Asgardian Alignments

A classic Dungeons & Dragons source book titled Deities & Demigods (later Legends & Lore) placed mythological gods and heroes from numerous cultures within the popular game system.

Below are the D&D alignments Deities & Demigods listed for several Norse gods who also had an impact on the Defenders.

Chaotic Good: Thor (thunder god).

Neutral Good: Odin "All Father" (supreme ruler of the gods); this alignment aptly describes the hero Thor during his time as a founding and recurring member of the Avengers.

Chaotic Evil: Loki (god of mischief, strife and fire); he teamed up with Dormammu in the a cross-over event that spanned Avengers #115-118 and Defenders #8-11.

Neutral Evil: Hel (goddess of death); her name is spelled Hela in Defenders #66-68 and other Marvel publications.

Chaotic Neutral: Valkyries "Choosers of the Slain"; the temperament of the hero Valkyrie steadies after #66-68, ending the the inner turmoil between her true self and the spirit of Barbara Norriss.

Bearing a Resemblance

While looking through back issues in my collection, I noticed that the covers of Avengers #169 (March 1977) and Uncanny X-Men #139 (November 1980) bear a resemblance to one another. Each cover shows members of the respective teams facing three threats—with a polar bear in the upper right of both covers. In all transparency, the polar bear on the X-Men cover is actually the shapeshifting hero Snowbird of Alpha Flight.

In addition to defeating an actual polar bear in the Arctic Circle, Black Panther impresses his fellow Avengers by providing the final answer on a challenging crossword puzzle. A twelve-letter word that means "producing sweat"? Sudoriferous!

The Most Startling Non-Group in Comics History!

This ad for The Defenders appeared at the bottom of the letters page of Daredevil #150 (January 1978).

Published the same month as Defenders #55, the ad pictured Nighthawk, Valkyrie, Hulk, and Hellcat, who would remain core members of the team for the next few years.

Existentialism

The latest comic book series of the Defenders—chronicling Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist's crusade against organized crime—concluded with Defenders #10.

Making a cameo appearance that issue, Hellcat noted that she remembered every detail of Reed Richards and Sue Storm's wedding yet at times had forgotten events that actually had happened to her. That remark was telling. In a serialized medium with decades of history—and, by the nature of the work, revamped continuity—only so many comic book stories have a lasting impact on the characters or the storytelling universe. Over the years, not every published issue remains key to the ongoing narrative.

On a related note, it's getting hard to keep track of every Defenders relaunch attempted over the last ten years, when I began writing this blog; I don't begin to predict what versions of the team might appear in the future. In the meantime, this blog provides me with space to continue reflecting on their past.

Brian Michael Bendis wrote Defenders #10 (April 2018).

Treasured

When I recently purchased Marvel Treasury Edition #16, I wondered if the collection included Defenders #25 because of the similarity between the two covers—but that appears to be a coincidence.

Rather, the treasury reprinted Marvel Feature #1, Defenders #4, and Defenders #13-14 in an oversized format.

Marvel Treasury Edition #16 (1978) also contained a pin-up of Nighthawk's ranch and two-page image from Defenders #50, picturing characters who did not appear in the four collected issues.

The Defenders previously guest-starred with Howard the Duck in Marvel Treasury Edition #12.