At the Ballet

The NBC cartoon Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends teamed-up the wall-crawler with Iceman and Firestar (sometimes hyphenated as Fire-Star). The crimefighting trio also appeared in a handful of comic books based on the animated series. Although Iceman (Bobby Drake) had blond hair on the cartoon, comic books based on the show consistently colored his hair brown, the same color his hair typically appeared in Marvel Comics.

One of those comic books starring the Spider-Friends was an advertising supplement to the Dallas Times Herald. In that issue, the heroes had tickets to see the Nutcracker featuring the Dallas Ballet. The performance was almost ruined by the villain Daddy Longlegs (Ramsey Kole), an aspiring ballet dancer once ridiculed for being too short. Out of desperation, he broke into into the laboratory of Giant-Man (Bill Foster) and drank a secret formula to increase his height. The serum tragically enlarged him to 15 feet tall, with disproportionately long limbs. After stopping the towering criminal, the three heroes enjoyed the Christmas-themed ballet.

Spider-Man, Fire-Star and Iceman at The Dallas Ballet Nutcracker. 1983. Jim Salicrup (writer), Jim Mooney (pencils), John Tartag (inks), L.P. Gregory (letters), Stan Goldberg (colors), John Romita (art director), Sol Brodsky (production supervisor). Daddy Longlegs was a relatively new villain at the time, having first appeared in Spider-Woman #47 (Dec. 1982).

Banner Vision

Cover blurbs on Defenders #72 and #77 promoted The Incredible Hulk TV series, which aired on CBS from 1977 to 1982. At this time, Bruce Banner no longer wore glasses in comic books. Likewise, actor Bill Bixby did not wear glasses as Dr. Banner on the show. Subsequent posts will discuss the history of Banner wearing—or not wearing—glasses up to this point.

This image of Bill Bixby comes from the opening credits of The Incredible Hulk. On the show, Dr. Banner's first name was David instead of Bruce.

The Hostess Formula

Hostess ads were a mainstay of superhero comic books throughout much of the Bronze Age. Criminals would stop in their tracks at the sight of Twinkies, CupCakes, or fruit pies—gleefully surrendering to authorities while biting into the Hostess snacks. Hostess products could also subdue a rampaging Hulk.

Ads for fruit pies consistently featured both apple and cherry (although a character might favor one flavor over another). Sometimes a third choice would appear from one of the following selections:

blueberry lemon peach

Daredevil defeats the crimelord Peachy Keen in the closing panels of this Hostess ad for peach, apple and cherry fruit pies.

Marvel Subscriber's Club

One of my favorite ads for Marvel Comics was the subscription page that appeared in issues with cover dates of Nov. 1981, Dec. 1981, and Jan. 1982 (Defenders #101, #102, #103). While the titles listed on the subscription form included science fiction, jungle adventure, and sword and sorcery themes, the illustration accompanying the ad was a superhero sight gag reminiscent of the humor magazines that Marvel would publish at various points.

Pictured in the ad, a tiny Ant-Man tries to outrun the Hulk, who has just stepped on Iron Man. Meanwhile, Giant-Man busts through the roof of the heroes' comedically overcrowded clubhouse. Several other characters are only partially visible yet still recognizable by their claws, tail, winged ankles, or other identifiable traits.

Defenders Trek

With his pointed ears and hybrid heritage, Sub-Mariner was compared to Mr. Spock more than once. But the Prince of Atlantis was not the only Defender with a doppleganger aboard the Enterprise. Moondragon was a shoo-in for Ilia, the bald navigator from Star Trek: The Motion Picture. An ad for the film appeared on the back cover of Defenders #74 and other Marvel Comics with a cover date of August 1979. Moondragon guest starred in #76-77 and later joined the New Defenders.

Innocent Advertising

Rereading Seduction of the Innocent is becoming something of an annual tradition for me, as I've summarized portions of the 1954 book by Fredric Wertham twice before: first in 2020 and then in 2021. This time around I'm narrowing the topic to Wertham's concerns over advertising—specifically the prominence of bodybuilding ads in comics.

Noting how some boys might look aspirationally at the shirtless he-men pictured in the these ads, Wertham worried that the photos might instill feelings of insecurity in boys unable to achieve the desired results. Wertham raised a further objection, asserting that boys with homosexual tendencies might collect these photos and use them for sexual stimulation.

While many of Wertham's concerns would haunt the comic book industry for decades to come, bodybuilding ads remained a mainstay in comic books when I began reading them in the 1970s. Although I grew up to be gay, I can't say that I paid much attention to these ads during my formative years.

For more context about the far-reaching scope of Seduction of the Innocent, a list of the book's chapter titles appears below.

"Such Trivia As Comic Books" "You Always Have to Slug 'Em" The Road to the Child The Wrong Twist Retooling for Illiteracy Design for Delinquency I Want to Be a Sex Maniac!" "Bumps and Bulges" The Experts for the Defense The Upas Tree Murder in Dawson Creek The Devil's Allies Homicide at Home The Triumph of Dr. Payn

This particular full-page ad appeared in Defenders #27 & 28. Smaller versions of the ad appeared in other issues of the series.

Elven Kind

The serial killer known as Elf with a Gun made several seemingly random appearances in the pages of the Defenders. Beginning with the Elf's debut in #25 (July 1975), the sound effect BLAM would fill the final panel of any sighting of the Elf, denoting that he shot his victim and seemingly teleported away.

Through a string of coincidences, the mutant hero Nightcrawler developed several similarities to the homicidal Elf.

Introduced in Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975), Nightcrawler too had the ability to teleport. Nightcrawler's next appearances added the signature sound effect BAMF whenever he would teleport away.

A flashback in X-Men King-Size Annual #4 (1980) elaborated on Nightcrawler's origin, telling how his foster brother had been a crazed serial killer in the village of Winzeldorf, Germany. After Nightcrawler unintentionally killed his brother while trying to stop him, the villagers blamed Nightcrawler for all of the murders his brother had committed.

Early on, other heroes often joined the general public in mistaking Nightcrawler for a demon based on looks alone. By the early 1980s, however, some of the X-Men warmed up to Nightcrawler well enough to give him the friendly moniker of "elf" (or "fuzzy-elf").

On a separate tangent, an elf named Indel was a member of an adventuring party featured in a series of ads for Dungeons & Dragons that ran inside comic books during the early 1980s. Although Indel could not teleport, he did vanish through a trapdoor during one of the stories. There were no sound effects, but Indel did cry out, "Help!" The rest of the party eventually found the unlucky elf as the serial continued.

The BLAM panel comes from Defenders #25 (July 1975). The panels of Nightcrawler come from Uncanny X-Men #148 (Aug. 1981).

Seduction of the Innocent

Out of historical interest, I recently purchased a copy of Seduction of the Innocent by psychiatrist Fredric Wertham M.D. At approximately 400 pages, the 1954 book led to the development of the Comics Code that year and had a lasting influence on public opinion about comic books.

Amid his sweeping generalizations, Wertham's treatise issued numerous concerns against comic books. He warned that even children who appear to enjoy only animal comics like Donald Duck might secretly read crime comics (including Westerns and superheroes), which Wertham found particularly dangerous.

According to Wertham, the prevalent violence within crime comics directly contributed to juvenile delinquency and disturbed thinking. As an example, Wertham told of a nine-year-old boy who insisted his favorite comic book was called Human Torture rather than Human Torch.

In discussing superheroes, Wertham leveled most of his attacks against a handful of DC characters. Many comic book fans today are well aware of Wertham's homophobic inferences about Wonder Woman, and the partnership between Batman & Robin. Similarly, Wertham criticized the salaciousness of "love comics" as a genre.

As for Superboy/Superman, Wertham argued that the character's unrealistic powers misled children about the laws of science and overshadowed historical figures deserving of true admiration. To Wertham, Superman embodied the dangerous ideal of a super-race. Wertham found fault with other comics, particularly those with Jungle settings, for for their racist depictions of native peoples.

Discrediting the literary merit of comics, Wertham noted their frequent reliance on words like BLAM and KAPOW. Further, their vivid illustrations made comic-book depictions of horror far more pernicious to Wertham than the most unsettling fairy tales.

Wertham felt that comic book adaptions of classic literature, such as Robert Louis Stephenson's Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, corrupted the source material and failed to motivate children to seek out the original text. In contrast to comic books, Wertham saw educational promise in film and children's television, media that are also intrinsically visual.

Wertham's concern about the content of comic books extended to the advertisements within. He deplored ads for (largely ineffective) health products that capitalized on the insecurities of girls and boys. Wertham also condemned ads for B.B. guns and knives, regarding these weapons as inappropriate for children.

Human Torch #38 (Aug. 1954) was published the same year as Seduction of the Innocent. Human Torch was the only superhero from Timely (later Marvel) directly mentioned in the Wertham's 1954 book.

Marvel Classics Comics #1 (Jan. 1976) launched a new series that presented critically acclaimed literature in comic book form, following a tradition other publishers had carried out in the past.

Greenpeace

Public Service Announcements aren't commonplace in comic books, but an interlude from Defenders #75 read like a PSA for Greenpeace.

While walking along the shore of Long Island, Hulk spotted a beached whale. Muttering that he wanted to be left alone, the green goliath pulled the marooned animal back into the water, where it swam away safely. A footnote at the bottom of two panels contained the following message about Greanpeace, plus the organization's mailing address at the time.

*IF YOU WANT TO HELP THE WHALES, TOO   WRITE: GREANPEACE

That same whale later rescued Bruce Banner when he fell overboard a ship in Defenders #88. Dr. Banner suspected that the whale sensed that he and the Hulk were the same person and was responding perhaps out of gratitude.

The Defenders. Vol. 1. No. 88. October 1980. "Lord of the Whales." Ed Hannigan (writer), Don Perlin and Pablo Marcos (artists), Joe Rosen (letterer), George Roussos (colorist), Al Milgrom (editor), Jim Shooter (leader of the pack).

The Most Startling Non-Group in Comics History!

This ad for The Defenders appeared at the bottom of the letters page of Daredevil #150 (January 1978).

Published the same month as Defenders #55, the ad pictured Nighthawk, Valkyrie, Hulk, and Hellcat, who would remain core members of the team for the next few years.

Round Up the Defenders

This ad for Booking.com appears on the back cover of Defenders #4 (and other comics with a publication date of October 2017). The scene of Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Daredevil vacationing at Big Mountain Ranch is reminiscent of Nighthawk's ranch—home to an earlier version of the non-team.

The Defenders logo at the bottom of the ad, interestingly, comes from a previous run of the Defenders (Volume 4) rather than the current series (Volume 5).

Now -- Get Six Titles For the Price of Five!!

This ad for comic book subscriptions appeared in Defenders #64 and other Marvel titles with a publication date of October 1978, the same month cover prices began saying STILL ONLY 35¢.

The ad stands out for giving Nighthawk equal prominence as Iron Man and Conan, who each had solo titles at the time.

Even More Coming Attractions

Expanding on earlier posts, here are additional promotional blurbs about the Defenders from the Comic Attractions section of Marvel Age magazine.

Marvel Age #1 (April 1983):

• DEFENDERS #121—Written by J.M. DeMATTEIS. Pencils by DON PERLIN. The Defenders are put in a bizarre position in "Savior" as, on an Indonesian island, they fight to stop the all-powerful Miracle Man from … saving the world? Also: a major turning point in the lives of Daimon Hellstrom and Patsy Walker.

Marvel Age #5 (August 1983):

• DEFENDERS #125—Written by J.M. DeMATTEIS. Pencils by DON PERLIN. Inks by KIM DeMULDER. It's the one we've been leading up to. To save the world, the Defenders must — break up! But from the ashes rises a new team! Would you believe — the Ex X-Men!? Also, Hellcat's wedding! The debut of Mad Dog! And the Mutant Force returns! Whew! So much action we took 48 pages to tell it!

Marvel Age #8 (November 1983):

• DEFENDERS #128—What is Project: Sublimate? Let's just say that 1984 arrives a year early, as the most far-reaching of all Defenders sagas draws toward its dramatic conclusion! Written by J.M. DeMatteis, and featuring the outstanding penciling of Alan Kupperberg!

Marvel Age #14 (May 1984):

• THE NEW DEFENDERS #134—The New Defenders have nothing to fear—do they? When a maniacal killer comes to the Defenders' Aerie in the New Mexico Rockies, he brings death with him! And he brings it … one victim at a time! Not for the weak of heart! Plus: we've been hinting about the relationship between Cloud and Moondragon! Now you get to see their lives take a bizarre turn! "Manslaughter" is written by Peter B. Gillis, penciled by Don Perlin, and inked by Kim DeMulder!

Marvel Age #29 (August 1985):

• THE NEW DEFENDERS #147—Hotspur is just a demon who loves to have fun! The New Defenders discover that his idea of fun is destroying property and killing people! But what can the New Defenders do? The villain has the power to warp their minds anyway he wishes! "… And Games" is written by Peter B. Gillis, pencilled by Don Perlin and inked by Art Nichols. 65¢.

Shambling Mound

A previous post likened several of the Defenders to characters (or monsters) from Dungeons & Dragons.

The D&D ad that ran in Defenders #98 accentuated the similarities between the fantasy role-playing game and the superhero comic book.

The comic-strip style ad that month depicted a party of adventurers encounter a Shambling Mound, a semi-intelligent creature composed of vegetation.

Coincidentally, in that very issue, the Defenders met Man-Thing, a semi-intelligent creature composed of vegetation.

In the ad, Grimslade the magic-user cast a charm spell to stop the monstrous Shambling Mound.

In the Defenders story, Dr. Strange entered into his astral form to face the demons that had gained control of the typically timid Man-Thing.

Defenders. Vol. 1. No. 98. August 1981. "The Hand Closes!" J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Don Perlin / Joe Sinnott (artists), Allen Milgrom (editor), Jim Novak (letterer), George Roussos (colorist), Jim Shooter (editor-in-chief).

More Coming Attractions

Building on the popularity of an earlier post about Coming Attractions, here are additional teasers from the pages of Marvel Age.

Marvel Age #3 (June 1983):

• DEFENDERS #123—Written by J.M. DeMATTEIS. Pencils by DON PERLIN. Doctor Strange, the Silver Surfer, and the Submariner are trapped in time and must relive the most traumatic points in their lives—and this time they might not survive.

Marvel Age #9 (December 1983):

• DEFENDERS #129—It's the beginning of the end of the Secret Empire Saga, as the New Defenders—aided and abetted by Cloud and the mysterious Seraph—try to stop Professor Power's plans to topple both the United States and the USSR! It's not as simple as it sounds, though—not when the New Defenders must also battle the New Mutants—sort of! "Countdown" is written by J.M. DeMatteis, penciled by Don Perlin, and inked by Kim DeMulder.

Marvel Age #23 (February 1985):

• THE DEFENDERS #141—Just when the Defenders had totally forgotten them, the gamma ray spores seen in issue #132 are back—and have spread into everything! If the spores cannot be stopped, they will destroy the Defenders! "All Flesh is Grass!" written Peter B. Gillis, penciled by Don Perlin and inked by Kim DeMulder. 60¢.

Marvel Age #26 (May 1985):

• THE NEW DEFENDERS #144—The evil Dark Dragon offered her almost limitless power—and Moondragon took it! Now she's a rampaging emissary of evil whose first task is to slay her friends, the Defenders! "Dragon Midnight!" written by Peter B. Gillis, penciled by Don Perlin and inked by Kim DeMulder. 65¢.

Marvel Age #32 (November 1985):

• THE NEW DEFENDERS #150—The New Defenders are in space. The galaxy destroying Star Thief is why. Even with the help of The Cosmic Cube and the aliens Moe, Larry, Curly, and Shemp, will the New Defenders be able to stop him? "The Stars in Their Courses" is written by Peter B. Gillis, penciled by Don Perlin and inked by Randy Emberlin and Alan Kupperberg. A double-sized issue! $1.25.

The image of Moondragon's attack against Valkyrie in New Defenders #144 also appeared in the Coming Attractions section Marvel Age #26.

Sweet Christmas!

One of the most memorable catch-phrases in comics was Power Man's exclamation "Sweet Christmas" (or "Christmas" for short). Here are instances when he used the expression among the Defenders.

Fighting Thunderball of the Wrecking Crew in Defenders #18.

Power Man: (Thinking) Christmas! That freakin' ball of his is like a blasted boomerang--

Riding on Daimon Hellstrom's chariot through a teleportation portal (#24).

Power Man: Christmas! The horses! Th-they're bein' swallowed up--by a freakin' hole in the air!!

Returning through the portal (#25).

Hellstrom: You and I and my demon chariot have re-entered the physical plane--and Valkyrie is nowhere in sight.

Power Man: (Spotting Dr. Strange and Nighthawk) Right on--but wait'll you turn around an' see who is! Christmas!

After a spell backfired and electrically shocked Dr. Strange (#38).

Power Man: Sweet Christmas. man--you tryin' t'outdo Ben Franklin or what?!

On saving the "world gone sane" in Defenders Annual #1.

Power Man: Christmas! I ain't even sure what we're trying to save!

The above image appeared with Marvel Comics subscription ads in 1980.

Like the Original X-Men?

When I first saw this ad more than 30 years ago, I knew little about the new X-Men who featured in the series at the time and had never read about the original team pictured on the left.

Even in their original uniforms, though, I could identify Angel and Cyclops because of the wings and visor. Yet I had no idea that Marvel Girl of the original team had any connection to Phoenix of the new X-Men.

Familiar only with Beast from the Avengers, I did not recognize the early version of the character rendered in the ad without the blue fur.

But the most puzzling character to me at the time was the "snowman" (a callback to X-Men #1, when Iceman dressed up like a snowman in a gag sequence).

A few years later, with more knowledge of comic book history under my belt—and after Angel, Beast, and Iceman regrouped—I thought Marvel could have reworked this ad to say:

Like the Original X-Men? Then You'll Love the New Defenders!

The Defenders Yet to Come

This promotional image for Point One tipped off fans that an upcoming cast of Defenders would factor into the 64-page one-shot.

Framed as a series of possible realities observed from the Watcher's home on the moon, each story within the issue held together on its own—while setting the stage for comics slated to release in 2012.

A tale of particular interest found Stephen Strange in uncharacteristically good spirits, at home in his role as "The Shaman of Greenwich Village."

But Dr. Strange fell sullen as he tried to help a man named Joe Mitchell who was trapped in a state of waking-sleep. Entering Joe's mind, Dr. Strange saw a one-panel vision of Silver Surfer, Red She-Hulk, Sub-Mariner, Ant-Man, Nick Fury, and Iron Fist, who delivered a word of warning.

Iron Fist: We either shut the engines down, or the universe will break. Doc. The impossible is everywhere now…

Certain that the vision came from the future, Dr. Strange set out to decipher stacks of notebooks that Joe had kept over the years while writing "The Compleat History of Greenwich Village."

Point One. November 2011. The Defenders tie-in occurs in "The Shaman of Greenwich Village." Matt Fraction (writer), Terry Dodson (penciler), Rachel Dodson (inker), Sonia Oback (colorist), VC's Clayton Cowles (letterer), John Denning (asst. editor), Arbona & Brevoort (editors).

Six other stories foreshadowing comic books of 2012 also appear in Point One.

It's Either in You or It's Not

A friend was kind enough to alert me this week that Marvel plans to launch a new Defenders series in December 2011.

Doctor Strange, Sub-Mariner, Silver Surfer, Iron Fist, and Red She-Hulk (Betty Ross) are among the characters slated for the ongoing series.

For all my mixed feelings about previous attempts to either revisit or ravamp the non-team, I have to say that I am looking forward to the upcoming Defenders title.

Coming Attractions

When Marvel Age magazine began publication in 1983, the Coming Attractions section featured promotional blurbs about upcoming comics.

Here is a sampling of Coming Attractions about the Defenders as they transitioned from a non-team to the New Defenders.

Marvel Age #2 (May 1983):

• DEFENDERS #122—Written by J.M. DeMATTEIS. Pencils by DON PERLIN. The Iceman Cometh! Hellcat and the Son of Satan Goeth! And for you action lovers, you'll be knocked off your pins as—the Beast gets a dog and picks up his old mail!!!

Marvel Age #6 (September 1983):

• DEFENDERS #126—Remember Moondragon? Remember how her arrogant personality turned her from a hero to the most incorrigible AVENGERS villainess of all? Well, she's in the DEFENDERS—and Valkyrie on orders from Odin has to teach her humility and cooperation! Needless to say, our newest ensemble of Defenders is in for some growing pains as a team. Don't miss "State of the Union," written by J.M. DeMatteis and penciled by Don Perlin.

Marvel Age #15 (June 1984):

• THE NEW DEFENDERS #135—The New Defenders may not be your ordinary team of super heroes—but they've never met an adversary like this! He's Blowtorch Brand—and he's not your average arsonist! Angel, Beast, Iceman, Gargoyle, and Moondragon have to stop him—before he reduces New Mexico to a pile of ashes! "The Fire at Heaven's Gate" is written by Peter B. Gillis, penciled by Don Perlin, and inked by Kim DeMulder!

Marvel Age #17 (August 1984):

• NEW DEFENDERS #137—The New Defenders face a fight to the finish—with one of their own members! Will the Gargoyle have to sacrifice his own life to save that of his friends? Also, more on Cloud, one of the most unusual super heroes to be introduced in years! And it's all for six dimes! Written by Peter B. Gillis, penciled by Don Perlin and inked by Kim DeMulder! 60¢.

Marvel Age #25 (April 1985):

• NEW DEFENDERS #143—What a choice Moondragon must make! Should she die a horrible death, and thus spare the world from being destroyed by a monstrous evil force—or should she live and accept the almost limitless power that can be hers, by agreeing to forever become the immortal tool of the Dark Dragon? All that the New Defenders can do is watch—helpless! "Another Runner" written by Peter B. Gillis, penciled by Don Perlin and inked by Kim DeMulder. 65¢.