Out of Obscurity

A somber tale from Marvel Comics Presents #40 (mid-December 1989) found Over-Mind living in Millwood, New Hampshire, the site of extensive toxic waste leakage. Needing a sense of a purpose after leaving the Defenders, Over-Mind decided to use his mental powers to alleviate the Millwood residents of their distress by making them believe they were still in good health. The powerful telepath removed the mental illusion once medical help arrived to treat the townspeople.

In a change of pace, Over-Mind and numerous other characters who had appeared in Marvel Comics Presents joined forces in What The--?! #9 (Oct. 1990). The story parodied Giant-Size X-Men #1, with Over-Mind, Paladin, El Águila, and numerous other heroes replacing the original Echs-Men. Sunfire was the only character in that spoof who also appeared in Giant-Size X-Men #1.

Scott Lobdell wrote "…Anything" (Marvel Comics Presents #40) and "Second Guesses" (What The--?! #9), showing he had a sense of humor about his own work.

The Secret Origin of Dr. Druid

As Dr. Druid grew in prominence, the similarities between his origin story and the origin of Dr. Strange became hard to overlook. Avengers Spotlight #37 reconciled this coincidence while reinvigorating the character.

Within the issue, Dr. Druid learned that the lama who had sent for and trained him in the Himalayas some time ago was none other than the Ancient One who went on to train Dr. Strange. The world needed a magical protector before Dr. Strange was psychologically ready to learn the mystic arts, so the Ancient One selected Dr. Druid as a precursor to Dr. Strange—cultivating the powers of the ancient Britons that Dr. Druid inherited.

With this revelation, Dr. Druid felt repentant for his manipulative behavior as a member of the Avengers. Further, he underwent a physical transformation, appearing as he might have looked a few years before his initial meeting with the lama (a.k.a. the Ancient One). Dr. Druid retained this younger body, with a full head of hair, during his time with the Secret Defenders.

Avengers Spotlight. Vol. 1. No. 37. October 1990. "Interlude in a Peaceable Kingdom!" Roy & Dann Thomas (writers), Bob Hall (penciler), Win Mortimer (inker), Rick Parker (letterer), R. Witterstaetter (colorist), Mark Gruenwald (editor), Tom DeFalco (editor in chief).

Deadpool: The Postmodern Poster Boy

Deadpool was hard to ignore during his appearances in Secret Defenders #15-17. With constant quips and unrelenting references to pop culture, the anti-hero's dialogue had a stream-of-consciousness quality about it.

As a temporary member of the Secret Defenders, Deadpool accompanied Dr. Druid (now leading the covert team), the mysterious Shadowoman (not to be mistaken for Spider-Woman), and Luke Cage (billed simply as Cage instead of Power Man). Fittingly, Deadpool complained that Heroes for Hire like Cage gave mercenaries like himself a bad name.

For all his insufferable banter, however, Deadpool had a semblance of self-awareness. Consider his opening words from #15.

Deadpool: Now up ahead, on our left … we see a stunning example of post-modernist expressionism! And when it comes to expressionism, you ain't never had a friend like me!

Deadpool's identification with postmodernism made sense. This was the Copper Age of superhero comics, after all, when cosmic-level continuity shifts became commonplace and deceased characters routinely resurrected from the dead. Within this storytelling framework, the stakes weren't as permanent or lasting as they seemed been in the past, and Deadpool's facetiousness reflected that.

Secret Defenders #15 included an insert with three detachable Marvel Cards for the villain Venom, another popular character to emerge during Copper Age of comic books.

Secret Defenders. Vol. 1. No. 15. May 1994. "Strange Changes, Part the First: Strangers and Other Lovers." Tim Brevoort & Mike Kanterovich (writers), Jerry DeCaire (penciler), Tony DeZuniga (inker), John Costanza (letterer), John Kalisz (colorist), Craig Anderson (editor), Tom DeFalco (mystic harbinger in chief).

The (Secret) Defenders

Beginning with Secret Defenders #4, an image of eight heroes consistently appeared with the DEFENSE Lines logo on the letters page.

The choice of Wolverine made sense, as he worked as a member of the team in Secret Defenders #1-3.

Captain America and Spider-Man were among the heroes to star in #6-8.

Silver Surfer arrived in #14 and appeared again in #23-24. Human Torch, Cable, Cyclops, and Iron Man, however, never made their way into the story pages of the 25-issue series.

Against the Swarm

A string of fatal insect attacks against leading entomologists prompted the national Department of Covert Extranormal Investigation and Disinformation to enlist the help of Dr. Druid (Secret Defenders #18-19).

At Dr. Druid's recommendation, Henry Pym received orders from the highest levels of government to investigate conspicuous insect infestations at the Rand-Meachum Technology Facility in Houston.

Though back to his Giant-Man powers at the time, Dr. Pym brought along a cybernetic helmet from his days as Ant-Man. Accompanied by Iron Fist—who was already on site as Daniel Rand, chairman and CEO of Rand-Meachum Inc.—Pym concluded that a singular consciousness was controlling the army of insects that stormed the facility.

Meanwhile, Dr. Druid, Shadowoman, and Cadaver of the Secret Defenders worked behind the scenes to battle Swarm, the collective intelligence responsible for the attacks.

During the encounter, Dr. Druid sensed that Iceman and Angel had previously faced Swarm (Champions #14-15). For backup, Dr. Druid cast an illusion in the minds of Iceman and Archangel that Professor Xavier wanted them to report to the facility. The two mutants arrived at the tail end of this latest conflict.

Secret Defenders. Vol. 1. No. 18. August 1994. "A Tiny Little War." Tom Brevroot & Mike Kanterovich (writers), Bill Wylie (penciler), Hudson + Dezuniga (inkers), John Costanza (letterer), Jim Hoston (colorist), Craig Anderson (editor), Tom DeFalco (editor in chief).

Secret Defenders. Vol. 1. No. 19. September 1994. "Survival of the Fittest." Tom Brevroot & Mike Kanterovich (writers), Bill Wylie (breakdowns), Tony Dezuniga (finishes), John Costanza (letterer), John Kausz (colorist), Craig Anderson (editor), Tom DeFalco (bee-hind it all).

Secret Defenders vs. Original Defenders

A time-warp in Secret Defenders #23 found five members of the ever-changing team defending themselves against past versions of Hulk, Prince Namor, and Silver Surfer—transported from a time soon after the original Defenders formed. A misconstrued battle transpired between the two teams in #24.

With impressive strength, Sub-Mariner and Hulk fended off Cadaver, Dagger, Deathlok, and Drax of the Secret Defenders.

But the most telling showdown came between Silver Surfer and Shadowoman/Sepulcre, who imprisoned the cosmic champion in magic tendrils. When he broke free, the former herald of Galactus sensed that, in this era of the Secret Defenders, a cosmic barrier no longer trapped him on Earth. Feeling detached from the conflict, the Silver Surfer flew off into space.

Silver Surfer: At long last … the freedom which has ever been my heart's desire is attained! But at what price? The Earth sprawls out before me … as lush and green as any sphere I have ever beheld! Though my place of exit, it has also proven a land filled with awe and wonder aplenty! Though its inhabitants are often primitive and barbaric … they nurture within them a spare of greatness which may one day buoy them to heights! How thoughtless, how … human … of me, to place my own personal needs about those of the common good …

With a sense of moral obligation, the Surfer returned to Earth to rejoin the battle—just in time for the Defenders of two eras to discover a common threat at hand.

Tom Brevoort & Mike Kanterovich wrote Secret Defenders #23-24. Bill Wylie pencilled those issues.

Out of the Shadows

Beginning with Secret Defenders #15, the mysterious Shadowoman became a core member of the team. This led to a recurring question on the series letters page, as reader after reader asked why Shadowoman appeared in the same red costume previously worn by Spider-Woman (specifically Jessica Drew).

The web-gliders on the sides of Spider-Woman's uniform were the key distinctions between the two characters.

The costume confusion ended with Secret Defenders #22 as Shadowoman not only adopted a new black uniform but also changed her codename. The character now called herself Sepulcre, a variant spelling of the word sepulchre, which hinted at the cryptic nature of her powers.

The cover of #22 showed the character's figuratively transform from her original Shadowoman costume into Sepulcre.

Secret Prices

I stopped collecting comic books during much of the 1990s and only recently began to buy back issues from that decade. In the process, I decided to take a look at the cover prices for a series that was a secret to me during my time away from collecting. Sporting a foil cover, The Secret Defenders #1 (March 1993) sold for $2.50. On the one-year mark, #12 (Feb. 1994) sold for that same price, with a prismatic foil cover to boot. The cover price for a standard issue in the series was $1.75 for #2 through #11, and again for #13-14. The price of a standard issue rose to $1.95 with #15 (June 1994) and continued through #24. The Secret Defenders ended with #25 (March 1995), a double-sized issue with a cover price of $2.50.

Introducing the Secret Defenders

Well after the original Defenders disbanded, Dr. Strange recruited Ghost Rider, Hulk, and Silver Surfer to do battle against the dreaded Dormammu. In a thought balloon at the end of that adventure, the master of the mystic arts first used the term "Secret Defenders" Dr. Strange #50 (Feb. 1993).

The phrase took hold one month later, with "Suddenly: The Secret Defenders" appearing on the cover of Fantastic Four #374 (featuring Spider-Man, Hulk, Ghost Rider, and Wolverine) and the launch of a new series with The Secret Defenders #1 (starring Wolverine, Nomad, Darkhawk, and Spider-Woman). Much in the way that episodes of Mission: Impossible opened with photos of the secret agents, these two issues each began with Dr. Strange perusing Tarot cards while deciding whose help to enlist.

Far more a non-team that the original Defenders had been, the Secret Defenders boasted a different combination of heroes each mission. The Secret Defenders ended at #25.

Fantastic Four #374 and Secret Defenders #1 both had cover dates of March 1993.

Alpha Flight and the Defenders

Sure, they might have been introduced in a battle with the X-Men, but the members of Alpha Flight soon had more in common with the Defenders. After losing their ties to the Canadian government in X-Men #140, Alpha Flight worked largely as a non-team throughout most of their original series, with a different combination of heroes taking part in each adventure.

As a physician turned medicine man, Michael Twoyoungmen had a career path that paralleled that of Stephen Strange. Though Shaman's magic concentrated largely around nature, his medicine pouch also gave him the ability to transport the team to other dimensions—a hallmark power of Dr. Strange.

A back story in Alpha Flight #11 told how Bruce Banner's transformation into the Hulk inspired Walter Langkowski to experiment with gamma rays, leading to his own transformation into Sasquatch. At a point when Sasquatch began to succumb to Hulk-like rage, Shaman bound him with vegetation (Alpha Flight #12), reminiscent of the Crimson Bands that Dr. Strange used at times to immobilize the Hulk.

Of all the heroes in Alpha Flight, Northstar was arguably the least content, yet Dr. Strange once enlisted his help on a mission with the Secret Defenders. The Canadian mutant accompanied Hulk and Nova in Secret Defenders #11.

The above illustrations by John Byrne come from X-Men #120 and Alpha Flight #12.