The Case of the Missing Mutants

In Defenders #124, Beast reminded Iceman an an early plot orchestrated by the Secret Empire.

Beast: Or have you forgotten how the Empire kidnapped you, me, and half the mutants in the Western Hemisphere a few years back--and tried to tap our X-energies for their own ever-so nasty ends?

Beast wasn't exaggerating. After the Irish mutant Banshee feared that he might be the next one abducted (Captain America #172), Professor X, Cyclops and Marvel Girl of the X-Men enlisted the help of Captain America and Falcon to rescue the following mutants from the clutches of the Secret Empire:

Angel Beast Blob Havok Iceman Mastermind Mesmero Unus Lorna Dane (not yet Polaris)

Concluding in Captain America #175 (April 1974), the suspenseful storyline explained the X-Men's absence at a time when their own title published only reprints. The number of known mutants from the Eastern and Western Hemispheres would increase drastically in the year ahead, with the return of all-new X-Men stories in their series.

These images come from Captain America #172 (above) and #175 (below).

X-Defenders

Polaris and Havok warrant joint attention as Defenders for a Day. After all, both heroes had been on-again, off-again members of the X-Men and remained overshadowed by related characters.

Although her mutant green hair made Lorna Dane visually distinct, Lorna's magnetic powers intrinsically linked her to the X-Men's earliest foe, Magneto. As a result, Lorna received the monicker "Magneto's daughter" well before she adopted the heroic name Polaris. Similarly, by the time Alex Summers became Havok, his older brother, Cyclops, already held the mantle of field leader of the X-Men.

Joining the Defenders, even for a day, presented Polaris and Havok with an opportunity to continue their crimefighting careers without comparison to other mutants. To this point, the two heroes did not even interact with one another directly during their appearances in Defenders #62-65, prompting others to respond to them individually and not as a pair.

On the topic of individuality, #62 spelled Havok like the word havoc (ending in c). This was not a lasting change, however, as #63 returned to the established spelling of his codename (ending in k).

Lorna Dane appeared on the cover X-Men #50, with interior text hailing her as the daughter of Magneto. X-Men #97 pitted Cyclops against Havok in a story titled "My Brother, My Enemy!"

Love Triangle

As manipulative as Moondragon could be, sometimes she was right. Take for example a biting remark she made about Iceman's attitudes toward women (New Defenders #132).

Moondragon: Mr. Drake, if you continue to demonstrate your subconscious hostility towards women, I'm afraid you'll never emerge from adolescence.

Although Iceman did not see himself this way, a pattern of chauvinism played out in his reactions toward Cloud. All of the New Defenders were startled at first when Cloud initially transformed from the woman they originally met (#123) into the form of a man (#136). Yet Iceman was particularly brusque whenever Cloud became male.

Iceman wanted to pursue a romantic relationship with the female Cloud and treated her male self as interference. The fact that Cloud typically was nude when transforming back and forth undoubtably made the situation all the more complicated for Iceman.

What Iceman couldn't fully accept, however, was that Cloud's female and male selves saw themselves as the same person—and that, male or female, Cloud's feelings toward Iceman were merely platonic.

In many ways, the situation with Cloud harked back to Iceman's earlier disappointment with Lorna Dane. During his time with the original X-Men, Iceman couldn't accept that Lorna Dane loved Havok instead of him. Rather, Iceman blamed Havok for interfering with his potential relationship.

This image of Cloud and Iceman comes from New Defenders #138.

Love on the Rocks

While a student at Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, Bobby Drake became smitten with a young woman named Zelda who worked at a coffee house in Greenwich Village (X-Men #7). They remained an item for the next 40 issues.

Zelda even organized Bobby's 18th birthday party (#32), but all the while she never learned that he was secretly Iceman. During this same period, classmates Henry McCoy (Beast) and Warren Worthington (Angel) kept their mutant identities secret from their dates as well.

Bobby's romantic life took and unexpected turn when he met Lorna Dane, a mutant who had spent a lifetime hiding her naturally green hair (#49). Almost immediately, Bobby felt protective and possessive of Lorna. But Bobby's passion went unreciprocated, as Lorna instead fell in love with Alex Summers (Havok), who joined the X-Men soon afterward.

This scene of Iceman and Lorna Dane comes from X-Men #51.

Bobby then spent weeks getting up the nerve to ask another (unidentified) woman on a date, only to send her home early so he could discreetly use his powers as Iceman (Amazing Spider-Man #92). Iceman had misconstrued that Spider-Man—widely considered a menace at this time—was intending to harm Gwen Stacy (girlfriend of Spider-Man's alter ego, Peter Parker).

In retrospect, this issue was eerily prophetic, as Spider-Man would later be blamed unfairly for Gwen Stacy's death (#121-122).

Amazing Spider-Man #72 (Jan. 1971) was published between X-Men #67 (Dec. 1970) and #68 (Feb. 1971). X-Men #67-93 reprinted earlier issues in the series. Iceman resigned in X-Men #95 (Aug. 1975).

The World of Mutant X

The Mutant X series found Havok trapped in a parallel world where many of Earth's heroes suffered a fate far more tragic than their counterparts experienced in the mainstream Marvel Universe.

The group of heroes who formed the Defenders on that alternate Earth consisted of a cybernetic Stingray, a female Yellowjacket, a version of Doc Samson with green skin/hair, and a cryptic Dr. Strange with an affinity for the Nexus of All Realities (Mutant X '99 Annual). After the other Defenders perished while battling the powerful entity known as the Beyonder, Dr. Strange orchestrated a plan to send Havok back to the reality he called home (Mutant X #32).

This panel from Mutant X '99 Annual shows Havok's decision not to join the newly formed Defenders.

Defenders for a Day

The day after a TV documentary promoted the Defenders' loose membership policy, more than a dozen heroes arrived at Nighthawk's ranch ready to join the team. Instead of welcoming the prospective members, Nighthawk was enraged.

It's no wonder that the new members' first line of business was to get someone else in charge. Putting it to a vote, they elected Hercules as their leader, but only after Captain Mar-vell said he didn't want the job (Defenders #62).

In a highly strategic move, Valkyrie proposed that the crowd of heroes would work best if they divided into three smaller teams. Nighthawk and Hercules concurred.

Picking his team first, the Son of Zeus chose Black Goliath, Captain Ultra, Havok, Hellcat, Iron Fist, and White Tiger.

Valkyrie then selected Falcon, Jack of Hearts, Prowler, Stingray, and Torpedo. This set a precedent for Valkyrie's later stance (in #121, #126) that the Defenders did not need an official leader, unless of course it was her.

That left Nighthawk leading Marvel Man (Quasar), Nova, Polaris, Tagak, and Daimon Hellstrom ("Son of Satan"), who questioned Nighthawk's leadership skills from the get-go

Although all of the heroes who joined in issue #62 left by the end of #65, Hellstrom later became a regular member of the team. As an aside, there were no signs that Hellstrom and future-spouse Hellcat even noticed one another when he was a Defender for a Day.

As for Captain Mar-vell, the Kree warrior decided he didn't want to join the Defenders at all.

Ms. Marvel, who guest starred in #57, basically returned here to brag that she was now booked up as an Avenger.

And Paladin, who also arrived at the ranch that day, declined to join the team because he worked only for pay.

The Hulk, meanwhile, lept away after many of the one-shot Defenders tried to capture him.

Defenders. Vol. 1. No. 63. September 1978. "Deadlier by the Dozen!" David Kraft (story), Sal Buscema and Jim Mooney (artwork), J. Costanza (letters), R. Slifer (colors), Jim Shooter (editor-in-chief).