Defensor

Defensor was never a Defender but his similar-sounding name warrants attention. The shield-bearing hero first appeared in Contest of Champions #1, which gathered superheroes from across the globe. During that challenge, Defensor fought alongside She-Hulk and Captain Britain on the side of the Grandmaster. Although Defensor was shown in Argentina immediately before the contest began, he revealed his secret identity as Gabriel Carlos Dantes Sepulveda, of Brazil (#2).

Later, heralding from South America rather than a specific nation, Defensor was among the countless heroes to celebrate amnesty for the Incredible Hulk (#279). But like several other international heroes from this period, Defensor was all but forgotten after this point.

This entry for Defensor originally appeared beside the entry for the Defenders in The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. That entry told much more about Defensor's origin and weapons than his comic book appearances ever revealed.

Lawful Neutral: Grandmaster

This series of posts about the old-school alignment system from Dungeons & Dragons wouldn't be complete without the Grandmaster.

To settle disputes with other beings, the Grandmaster customarily challenges his opponents to strategic games, with rules agreed upon by both parties. These games often require heroes and villains to act as pawns for each side, pitting groups with opposing views against one another.

Given his well-structured approach, and his overall detachment regarding the concepts of good and evil, I reason that the Grandmaster is best classified as Lawful Neutral.

Lawful Good	Neutral Good	Chaotic Good
Lawful Neutral	True Neutral	Chaotic Neutral
Lawful Evil	Neutral Evil	Chaotic Evil

The accompanying image comes from Squadron Supreme #9. Here, the Squadron represents the Grandmaster in a challenge while the Institute of Evil represents the Scarlet Centurion.

The Offenders

In one of his cosmic challenges, the Grandmaster plucked Dr. Strange, Namor, Hulk, and Silver Surfer from different points in the past to battle the Offenders, a team of antagonists from the present.

If the heroes won, the Grandmaster would spare the lives of their romantic interests. But if the Offenders won, they could kill the heroes (Hulk #10).

• Fighting for Clea, Dr. Strange faced rival magician Baron Mordo.
• Fighting for Dorma, Namor battled the cybernetically enhanced Tiger Shark.
• Fighting for Jarella (not Betty Ross), the Incredible Hulk defended against Red Hulk (a.k.a. General "Thunderbolt" Ross).
• Fighting for Shalla-Bal, Silver Surfer clashed with Terrax.

Still loyal to Galactus at this point, this early version of Silver Surfer was in disbelief to hear that he would one day break his allegiance to Galactus and that Terrax would become the world-conquerer's next herald (#11).

In an act of betrayal, Red Hulk stole the scythe from Terrax and absorbed his teammate's cosmic energy, and then seized control of the Silver Surfer's board. These actions did not bode well with Galactus, who easily depleted Red Hulk's energy. As a further penalty for breaking the rules of the competition, Grandmaster returned the four heroes and the Offenders to their proper times with no memories of the events that had transpired (#12).

Jeph Loeb wrote Hulk #10-12 (April, June, July 2009). Ed McGuinness pencilled those issues.

Contest of Champions

In what arguably was the first limited series in comics, Grandmaster and the personified entity of Death mystically transported almost every hero on Earth for consideration in the three-issue Contest of Champions (June, July, August 1982).

Dr. Strange, Mr. Fantastic, Professor X, and other leading minds tried to discern why everyone had been summoned until Grandmaster and Death finally outlined the rules of the competition.

In four scavenger hunts situated on different parts of the Earth, three heroes from each side would compete against each other to locate a corner of a mystic globe. If Death's team won, she would add one-million years to the life of Earth's Sun. If Grandmaster's team won, he would stop using Earth's heroes in competitions.

Grandmaster chose:

• Captain America, Talisman, Darkstar, Captain Britain, Wolverine, Defensor, Sasquatch, She-Hulk, Daredevil, Peregrine, Thing, and Blitzkrieg.

Death selected:

• Iron Man, Vanguard, Shamrock, Iron Fist, Storm, Arabian Knight, Sabra, Invisible Girl, Angel, Black Panther, Sunfire, and Collective Man.

Official ground rules stated that participation was limited to humans (including mutants). That forbade androids, extraterrestrials, and gods from taking part in this particular competition.

I'd like to imagine that some additional ground rules also came into play.

Given that all 24 of the chosen heroes participated without question, Grandmaster and Death may have sensed which of the summoned heroes felt strongly enough to fight for one cause over the other (further narrowing which combatants were available to each side). This interpretation adds depth to the series by revealing the characters' values. It's telling that Daredevil, who had outsmarted the Grandmaster once (Giant-Size Defenders #3), now fought for Grandmaster's conditional pledge to stop coercing Earth's heroes into battle.

Another unspoken rule must have been that in the event of a tie, Death won. This explains why Death declared herself victorious at the end of the series even though Grandmaster's team won two of the four challenges.

Contest of Champions was reminiscent of an earlier challenge between Grandmaster and the time-traveler Kang, which pinned Nighthawk and other members of the Squadron Sinister against four of Earth's mightiest heroes: Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and Goliath (Clint Barton).

Each of those one-on-one battles also took place on a different part of the Earth (Avengers #70).

Pawns of the Grandmaster

Nighthawk may have reformed from a life of crime, but the Grandmaster wasn't about to forget his ties to the one-time villain. In Giant-Size Defenders #3, the extraterrestrial game-player forced Nighthawk to enlist the help of five other heroes and participate in a cosmic wager. Dr. Strange, Valkyrie, Sub-Mariner, Hulk, and Daredevil all accepted the challenge—some more begrudgingly than others.

Following the rules of the contest, the heroes squared off against animal-like creatures summoned by the intelligent robot called the Prime Mover. If the Defenders won, the Earth would be spared; if they lost, the Grandmaster would give the Prime Mover enough power to enslave the planet.

The Defenders won the challenge, yet their problems weren't over. The Grandmaster unexpectedly declared that the people of Earth were "uniquely suited to selective breeding to produce and entire world of super-powered pawns." Although the heroes were not strong enough to stop these plans, there was still hope.

Basically viewing Grandmaster as a compulsive gambler, Daredevil challenged him to a double-or-nothing coin toss. If the Grandmaster won, he would get the Earth and the moon. But the Grandmaster lost, relinquishing his claim on the planet. In the privacy of his own thoughts, the "man without fear" acknowledged that his extraordinary senses had enabled him to tell how the coin would land even before it was tossed.

Artistically ahead of its time, the issue included two pages where the dialogue and actions were described in typewritten prose, instead of through multi-panel scenes with word balloons.

Giant-Size Defenders #3. January 1975. "Games Godlings Play!" Steve Gerber, Jim Starlin, and Lein Wein plotted this tale together. Then Jim did the layouts, Steve wrote the script, and Dan Adkins, Don Newton and Jim Mooney finished the art. Charlotte Jetter lettered it, Glynis Wein colored it, Roy Thomas edited it, and aren't these credits ridiculously complicated?

Nighthawk battled the "man without fear" in Daredevil #62 (reprinted in Giant-Size Defenders #5).

Nighthawk's Sinister Beginnings

The Squadron Sinister first appeared in Avengers #69-70 as a way for Marvel heroes to square off against members of the Justice League: Superman (Hyperion), Green Lantern (Dr. Spectrum), Flash (Whizzer), and Batman (Nighthawk). Yet when time came to tell Nighthawk's origin, the bird-nosed adventurer had only superficial similarities to the Dark Knight.

Unlike Bruce Wayne of DC Comics, Kyle Richmond spent much of his life unfocused. Kyle's mother died in an accident when he was nine, and he grew up estranged from his wealthy father. When his father later died in a plane crash, Kyle inherited Richmond Enterprises (instead of Wayne Enterprise). His father's top business associate had the last name Pennysworth (a nod to Batman's butler, Alfred Pennyworth).

But money couldn't solve Kyle's problems. Poor grades got him expelled from college, reckless driving almost killed his girlfriend, and a heart murmur kept Kyle out of the military (when he received a draft notice, as originally told in Defenders #32, before the Vietnam War inference dated the hero).

In a reversal of Captain America's origin story, the Grandmaster offered Kyle a secret serum to cure his heart condition and magnify his strength at night if he agreed to battle Earth's mightiest heroes. Kyle agreed to the challenge and joined the Squadron Sinister.

Nighthawk gained a stronger sense of direction after reforming and joining the Defenders. He financially supported the team throughout much of the series and became leader for a time. Nighthawk has resumed these responsibilities in the Last Defenders limited series, with Pennysworth now a hero as well.

Defenders. Vol. 1. No. 32. February 1976. "Musical Minds." Steve Gerber (writer), Sal Buscema and Jim Mooney (artists), P. Goldberg (colorist), J. Costanza (letterer), Marv Wolfman (editor). The illustration at the top shows Nighthawk in his original costume, from the opening page of Defenders #13.