Mickey Walker

Patsy Walker's kid brother, Mickey, was a recurring character in comic books. As a running gag, Mickey would extort money in exchange for giving Patsy privacy with her boyfriend, Buzz Bazter. Different renditions of Mickey appear on the covers of Miss America #71 (Aug. 1955) and Patsy and Hedy #78 (Oct. 1961).

Scaredy Cat

A sight gag on the cover of Patsy and Hedy #7 (Sept. 1952) pictured the two friends double dating at the movies. Patsy's boyfriend, Buzz, was so frightened by The Bride of the Vampire that he clung to Hedy's date. In contrast, Patsy Walker #93 (Feb. 1961) showed Patsy clutching Buzz in fear at the sight of a mouse. The symbolism of the two scenes takes on additional subtext when we consider that Patsy later becomes the happy-go-lucky Hellcat and marries the Son of Satan (after divorcing Buzz, who then becomes the villain Mad-Dog).

  

Cover Versions: Chalk in Hand

Sight gags were commonplace on comic book covers featuring Patsy Walker. In this regard, Patsy Walker #30 (Sept. 1950) and Miss America (Apr. 1954) make for an interesting pair, as both covers show Patsy and boyfriend Buzz Baxter at a chalkboard when a teacher enters the classroom.

Introducing Power Man

When Defenders #17 reprinted in Rampage #16, the cover art changed significantly. Instead of picturing Hulk alongside Nighthawk and Dr. Strange, the reprint showed the green goliath deserting his comrades. Of the two versions, the cover of Rampage #16 was more accurate. Within the story, Valkyrie left the non-team (temporarily) to learn about her alter ego as Barbara Norriss. A saddened Hulk then blamed Dr. Strange and Nighthawk for Valkyrie's departure and leapt off to be alone. Only afterward did Dr. Strange and Nighthawk meet Power Man.

Rampage #16 also modified the original cover verbiage to introduce the guest star as "The Menace of Power Man!" Within the story, the hero for hire was guarding Richmond Enterprises and mistook the Defenders for intruders.

Sunken Continents

During the early years of the Silver Age, Atlas/Marvel Comics published a variety of stories about Atlantis. For instance, Journey into Mystery #63 (Dec. 1960) introduced Goliath, who came from the sunken continent to conquer land-dwellers. But Goliath soon retreated to Atlantis after humans tricked him into thinking that enormous extraterrestrials were invading Earth's surface.

Other creative tales of Atlantis appeared in the issues below:

• Amazing Adventures #2 (June 1961)
• Tales of Suspense #28 (April 1962)

The return of Golden Age hero Sub-Mariner in Fantastic Four #4 (May 1962) codified his Atlantean heritage within Marvel Comics. Adjusting for continuity a decade later, Where Monsters Dwell #10 (July 1971) retold the story of the aquatic goliath from Journey into Mystery #63, this time changing the sunken continent to Mu and renaming the would-be conquerer Gigantus (thereby avoiding confusion with the superhero Goliath).

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.

Redesigning Wrecker

When material from Defenders #18-19 reprinted for U.K. readers in Rampage #17-18, a curious coloring change occurred. The Wrecker, who originally wore a purple and green costume, instead appeared in burnt orange on the cover of each reprint. Meanwhile, the other members of the Wrecking Crew retained their original color schemes. When comparing both sets of covers side by side, I think the coloring change helped the Wrecker stand out.

Like other issues in the U.K. series, interior pages of Rampage #17-18 ran in black-and-white.

Superheroes Sinister

When the story from Defenders #13 (May 1974) later ran in Rampage #12 (Jan. 4, 1976), the U.K. reprint series kept the cover illustration of the original. But whereas the original cover text promoted Super-Team vs. Super-Team, the reprint said, "Superheroes battle Superheroes when--the Squadron Sinister Strikes!

As their name implied, of course, the Squadron Sinister were not superheroes. To be fair, though, the Squadron Sinister did look strikingly like their superheroic counterparts in the Squadron Supreme—so much so that the cover of Avengers #141 (Nov. 1975) had incorrectly billed the Squadron Supreme as the Squadron Sinister!

What's Missing?

Fun and Games Magazine #1 (Sept. 1979) repurposed the cover of Defenders #59 (May 1978) to create two panels for a visual puzzle titled "What's Missing?" Valkyrie, Aragorn, Nighthawk and Hellcat featured as prominently as they had on the original cover. Hulk, on the other hand, was all but cropped out of the puzzle.

Tigra's Tagline

Tigra effectively inherited her own series in Marvel Chillers #3-7 (Feb.-Oct. 1976), when she received cover billing as Tigra, the Were-Woman. Perhaps because she gained her powers through scientific means and not lycanthropy, the character received a new tagline in Marvel Premiere #42 (June 1978), headlining instead as as Tigra, the Feline Fury.

For curiosity's sake, I decided to see what Advanced Dungeons & Dragons had to say about weretigers at this time. In keeping with Tigra, the Lycanthrope entry in the Monster Manual described weretigers as most often female and very rare to encounter. Werewolves, on the other hand, were relatively common by comparison.

Cover Versions: Power Man and Iron Fist

Power Man and Iron Fist #50 changed Luke Cage's solo series into an ongoing team-up with Danny Rand. From that point on, the cover art often appeared symmetrical, giving equal weight to both characters. A handful of examples appear below.

	Cover art for Power Man and Iron Fist #101 pictures Colleen Wing and Misty Knight, recurring characters in the series.
	The cover of #104 is a powerful example of imperfect symmetry.

Dungeons of Doom

The covers of Shanna The She-Devil (Feb. 1973) and Marvel Two-In-One #68 (Oct. 1980) each promoted a Dungeon of Doom! The dungeons inside the two issues, however, could not have been more different.

For Shanna, the dungeon was minimalistic. Captured by the underlings of crimelord El Montano, Shanna found herself bound on the floor of a holding cell. Imprisoned alongside Shanna were her two trained leopards, Biri and Ina. Although the heroine described El Montano's men as jackals, there were no actual jackals in the cell (in spite of the cover image). Shanna easily escaped, defeating the sword-bearing jailer standing guard at the cell door.

Thing and Angel, on the other hand, ran into each other at a new disco called Zanadu Zone, only to find themselves caught in the secret dungeon underneath. Filled with mechanical traps and robots, the dungeon was the brainchild of Toad (one of the villainous Defenders for a Day and an original member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants). After escaping, a sympathetic Angel agreed to pay off Toad's debts and finance a fun house called Toadland. Candy Southern was Angel's date to Zanadu Zone and again to Toadland.

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.

Shrouded Cover Versions

The cover of Marvel Team-Up #94 impressed me with its stylized black-and-white ink to depict the powers of Shroud, Master of Darkness. This is my favorite cover from the series, including all the issues that guest-starred members of the Defenders. A similar artistic treatment appeared five issues later on #99 but with less oomph than before.

Bearing a Resemblance

While looking through back issues in my collection, I noticed that the covers of Avengers #169 (March 1977) and Uncanny X-Men #139 (November 1980) bear a resemblance to one another. Each cover shows members of the respective teams facing three threats—with a polar bear in the upper right of both covers. In all transparency, the polar bear on the X-Men cover is actually the shapeshifting hero Snowbird of Alpha Flight.

In addition to defeating an actual polar bear in the Arctic Circle, Black Panther impresses his fellow Avengers by providing the final answer on a challenging crossword puzzle. A twelve-letter word that means "producing sweat"? Sudoriferous!

Treasured

When I recently purchased Marvel Treasury Edition #16, I wondered if the collection included Defenders #25 because of the similarity between the two covers—but that appears to be a coincidence.

Rather, the treasury reprinted Marvel Feature #1, Defenders #4, and Defenders #13-14 in an oversized format.

Marvel Treasury Edition #16 (1978) also contained a pin-up of Nighthawk's ranch and two-page image from Defenders #50, picturing characters who did not appear in the four collected issues.

The Defenders previously guest-starred with Howard the Duck in Marvel Treasury Edition #12.

Rainbow Connection

Incredible Hulk #267 (January 1982) had long sported one of my favorite covers of that series. While looking for back issues recently, I spotted Justice League of America #151 (February 1978), which featured a similar cover four years earlier. A key difference between the covers was that the JLA rainbow enveloped seven of Wonder Woman's teammates while Hulk's rainbow spotlighted his enemies.

Air Mail

Beginning with New Defenders #137, the series changed the name of the letters column from Defenders Dialogue (as it appeared through #136) to Air Mail.

Incorporating Angel into the new Air Mail heading jazzed up the letters page and drew attention to the high-flying hero, who played more or less a supporting role within the series.

This design also harked back to early issues of the X-Men (#4-13, #15-22), which pictured Angel flying alongside the nameplate on the cover.

The Harder They Fall

Reading almost like an epilogue, Captain America #338 found the title character (then John Walker) and Buck (Lemar Hoskins) on assignment to recapture the escaped Professor Power and mop up any other at-large lackeys of the Secret Empire.

The biggest threat the duo faced was Leviathan (accurately shown here with black hair, as opposed to the white-haired rendition from the cover of New Defenders #126).

In the heat of battle, Captain America (Walker) killed Professor Power (who was already at death's door following his defeat in New Defenders #130). Ashamed at what he had done, the patriotic hero questioned whether he even deserved to wear the uniform of Captain America.

Captain America. Vol. 1. No. 338. February 1988. "Power Struggle." Mark Gruenwald (writer), Kieron Dwyer (penciler), Tom Morgan (inker), John Morelli (letterer), Gregory Wright (colorist), Ralph Macchio (editor), Tom DeFalco (the boss).

Cover Versions: Hulk vs. Namor

Hulk and Sub-Mariner were at odds with each other since their first team-up in Avengers #3. As these covers show, the temperamental twosome remained sparring partners during the original run of the Defenders.

The second issue of Defenders Volume 2 showed Hulk and Sub-Mariner at odds yet again. Another cover version for that same issue spotlighted Valkyrie instead.