Avengers/Defenders War......

[Hammerhead]

I just wanted to share my opinion about this book/issues. I bought a hardcover reprint a month or two back and just got around to reading it last night. I have never read the issues before and once I started I couldn't put it down. I enjoyed the battles between the Vision and the Surfer as well as the battle between Iron Man and Hawkeye. For anyone that has never read it they should check it out! It was a good read. I can see myself reading it again in the near future, my nine year old son wants to start reading it to night!

 

Is this the first Marvel multi-part crossover??

 

The cover to Defenders #9 is just great! Of course Defenders #10 has a cool cover too...this time period looks like Sal Buscema's best artwork. ( I never really got into him)

[Dick Pontoon]

#10 has a Romita cover.

 

I think of Sal as a journeyman penciler who can be hit or miss depending on the inks. I'm especially partial to the later books that Klaus Janson inked.

[nwpassage]

I liked him on ROM.

[shadroch]

There is an X-Men/Avengers crossover that is in both titles, but as far as I know this is the first extended crossover.

[jessebrook1]

Avengers#116 is the sauce

[hawkeye613]

The Avengers/Defenders war was one off my all time favorites! I remember riding my bike for miles, hitting every spinner rack at convenience stores hunting down issues!

[shadroch]

It was great for its time. Someone reading it today may not be as familiar with the background story as the characters in the Defenders are much more recognized as good guys these days. At the time, Hulk, Subby and even the Surfer were a bit dubious. The Defenders were also getting pretty popular back then while the Avengers were a bit too establisment for many. Defenders 10( Hulk vs Thor) and #11 where they go back to rescue the Black Knight are to this day two of my favorites. Defenders became a very strange book not too long after this when Gerber took over, but the Avengers war, the showdown with The Wrecking Crew and then the arc with Magneto being turned into an infant was one of the best one year runs in a Marvel comic since the FFs of the mid 60s.

[joe_collector]

Defenders became a very strange book not too long after this when Gerber took over, but the Avengers war, the showdown with The Wrecking Crew and then the arc with Magneto being turned into an infant was one of the best one year runs in a Marvel comic since the FFs of the mid 60s.

 

And don't forget about the classic Squadron Sinister showdown, which overall, was probably my favorite issue in what was my top comic back then.

[joe_collector]

I think of Sal as a journeyman penciler who can be hit or miss depending on the inks.

 

I think it comes down to how much time he had to work, as Stan had his nose to the grindstone for most of the BA. His work in the Avengers during the 120's and 130's was some very nice stuff, as were some of his Defenders issues at the same time.

[hawkeye613]

Defenders became a very strange book not too long after this when Gerber took over, but the Avengers war, the showdown with The Wrecking Crew and then the arc with Magneto being turned into an infant was one of the best one year runs in a Marvel comic since the FFs of the mid 60s.

 

And don't forget about the classic Squadron Sinister showdown, which overall, was probably my favorite issue in what was my top comic back then.

 

Oh man, I forgot about that one! I miss old school Marvel

[joe_collector]

Shad is right, Defenders was a *really* good book back then, and one that my friends and I picked up regularly.

 

Here's a couple of pages from that SS issue:

 

[Jeffro.]

Sounds like I should seek out some cheap Defenders readers eh? Up to what issue would you say?

[John R]

I liked him on ROM.

 

I agree...I loved his art inked by Aiken and Garvey.

[Warren Oates]

Sounds like I should seek out some cheap Defenders readers eh? Up to what issue would you say?

 

Defenders were pretty cool, one of my favorite books. Really liked the big Satan showdown, I think that was issues 92-100, some pretty good stuff.

 

Also as someone mentioned, that fight with the wrecking crew is pretty good. I'm gonna post a page out of that in a bit.

 

The good thing is if you want readers of Defenders, you can probably get them for almost nothing, after issue 20 or so there almost no demand for them. Even 1-20 not terrible, other than high grade thor v hulk issue.

 

 

[Dick Pontoon]

Sounds like I should seek out some cheap Defenders readers eh? Up to what issue would you say?

 

If you like Steve Gerber okay, then I’d say everything up to about #40 when he left. Although some of the art in the 40s might be pretty good - Giffen and Janson. I haven’t looked at those in a while.

[Warren Oates]

Man with ball wants to go outside:

 

[JuliusSeizure]

Sounds like I should seek out some cheap Defenders readers eh? Up to what issue would you say?

 

If you like Steve Gerber okay, then I’d say everything up to about #40 when he left. Although some of the art in the 40s might be pretty good - Giffen and Janson. I haven’t looked at those in a while.

 

I'd go as far as #50 and the Scorpio storyline.

[Warren Oates]

Nuff said:

 

 

Klaus Jansen inks on Buscema looks great here.

 

That adamantium ball is so wussy compared to the hulk. Might be the #3 hulk smash on my list, #2 punching Doc Samson 10 miles across new york, #1 punching the abomination into orbit.

[joe_collector]

I'd recommend Defenders 1 to 36 or so, and there are some killer storelines in there. After that, the title got real weird, real fast, especially the David Kraft's obsession with Schlitz beer.

[Kramerica]

I really enjoyed issues #62 thru 64 when the Defenders had their "membership drive". About 50-60 B & C listers showed up to join the Defenders and the results were pretty funny. #92-100 was hit or miss but #95 with Dracula was a great book.