Defenders of Light and Dark

The Queen in Black storyline prompted Iron Man to organize two strike teams to do battle against Hela. Led by Iron Man, Team Dark included Agent Anti-Venom, Cable, Darkstar and Cloak. Team Light, on the other hand, included Beta Ray Bill, Photon, Sunfire and Dagger. Each issue of the limited series displays the classic Defenders nameplate on the cover, but Iron Man's passing reference to the teams as Earth's Defenders seemed incidental (#1).

I purchased this edition of Defenders of Light and Dark #1 (September 2026) with a variant cover featuring Cable and Cloak.

Return of the Nautilus!

Like a number of other issues during the run of the series, Sub-Mariner #53 (Sept. 1972) drew upon the character's history. While the main story teamed the Prince of Atlantis with Sunfire, a relatively new hero at the time, a back-up feature reprinted a Sub-Mariner tale from the 1950s.

In that back-up story, an occult magician stole a painting from the Fictional Art Section of the Manhattan Historical Museum. The stolen painting pictured the Nautilus submarine from Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Making matters worse, a ghostly submarine began appearing out of nowhere and attacking naval vessels. Sub-Mariner's investigation led him to a ramshackle shanty, where he found the magician dead from heart failure. The villain's hand clutched the stolen painting … with the image of the Nautilus inexplicably absent.

Before and after renditions of the painting appear below.

Signaling Sunfire

Numerous skirmishes filled the pages of Defenders #8-11 and Avengers #115-118, as members of both teams fought over an artifact known as the Evil Eye.

My favorite chapter in the multi-part drama came in Avengers #117 (Nov. 1973), when Sub-Mariner and Captain America battled on the coast of Japan. The setting made a fitting backdrop to remind readers how the the two heroes had been allies during World War II.

The modern-day conflict became all the more heated with the surprise appearance of Sunfire. The patriotic hero warned Sub-Mariner and Captain America to take their feud away from Japanese shores. While acting as both outsider and antagonist, Sunfire was symbolic in numerous ways:

• Like Captain America, Sunfire wore his nation's flag as a costume, drawing attention to the world at large.
• Sunfire's flame powers contrasted with Sub-Mariner's water-breathing … and were reminiscent of the original Human Torch who had teamed up with Cap and Subby during the Golden Age of comics.
• Having first appeared in X-Men #64 (Jan. 1970), Sunfire's presence in the midst of the Avengers/Defenders War furthered the presence of mutants at a time when only reprints appeared the pages of the X-Men (#67-93).

In other words, Sunfire was the perfect guest star for Avengers #117.