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Defenders (1972)
Series · 58
books · 1972-2022

Books in series

Defenders #1 book cover
#1

Defenders #1

2016

The Hulk! Sub-Mariner! Dr. Strange! Together again, against the man called Necrodamus! An off-beat read!
Defenders #6 book cover
#6

Defenders #6

2016

Doctor Strange is under mystical attack! Desperate to prove his strength over the Sorcerer Supreme, Cyrus Black casts illusions splitting the Defenders into chaos. Will Strange see through the machinations of Black’s mind? Or will another Defender rise to save the day?
Defenders #7 book cover
#7

Defenders #7

2016

Hawkeye vs the Defenders! What has led this super hero team to take on the Avenging Marksman Hawkeye?
Defenders #8 book cover
#8

Defenders #8

1973

The Defenders manage to contact the imprisoned Black Knight, who is trapped in another dimension. Loki then deceives the team into collecting the pieces of the Evil Eye!
Defenders #9 book cover
#9

Defenders #9

1973

The misunderstanding between the Avengers ramps up! Now it's Avenger vs. former Avenger as Hawkeye takes on Iron Man!
Defenders #11 book cover
#11

Defenders #11

1973

The Defenders are sent back to the time of the Crusades, where Black Knight has been fighting for King Richard. But they now have a new enemy: an army of Gnomes!
Defenders #12 book cover
#12

Defenders #12

2016

When Xemnu the Titan takes out the Hulk, it's up to the might of the Defenders to defeat the alien menace.
Defenders #13 book cover
#13

Defenders #13

1974

Nighthawk warns the Defenders of the return of the Squadron Sinister, which means only one thing - super-team showdown!
Defenders #14 book cover
#14

Defenders #14

1972

Nebulon is the man behind the plan of the Squadron Sinister and it's the villains united versus the Defenders. Plus, a new member joins the Defenders team.
Defenders #20 book cover
#20

Defenders #20

1975

The ever-lovin' Thing joins forces with the Defenders to save a Valkyrie ambushed by the Undying Ones!
Defenders #21 book cover
#21

Defenders #21

1975

The Headmen turn the citizens of New York into enraged rioters. Can the Defenders stop Manhattan from descending into madness?
Defenders #24 book cover
#24

Defenders #24

2016

Bruce Banner gathers a group of fill-in Defenders to help rescue his kidnapped teammates.
Defenders #29 book cover
#29

Defenders #29

1975

Defender and Guardian team up as Yondu and the Hulk are forced to fight a horde of robots in evil ruler Goozot's Super-Death Sweepstakes!
Defenders #31 book cover
#31

Defenders #31

1972

Nighthawk finds himself trapped in the past despite trouble in the present. What disastrous relationship is haunting Kyle Richmond? Doctor Strange and "Nighthawk" do battle on the astral plane. Hulk finds a friend in a baby deer.
Defenders #33 book cover
#33

Defenders #33

1976

The Defenders brace themselves for full mind/body swaps courtesy of the Headmen. But the team won’t go down without a fight! Chondu’s trapped in the body of Bambi. All that and an alien abduction!
Defenders #36 book cover
#36

Defenders #36

1976

Tania Belinskaya is the Red Guardian! After performing a successful brain transplant on Norriss, Strange ensures that the Russian super woman can stay in America. Valkyrie encounters a moral dilemma in prison, while Kyle Richmond finds himself in hot water once again! What does Plantman want with Nighthawk? The Defenders can have their teammate back…to the tune of five million dollars!
Defenders #40 book cover
#40

Defenders #40

2015

Valkyrie is reunited with her team, but the period of peace doesn’t last long! Hulk must stop a riot outside a movie theater, while Nighthawk throws money at Jack Norriss to make him go away. (Yes, Nighthawk's that annoyed). Matt Murdock guest stars as Valkyrie’s attorney!
Defenders #44 book cover
#44

Defenders #44

2018

The Defenders split up to look for the missing Doctor Strange!
Defenders #53 book cover
#53

Defenders #53

2018

Lord Vashti explains to the Defenders the device that’s polluting Atlantis with radiation.
Defenders #54 book cover
#54

Defenders #54

2018

With their ship destroyed, the Defenders scramble to the surface for safety.
Defenders #58 book cover
#58

Defenders #58

1978

Doctor Strange’s dreams foretell of a dark threat. Even the Eye of Agamotto can’t detect this one!
Defenders #59 book cover
#59

Defenders #59

1978

Inside Devil-Slayer’s dimension, Valkyrie and her new ally hunt down a Hulk… who’s already engaged in battle!
Defenders #60 book cover
#60

Defenders #60

1978

The Defenders draw closer to the Cult’s innermost secrets, including their base of operation. A mission in Mexico goes horribly awry.
Defenders #61 book cover
#61

Defenders #61

1978

Guest-starring Spider-Man! While playing around with her newly acquired Shadow Cloak, Hellcat accidentally sets the Hulk on a rampage!
Defenders #62 book cover
#62

Defenders #62

2016

The proverbial pot is stirred after a documentary is aired about the Defenders, inviting all heroes to come join the team. Will this unwanted TV time cause tension for the Defenders' current members?
Defenders #64 book cover
#64

Defenders #64

2016

It's a battle across New York City between the Defenders and their imposters! Hellcat's fury on the NYC subway shocks everyone. Valkyrie's team finds Nighthawk and has a memorable trip aboard the Staten Island Ferry. Is this enough excitement for the new members to stick around?
Defenders #65 book cover
#65

Defenders #65

2018

A giant, radioactive amoeba forces the Red Guardian and the Presence to combine forces.
Defenders #67 book cover
#67

Defenders #67

2020

Valkyrie finds herself a prisoner in a mystically-bound jail! But who is her captive? The Defenders charge Valhalla to eliminate Hela and her undead army.
Defenders #69 book cover
#69

Defenders #69

1979

The “Anything Man” violently lashes out when the Defenders come to claim his power. Nighthawk takes a difficult beating.
Defenders #71 book cover
#71

Defenders #71

1979

Harrisson Turk spills the details about who, or what, the Lunatik is.
Defenders #72 book cover
#72

Defenders #72

1979

Doctor Strange attempts to collect the many fragments of Tyrk!
Defenders #73 book cover
#73

Defenders #73

1979

Tunnelworld's most powerful mage teams with the Defenders to unify Arisen Tyrk. The Unnamable awakes.
Defenders #75 book cover
#75

Defenders #75

1979

Valkyrie and Hellcat are stalled in battle when the Foolkiller takes Dollar Bill as a prisoner!
Defenders #76 book cover
#76

Defenders #76

2017

As the Defenders work to find Omega, Ruby Thursday and Dibbuk steal his body from the morgue…all while being attacked by Protar aliens!
Defenders #77 book cover
#77

Defenders #77

2017

Moondragon leaves the team of heroes on bad terms when James-Michael Starling makes a bold decision to keep his friends safe.
Defenders #78 book cover
#78

Defenders #78

2022

Doctor Strange summons the Hulk and the Sub-Mariner to his Sanctum Sanctorum for a mission to Tunnel World. In Las Vegas, the team is joined by Yellowjacket as they answer a distress call from a military base.
Defenders #80 book cover
#80

Defenders #80

2022

The Defenders, allied with Aeroika, must ward off an attack from Ytitnedion’s army. On Earth, Nighthawk steps in to take down Mandrill.
Defenders #81 book cover
#81

Defenders #81

2022

The city of Ogeon is under siege, and the Defenders and Aeroika carry off a stealth mission to rescue its citizens!
Defenders #82 book cover
#82

Defenders #82

2022

Hulk falls under the Unnamable's possession and is appointed the new captain of the Nilffim Riders!
Defenders #83 book cover
#83

Defenders #83

2022

Kyle Richmond works out his legal woes, while Hulk, Namor, and Doctor Strange get ready for their big showdown in Tunnel World.
Defenders #84 book cover
#84

Defenders #84

2022

Namor hosts a celebration in his underwater palace, but the good times soon sour into a diplomatic incident with Wakanda!
Defenders #85 book cover
#85

Defenders #85

2022

The Mandrill is involved in the Wakandan tech heist, and the Defenders must track down his whereabouts before the entire nation suffers.
Defenders #86 book cover
#86

Defenders #86

2022

Black Panther and Hellcat race against the clock to locate the last bit of missing tech—the ominous Absorber.
Defenders #87 book cover
#87

Defenders #87

2022

A surveillance agency that has been trailing the Defenders recalls a particular incident featuring Hellcat, Valkyrie, and the Hulk.
Defenders #88 book cover
#88

Defenders #88

2022

Nighthawk slips back into costume! The Hulk runs afoul of a whaling ship on the open seas.
Defenders #89 book cover
#89

Defenders #89

2022

The team faces personal upset when Kyle’s pending court case uproots his life and Hellcat gets a devastating call about her mother.
Defenders #100 book cover
#100

Defenders #100

2016

The Defenders battle Satan and his fellow Hell-Lords, but even that showdown pales before the ultimate hellish duel: Daimon vs. Satan, son vs. father!
Defenders #106 book cover
#106

Defenders #106

2016

The Defenders race against time to stop a sinister plot that involves using the world's psychics to incite World War III! But to save the Earth, which Defenders must pay the ultimate price?
Defenders #111 book cover
#111

Defenders #111

2017

Patsy Walker, the Daughter of Satan?!
Defenders #121 book cover
#121

Defenders #121

1983

The Defenders finally lend their ears to Patsy Walker's nightmares.
New Defenders #129 book cover
#129

New Defenders #129

2018

The Defenders take on their most surprising foes yet…the NEW MUTANTS!?
New Defenders #131 book cover
#131

New Defenders #131

2018

Two villains for the price of one! Beast, Angel and Iceman face off against a mysterious new foe - the WALRUS! But then, they'll have to contend with Frog-Man, who plots to…join the Defenders!?
New Defenders #132 book cover
#132

New Defenders #132

2018

Ephraim eats a plant growing on a gamma bomb that mutates him into a tree-like creature. When he stumbles across the Defenders headquarters, they must destroy him!
New Defenders #137 book cover
#137

New Defenders #137

2018

With Gargoyle under the control of a powerful mage, the Defenders are hesitant to fight their friend!
New Defenders #143 book cover
#143

New Defenders #143

2019

The struggle for control continues between Moondragon and Dragon of the Moon! Who will win this internal tug-of-war?
New Defenders #152 book cover
#152

New Defenders #152

2017

It’s the bitter end for some of our grand Defenders! How many members will perish in an epic battle against the psychically deadly Moondragon?
Marvel Masterworks book cover
#1-6

Marvel Masterworks

The Defenders, Vol. 1

2008

Collects Sub-Mariner (1968) #34-35, Marvel Feature (1971) #1-3 and Defenders (1972) #1-6. Leap into the adventures of the dynamic Defenders, comics' greatest non-team! Bonded in a mutual mission are the mightiest misfits in the Marvel U.: the Incredible Hulk, the Sub-Mariner and the Silver Surfer. But these warriors three don't rest on bylaws and butlers; they - along with the Master of the Mystic Arts, Dr. Strange, and the defiant Valkyrie - come together only in moments of utmost crisis. Facing enemies from across the incomprehensible divide, the Defenders square off against Dormammu; the Nameless One; the Enchantress; and a dark menace from Dr. Strange's past, the sorcerer Cyrus Black. It's not just baddies they do battle with, though. In a prelude to the epic Avengers/Defenders War, Hulk, Namor and the Silver Surfer go head-to-head with the mighty Avengers in a fight that pits hero against hero like none other!
Avengers/Defenders War book cover
#8-11

Avengers/Defenders War

1973

Collects Avengers (1963) #115-118 and Defenders (1972) #8-11. Powerful pawns in a game of gods! Captain America vs. the Sub-Mariner! Thor vs. the Hulk! The Swordsman vs. the Valkyrie! These and other matches comprised the Silver Age's most sensational clash of costumed champions - but whoever wins the war, Dormammu and Loki are prepared to make Earth the loser!

Authors

Len Wein
Author · 172 books

Len Wein was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel superhero team the X-Men (including the co-creation of Nightcrawler, Storm, and Colossus). Additionally, he was the editor for writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons' influential DC miniseries Watchmen. Wein was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2008.

Steve Gerber
Steve Gerber
Author · 63 books

Steve Gerber graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in communications and took a job in advertising. To keep himself sane, he wrote bizarre short stories such as "Elves Against Hitler," "Conversion in a Terminal Subway," and "...And the Birds Hummed Dirges!" He noticed acquaintance Roy Thomas working at Marvel, and Thomas sent him Marvel's standard writing test, dialoguing Daredevil art. He was soon made a regular on Daredevil and Sub-Mariner, and the newly created Man-Thing, the latter of which pegged him as having a strong personal style—intellectual, introspective, and literary. In one issue, he introduced an anthropomorphic duck into a horror fantasy, because he wanted something weird and incongruous, and Thomas made the character, named for Gerber's childhood friend Howard, fall to his apparent death in the following issue. Fans were outraged, and the character was revived in a new and deeply personal series. Gerber said in interview that the joke of Howard the Duck is that "there is no joke." The series was existential and dealt with the necessities of life, such as finding employment to pay the rent. Such unusual fare for comicbooks also informed his writing on The Defenders. Other works included Morbius, the Lving Vampire, The Son of Satan, Tales of the Zombie, The Living Mummy, Marvel Two-in-One, Guardians of the Galaxy, Shanna the She-Devil, and Crazy Magazine for Marvel, and Mister Miracle, Metal Men, The Phantom Zone , and The Immortal Doctor Fate for DC. Gerber eventually lost a lawsuit for control of Howard the Duck when he was defending artist Gene Colan's claim of delayed paychecks for the series, which was less important to him personally because he had a staff job and Colan did not. He left comics for animation in the early 1980s, working mainly with Ruby-Spears, creating Thundarr the Barbarian with Alex Toth and Jack Kirby and episodes of The Puppy's Further Adventures, and Marvel Productions, where he was story editor on multiple Marvel series including Dungeons & Dragons, G.I. Joe, and The Transformers. He continued to dabble in comics, mainly for Eclipse, including the graphic novel Stewart the Rat, the two-part horror story "Role Model: Caring, Sharing, and Helping Others," and the seven-issue Destroyer Duck with Jack Kirby, which began as a fundraiser for Gerber's lawsuit. In the early 1990s, he returned to Marvel with Foolkiller, a ten-issue limited series featuring a new version of a villain he had used in The Man-Thing and Omega the Unknown, who communicated with a previous version of the character through internet bulletin boards. An early internet adopter himself, he wrote two chapters of BBSs for Dummies with Beth Woods Slick, with whom he also wrote the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Contagion." During this period, he also wrote The Sensational She-Hulk and Cloak and Dagger for Marvel, Cybernary and WildC.A.T.s for Image, and Sludge and Exiles for the writer-driven Malibu Ultraverse, and Nevada for DC's mature readers Vertigo line. In 2002, he returned to the Howard the Duck character for Marvel's mature readers MAX line, and for DC created Hard Time with Mary Skrenes, with whom he had co-created the cult hit Omega the Unknown for Marvel. Their ending for Omega the Unknown remains a secret that Skrenes plans to take to the grave if Marvel refuses to publish it. Suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis ("idiopathic" meaning of unknown origin despite having been a heavy smoker much of his life), he was on a waiting list for a double lung transplant. His final work was the Doctor Fate story arc, "More Pain Comics," for DC Comics'

David Anthony Kraft
Author · 27 books

David Anthony Kraft was an American comic book writer, publisher, and critic. (source: Wikipedia)

Roy Thomas
Roy Thomas
Author · 334 books

Roy Thomas was the FIRST Editor-in-Chief at Marvel—After Stan Lee stepped down from the position. Roy is a longtime comic book writer and editor. Thomas has written comics for Archie, Charlton, DC, Heroic Publishing, Marvel, and Topps over the years. Thomas currently edits the fanzine Alter Ego for Twomorrow's Publishing. He was Editor for Marvel comics from 1972-1974. He wrote for several titles at Marvel, such as Avengers, Thor, Invaders, Fantastic Four, X-Men, and notably Conan the Barbarian. Thomas is also known for his championing of Golden Age comic-book heroes—particularly the 1940s superhero team the Justice Society of America—and for lengthy writing stints on Marvel's X-Men and Avengers, and DC Comics' All-Star Squadron, among other titles. Also a legendary creator. Creations include Wolverine, Carol Danvers, Ghost Rider, Vision, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Valkyrie, Morbius, Doc Samson, and Ultron. Roy has also worked for Archie, Charlton, and DC among others over the years.

Peter B. Gillis
Peter B. Gillis
Author · 22 books
Peter B. Gillis (born December 19, 1952) is an American comic book writer best known for his work at Marvel Comics and First Comics in the mid-1980s, including the series Strikeforce: Morituri and the digitally drawn comic series Shatter.
Ed Hannigan
Ed Hannigan
Author · 18 books
Ed Hannigan is an American comics artist, writer, and editor for both Marvel Comics and DC Comics.
Steve Englehart
Steve Englehart
Author · 206 books

See also John Harkness. Steve Englehart went to Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. After a stint in the Army, he moved to New York and began to write for Marvel Comics. That led to long runs on Captain America, The Hulk, The Avengers, Dr. Strange, and a dozen other titles. Midway through that period he moved to California (where he remains), and met and married his wife Terry. He was finally hired away from Marvel by DC Comics, to be their lead writer and revamp their core characters (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern). He did, but he also wrote a solo Batman series (immediately dubbed the "definitive" version) that later became Warner Brothers' first Batman film (the good one). After that he left comics for a time, traveled in Europe for a year, wrote a novel (The Point Man™), and came back to design video games for Atari (E.T., Garfield). But he still liked comics, so he created Coyote™, which within its first year was rated one of America's ten best series. Other projects he owned (Scorpio Rose™, The Djinn™) were mixed with company series (Green Lantern [with Joe Staton], Silver Surfer, Fantastic Four). Meanwhile, he continued his game design for Activision, Electronic Arts, Sega, and Brøderbund. And once he and Terry had their two sons, Alex and Eric, he naturally told them stories. Rustle's Christmas Adventure was first devised for them. He went on to add a run of mid-grade books to his bibliography, including the DNAgers™ adventure series, and Countdown to Flight, a biography of the Wright brothers selected by NASA as the basis for their school curriculum on the invention of the airplane. In 1992 Steve was asked to co-create a comics pantheon called the Ultraverse. One of his contributions, The Night Man, became not only a successful comics series, but also a television show. That led to more Hollywood work, including animated series such as Street Fighter, GI Joe, and Team Atlantis for Disney.

Don Perlin
Don Perlin
Author · 1 books
Don Perlin is an American comic book artist, writer, and editor. He is best known for Marvel Comics' Werewolf by Night, Moon Knight, The Defenders, and Ghost Rider. In the 1990s, he worked for Valiant Comics, both as artist and editor.
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