Marvel's Non-Team: Defenders Appreciation 2019

[Reviresco]

Interesting! I never heard of these! Look at that rare pic of Executioner shooting energy blasts! That must be the Valkyrie origin ish.

Me either. I'm more concerned about the Executioner's unusual ... head size. O_O

I'm wondering who did this cover? It has a little of the Romita vibe, but not his finesse.

It is! In the US it had this cover. One of my all times favorites.

[Phoenixx9]

Me either. I'm more concerned about the Executioner's unusual ... head size. O_O

I'm wondering who did this cover? It has a little of the Romita vibe, but not his finesse.

It is! In the US it had this cover. One of my all times favorites.

Lol, Executioner's head size! I think his hair, the two small side bands are wrong in some way too!

I agree, it does have a Romita vibe to it.

I love that cover! Valkyrie looks so powerful! It is a shame that they quickly watered her down after the original issue.

[Reviresco]

Lol, Executioner's head size! I think his hair, the two small side bands are wrong in some way too!

I agree, it does have a Romita vibe to it.

I love that cover! Valkyrie looks so powerful! It is a shame that they quickly watered her down after the original issue.

She was / is awesome -- especially for the 1970s. Even if her origin was a mess.

Speaking of mess ... I don't know exactly what is wrong with poor Executioner's head on that cover, but it is wrong.

[Phoenixx9]

She was / is awesome -- especially for the 1970s. Even if her origin was a mess.

Speaking of mess ... I don't know exactly what is wrong with poor Executioner's head on that cover, but it is wrong.

I think the top part if his head is just a little to tall, making his head look strange, almost Leader-like!! And his hair side bands are likewise up too high.

[Reviresco]

I think the top part if his head is just a little to tall, making his head look strange, almost Leader-like!! And his hair side bands are likewise up too high.

That's it exactly! It's Leader like.

[Reviresco]

Here's an interesting article by D. Jason Cooper at Blastoff discussing the themes of the Defenders and what made it work. It's a bit long, so I'm only posting the pertinent bits.

At first sight, the Defenders don’t have a real theme, either. They are simply the “non-group” of people who don’t want to work together but have to. But something more than that kept the title selling enough copies for a 125-issue run from 1972 to 1983.

Something made Marvel revive the Defenders 12 times, not including their late-issue revamp as the New Defenders or the all female Fearless Defenders.

CUT

It’s the theme. Not the theme of the “non-group,” which was how it was sold. That is a nonsense. What is a non-group of people? It’s a group of people who aren’t together, and the Defenders were together. As to them not wanting to be together but they had to be, two of them got married. The clue is in the membership.

There’s no Captain America. And he shouldn’t be. The Black Widow isn’t there. Neither are any members of the Fantastic Four. None of them should be there. They wouldn’t fit in because they fit in.

The Defenders are not a non-group, the are an out-group. They are the people society doesn’t like, those who came from outside and never got it, or who can no longer see the world in the way other people do. Let’s take the three original members.


CUT

The Defenders stand outside society. For whatever reason they are the outgroup. And who gets accepted, who gets to judge others, and what is reality were three story themes that helped bind the Defenders together.

CUT

And that returns us to that other theme of the Defenders. This is the one that made it succeed for so long, made it seem so revivable, and yet was overlooked so the revivals have not been very successful.

These people are members of an outgroup. They are judged as insufficient by the ingroup despite their enormous talents. But who gets to make that call? Who has the right to judge people or society as a whole?

What do you think? I can see his claim that the Defenders aren't a non-group but an outsider group. And I can see the theme of What Is Reality? It explains many of the bizzare, weird, quirky stories. I'm not so sure about the theme Who Gets To Judge?

You can read the whole article here, which includes examples.

http://www.blastoffcomics.com/2014/11/the-defenders/

[Phoenixx9]

I never liked the whole "non-group" title or that they were outsiders. Back then, everyone was an "outsider" when not in their own respective group/team, such as Reed Richards, Scarlet Witch, Cyclops, just for examples.

I know others use "non-group" meaning a loose knit of people that come-and-go. But, many Defenders stayed for a good long time, such as Valkyrie, Nighthawk, Hulk and Hellcat.

Others wanted a new way to describe this new team. However, since the entire series was not about new members in every issue or two, I don't feel the "non-team" moniker was accurate, just, or warranted. I saw it as an insult and still do.

To me, The Defenders had a membership just like The Avengers, with members coming or going as they needed.

Yes, I take my OG Defenders very seriously, lol!!

[Reviresco]

I never liked the whole "non-group" title or that they were outsiders. Back then, everyone was an "outsider" when not in their own respective group/team, such as Reed Richards, Scarlet Witch, Cyclops, just for examples.

I know others use "non-group" meaning a loose knit of people that come-and-go. But, many Defenders stayed for a good long time, such as Valkyrie, Nighthawk, Hulk and Hellcat.

Others wanted a new way to describe this new team. However, since the entire series was not about new members in every issue or two, I don't feel the "non-team" moniker was accurate, just, or warranted. I saw it as an insult and still do.

To me, The Defenders had a membership just like The Avengers, with members coming or going as they needed.

Yes, I take my OG Defenders very seriously, lol!!

Me too!

Hmmm. I never saw the Non-Team moniker as an insult -- maybe not the most precise description. But then, I do think they were different from the Avengers and the X-Men and the FF, less a formal team with cards and an HQ, etc. Wasn't there an issue where Kyle tried to set them up a HQ and that went South pretty quick. They were more Outsider than those other groups, except the X-Men, in the beginning. Both Namor and Hulk were considered menaces. I'll have to think on the rest and read that article again. I did think he might be stretching on Hellcat and ... was it Nighthawk? when he started talking about their publishing history.

So, should we change the thread title? What would we use instead?

[Phoenixx9]

Kyle did set the team up in his Long Island Riding Academy, where there was a nice barn for Aragorn and plenty of privacy for the Defenders to come and go, along with training and sleeping facilities for the entire team. Shortly afterwards, it was burnt down.

As for the name...we could call them...The Defenders!
That is their name. And they are a team. My team callouts always started with: "Avengers, Defenders, Fantastic Four....etc..." And went threw all of the other teams from there.

[Reviresco]

https://www.newsarama.com/43477-thor...-realms-2.html

I'm glad I just posted the Defenders #4 cover, cause I made the immediate connection to this. Well, except we don't have Namor or the Hulk there.

[Phoenixx9]

I'm glad I just posted the Defenders #4 cover, cause I made the immediate connection to this. Well, except we don't have Namor or the Hulk there.

Cool cover!

Val looks great! I want to see more of her new costume. I love the headgear too!

I wonder if the story is any good?

[Reviresco]

Cool cover!

Val looks great! I want to see more of her new costume. I love the headgear too!

I wonder if the story is any good?

I don't know. It's Jason Aaron's big EVENT. The art will be pretty, though. This is by Art Adams, but the interiors will be by Russell Daughterman, and I love his work.

[Reviresco]

by Pocket Aimee Norris

http://pocketaimee.com/post/58511957...or-i-drew-this

[Phoenixx9]

by Pocket Aimee Norris

http://pocketaimee.com/post/58511957...or-i-drew-this

Ahahaha! Very cute!

[ImperiusWrecked]

LOL I never realized just how Doctor Strange and Valkyrie had the most clothes on! that art is adorable!