The Origin of Aragorn

Technically speaking, Aragorn made his debut in Avengers #48 (Jan. 1968). In that issue, however, the Black Knight called the winged horse Pegasus. Not until later appearances was the horse renamed Aragorn. The name change made sense, as Aragorn had no relation to the flying horse from Greek mythology. In fact, the Black Knight described his winged stallion as a mutant. The mutation was not accidental but instead resulted from months of research.

Aragorn was in good company. When the original X-Men encountered a technological wizard called the Warlock, he too described his winged horses as mutants—the products of science rather than magic X-Men #30 (March 1967).

This image of the Black Knight riding Pegasus (Aragorn) comes from Avengers #48.

X-Men vs. Defender

The original X-Men faced an unexpected enemy when the Puppet Master took mental control of Mimic, who could replicate the heroes' mutant powers. Guarding the Puppet Master's criminal lair was a formidable android called the Defender (X-Men #27).

To prepare for a looming mutant menace, Professor X invited Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver to join the X-Men. They declined. The siblings had previously discussed that possibility but became Avengers instead (Avengers #16). Quicksilver, in particular, wanted to distance himself from any reminder of their early days in the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

These panels with the android Defender come from X-Men #27 (Dec. 1966).

Chaotic Neutral: Bernard the Poet

The original X-Men frequented Coffee A Go-Go in Greenwich village. Entertainment at the coffee house regularly included readings from a beat poet named Bernard. Decidedly unconventional, Bernard and his fans would surely embrace the the Chaotic Neutral alignment from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

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

Bobby Drake (Iceman) and Hank McCoy (Beast) hear Bernard's poetry for the first time in X-Men #7 (Sept. 1964).

Defenders Dialogue: Non-Team

Defenders #21 (March 1975) included this letter contrasting the Defenders to Marvel's other superhero teams. For context, the original X-Men were appearing in reprints at the time; their series would revitalize with an "all-new, all-different" team of mutants starting with X-Men #94 (August 1975).

Dear Marvel,

With their new official headquarters, the Defenders seem to be slowly edging toward becoming a real team instead of a non-team. This should not be done.

What makes each Marvel superhero group individual is its form of organization. The Fantastic Four is a family, and with all its supporting characters it almost takes on the form of a tribe. The Avengers is a democratic body. The X-Men, of course, are organized as a school, so they never quite gained the respectability of the F.F. or the Avengers. There is nothing more respectable than family and democracy, but students don't really belong to polite society.

But the Defenders are anarchistic. They don't even exist as far as society is concerned. They should stay as loose and anarchistic as possible to retain their distinctness from the other Marvel groups.

Jana C. Hollingsworth
Port Angeles, Wash.

Warren's Wardrobe

Warren Worthington III redesigned his costume a handful of times during his heroic career as Angel. Of all his costumes, my favorite was the red-and-white costume with a halo insignia that he began wearing in Champions #8. That costume replaced the open-chested, yellow-and-red costume introduced in Champions #1. The red-and-white costume was in fact a variation of a blue-and-white costume that he began wearing as one of the original X-Men (replacing a costume with suspenders first seen in X-Men #39). After the Champions disbanded, Warren sometimes returned to the blue-and-white costume, but he stayed with the red-and-white version throughout his time with the New Defenders. Because of his wings, Warren was identifiable as the Angel no matter which uniform he wore.

These panesl come from Champions $8 (Oct. 1976).

Lawful Evil: Sentinels

Programmed to regard all mutants as a threat to humanity, the Sentinels became persistent adversaries of the heroic X-Men. The giant robots operated largely in tandem while carrying out their objective to eliminate mutantkind. By following their own logic, the Sentinels would classify as Lawful Evil within the alignment system from Dungeons & Dragons.

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

Giant-Size X-Men #2 (1975) reprinted the three-part story from X-Men #57-59, which pitted the Sentinels against "the most unusal fighting team of all time!"

Mutant Coverage

Defenders #15-16 pitted the non-team against the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Yet when the two-part story reprinted in Rampage #14-15, the new covers billed the opposing team as the Mighty Mutants or more generally as Mutants. To be fair, the interior pages retained the original text and specifically called the villains the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Assisting the Defenders was Professor X, leader of the X-Men.

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).

Blast from the Past

By delving into the psyche of their mentor, X-Men #106 underscored the reasons why several members of the mutant team left … eventually finding their way to the New Defenders.

At the X-Mansion, the "new" X-Men were training in the Danger Room with Cyclops, the only member of the original team who didn't resign in #94. To everyone's surprise, Angel, Iceman, Beast, and Marvel Girl appeared out of nowhere, wearing their original matching uniforms. With deep-seated hostility, these former X-Men called the new members everything from animals to circus freaks, while accusing Cyclops of going astray.

Oddly, by this point Marvel Girl had transitioned to Phoenix, Angel and Iceman were in the Champions, and Beast was an Avenger. Clearly, something was amiss!

The former X-Men turned out to be mental projections from Professor X: more specifically, manifestations from the evil side of his personality that he typically kept in check. Recent mental strain, however, had caused Professor X to temporarily lose his bearings. The incident revealed that, at least on a subconscious level, Professor X resented the original team for adopting individualized costumes and forging their own identities (#39); similarly, he harbored disdain for the independently inclined new members of the team.

X-Men. Vol. 1. No. 106. Aug. 1977. "Dark Shroud of the Past!" Claremont • Mantlo • Brown • Cockrum • Sutton • Rosen • Yanchus • Goodwyn production! The cover mentioned that Angel was back without revealing the apparent return of other members. When the real Angel did rejoin in #137-148, he felt out of step with Professor X and found the new members wanting.

Strange Tales with Bobby Drake

Strange Tales #120 shed light on the social life of Bobby Drake during his early days as Iceman. Published the same month as X-Men #5 (May 1964), Iceman was disappointed that another classmate had plans with Jean Grey, the only female student then enrolled at Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Although Bobby hadn't taken an interest in Jean in X-Men #1, he seemed to have a change of heart.

Iceman: Gosh, Professor X … whenever I get up the never to ask Jean for a date, the Angel or Cyclops, or somebody beats me to it!

Professor X: Well, the day is still young, Bobby! Why don't you go to New York and see the sights?

Hoping to meet someone special, Bobby decided to take a day cruise around New York. While aboard the boat, Bobby struck up a conversation with a female passenger named Doris—only to learn that she was dating Johnny Storm, publicly known as the Human Torch of the Fantastic Four. As fate would have it, modern-day pirates also came aboard. Preserving his secret identity, Bobby assumed his veneer as Iceman and fought alongside Human Torch to defeat the pirates.

Given recent storylines depicting Iceman as gay, I think it is possible to read Strange Tales #120 through a queer lens, interpreting Iceman's conversation with Professor X and attempt to meet a woman as ways of hiding his homosexuality. Either way, Bobby's luck with women would improve upon meeting Zelda at Coffee A Go-Go in X-Men #7.

Strange Tales. Vol. 1. No. 120. May 1964. "The Torch Meets the Iceman!" Deftly written by: Stan Lee. Dazzlingly drawn by: Jack Kirby. Dramatically inked by: Dick Aywers. Distinctively lettered by: S. Rosen.

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!"

Routine Seven

When battling the Mutant Force in New Defenders #125, Iceman called over to Angel, asking if his teammate remembered Routine Seven—an apparent callback to their training as original members of the X-Men. Acknowledging the reference, the high-flying Angel grabbed the villain Shocker by the arms, flew well above the rooftops, and then dropped Shocker, who cried out for HELLLLP! Iceman used his powers to soften the Shocker's fall by catching the defeated villain in a mound of snow.

The X-Men were known for their intense training in the Danger Room, so one can only imagine what other combat routines the mutant heroes had memorized. Were there only seven? Or were there many more?

Contemplating the Titans

Conceptually, the Teen Titans and the Defenders have little in common. The founding members of the Teen Titans were sidekicks to adult DC heroes, while the founding members of the Defenders were highly powerful and individualistic Marvel heroes. After hearing the podcast Titan Up The Defense, which discusses classic issues of each team on alternating weeks, I decided to look for commonalities between the two super groups. Here are a few examples:

• Aqualad, a founding member of the Teen Titans, has Atlantean parallels to the Sub-Mariner, a founding member of the Defenders.
• Robin (Nightwing), the original leader of the Teen Titans, was the longtime sidekick to Batman; Marvel Comics patterned Nighthawk after Batman.
• Superhuman strength, weaponry, and a mythological background makes Wonder Girl analogous to Valkyrie.
• Daughter of the demonic Trigon, the mystical Raven corresponds to Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan.
• With green skin and the power of transformation, Changeling (Beast Boy) has superficial similarities to the Hulk.
• Three of the New Defenders began fighting crime as teenage members of the X-Men.

The Brave and the Bold #54 (July 1964) marked the beginning of the Teen Titans, when three sidekicks teamed up. The young heroes soon landed their own series, which ran 53 issues, and then found new popularity with the launch of The New Teen Titans #1 (Nov. 1980).

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.

Even More Marvel Super Heroes - 1982

To round out coverage of the Marvel Superheroes - 1982 biographies from Contest of Champions, this post reproduces the profiles of those heroes known in hindsight as Defenders for a Day. Keep in mind that, by the time of publication, Black Goliath had become the second Giant-Man, and Marvel Man had changed his name to Quasar. Also, while the profile for Tagak mentions the leopard Opar, and the profile for Falcon mentions the bird Redwing, neither of these animals accompanied the heroes as Defenders for a Day.

For good measure, I've included the profiles for Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, and Paladin (who, arguably weren't Defenders for a Day). Profiles for Ms. Marvel and Son of Satan link to related posts where they also appear.

CAPTAIN ULTRA
(Real name unrevealed) Would-be hero possessing flight, strength, and other powers but has a vulnerability to fire. Nationality unknown. Current whereabouts: unknown. First appearance: FANTASTIC FOUR #177.

FALCON
(Sam Wilson, social worker) American who uses an anti-gravitic suit with wings to fly, and has a nigh-telepathic link with his falcon Redwing. Former member of the Avengers. Current whereabouts: New York City. First appearance: CAPTAIN AMERICA #117.

HAVOK
(Alex Summers, archaeology student) American mutant whose body generates cosmic energy that can be siphoned off into explosions. Brother to Cyclops. Occasional member of the X-Men. Current whereabouts: Rio Diablo, New Mexico. First appearance: X-MEN #58.

HERCULES
(Uses no regular alias) Olympian born man-god possessing super-strength. Son of Zeus. Former member of the Avengers. Current whereabouts: Hollywood, California. First appearance: THOR ANNUAL #1.

IRON FIST
(Daniel Rand, investigator/bodyguard) American-born trained in the martial arts in the dimension city of K'un-Lun, master of the "iron fist" technique. Current whereabouts: New York City. First appearance: MARVEL PREMIERE #15.

JACK OF HEARTS
(Jack Hart, student) American endowed with strange energy, enabling him to fly and shoot energy rays, and computer-analyze machinery at a glance. Current whereabouts: Earth. First appearance: DEADLY HANDS OF KING-FU #22.

PALADIN
(Real name unknown) American mercenary possessing great agility and fighting prowess. Wears a bullet-proof vest and carries a gun. Current whereabouts: New York environs. First appearance: DAREDEVIL #150.

POLARIS
(Lorna Dane) American mutant with the ability to control magnetism. Current whereabouts: Rio Diablo, New Mexico. First appearance: X-MEN #49.

QUASAR
(Wendell Vaughn, security chief) American wielding a pair of power-bands from Uranus, capable of tapping any power source and transforming that energy into solid objects or force-beams. Also enables him to fly. First appearance (as Marvel Man): CAPTAIN AMERICA #217. First appearance (as Quasar): HULK #234.

SON OF SATAN
(Daimon Hellstrom, occult expert) American whose father is an arch-demon. Possesses supernatural strength and wields a trident and rides a chariot driven by fiery horses. Occasional member of the Defenders. Current whereabouts: New York City. First appearance: MARVEL SPOTLIGHT #12.

STINGRAY
(Dr. Walter Newell, oceanographer) American who uses special deep-sea suit, enabling him to breathe underwater, withstand the ocean's pressure, swim with great speed, and glide through the air for short distances. Also uses an electrical sting-blast. Current whereabouts: Hydrobase, Atlantic. First appearance: SUB-MARINER #19.

TAGAK THE LEOPARD LORD
(No other name known) Extra-dimensional humanoid with great athletic ability and fighting prowess. Though blind, he is able to see by telepathic link to his pet leopard, Opar. Current whereabouts: his home dimension. First appearance: DAREDEVIL #72.

TORPEDO
(Brock Jones, ex-football player, ex-insurance agent, high school coach) American who wears strength-enhancing suit enabling him to fly at great speeds. Current whereabouts: Clairton, Virginia. First appearance: DAREDEVIL #126.

INACTIVE

GIANT-MAN II
(Bill Foster, physicist) Black American who could mentally stimulate growth in height and mass up to about twenty-five feet. First appearance (as Bill Foster): AVENGERS #32. First appearance (as Black Goliath): POWER MAN #24. First appearance (as Giant-Man): MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #55. Reason for retirement: radiation poisoning weakened body.

MS. MARVEL
(Carol Danvers, ex-security agent, freelance writer) American who possessed ability to fly, super-strength, heightened reflexes, and a precognitive Seventh Sense. Former member of the Avengers. First appearance: MS. MARVEL #1. Reason for retirement: loss of powers.

NOVA
(Richard Ryder, student) American who possessed super-strength and the ability to fly. First appearance: NOVA #1. Reason for retirement: loss of powers.

PROWLER
(Hobie Brown, window washer) Black American who used various gimmicks to fight crime. First appearance: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #78. Reason for retirement: voluntarily gave up costumed identity to devote time to civilian life.

WHITE TIGER
(Hector Ayala, student) Puerto Rican who used mystic amulets to grant heightened strength, speed, agility, and fighting ability. First appearance: DEADLY HANDS OF KING-FU #22. Reason fore retirement: loss of amulets granting power.

DECEASED

CAPTAIN MARVEL
(Mar-vell, captain in Kree militia) Alien humanoid of the Kree Empire who had superhuman strength and fighting skills, photonic powers enabling him to fly, and a zen-like "cosmic awareness" which enabled him to perceive things extrasensorily. First appearance: MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #12. Died from cancer in THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN MARVEL graphic novel.

This panel from Contest of Champions #1 spotlights the three founding members of the Defenders: Hulk, Sub-Mariner, and Dr. Strange. The background features Human Torch, Thing, and Quasar (formerly Marvel Man).

X-Men Impostors

Before Blob joined numerous supervillains in pretending to be Defenders, he pulled off a similar stunt in X-Men #20 (reprinted in #71). During that earlier crime spree, Blob and fellow evil mutant Unus disguised themselves in costumes matching those of the original X-Men. The ruse exacerbated an undercurrent that followed the X-Men and would carry through to the New Defenders. To much of the general public, all mutants were a menace, with little distinction made between mutant heroes and mutant villains. X-Men #20 also provided an important piece of background about Professor X, telling how he had lost the use of his legs when facing an evil extraterrestrial called Lucifer.

As a sign of their achievements, the original X-Men began wearing individualized costumes in #39. The original costume style returned as a student uniform when Kitty Pryde joined the X-Men in #139; the New Mutants would would wear a variation of this original uniform as well.

Lord of the Wings

Defenders #6 (Vol. 2) revived the costumed adventurer known as Red Raven. Orphaned as an infant and raised on a floating island of bird-people, the character returned to human society as an adult. Equipped with a pair of artificial wings, Red Raven made his crimefighting debut in 1940. Like many Golden Age heroes, however, Red Raven fell into obscurity after World War II.

When the Defenders encountered the floating island decades later, Red Raven asserted the isolationist stance that he and the bird-people wanted nothing to do with surface-dwellers. Parallels between Red Raven's abrasive disposition and that of Sub-Mariner did not escape the Defenders.

Red Raven made his first comeback in X-Men #44, when the winged mutant known as Angel accidentally discovered the hidden civilization of bird-people. The territorial Red Raven violently defended his adopted homeworld from the intruder. Gaining the upper hand in combat, Angel made an unusual remark, saying that he now knew he could lick Red Raven's weight in hobbits.

There certainly is a possibility that Red Raven could have read The Hobbit. Published in 1937, the novel was available during his time living among humans. The bigger mystery, however, is whether or not Angel actually read The Hobbit either as a student at Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters or on his own. Of all the creatures described in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, hobbits were among the least formidable. A human-sized hobbit, or the number of hobbits equal in mass an adult human, would hardly pose a threat to the average superhero—even a hero whose only power was flight.

As far as temperament, it would be a stretch to liken the headstrong Red Raven to that of a homebodied hobbit. All things considered, Angel's attempt at trash talk didn't land.

This image of Red Raven and Angel comes from X-Men #44 (May 1968).

The Marvel Age of Comics--Phase 2

A promotional blurb on the cover of Defenders #10 (Nov. 1973) asked readers, "See For Yourself Why It's the Marvel Age of Comics All Over Again!" In the months that followed, several covers went one step further, directly referencing a second era of Marvel Comics.

Captain America & Falcon #173 (May 1974) prompted readers, "Make Way for the Marvel Age of Comics--Phase Two!" Guest-starred two of the original X-Men, the story pre-dates the "The All-New, All-Different" mutant team billed on the covers of X-Men #94-99, #101-111.

Marvel Chillers #6 (Aug. 1976), featuring Tigra the Were-Woman and Cheyenne hero Red Wolf, reiterated, "It's the Marvel Age of Comics--Phase 2!"

Covers of other Marvel titles during this time frame expressed a similar sentiment. Daredevil #121 (May 1975) announced, "The Mighty Marvel Renaissance Moves Ahead!" Marvel Presents #6 (Aug. 1976), starring the Guardians of the Galaxy, declared, "The New Marvel Mage of Comics!"

This begs the question, What did this new era entail? Although the covers didn't specify, several factors were at work. The 1971 revision to the Comics Code gave publishers renewed leeway in portraying realistic themes in comic books—and creative license to draw inspiration from the genre of horror. In tandem, the Seventies saw an increase in international and multicultural superheroes, as well as superheroines with origin stories and identities independent of male heroes.

In short, the shift initially described as "Phase Two" of Marvel Comics matches what we know more broadly today as the Bronze Age of comics books.

Signaling Sunfire

Numerous skirmishes filled the pages of Defenders #8-11 and Avengers #115-118, as members of both teams fought over an artifact known as the Evil Eye.

My favorite chapter in the multi-part drama came in Avengers #117 (Nov. 1973), when Sub-Mariner and Captain America battled on the coast of Japan. The setting made a fitting backdrop to remind readers how the the two heroes had been allies during World War II.

The modern-day conflict became all the more heated with the surprise appearance of Sunfire. The patriotic hero warned Sub-Mariner and Captain America to take their feud away from Japanese shores. While acting as both outsider and antagonist, Sunfire was symbolic in numerous ways:

• Like Captain America, Sunfire wore his nation's flag as a costume, drawing attention to the world at large.
• Sunfire's flame powers contrasted with Sub-Mariner's water-breathing … and were reminiscent of the original Human Torch who had teamed up with Cap and Subby during the Golden Age of comics.
• Having first appeared in X-Men #64 (Jan. 1970), Sunfire's presence in the midst of the Avengers/Defenders War furthered the presence of mutants at a time when only reprints appeared the pages of the X-Men (#67-93).

In other words, Sunfire was the perfect guest star for Avengers #117.

X-Factor

Well before the original members of the X-Men formed the group X-Factor, an arcade game titled X-Factor appeared in Marvel Two-In-One #94. Power Man, Iron Fist, and Thing took turns playing the challenging arcade game, which involved outmaneuvering obstacles while navigating through a maze—and had no connection to mutant affairs.

One of the other games seen at the arcade was titled The Invaders, with no apparent ties to the World War II super team by that name.

Marvel Two-In-One. Vol. 1. No. 94. December 1982 "The Power Trap!" David Anthony Kraft (scripter), Ron Wilson (penciler), Ricardo Villamonte (inker), Joe Rosen (letterer), George Roussos (colorist), Jim Saliscrup (editor), Jim Shooter (editor-in-chief).

Published the same month as New Defenders #152 (Feb. 1986), X-Factor #1 reunited Angel, Beast, and Iceman with the rest of the original X-Men. A problematic premise of the new series was that Marvel Girl (Jean Grey) was a different character from Phoenix and therefore did not die in X-Men #137.