Are The Outsiders DC’s version of The Defenders

[SecretWarrior]

DC's "Defenders" are like ... when Denny O'Neil had Batman, Green Arrow and The Question team up, I think. Alternately I suppose the old trio of Richard Dragon, Bronze Tiger and Lady Shiva kind of fit that bill, sorta ... strictly speaking it would be more like, I mean, because then again, Marvel's comics Defenders had a bunch of incarnations of varying status ...

G1 was Strange, Namor and Hulk, yeah? So ... Doctor Fate, Aquaman and ... I mean DC doesn't have an overt "good guy" Hulk analogue but the closest thing to the Jekyll/Hyde thing is Etrigan? I'd rock out to a Fate, Arthur and Etrigan team-up. IMAGINE the Lovecraftian crap THOSE THREE would have to deal with? And the Arthurian influence! Eventually Silver Surfer drops by to help ... in our case we'd have Black Racer show up, and we'd have a fearsome foursome of Aquaman, Doctor Fate, Etrigan and The Black Racer. Nighthawk comes to hang out? That's just your inevitable Batman guest spot.

New Defenders was a bunch of real rando characters. Secret Defenders and on down the line. I thought the Netflix Defenders must've at least had some historical comic version prior to being teamed up for the crossover but apparently not? I actually have no clue who that team would be. I'd sub Nightwing for Daredevil but after that? Ah, just throw it back to the Denny "kung-fu detective trio", then add Nightwing because everything is better with Nightwing.

The DCAU Defenders were featured in the JL episode "The Terror Beyond":

[Riv86672]

The DCAU Defenders were featured in the JL episode "The Terror Beyond":

That was SUCH a great Defenders homage. Prob. my favorite eps of the entire series tbh.

[Lee Stone]

I think if Morrison's Seven Soldiers had actually gotten together and formed a team, they'd be the closest to the Defenders.

To me, the Defenders is represented by a combination of two things that were prevalent in the book when I first started reading it: supernatural or other-dimensional threats and plenty of characters with mystical, psychic or mythical backgrounds.
They also seemed to have members that gave them a connection to almost every corner of Marvel.

If I were to make a Defenders-like team, I'd use Wonder Woman (Paradise Island), Shazam/Captain Marvel (Myth-based), Aquaman (Atlantis), Mister Miracle (New Genesis/Apokolips), Raven (Azarath/Trigon), Shining Knight (the female) (Sheeda/The Fae), and Etrigan (Merlin/Camelot), with either Dr. Fate or Zatanna as the magic-based character and Black Orchid to round it out.

[Riv86672]

^^^Damn, that’s a good team.

[Jim Kelly]

The Defenders comics I know best are from the 1970s and the revival from the early 2000s. Looking at those, the comic that clicks into my brain is SUPER FRIENDS. Either that line-up of heroes--Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Aquaman--or the Global Guardians.

The Amalgam group would have to be the Best Frienders.

[Holt]

The strongest point of comparison I could see between the Defenders and Outsiders is that neither property was ever quite able to replicate the success of their original series, no matter how many revivals they get.

[DrNewGod]

The strongest point of comparison I could see between the Defenders and Outsiders is that neither property was ever quite able to replicate the success of their original series, no matter how many revivals they get.

*harsh truth*

[Riv86672]

The strongest point of comparison I could see between the Defenders and Outsiders is that neither property was ever quite able to replicate the success of their original series, no matter how many revivals they get.

Wasn’t the Judd Winick book from ‘03 pretty popular?
I didn’t/don’t follow sales numbers but I remember liking it. Great art, and some cool characters were introduced.

[Nomads1]

Wasn’t the Judd Winick book from ‘03 pretty popular?
I didn’t/don’t follow sales numbers but I remember liking it. Great art, and some cool characters were introduced.

Exactly what first came to mind. I didn't care much for it. Really don't like Winick. It was Outsiders in name only for me, but I recall it being quite sucessful at the time. And it didn't even have Batman in it.

Peace

[Kaijudo]

I think if Morrison's Seven Soldiers had actually gotten together and formed a team, they'd be the closest to the Defenders.

That's a really solid point. Hell, you can even draw analogues between most of the members:

Zatanna - Dr. Strange
Frankenstein - The Hulk
Shining Knight - Valkyrie
Bulleteer - Hellcat
Manhattan Guardian - Nighthawk
Klarion - Namor
Mister Miracle - Silver Surfer

Some of those are maybe coming close to being a bit of a stretch, but whether it's power-based or personality-based, I think the resemblances are there.

[Aahz]

eeeeh that sounds like a fundamental misunderstanding of what the Outsiders are supposed to be; the fact that in outside media they are presented as their own entity independent of Batman pretty much underscores that. the reason the team was formed was because Batman needed heroes who could work outside the purview of mainstream superheroics. a team that operates outside the purview of mainstream superheroics, nothing about that premise inherently requires Batman to work, which is why they drop him for every other incarnation of the team. there's a reason they have had just as many incarnations of the team without Batman and his name in their title than there are with him (actually i think technically they have more without him). even just looking at the ratio of Bat characters to general DC universe characters who largely do their own thing without Batman, the idea that that the Outsiders are inherently Batman related characters is actually pretty laughable.

The problem is that appart from Katana the rest of the original team also don't really work with that premise.

- Black Lighting is to much of "goody-two-shoes"
- Geoforce is the monarch of an independent European country
- And Halo and Metamorpho are to goofy

Having villains like the Nuclear Family, the Duke of Oil, the Force of July and the People's heros also didn't help...

[Riv86672]

That's a really solid point. Hell, you can even draw analogues between most of the members:

Zatanna - Dr. Strange
Frankenstein - The Hulk
Shining Knight - Valkyrie
Bulleteer - Hellcat
Manhattan Guardian - Nighthawk
Klarion - Namor
Mister Miracle - Silver Surfer

Some of those are maybe coming close to being a bit of a stretch, but whether it's power-based or personality-based, I think the resemblances are there.

Nicely drawn parallels!
And, nothing wrong w. a good stretch. Especially w. comics.

[Robanker]

Not in a purposeful-one for one swap-exact same mission statement kind of way but in how they’ve evolved over time.

Someone pointed out at a different site I was visiting how both teams are where B-listers go to hang out, and A-listers occasionally visit.
Both teams have been reimagined in wildly different ways.
Each team has certain “core” members that make it to most Iterations of the team, and have developed in-continuity relationships.

Never really thought about it before but, Black Lightning, Katana, Geo Force all have that vibe, same as Nighthawk, Valkyrie, and Hellcat.

I'm not too versed in Marvel so perhaps the nuance is lost on me, but I'd argue the JSA fits more than the Outsiders do.