Covering the Champions

Marvel Comics used various approaches when picturing heroes on team book covers. The Champions, for example, displayed only Hercules in the upper-left corner of covers throughout most of the series. The color of Hercules' headband changed from red to brown to green as the series progressed, but otherwise the illustration remained consistent. Not until #16 did the corner picture all five founding members of the team.

Hercules Black Widow Angel Ghost Rider Iceman

The corner image of Ghost Rider changed slightly in #17, the final issue of the series.

Changing Corners

Reprinting Defenders stories for readers in the United Kingdom, the weekly series Rampage followed the Marvel Comics tradition of picturing the heads of superheroes in the upper-left corner of each cover. The three founding members of the Defenders—Hulk, Dr. Strange and Sub-Mariner—appeared in there on issues #1-21.

Beginning with #22, the series replaced Sub-Mariner with Nighthawk (matching a change that took place with Defenders #19). In making that switch, Rampage added the names of the featured heroes beside their faces, something the original Defenders series hadn't done in the United States.

Aside from changing the background color behind the characters each issue, Rampage did not make other alterations to the corner design through #34, the final issue of the series.

The Order of the Order

On one hand, The Order was a six-issue limited series featuring the Defenders. On the other hand, The Order was a continuation of Defenders (Volume 2), which ran for 12 issues.

Through a creative use of cover numbering, The Order #1 combined both perspectives and displayed 1 with 13 nested inside.

Likewise, The Order #2 displayed 2 with 14 nested inside. The pattern continued through the duration of the series, with The Order #6 displaying 6 with 18 inside.

Belonging

The most moving, truly unique story of the year! So said a cover blurb on Marvel Team-Up #119. The issue itself paired Spider-Man with Gargoyle in a tale about aging and mortality. Gargoyle came to accept that, even in the body of a demon, he could do good in the world.

By this point, Marvel Team-Up had become supplemental reading for fans of the Defenders. The friendly neighborhood Spider-Man had co-starred in recent issues with Valkyrie (#116), Devil-Slayer (#111), and Nighthawk (#101).

In spite of his adventures with various Defenders, the web-slinger explained to Gargoyle why he himself didn't belong in the non-team (#119).

Spider-Man: Whipping across the dimensions--fighting the Enchantress and her winged beasties--might be right up the Defenders' alley--but I've always been the down-to-earth sort myself!

Marvel Team-Up. Vol. 1. No. 119. July 1982. "Time, Run Like a Freight Train …" J.M. DeMatteis (scripted), Kerry Gammill (penciler), Mike Esposito (inker), Jim Novak (letterer), Bob Sharen (colorist), Tom DeFalco (editor), Jim Shooter (chief). That same month, Spider-Man guest-starred in Defenders #109 (July 1982), with his head featured in the cover corner that issue.

Last But Not Least ... Ant-Man

Harking back to comics published a generation ago, the cover of Defenders #10 featured mugshots in the upper-left corner (including the head of a not-so-friendly ant).

This issue, of course, welcomed Ant-Man into the ranks of the Defenders (the last of the characters foreshadowed from Point One to appear in the new series).

The dimension-hopping non-team encountered Ant-Man (specifically Scott Lang) when they returned to present-day Earth, only to discover that civilization as far as they could see lay in ruins. Only by inconspicuously remaining the size of an insect had the hero managed to avoid execution at the hands of the ominous Dark Celestial.

Defenders. Vol. 4. No. 10. November 2012. Matt Fraction (writer), Jamie McKelvie w/Mike Norton (artists), Jordie Bellaire (colorist), VC's Sabino & Cowles (letterers), Joe Quinones (cover artist).

Comics Economics

Comic books allotted me an early opportunity to track inflation, as I observed prices increase gradually during the 1970s and 1980s.

Here's an overview of how cover prices increased during the original run of the Defenders series.

The first 12 issues of the Defenders originally sold for 20¢ apiece.

Prices rose to 25¢ on #13 (May 1974). A yellow burst saying STILL ONLY 25¢ appeared on the covers of #35 and #37.

Notice how 25¢ then appeared inside a circle on the cover of #38.

Prices increased to 30¢ with #39 (Sept. 1976), and then to 35¢ with #53 (Nov. 1977).

Issues #64 to #70 included a white burst saying STILL ONLY 35¢. Note how 35¢ appeared in red on #68, instead of the usual black type.

Prices for standard-size issues continued to rise by a nickel or dime every one to three years.

40¢ beginning with #71 (May 1979).

50¢ beginning with #87 (Sept. 1980).

60¢ beginning with #103 (Jan. 1982).

65¢ beginning with #142 (April 1985).

Each issue of Giant-Size Defenders sold for 50¢ on stands in the 1970s. Afterward, double-sized issues of the Defenders increased incrementally in price by a quarter.

75¢ for double-sized #100 (Oct. 1981).

$1.00 for double-sized #125 (Nov. 1983).

$1.25 for double-sized New Defenders #150 (Dec. 1985) and again for #152 (Feb. 1986), when the series ended.

In the Corner Pocket

I miss the way Marvel Comics once displayed character headshots in the upper-left cover corner of team books.

For the Defenders, that tradition began with their debut appearance in Marvel Feature #1, with founding members Hulk, Sub-Mariner, and Dr. Strange featured in the boxed-in corner.

During the 1970s, Nighthawk, Valkyrie, and Hellcat were the only new members to earn a slot in the upper corner of the Defenders series.

Things started to shake up in 1980, when guest-star Black Panther accompanied longtime members of the team in the corner of Defenders #84 (and again in #86).

In the months ahead, the cover corners changed almost every issue, showcasing returning members, such as Daredevil and Daimon Hellstrom—and making room for newcomers like Gargoyle and Beast.

I generally prefer when all of the faces fit within the box.





Routinely overlooked, Clea finally received corner attention on the covers of Defenders #102-103.

Though from a distance they might look alike, the headshots of foundational-member Silver Surfer and new-member Iceman had enough detail to keep them distinct. Speaking of detail, Moondragon's corner image gained a headband to reflect her appearance among the New Defenders.





During Assistant Editors' Month in 1984, the corner showed a characakture of Marvel staffer Ann Nocenti dressed as the high-flying Angel. Near the end of the original series, the Defenders corners began to feature reduced-size headshots of most of the team and a full-body image of one of the heroes.