Announcing Aragorn!

The Black Knight began riding his winged stallion in Avengers #48, but not until #54 did he settle on the name Aragorn. The hero would shout, "Away, Aragorn!" or "Down, Aragorn!" when commanding the horse to fly or land.

The Black Knight and Aragorn faced the Masters of Evil in Avengers #54 (July 1968).

The Origin of Aragorn

Technically speaking, Aragorn made his debut in Avengers #48 (Jan. 1968). In that issue, however, the Black Knight called the winged horse Pegasus. Not until later appearances was the horse renamed Aragorn. The name change made sense, as Aragorn had no relation to the flying horse from Greek mythology. In fact, the Black Knight described his winged stallion as a mutant. The mutation was not accidental but instead resulted from months of research.

Aragorn was in good company. When the original X-Men encountered a technological wizard called the Warlock, he too described his winged horses as mutants—the products of science rather than magic X-Men #30 (March 1967).

This image of the Black Knight riding Pegasus (Aragorn) comes from Avengers #48.

The Pink Riddler

For my birthday this week, I received an action figure of the Riddler that I had been eyeing for some time. I have relatively few collectibles, but this particular figure is notable for depicting the Riddler in the pink costume that he wore during the opening sequence of The New Adventures of Batman, an animated TV series from 1977 that I watched as a kid. Outside of the opening, the villain didn't appear within any episodes of the cartoon.

Since the Riddler traditionally wears green, I don’t know how much demand there is for this obscure rendition of the character. And yet, it was that very novelty that sparked my interest in the figure, which made for a memorable birthday gift.

I alluded to the Riddler in an early blog post about Defenders #124. I have considered devoting more attention to DC characters, at times, even though they might veer outside the scope of a Defenders blog.

Jealousy

This panel from Patsy Walker #32 (Jan. 1951) shows a teenage Buzz Baxter jealous that Patsy might be dating someone else. The devil on his shoulder is oddly prophetic, as one day Buzz will crash Patsy's wedding to Daimon Hellstrom, a.k.a. the Son of Satan (Defenders #125). By that time, Patsy and Buzz will have married, divorced, and become Hellcat and Mad-Dog.

X-Men vs. Defender

The original X-Men faced an unexpected enemy when the Puppet Master took mental control of Mimic, who could replicate the heroes' mutant powers. Guarding the Puppet Master's criminal lair was a formidable android called the Defender (X-Men #27).

To prepare for a looming mutant menace, Professor X invited Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver to join the X-Men. They declined. The siblings had previously discussed that possibility but became Avengers instead (Avengers #16). Quicksilver, in particular, wanted to distance himself from any reminder of their early days in the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

These panels with the android Defender come from X-Men #27 (Dec. 1966).