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You doubt...?

Well, then: Dr. Strange.The Hulk.The Sub-Mariner. The Silver Surfer.Luke Cage.The Son of Satan.The Valkyrie.

What would you call a membership roster like that...?

The Defenders were often labeled Marvel's "non-team," due to the unique fluidity and open-endedness of their perpetually in flux, come-one-come-all line-up.

In light of that designation... it's fitting, then, that their genesis as a team was almost a complete accident; the fortuitous result of a chance linking of three characters in a totally unrelated Marvel "crossover" story.

Writer Roy Thomas -- who was working on theSUB-MARINER series at the time (among others) -- decided that a storyline he'd had planned for that title, involving the invasion of a foreign nation by the putative "hero" of said series, needed a guest-star or two to fight alongside the self-styled "Scion of Atlantis."

Given that even the mighty Sub- Mariner would be hard- pressed to topple an entire sovereign state all by his lonesome... Thomas manipulated a few plot points so that the Sea King's erstwhile tag-team partners were: a.) the Incredible Hulk; and: b.) the Silver Surfer. [see cover, above]

Just a reasonably diverting two-parter, is all it was meant to be, at that point.

Until the letters began flooding into the Marvel offices, that is.

It seemed as if the notion of three of Marvel's all-time mightiest comics characters -- working alongside one another, for whhatever reason -- had struck an unexpectedly resonant chord within the fan readership of the day. A quick, astonished glance at the sales figures for those two issues, later on, confirmed what said missives had already made plain: this was very definitely something the readers wanted to see again.

Soon. And on an ongoing basis.

Unfortunately (or so it must have seemed to a frantic Thomas, at the time), then-editor Stan Lee had his own long-range plans for the Silver Surfer, and nixed the idea of the character's regular involvement with any such monthly team title.

After some frenzied casting about for someone -- anyone -- who might make a workable replacement for the now-untouchable Surfer, in terms of team dynamics (the savage, bestial Hulk and haughty, headstrong Namor would require someone intelligent enough to lead the two of them into battle... and powerful enough to ensure that they followed marching orders in the first place), Thomas finally hit upon what was -- in retrospect -- a brilliant notion: Dr. Strange!

The "Sorcerer Supreme" of the Marvel Universe hadn't been seen much of anywhere between the covers of a Marvel comic, really, since his own solo series had failed a few years prior. No one else was using him... and -- more importantly -- no one else had any real interest< in using him.

Doubtless mouthing a prayer or two that the readership would "take" to the notion of an all-but-vanished character in place of the "fan favorite" Surfer in the line-up of the new team -- now being billed as THE DEFENDERS -- Thomas nimbly effected the substitution within the pages of his already-completed script for same. And crossed his fingers. [see cover, below]

Sales on the first issue of the newly-minted-for-the-purpose MARVEL FEATURE shot through the roof; screamed through the ionosphere; and left those of every other Marvel title published that month gasping for oxygen in its accelerated wake.

Two more issues of MARVEL FEATURE had already been solicited as carrying new "Defenders" stories, as well... but Marvel wasn't going to hold one second longer than that. A few months later: the first issue of THE DEFENDERS was out, under its own boldly-lettered logo.

[see cover, below]

Sales for the title started out healthy, and stayed that way... even after the quick departure of a mind-numbingly overworked Roy Thomas (who had -- in the interim -- been promoted to full editorship of Marvel, upon Stan Lee's retirement). Much of the book's continued success may be fairly credited to the parade of high-quality scribes who took up the challenge of such an inherently "difficult" title after Thomas. One of the most pivotal of these was a young man who'd already been making something of a name for himself on AVENGERS and CAPTAIN AMERICA: the relentlessly inventive Steve Englehart.

Perhap's Englehart's greatest lasting "legacy" with regardsto the DEFENDERS series was his creative "revamping" of an all-but-forgotten villainess the now-departed Thomas had introduced some years earlier, in the pages of AVENGERS: a powerful, sword-wielding female protagonist known as "the Valkyrie," who was more than able to hold her own, combat-wise, alongside the awesome likes of Namor and the Hulk. [see accompanying picture]

Transforming virago into viable comics heroine by means of a storyline involving sorcery and the repressed memories of a long-dead woman by the name of "Barbara Norris," Englehart's contribution to the DEFENDERS canon became -- ultimately -- the single character with the greatesst "tenure" of any team member, throughout the series' long and storied run.

Another Englehart storyline a few months later, however, garnered even more initial fan interest: the now-legendary "Avengers/ Defenders War."

Manipulatedby two nigh-omnipotent cosmic beings named "Loki" and "Dormammu," Marvel's two mightiest hero assemblies waged epic, all-out battle all summer long, that year, in the alternating pages of their respective titles.Captain America fought the Sub-Mariner, in Imperial Japan; the once-felon Hawkeye traded blows with his long-ago nemesis, Iron Man; and -- of course -- the twin powerhouses of the two teams had their own little go-round, as well... [see accompanying cover]

It should be noted, here, that the artistic chores for all of the foregoing DEFENDERS issues -- as well as the following two or three years worth of same -- were carried out with high distinction by legendary comics draftsman Sal Buscema, who turned out some of the best work of his decades-long career on the title.

After the (soon) equally overworked Englehart was forced to quit the title, in order to concentrate upon other projects, journeyman comcis scribe Len Wein for the better part of a year. His own two lasting chalkmarks on the pole were the introduction of yet another new member -- like the Valkyrie, a reformed super-baddie -- by the name of "Nighthawk"; and the initial appearance within the Defenders' increasinly quirky corner of the Marvel Universe of "Luke Cage: Hero for Hire"... the latter being an important addition to the mix in its own right, as future months (and storylines) would soon make manifest.

... and then: Steve Gerber took over the storytelling helm... and made everything which had preceded his tenure on the titlelook like nothing more than a lengthy example of batting practice.

Under Gerber's firm (if always unpredictable) hand, the Defenders truly became a "non-team": the line-up seemed to change practically every other month, with costumed characters zig-zagging in and out of the title's increasingly manic storylines (a mad sorcerer with his brain transplanted into the body of a baby deer; a benevolent would-be alien despot, attempting to take over the world via stealth and "feel good" psychiatric quackery; mysterious elfin characters, assassinating walk-on characters with a cheery grin and promptly vanishing into the shadows once more) with a rapidity and implied sense of Chaos Leashed To Ultimate Purpose that left even the most attentive of readers feeling the need to lie down somewhere quiet for a half-hour or so after each successive issue.

Luke Cage (mentioned earlier) was put on permanent retainer by the team's resident megabucks mogul, Nighthawk, so that he'd always available, should the team ever require his services. He proved so popular with the title's fans (under Gerber's deft handling; far superior, in fact, to that which the character was then receiving in his own title), that he got called in quite a bit, over the ensuing years.

The tormented Son of Satan [see: MISFIT CHARACTERS OF THE MARVELUNIVERSE: Page Three] was another welcome addition to the ranks, as well; years later -- under future DEFENDERS writer J.M. DeMatteis -- he would, in fact, become a central figure within the series' canon. [Both characters can be seen on the cover for issue #24, above; and Luke, additionally, may be seen to even better effect on the Gil Kane cover to #37, accompanying.]

Sadly, after the departure of Mr. Gerber from the title (over a dispute over the ownership of another character of his creation: the 80's "fan favorite" character, "Howard the Duck"), the Defenders limped along for more some years under the tutelage of increasingly substandard writing "talents" (most notably, the dull Ed Hannigan and outright inept David Kraft), before -- eventually -- being rescued again, for a brief threee-year period, by the aforementioned Mr. DeMatteis.

Even then, however... the book never again staged such a commando-like assault on the walls of comic book "High Art" as it did under Steve Gerber, who -- alone, of all the many writers to handle the book over the years -- seemed to understand the simple, elemental truth behind the DEFENDERS title, and its singular strength as a storytelling vehicle:

"We started out by accident. Therefore: we need Bigger and Better Accidents."

These days, only (perhaps) a Grant Morrison would even consider the notion of (say) having a deranged fawn stalking the likes of a company's most powerful assemblage of costumed heroes.

"Safety First" may be an admirable credo, in most everyday respects... but -- as the Silver Age history of the DEFENDERS shows us -- the maxim "Accidents Will Happen" is, sometimes, an even better one.

OTHER SIGNIFICANT MARVEL TITLES of the Silver Age
PAGE SEVEN: The Hulk

"MISFIT" MARVEL CHARACTERS of the Silver Age
PAGE FOUR (Red Wolf and the Valkyrie)

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