Grown Names

Some time ago, I posted about episodes of Justice League Unlimited that depicted Hawkgirl and several other DC characters as indirect counterparts to the Defenders. I found the animated version of Hawkgirl surprising, however, since the comic book character had changed her name to Hawkwoman by this point. In World's Finest #272 (Oct. 1981), she told Hawkman that she didn't like the connotation of the term girl and started correcting those who called her that by mistake. I prefer the way Hawkwoman sounds and wish her name had stayed that way.

Comic books have plenty of other examples of heroic peers with codenames that suggest different levels of maturity. The original X-Men notably included Marvel Girl and Iceman (the youngest member of the group). The Legion of Super-Heroes sidestepped the man/girl imbalance as both male and female heroes of the 30th century had youthful codenames. Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #235 (Jan. 1978) revealed that people of the future used the terms boy and kid well into their twenties because scientific breakthroughs had vastly extended their life spans.

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).

  

Pheromones

When the Defenders faced the villain Mandrill, he led an army of women called the Fem-Force (Defenders #90-91). Mandrill's first female ally, however, was Nekra. Born with chalk-white skin and fangs, Nekra's vampire-like appearance made her an outcast since childhood. As a mutant power, Nekra gained invulnerability and superhuman strength when she felt hate—similar to the way the Hulk became more powerful when angry.

Soon after splitting from Mandrill, Nekra found an enemy in Spider-Woman. In contrast to Mandrill, whose mutant pheromones could allure women, Spider-Woman produced alarm pheromones that made others ill at ease. She received this medical diagnosis—a secret side effect of her spider powers—in her civilian identity as Jessica Drew. Ironically, Spider-Woman's pheromones had an inverse effect on Nekra, inducing in Nekra a sense of trust, which reminded her of Mandrill, which thereby intensified her hatred (Spider-Woman #16).

Nekra's original entry from The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe noted that she could lift (press) about 10 tons at peak strength.

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.

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.

Revisiting Wertham

I recently reread Seduction of the Innocent, psychiatrist Fredric Wertham's infamous book taking aim at the comic book industry. This time around, I paid particular attention to arguments I didn't cover in my initial post about the 1954 publication. As one example, Wertham criticized Millie the Model and similar comic books for setting unrealistic beauty ideals for girls.

Among his other concerns, Wertham asserted that the visual storytelling of comic books caused children to develop poor reading habits, such as picture reading: reading only the title and maybe the text on those pages with particularly violent or sexually intriguing illustrations. To Wertham, even comic books stating that "crime doesn't pay" were harmful as they showed children how to become criminals.

In writing Seduction of the Innocent, Wertham acknowledged that some psychiatrists regarded his claims as overzealous. Wertham countered that such colleagues made the mistake of seeing juvenile delinquents as fundamentally flawed while ignoring the pernicious influence of comic books. In another generalization, Wertham characterized comic book writers as dissatisfied with their own work.

For clarity, Wertham distinguished comic books from the newspaper comic strips, which he described as intended for adults and subject to tighter publishing standards. Here, Wertham employed a double standard, dismissing Flash Gordon and other comic books derived from newspaper strips as mere caricatures of the originals. In short, even comic books of the highest quality were inherently tainted by virtue of being comic books.

Millie the Model #55 (August 1954) appeared in print the same year as Seduction of the Innocent. Decades later, Millie guest-starred in Defenders #65.

Flash Gordon was one of several Golden Age adventurers reintroduced in the Defenders of the Earth limited series published in 1987 under the Star Comics imprint of Marvel Comics.

The Making of Mandrill

At the time of his debut in Shanna The She-Devil #4 (June 1973), the villain Mandrill worked with an accomplice named Professor Skecher. Mandrill had the superhuman power to compel women to do his bidding, and the heinous Professor Skecher would tattoo Mandrill's facial markings onto the face of each follower. Sketcher himself had no visible tattoos. The adventurer Shanna O'Hara surprised both men with her athleticism and her ability to resist Mandrill's influence.

By the time the Defenders faced Mandrill, Professor Skecher was out of the picture and Mandrill's new female followers (the Fem-Force) were not tattooed in his image.

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.

The Ambiguous Amphibian

Introduced in Avengers #148 as the resident water-breather of the Squadron Supreme, the character Amphibion was an homage to Aquaman of the Justice League of America. In fact, The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe revealed that Amphibion's given name was Kingsley Rice, a play on Aquaman's secret identity of Arthur Curry.

During a showdown between the Squadron Supreme and the Avengers (#148), Amphibion faced Hellcat on her first adventure since donning the costume previously worn by the hero Cat. Reminiscent of the chauvinism Cat had faced, Amphibion dismissed Hellcat as a member of the "weaker sex"; Hellcat, however, easily defeated him.

During that first appearance, Amphibion commented on his mother's human heritage, implying that his father wasn't human. Amphibion also described himself as "King of the Seven Seas" (not necessarily a royal title like Prince of Atlantis).

By the time the Squadron Supreme appeared in Defenders #112-114, Amphibion had changed the spelling of his name to Amphibian.

In the 12-part Squadron Supreme limited series, Amphibian referred to his "sea-born muscles" (#4) and "my native ocean" (#6) without offering further insight into his past.

The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (deluxe edition) described Amphibian as a mutant, yet the possibility of a more complicated origin remains. After all, the half-human, half-Atleantean Sub-Mariner met the criteria for membership in Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

This image of Amphibian appeared with the Squadron Supreme entry in The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (deluxe edition).

Legacy

The recent loss of former teammate Black Widow brought Iceman, Angel, Ghost Rider, Hercules, and Darkstar back to Los Angeles to grieve—and also to reminisce about their days as Champions (Iceman #6).

The group learned that their former headquarters was now a fitness center, and Iceman felt all the more smited when someone mistook him for the Silver Surfer.

In his plain-clothes identity as Bobby Drake, the now-out hero kissed a man for the first time while on an impromptu date. The evening ended abruptly, however, with the arrival of Sentinels (which the team fought in Champions #17, the last issue of their original series).

Sina Grace wrote Iceman #6 (December 2017). A back-up story by Robbie Thompson recounted the hero's origin and personal history, including a flashback to the fight scene from the cover of New Defenders #126.

Iceman (Not Abomination)

What's perhaps most surprising about the debut issue of Iceman's new series is seeing how little the title character has matured since his limited series (1985).

After all this time, the hero remains estranged from his parents, who still disapprove of his mutant powers in Iceman #1 (August 2017).

The new series introduces a fanatical villain who hates mutants for religious reasons. Adding insult to injury, the new villain doesn't even recognize Iceman—prompting the hero to list his crimefighting credentials in the heat of battle.

As his modus operandi, the new foe repeatedly refers to mutants as an abomination (no connection to Hulk's longtime foe who answers to that name).

The gamma-green villain named Abomination first appeared in Tales to Astonish #90 (April 1967). This image of the character comes from The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe.

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.

Cold Shower

One of the first posts on this site looked back at a humorous remark Beast made about kissing Iceman before introducing him to the rest of the Defenders (#122).

Iceman discarded his Champions uniform and returned to simply wearing trunks, boots, and gloves as a member of the New Defenders. Although the hero might have looked more comfortable, his personal life remained deceptively complicated.

Soon after joining the New Defenders, both Iceman and Angel became sexually attracted to teammate Moondragon (#126). But those feelings were not real. The self-proclaimed goddess later revealed that she had been using her telepathic powers to plant those thoughts in the minds of both men (#140).

During his four-issue Iceman limited series, Bobby Drake was immediately drawn to a woman he bumped into on the street. But Bobby again was being played. The seemingly perfect Marge Smith (codenamed Mirage) had orchestrated this "chance encounter" to lure Bobby into using his Iceman powers against her father, the entity called Oblivion.

Marge Smith had no connection to Danielle Moonstar (the member of the New Mutants originally called Psyche, who would later use the codename Mirage).

Tip of the Iceberg

One of the first posts on this site described how Bobby Drake once introduced himself—not as the hero Iceman—but instead as Beast's boyfriend, Lance (New Defenders #131). Bobby was joking at the time, but a recent story line adds new context to that scene.

In a conversation with a younger version of himself who had traveled forward through time, Iceman recently acknowledged that he is in fact gay but has kept it a secret all these years because he already had a hard enough time dealing with the stigma of being a mutant (Uncanny X-Men #600).

From this perspective, it's worth considering how Iceman's romantic life originally unfolded during his formative years.

A back-up story titled "The Iceman Cometh" (X-Men #44) showed teenage Bobby Drake dating a young woman named Judy Harmon shortly before joining the X-Men.

Bobby: You know, even though we've only dated a few times—I already feel I know you better than anyone! It's like you're the only person in the world who really matters to me!

Judy: Bobby—are you trying to say that … you're in love with me?

Before Bobby could answer, a group of thugs attacked the young couple. Bobby used his mutant abilities in self-defense, but Judy was so mortified to witness Bobby's powers that she fled. In retrospect, that early rejection left a lasting scar on the young hero.

When Jean Grey arrived as the first female student at Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, the original X-Men began vying for her attention. Everyone, that is, except one.

Iceman: A girl … big deal! I'm glad I'm not a wolf like you guys!

Angel: I'm glad, too. Who needs extra competition from Iceman?!

The flashback from X-Men #138 captures events from X-Men #1. Upcoming posts will continue to examine Iceman's romantic history.

Before Brunnhilde

At the request of Winston Churchill, several Golden Age heroes joined forces to battle the Axis Powers in Invaders #1, retroactively set in late December 1941.

Although Captain America and the original Human Torch had second-thoughts about calling themselves the Invaders, proposing alternate names ranging from the Protectors to the Revenge Squadron, Sub-Mariner convinced the team to use the term that Churchill suggested.

Soon after they arrived in Europe, the Invaders encountered a mysterious woman with golden eyes and only a vague recollection of her past. But the woman soon recalled that she was a marooned extraterrestrial who had escaped from the clutches of Nazi villain Brain Drain (Invaders #2).

As an homage to the Richard Wagner opera, Brain Drain had called the extraterrestrial woman Brunnhilde. But her actual name was MCM-XLI (the Roman numeral MCMXLI translates to 1941), and she despised being objectified as a legendary valkyrie.

Lacking the willpower to escape on their own, three male extraterrestrials still remained under Brain Drain's mental control. They answered to the names Donar (god of thunder), Froh (god of lightning), and Loga (god of thunder).

Though set in the past, Invaders #1-2 were published the same months as Defenders #26-27 (August-September 1975). The superhero Valkyrie was well-established by this time, but her identity as the real Brunnhilde went unrevealed until Avengers Annual #11.

Roy Thomas wrote Invaders #1-2. Frank Robbins illustrated those issues.

On a Hot Tin Roof

In her short-lived comic book series, the Cat repeatedly faced male opponents who underestimated her capabilities specifically because she was a woman. In the Cat Scratches letters column, readers commented on the feminist themes within the series, and the portrayal of the title character. Here is one letter published in The Cat #4 (June 1973).

Dear Stan,

THE CLAWS OF THE CAT was well-written, well-drawn, well-inked, well-lettered, and well-colored. So what am I writing about? I'm writing about a comic mag that is good, but is flawed and will be ruined by Women's Lib sayings.

Equal pay for equal work is fair and just, and it's the right way. But all that stuff about "male chauvinist pigs" and women being "sex objects" is a lotta (CENSORED). Anyway, what's wrong with being a sex object?

Bryan Newman

Here was the editorial reply:

Apparently, Bryan, you've never been whistled and leered at on a street corner. Or had a sensitive extremity pinched in an elevator car. Or been treated with disdain because you dared show some grain of intelligence. Or been refused a job because you might become pregnant.

But those are the things that are wrong with being a "sex object". And the whole point is … people shouldn't be treated as any kind of object! We don't consume human beings the way we do noodle soup. Or at least … we're not supposed to Think of it.

Meanwhile, we're glad you're enthusiastic about the CLAWS OF THE CAT. And, while we do plan to soft-pedal the rhetoric (and let the plots make our point instead), we felt we had to answer your query directly.

Till next ish: purr softly … and carry a big stick!

The Cat #4, however, was the last issue of the series. The character next appeared in Giant-Size Creatures #1, when she transformed into Tigra.

His and Hers

A curse from the evil wizard Yandroth that compelled Silver Surfer, Sub-Mariner, Hulk, and Dr. Strange to band together later accentuated the most intimidating aspects of their personalities. Instead of protecting humanity, the four heroes set out to impose their own brand of tyranny as The Order, the title of a six-issue limited series packaged with Defenders (Volume 2).

Dressing the part, Sub-Mariner brought back his jacketed threads from Super-Villain Team-Up, and Dr. Strange returned to the masked costume he wore shortly before forming the original Defenders.

Appropriately enough, the gray-skinned Hulk appeared in The Order #1-4. Yet his hedonism proved so bothersome that Dr. Strange magically transformed Hulk into the green goliath who fought alongside the original Defenders. But when that brutish Hulk rejected the world-conquering ideals of the Order, Dr. Strange turned him into the "Professor" Hulk with the intelligence of Bruce Banner.

Perhaps because Yandroth had once taken the form of a woman (Defenders #119), removing the curse required a female analogue to each member of the Order.

To this end, Nighthawk, Hellcat, and Valkyrie (Samantha Parryington) sought help from Namorita and She-Hulk (cousins of Sub-Mariner and Bruce Banner), along with Clea, who leveraged a magical attack that caused Silver Surfer to "bleed" light, which took the form of a new cosmic heroine called Ardina (The Order #4).

Accompanying the Defenders on their quest to stop the Order was Dr. Christopher Ganyrog, Scientist Supreme on Yandroth's homeworld of Yann, located in the system of Geulischwarz (The Order #5). Furthering the theme of female characters derived from males, Ganyrog referred to his adventuring partner as Romantic Objective Pamela.

Jo Duffy and Kurt Busiek wrote The Order #1-6 (April-September 2002).

The Kissing Bandit

Feeling unlucky in love, Hawkeye set his eyes on Valkyrie during their short time working together as Defenders. Although he knew Valkyrie was emotionally volatile at the moment, the archer took a chance by initiating an impromptu kiss. When Valkyrie lashed out in return, Hawkeye chauvinistically reasoned that her lingering identity crisis was to blame (Defenders #9).

Later, working as a security guard at Cross Technological Enterprises, Hawkeye lost further credibility as a casanova by forcibly kissing the villain Deathbird after apprehending her. With her arms bound by a titanium-steel net, Deathbird could not avoid his unwelcome lips (Avengers #189).

Anatomy Lessons

Reading comics in my formative years, two issues of the Defenders particularly drew my attention to the body types of the characters. This image of Valkyrie, Hellcat, and Red Guardian from the closing page of Defenders #44 was the first time I noticed different breast sizes among super-heroines.

It goes without saying that Hulk is more muscular than the average hero. But I remember thinking how his super-developed torso on the cover of Defenders #87 looked like a face. Both of these examples invariably say more about my age at the time I first read these issues than the artwork itself.

Fearless Defenders

Fearless Defenders #1 teamed up Valkyrie with detective Misty Knight, but the underlying premise of the new series came clear in #2. In the absence of the traditional shield-maidens of Asgard, Valkyrie received a directive to assemble a band of super-powered Earth women.

Considering this undertaking left Valkyrie wondering which super-heroines, if any, might be up to the task.

In a roundabout way, the objective harks back to the debut appearance of Valkyrie (actually Enchantress in disguise), who led a band of super-women called the Lady Liberators. That one-time team, however, formed under the auspices of fighting chauvinism by battling male heroes (Avengers #83).

The above image of Valkyrie and Misty Knight appeared on the cover of Fearless Defenders #1.