The Defenders & their 'defeated' covers

[Mercury Man]

 

Hi I'm new here.

 

A guilty Bronze Age pleasure of mine has always been The Defenders.

 

Certainly not as cool as the Avengers, but way better than the Champions.

 

I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I got to looking at their covers, and thinking about it. Did you ever notice they have a ton of covers with them all essentially passed out from a good drubbing by the bad guy of the month?

[Comicopolis]

Hi - welcome to the boards!

 

I'm also a huge Defenders fan. You are absolutely correct about those covers tending to always show the group beaten or captured - especially poor old Valkyrie who was generally tied-up, passed out or upside down. Sometimes all three!

 

Cover of the first comic I ever bought.

 

[steveinthecity]

Seeing the heroes on the ground captured or otherwise defeated definitely made those covers jump at me from the spinner rack. Now that it's mentioned, this theme did seem to occur with the Defenders more often than other team books. Issue #19 was a cool one, IMO.

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

They sure seemed to be passed out a lot. You'd think the bad guys would take their opportunity to kill them, but....we wouldn't have a next issue, right..?

[batmiesta]

Passed out Val again.

[batmiesta]

Passed out Nighthawk.

 

[batmiesta]

[fett]

guess they party alot

 

 

[Brian48]

Man, I love those old Kane/Romita covers from back in the day. The .25cent era holds a very special place for me. This is when I started buying comics, especially Marvels, in earnest as a kid.

[entalmighty1]

I just scanned my copies of 1-38, and there are definitely more of those covers in Defenders than others. Starts with #1 actually, with Namor laid out on a table!

[Mercury Man]

Ahhhh! The Wrecking Crew. My all time favorite team of super bads. One of my earliest comic purchases was Iron Fist 11 (not to stray off the Defenders topic). With the Wrecking Crew on the cover.

 

Thanks for all the posts. I think we're onto something.

[RockMyAmadeus]

Buncha drunks.

[Jeffro.]

I'm close to putting a reader run of Defenders 1 thru about 80 or so (should I go beyond that?). Can't wait to go through them. Never really paid much attention to this title before. Plus, I can't wait to read the Rush dedication in issue 45.

 

I also love the Frank Cirocco covers near the end of the run. Cirocco is one of the most underrated comic artists.

[*Bronze age fan*]

I'm close to putting a reader run of Defenders 1 thru about 80 or so (should I go beyond that?). Can't wait to go through them. Never really paid much attention to this title before. Plus, I can't wait to read the Rush dedication in issue 45.

 

I also love the Frank Cirocco covers near the end of the run. Cirocco is one of the most underrated comic artists.

 

 

I would be not able to sleep at night without the #1-152 run in the next room.

[Ken Aldred]

I'm close to putting a reader run of Defenders 1 thru about 80 or so (should I go beyond that?). Can't wait to go through them. Never really paid much attention to this title before. Plus, I can't wait to read the Rush dedication in issue 45.

 

A very long time since I've read that issue and I had completely forgotten about the Rush connection. I remember the Blue Oyster Cult issues that appeared a short time later, but the references there were more obvious.

 

 

[Jeffro.]

I'm close to putting a reader run of Defenders 1 thru about 80 or so (should I go beyond that?). Can't wait to go through them. Never really paid much attention to this title before. Plus, I can't wait to read the Rush dedication in issue 45.

 

A very long time since I've read that issue and I had completely forgotten about the Rush connection. I remember the Blue Oyster Cult issues that appeared a short time later, but the references there were more obvious.

 

 

Here's what Neil had to say about it in an interview from Circus magazine in 1977

http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/main/RushReferences.htm

[Ken Aldred]

I did find a website with a complete scan of the comic, but I'm sure you'll want the authentic experience which is accompanied by the smell of old newsprint. (thumbs u

[vaillant]

Certainly not as cool as the Avengers, but way better than the Champions.

Actually I have always considered them cooler than the Avengers, they weren’t just as much as "easy" to read, and reasonably the Avengers' had ingredients that made them more popular.

 

The Champions are not a fair comparision, IMO, as they lasted too little, although they, unlike the Defenders and like the Avengers were pretty much "thrown together".

Nowadays they do that often, and very badly.

[vaillant]

I'm close to putting a reader run of Defenders 1 thru about 80 or so (should I go beyond that?). Can't wait to go through them. Never really paid much attention to this title before. Plus, I can't wait to read the Rush dedication in issue 45.

 

I also love the Frank Cirocco covers near the end of the run. Cirocco is one of the most underrated comic artists.

You will love them, Jeffro.

My opinion is the best issues are all their way though #60, then Kraft leaves and DeMatteis starts, IIRC. DeMatteis did some nice things, but the quality is not consistent. The last issues are probably better than the first he wrote, and also these where he explores the past of Patsy Walker and Daimon Hellstrom.

The ones with the Valkyrie origin (still from the DAK run, I believe) are a must have, but all are prior to #80.

[vaillant]

I'm close to putting a reader run of Defenders 1 thru about 80 or so (should I go beyond that?). Can't wait to go through them. Never really paid much attention to this title before. Plus, I can't wait to read the Rush dedication in issue 45.

 

I also love the Frank Cirocco covers near the end of the run. Cirocco is one of the most underrated comic artists.

 

 

I would be not able to sleep at night without the #1-152 run in the next room.

Me too!

I think I still miss #7…