanation requires some shoe-horning, however, since Clea used sorcery to redesign Valkyrie's costume in Defenders #47, and Valkyrie was magically unable to return to that original costume again until Defenders #89 (Nov. 1980).

After facing the Defenders and Avengers, Jessica Jones fell into a coma until receiving help from telepath Jean Grey of the X-Men. This would have occurred prior to the death of Phoenix (a.k.a. Jean Grey) in X-Men #137 (Sept. 1980) rather than after the return of Jean Grey in Avengers #263 (Jan. 1986), when all of the teams had vastly different members.

Brian Michael Bendis wrote the Alias series, which ran 28 issues.

By Any Other Name

Many heroes use nicknames from time to time, but Hulk stood out for assigning descriptive names to other Defenders.

Here are the unique names Hulk largely settled on for a handful of his teammates.

• Dr. Strange = Magician
• Hellcat = Cat-Girl
• Nighthawk = Bird-Nose
• Red Guardian = Star-Girl
• Sub-Mariner = Fish-Man
• Valkyrie = Sword-Girl (or simply Girl before other women joined the Defenders)

Not everyone received a consistent moniker, mind you. For example, Hulk referred to Hawkeye as Purple-Man and Stick Man (Defenders #7). And he called Silver Surfer both Shiny-Face and Silver-Face (Defenders #8).

Since the green goliath clearly remembered the names of other people he knew (such as Jarella), his almost exclusive use of monikers for costumed adventures may have been a way to maintain emotional distance among those who might act as Hulk's friends one moment but then try to stop him the next.

The above image comes from the closing page of Incredible Hulk #206.