The history of Marvel Comics has always been a passion of mine. I started reading comics in 1991, buying stuff like Infinity Gauntlet, Uncanny X-Men, X-Men, Wolverine, Silver Surfer, and various Spider-Man books, and also got the Marvel Universe Trading Cards Series 2. This opened up a whole world of Marvel history for me and I did my best to learn as much as possible (it was the early ’90s; I went to the library and used the card catalog to find stuff). The ’60s were the genesis of the Marvel Universe and were the easiest to learn about. The ’70s were a but harder. ’70s Marvel was a time of change for the publisher; Jack Kirby left, Stan Lee would stop writing as many books and focus on editorial, and a whole generation of creators molded by the gems of ’60s Marvel started working on the heroes who had enthralled them. New kinds of heroes premiered, pushing the House of Ideas in different directions, and a unique, new superteam was born: the Defenders.
The team debuted in Marvel Feature #1 in December 1971, with Doctor Strange, Hulk, Namor, and Silver Surfer banding together. Besides being ridiculously powerful, they were also the most contentious team you can imagine; they took the Marvel idea of squabbling superheroes to new heights, introducing the concept of the non-team. They made a splash and the team would star in its own solo book from 1974 to 1986, combining B and C-list heroes for the weirdest adventures imaginable. They had a special place in the Marvel ecosystem and they’ve always been the group that truly defined ’70s Marvel for me. Defenders #36 is one of those books that gives you a snapshot of that bygone decade.
The Defenders had one of the most interesting rosters in Marvel history, which was a big part of their success. The initial foursome was a great team, but as Defenders went on, Silver Surfer and Namor left the group, leaving Strange and Hulk to anchor the team. A succession of heroes would join in their place and this issue features Nighthawk, the Earth-616 version of the Squadron Supreme’s Batman pastiche, and Valkyrie, one of the Asgardian shield maidens who retrieved the souls of the dead and take them to Valhalla. It kept the foursome element of the team, but changed the dynamic.
The issue itself revolves around the team dealing with the events of the last issue. Nighthawk is recovering from having his brain put back in his body, with Strange’s magic allowing Red Guardian, the third version of the Soviet superhero, to stay in the States without being discovered. Valkyrie is sent to jail for property damage, and Strange and Red Guardian end up fighting Plantman after a lengthy conversation, who has decided to attack the city so he can make money. It’s a bizarre comic, one that shows everything that the Defenders were about.
This issue was from writer Steve Gerber (and script assist from Mary Skrenes), with art by Sal Buscema. Gerber is the first creator I think of when I think of ’70s Marvel. He created Man-Thing and Howard the Duck and his work was known for its satirical bent, something that fit the cynical decade of disco. His time on Defenders defined who the team would be, but it didn’t have the satire of some of his previous work. However, it also wasn’t a straight superhero story. Gerber understood how to use superheroes to tell the wildest stories imaginable, taking them in unique directions that other creators didn’t. His superhero stuff was as funny as his other work, but like his satire, he was able to turn the whole thing on a dime. ’70s Marvel was experimenting with the form of superheroes and Defenders #36 is a prime example of that.
Sal Buscema is an artist who was still working at Marvel when I started reading comics, on his landmark run on The Spectacular Spider-Man. Buscema’s art always had an angular quality to it, especially the faces, making his work distinct. His action scenes are something else; the above image of Red Guardian fighting thugs is a perfect example of that. It’s so balletic and kinetic, an image that you draws you in beautifully. His character acting and figure work is sensational and in this issue we get him drawing the Hulk, which is always a treat. Gerber and Buscema make for a fantastic creative team, giving readers a comic that perfectly encapsulates everything that Marvel could be.
’60s Marvel was the blueprint and ’80s Marvel was when it was perfected. The ’70s were a unique time in the publisher’s history. The House of Ideas kept getting weirder as the decade went on, but then again, so did the US. This was the age of the Heroes for Hire, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Woman, Shang-Chi, Wolverine, Punisher, Ghost Rider, and the rise of the X-Men. The Avengers and the Fantastic Four were going strong, but they weren’t the big show anymore. It was the ’70s; Marvel tapped into the veins of blaxploitation, kung-fu movies, feminism, and anti-heroism, even disco and glam rock, that defined the decade.
We never would have gotten the perfection of the ’80s if it wasn’t for the experiments of the ’70s. Defenders was ground zero for a lot of those. A new generation of creators were coming up and they were taking the universe that Stan and Jack built in new directions. Marvel has some awesome forgotten teams, and the Defenders never get the credit for how much they helped define an entire decade of the company. The group gets no respect; it’s become a generic name for any a group of Marvel heroes (I hate the Netflix-inspired version; it spits in the face of the team’s original concept). Defenders #36 isn’t some super-important ’70s Marvel classic with a major debut attached to it. It is, however, the perfect snapshot of where the publisher was as a storytelling entity.
If this is a must-have book for your collection, The ComicBook Vending Machine gives a chance to own this piece of Marvel history, from two creators who helped the decade shine brighter than it should have.
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