Namor the Barbarian

Several earlier posts have described members of the Defenders as character classes from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. After giving the topic even more thought, I'd like to suggest that Sub-Mariner would be a fitting candidate for the Barbarian subclass introduced by Gary Gygax in Dragon Magazine #63 (July 1982). Originating from a remote area, Barbarians often fight without armor and have an aversion to magic. Additionally, Sub-Mariner's pointed ears and Atlantean background could make him a half-elf, specifically aquatic elf (even though these early rules state that only humans can be Barbarians).

Robert E. Howard deserves credit for creating Conan, the archetypical barbarian from sword & sorcery literature. Drawing inspiration from Howard's novels, Conan the Barbarian was a long-running Marvel title.

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).

The Knave of Hearts

One of the numerous Defenders for a Day was Jack of Hearts—real name Jack Hart. Because of his motif, I tend to associate that character with the Knave of Hearts, who was accused of stealing tarts in Alice in Wonderland.

Around the time he sought membership in the Defenders, Jack of Hearts starred in Marvel Premiere #44 (Oct. 1978); the Knave of Hearts and other Wonderland characters featured prominently on the back cover of Marvel Classics Comics #35.

Arrows and Alignments

Robin Hood was an inspiration for many a comic book archer, such as Green Arrow, Hawkeye and Golden Archer. Given my many posts over the years about the alignment system from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, I was curious how the game assessed this folk hero.

An article from Dragon #55 (Nov. 1981) described Robin Hood as Chaotic Good, citing his love of total freedom and his hatred of injustice. That wasn't the last word, however. An article from Dragon #63 (July 1982) noted that bandits in the tradition of Robin Hood have an alignment of Neutral Good. This inconsistent take on Robin Hood, or characters like him, shows the room for interpretation within the nine alignments from AD&D.

The story of Robin Hood appeared in Marvel Classics Comics #34 (Oct. 1978).

What Worried Wertham?

For the fourth consecutive year, I decided to reread and blog about Seduction of the Innocent, Fredric Wertham's influential tome attacking the comic book industry. One argument that I previously overlooked was Wertham's belief that the abundance of illustrations within comic books stifled the imagination, as evidenced by children reproducing graphic images from comic books in their own drawings.

In Wertham's opinion as a psychiatrist, comic books lacked the constructive escapism often found in fairy tales. He cited reports of boys hurting themselves by leaping from high places while pretending to be superheroes. He added that even comic books extolling the dangers of drug addiction invariably taught children how to use heroin and other narcotics. Such hazards, according to Wertham, were compounded because comic books were themselves habit-forming. At the time of his writing in 1954, approximately 90 million comic books sold each month in the United States.

While conceding that other factors might also contribute to juvenile delinquency, Wertham cautioned adults against underestimating the negative impact of comics. The following excerpt from Seduction of the Innocent comes from the closing paragraph of Chapter II:

		Once in the waiting room of the Clinic I saw a little boy crouched over a comic book, oblivious to everything around him. In passing I could see the title of this story he was reading. Big capitals spelled out T A R Z A N. Surely, I thought, the adventures of Tarzan are harmless enough for juveniles of any age. But I was misled, as many parents no doubt are. … Tarzan was not the whole title of the story I had seen the boy in the waiting room reading. There was a subtitle "The Wyoming Killer" and two other headings, "From Police Files" and "A True Crime Story." The story was not about Tarzan, but about a hero who robbed a bank and shot five men to death.

Over the past century, several companies did publish comic books based on the Tarzan novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Marvel's monthly Tarzan series ran 1977-79.

Philip K. Defender

Science-fiction authors Philip K. Dick and Ursula LeGuin were the inspirations for two members of the psychic Chorus that acquired mental control of Over-Mind (Defenders #117). Coincidentally, Philip K. Dick also wrote a short story called "The Defenders." Following a nuclear war with the Soviet Union, humans in that story live underground to stay safe from radiation. Robots, meanwhile, remain on the surface for defensive purposes. The reality of the situation, however, is more insidious than the characters initially believe.

"The Defenders" first appeared in the pages of Galaxy Science Fiction (January 1953).

Waxing Poetic

The opening page of New Defenders #150 included the first stanza of Percy Bysshe Shelley's "To the Moon." Written in the early nineteenth century, the short poem set the tone for the heroes' outer space encounter with the Star-Thief. The full poem appears below.

To the Moon Art thou pale for weariness Of climbing heaven and gazing on the earth, Wandering companionless Among the stars that have a different birth,— And ever changing, like a joyless eye That finds no object like its constancy? Thou chosen sister of the Spirit, That gazes on thee till in thee it pities …

The illustration above comes from New Defenders $150 (Dec. 1985).

Revisiting Venus

Before Weird Wonder Tales began spotlighting Dr. Druid (#19-22), the cover of #16 (June 1976) promoted a soul-searing chiller starring a Venus, the Living Goddess! Originally published in Venus #19 (April 1952), that story pitted the heroine against a vampire—complete with the ability to turn into a bat and the inability to cast a reflection. Venus ultimately destroyed the creature by driving a stake through its heart. Two years after that original publication, references to vampirism became prohibited under the Comics Code of 1954. Only after the Comics Code Revision of 1971 could the story reappear in print for a new generation of readers.

Working backward, Weird Wonder Tales #17-18 reprinted tales from Venus #18-17 respectively. That earlier tale was particularly prescient in depicting an illustrator of a horror comic book whose monstrous drawings came to life. As if heeding the lesson from this fable, the Comics Code of 1954 would ban the word horror in the title of comic books.

Venus #19 was the final issue of the character's original series. Weird Wonder Tales #16 was the first of three consecutive issues to reprint the heroine's early adventures. In addition to promoting Venus, the cover of #16 compared one of the other reprinted stories in that issue to the popular 1974 novel Jaws!

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Return of the Nautilus!

Like a number of other issues during the run of the series, Sub-Mariner #53 (Sept. 1972) drew upon the character's history. While the main story teamed the Prince of Atlantis with Sunfire, a relatively new hero at the time, a back-up feature reprinted a Sub-Mariner tale from the 1950s.

In that back-up story, an occult magician stole a painting from the Fictional Art Section of the Manhattan Historical Museum. The stolen painting pictured the Nautilus submarine from Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Making matters worse, a ghostly submarine began appearing out of nowhere and attacking naval vessels. Sub-Mariner's investigation led him to a ramshackle shanty, where he found the magician dead from heart failure. The villain's hand clutched the stolen painting … with the image of the Nautilus inexplicably absent.

Before and after renditions of the painting appear below.

A Question of Canon

Revisions to the Comics Code in 1971 loosened the restrictions on horror comics, allowing Dracula to star in his own series set in the world of superheroes. How beholden, however, was the Dracula from superhero comic books to the text from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel? Tomb of Dracula #49 (Oct. 1976) broached this subject, as this version of Dracula adamantly distanced himself from the literary depiction a century before.

Dracula: That foolish novel Stoker half-based on my diary? Bah! He turned what I am…the power I possess, into a children's story. A mere fable based half on lies.

This same year, interestingly enough, Marvel Classics Comics #9 (1976) featured an adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula. The title character's appearance in the adaptation closely resembled his appearance in Tomb of Dracula and other contemporary comics.

Adapting Alice

In the opening paragraph of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, protagonist Alice asked, What is the use of a book without pictures or conversations? This telling question would make the 1865 novel ripe for a comic book adaptation, specifically Marvel Classics Comics #35 (1978). Titled Alice in Wonderland, the comic-book retelling stayed faithful to Lewis Carroll's original text, with slight modifications. For instance, the comic book changed the name of the Hatter to the Mad Hatter, as he became commonly known in popular culture.

Within the comic book, Alice looked similar to her depiction in the 1951 animated Disney film. Most other characters in the comic, however, resembled the illustrations of John Tenniel originally published in the novel. In fact, the comic book reproduced some of Tenniel's artwork on the inside back cover, along with the poem You Are Old, Father William; in the novel, that poem appeared in the chapter with the Caterpillar (a character who would cross over to superhero comics and meet Dr. Strange.)

Abridging the story for space left the Marvel Classics Comics adaptation with the following chapter order:

Down the Rabbit Hole The Pool of Tears A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale The Rabbit Sends in a Little Bill Advice from a Caterpillar Pig and Pepper A Mad Tea-Party The Queen's Croquet-Ground Who Stole the Tart Alice's Evidence

The following two chapters did not appear in the comic book:

• The Mock Turtle's Story (although a scene with the Duchess moved to chapter VIII)
• The Lobster-Quadrille

Additionally, Marvel Classics Comics did not incorporate material from the 1872 sequel, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. Nevertheless, Defenders #131 drew inspiration from a poem within that novel by introducing a supervillain called the Walrus and a scientist with the surname Carpenter.

Saturday, June 12, 2021

Behind the Masked Raider

Unlike many Golden Age heroes who eventually fell into obscurity, the Masked Raider remained a background figure even during his own era. The western crimefighter premiered in Marvel Comics #1 (Oct. 1939), the same comic book that introduced Sub-Mariner and the original Human Torch. Renamed Marvel Mystery Comics, the anthology series continued to include stories starring the Masked Raider in #2-12.

Disguised in a black mask and riding a white horse named Lightning, the Masked Raider apprehended bank robbers and swindlers under the backdrop of the California Gold Rush. Historical facts were vague within the stories, although literary character Pecos Bill made a guest appearance in #9.

Being a western hero made the Masked Raider something of an anomaly. With the notable excepction of jungle adventurer Ka-Zar, most of the other characters to appear regularly in Marvel Mystery Comics had superhuman powers and a modern setting. As such, the Masked Raider never appeared on the covers, and #8 was the only cover to list him as one of the characters featured within the publication.

The above panel comes from Marvel Comics #1, when Jim Gardley decided to become the Masked Raider.

The Golden Age crimefighter Angel, who featured prominently in the Marvel Mystery Comics, had no connection to Warren Worthington III of the New Defenders. The hero Electro, listed on the cover of #8, had no connection to the villain Electro from Defenders #63-64.

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).

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 Time Machine

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells must have been required reading for the Defenders. The characters discussed the 1895 novella without directly stating the title.

To escape from a horde of vampires in Defenders #95 (May 1981), Daimon Hellstrom recited an ancient chant to safely move his teammates several hours into the future. Afterward, Gargoyle asked if they had traveled through time like H.G. Wells. Hellstrom explained that they did travel through time, though not precisely in the way Gargoyle imagined.

When Dr. Strange suggested sending Spider-Man 20,000 years backward through time in Marvel Team-Up #112 (Dec. 1981), the wall-crawler said in jest that he was not H.G. Wells. Dr. Strange clarified that he intended to send Spider-Man's astral form to the ancient past while keeping his physical body in the present. The purpose of the mission was to find a cure to an illness Spider-Man contracted from the reptile cult in #111.

An adaption of The Time Machine by H.G. Wells appeared in Marvel Classics Comics #2 (1976). Set in the distant future, the evolutionary tale depicts two offshoots of humanity: the surface-dwelling Eloi and the subterranean Morlocks. Appropriately enough, a group of mutant outcasts introduced in Uncanny X-Men #169 (May 1983) called themselves the Morlocks.

Defenders: Apocalypse

What if? X-Men Age of Apocalypse #1 brought solo adventurers and the surviving members of other super teams into a new version of the Defenders. When leading these heroes into battle against the forces of Apocalypse, Captain America (Steve Rogers) cried out, "Defenders Assemble!"—borrowing from the historic catch phrase for the Avengers.

Brother Voodoo (Jericho Drumm), a secondary character throughout most of his career, replaced Dr. Strange as the Sorcerer Supreme of this alternate reality. In retrospect, it's surprising that the mystical hero had never joined forces with the Defenders until this point.

The most ironic addition to the apocalyptic Defenders was Sauron (Karl Lykos), a long-time foe of the X-Men. A mutant with the power to transform into a vampiric pterosaur, Sauron deliberately lifted the name of an evil wizard from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

The Defenders in this story also included Captain Britain (Brian Braddock), Colossus, Thing, Wolverine, and the otherwise villainous Molecule Man.

What If? X-Men Age of Apocalypse. No. 1. February 2007. Rick Remender (writer), Dave Wilkins (artist), Anthony Washington (colorist), Nate Piekos (letterer), Marko Djurdjevic (cover artist), Brad Johansen (production), Nathan Cosby (assistant editor), Mark Paniccia (editor), Joe Quesada (editor in chief), Dan Buckley (publisher).

The above image of Sauron comes from X-Men #60 (September 1969).

Neutral Evil: Humbert Carpenter

In his one-shot appearance in New Defenders #131, underground scientist Humbert Carpenter articulated a set of self-centered objectives that fit under the umbrella of Neutral Evil from Dungeons & Dragons.

Unable to acquire grant support for his experiments, Humbert persevered on his own until achieving the scientific breakthrough that gave his nephew superhuman powers.

To show the world the experiment was a success, Humbert sent his impressionable nephew (codenamed Walrus) to demonstrate his strength by attacking several heroes. All the while, Humbert cautioned his nephew against excessive property damage, but only because mass destruction wouldn't garnish the same level of notoriety as defeating a hero.

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

The above panel shows nephew Hubert (a.k.a. the Walrus) and uncle Humbert. The pair were an homage to the Lewis Carroll poem The Walrus and the Carpenter.

Mental Block

In Dr. Strange #59 (June 1983), the master of the mystic arts learned that Dracula was again at large. The disturbing news jogged the sorcerer's memory of his initial encounter with Dracula in Dr. Strange #14 (May 1976).

Seven years in real time elapsed between the publication of those two issues, but characters within the world of comics tend to experience time at a slower rate. According to Dr. Strange's account in #59, barely two years had passed since he met the Lord of Vampires in #14.

Yet only after summoning the all-seeing Eye of Agamotto from his mystic amulet did Dr. Strange recall a more recent encounter from Defenders #95 (May 1981), when Dracula had invaded the Sanctum Sanctorum under the influence of the Six-Fingered Hand. How could Dr. Strange have forgotten such a pivotal event? The sorcerer suspected that Mephisto was responsible for obstructing his memory and numbing his awareness of Dracula.

Defend Comics

This year Free Comic Book Day lands on Saturday, May 3, 2014. The book that looks most interesting to me this year is Defend Comics, by the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Created in 1986, the CBLDF is non-profit organization dedicated to protect the First Amendment rights pertaining to comics and graphic novels.

Sample pages from Defend Comics illustrate topics surrounding the freedom of speech, including the history of the Comics Code.

As an aside, the original version of the Comics Code from 1954 banned many themes associated with horror and fantasy literature. Note the following item under General standards—Part B:

Scenes dealing with, or instruments associated with walking dead, torture, vampires and vampirism, ghouls, cannibalism, and werewolfism are prohibited.

The revised Comics Code from 1971 loosened those initial restrictions:

Scenes dealing with, or instruments associated with walking dead, or torture, shall not be used. Vampires, ghouls and werewolves shall be permitted to be used when handled in the classic tradition such as Frankenstein, Dracula, and other high calibre literary works written by Edgar Allen Poe, Saki, Conan Doyle and other respected authors whose works are read in schools around the world.

This revision allowed for a hero billed as The Son of Satan, the transformation of the original Cat into Tigra the Were-Woman, and a storytelling genre that would become the bedrock of the Defenders.

Foreshadowed

Dr. Strange hadn't picked up a deck of Tarot cards in years, so imagine his surprise when he received a Tarot deck in the mail. The cards came courtesy of Marie Laveau, the legendary Witch-Queen of New Orleans, who hoped to warn Dr. Strange of impending doom (Marvel Team-Up #76).

Out for revenge, the villain Silver Dagger would magically trap Clea's spirit within the Orb of Agamotto. In Greenwich Village at the time, Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel agreed to assist Dr. Strange in the quest to defeat Silver Dagger and rescue Clea.

When Dr. Strange became trapped as well, he recognized the Caterpillar of Wonderland as call back to his prior imprisonment within the orb.

But when Dr. Strange located Clea inside the surreal realm, her fiery appearance and cold-hearted demeanor made her almost unrecognizable. This was the woman Clea would have become had she been raised by her wicked mother, Umar the Unspeakable (Marvel Team-Up #77).

As Spider-Man fell within the orb, images of the character's loved ones and enemies filled the mataphysical dimension.

Back in the outside world, Ms. Marvel defended herself against Silver Dagger until Marie Laveau finally subdued the villain—allowing Clea, Dr. Strange, and Spider-Man to escape.

Fitting tightly into continuity, the adventure took place on the heals of Defenders #58-60, when the non-team helped Dr. Strange retrieve the Eye of Agamotto.

Spider-Man guest-starred in Defenders #61. Ms. Marvel had guest-starred in #57, but then declined joining the team in #62.

Chris Claremont wrote Marvel Team-Up #76-77. Chaykin, Aclin & Ortiz were artists on both issues. Dr. Strange would later consult Tarot cards regularly while leading the Secret Defenders.