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.