Metamorpho: The Standby Superhero

If DC Comics had launched a non-team like the Defenders, Metamorpho would have been a strong candidate. Radiation from a meteorite transformed soldier-of-fortune Rex Mason into Metamorpho, the Element Man. Dismayed by his altered appearance, the reluctant hero turned down an invitation to join the Justice League of America but agreed to assist in emergencies (JLA #42).

When Joker, Penguin, and the Riddler conspired to change Batman into the lumbering Bat-Hulk, the caped crusader sought out Metamorpho—hoping his chemical powers might reverse the effects. Instead, a bolt of lightning did the trick (Brave and the Bold #68). Unlike Bruce Banner, whose clothing ripped when he became Hulk, Bruce Wayne's bat-costume stayed intact as Bat-Hulk.

Before Metamorpho declined membership in Justice League of America #42 (Feb. 1966), Green Arrow (#4), Atom (#14), and Hawkman (#31) had said yes. Metamorpho faced Bat-Hulk in The Brave and the Bold #68 (Oct.-Nov. 1966).

On a Lark

Lady Lark was among the most tragic members of the Squadron Supreme. As revealed in the Squadron Supreme limited series, Linda Lewis had been a successful recording artist until an accident damaged her vocal cords. Following an operation, new vocal cords gave her superhuman sonic powers. As a drawback, however, she could no longer sing (Squadron Supreme #1, #4). In some respects, Lady Lark's music career had parallels to that of Dazzler, a singer whose mutant powers over light and sound propelled her into the role of reluctant superhero.

Like other early members of the Squadron Supreme, Lady Lark had a counterpart in the Justice League of America—specifically, Black Canary, with her ear-piercing "canary cry." On top of that, Lady Lark's on-again, off-again relationship with teammate Golden Archer was an homage to Black Canary's romantic pairing with Green Arrow in DC Comics.

This image of Lady Lark comes from Avengers #147 (May 1976). Since her powers often appeared as music notes, singing may have been how Lady Lark activated her superhuman abilities.

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.

In the Wings

Angel was basically benched from the team after New Defenders #143, when an attack from Moondragon left him blind until #152, the final issue of the series. If Angel seemed unfettered while wounded, he had already done his share of soul searching just before joining the New Defenders (#125), when the subterranean band of mutants known as Morlocks kidnapped him and clipped his pin feathers (X-Men #169-170).

No longer a prospective mate for Callisto, leader of the Morlocks, Angel was instead boyfriend to Candy Southern, leader of the New Defenders. This may have helped him maintain his perspective.

In this panel from Defenders #146 (Aug. 1985), Cloud verbally guides Angel as he practices flying without his eyesight.

Shrunken Bones

Dr. Jerold Morgan was the weakest member of the Headmen. Like his three teammates, Morgan was highly intelligent. But he lacked the superhuman powers of Dr. Arthur Nagan (a.k.a. Gorilla-Man), Chondu the Mystic, or Ruby Thursday. On top of that, the scientific accident that had permanently altered Morgan not only reduced the size of his skeleton but also left him with noticeably loose skin.

Adding insult to injury, the Headmen entry in the original edition of The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe referred to Morgan as Shrunken Bones, a codename he hadn't used.

This illustration originally appeared in The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe.

Defenders: Tier D

This month's series of posts comparing the power levels of the Defenders wraps up with Tier D. Candy Southern, the level-headed leader of the New Defenders, would default to this tier as she had no superhuman powers or extraodinary skills. Through her connection to Angel, however, Candy certainly had encountered her share of super-beings before joining the Defenders.

For an example of a costumed hero at Tier D, I'll turn outside of the Defenders and select the original Whizzer when he came out of retirement during the Bronze Age of comics. While Whizzer retained the super-speed he sported as a member of the All Winners Squad shortly after World War II, he now lacked the stamina to hold his own alongside other heroes.

The Competitiveness of Captain Ultra

Of all the heroes to call themselves Defenders, Captain Ultra was the most ironic.

The colorfully clad character made his debut in Fantastic Four #177 (Dec. 1976), when three founding members of the Frightful Four sought an additional member (filling a spot originally held by Medusa of the Inhumans). With the power of flight and superhuman strength, Captain Ultra seemed the most promising applicant under consideration. Captain Ultra lost his shot, however, when he fainted at the sight of a lit cigarette. Given his weakness to fire, Captain Ultra would have been a liability whenever the Frightful Four battled the Human Torch of the Fantastic Four.

Given his original aspirations, Captain Ultra might have joined with the many costumed criminals from Defenders #63-64 who posed as members of the non-team. Instead, he became a superhero as one of the Defenders for a Day.

Thor #336 (Oct. 1983) found Captain Ultra in Chicago, hoping to make a name for himself away from the more prominent heroes of New York City.

In this panel from Fantastic Four #177, Captain Ultra meets Wizard, Sandman, and Trapster of the Frightful Four.

I, Robot

When Kyle Richmond became paralyzed during the day, regaining his Nighthawk powers only at night, he employed Luann Bloom as a nurse. An adherent of modern medicine, Luann was skeptical of any attempt the Defenders might make to cure Kyle through mystical means. With Dr. Strange out of town, Clea assured Luann that Kyle's affliction was indeed mystical in nature and required further analysis (Defenders #102).

Luann: What kind of analysis, Clea? The kind that requires a bubbling cauldron and the eye of newt?

Although Luann had Kyle's best interests in mind, she was painfully unaware of her own true nature. As she later learned (#119), Luann was a robot programmed by an extra-dimensional tribunal to covertly collect information about the Defenders. After much analysis, this tribunal would erroneous warn Dr. Strange, Hulk, Sub-Mariner, and Silver Surfer against fighting together again (#125).

This panel comes from Defenders #119. The bulk of that issue was a flashback story, showing data that Luann's computer brain had gathered from Nighthawk.

Vampire Trouble

The guest appearance of Dracula in Defenders #95 was largely symbolic, drawing attention to aspects of different members of the team.

As a physician turned sorcerer, Dr. Strange found himself delivering some discouraging news. As a belated side effect of the serum that gave Nighthawk super powers combined with the mystic bonds that had restored him to life when he joined the Defenders (#14), Nighthawk now suffered paralysis during the day. Only after dark did he return to health.

Under the circumstances, it was easy to draw comparisons between Nighthawk's nocturnal inclinations and those of a vampire. Defenders #95 even described Nighthawk as swooping down like a man-sized bat as he flew over to greet his teammates. But the vampire parallels ended as soon as Count Dracula himself showed up that evening to do battle against the Defenders.

Although Gargoyle had only recently joined the team (#94), there were no doubts about his allegiance to the side of good. While other Defenders stood dumbstruck over Dracula's arrival, Gargoyle was the first to fight back.

The magic of Daimon Hellstrom revealed that Dracula was not acting of his own accord. Demonic forces had compelled him to hunt down the heroes. Casting out the evil spirits returned the legendary count to his usual blood-sucking self, while readying Hellstrom and the other Defenders for an inevitable final conflict against the netherworld (Defenders #99).

Defenders. Vol. 1. No. 95. May 1981. "The Vampire Strikes Back!" J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Don Perlin and Joe Sinnott (artists, assists by Giacoia & Milgrom), Diana Albers (letterer), George Roussos (colorist), Al Milgrom (editor), Jim Shooter (editor in chief).

Night and Day

Though largely unacknowledged throughout most of his adventuring career, Nighthawk's strength doubled at night yet returned to normal during the day. The back-up story in Marvel Team-Up #101 brought that limitation to the forefront.

While flying above New York just before dawn, Nighthawk needed to let off steam. This was not surprising given that the main story that issue revisited the tragic mistakes of his past (Defenders #32).

With mini-lasers newly added to his costume, Nighthawk fired at the side of a run-down building. Yet in doing so, the self-doubting hero only made matters worse.

Hearing a cry for help, Nighthawk saw that the wall he had damaged was now coming loose—and about to collapse on top of a girl. Nighthawk used his superhuman strength to hold up a wall just long enough for the the girl to crawl to safety—and just as the sun was beginning to rise. Nighthawk felt his strength slipping away as the wall crashed down on him.

But the hero soon emerged from the rubble relatively unharmed. His reinforced wings had shielded him from injury.

The above image of Nighthawk appeared in The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe.

Marvel Team-Up. Vol. 1. No. 101. January 1981.

"To Judge a Nighthawk!" J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Jerry Bingham (artist), Mike Esposito (inker), Diana Albers (letterer), Bob Sharen (colorist), Denny O'Neil (editor), Jim Shooter (ed-in-chief).

"Don't Let the Sun Come Up on Me!" Mike W. Barr (writer), Steve Ditko (artist), Jean Simek (letterer), Bob Sharen (colorist), Denny O'Neil (editor), Jim Shooter (editor-in-chief).

Revealing Weaknesses

In one of his several battles against the Defenders, Nebulon psionically disguised himself as a an Atlantean named Dorma, then hypnotically seduced the Sub-Mariner to send his armies against his teammates (Defenders #93).

When the Defenders finally fell unconscious from Sonic Scrambler technology, "Dorma" boasted about turning the heroes' weaknesses against them.

• Dr. Strange's lips were sealed, unable to mouth spells.
• Son of Satan was parted from his trident.
• Hulk lay sleeping in a cage of sommonolomists.
• Valkyrie was guarded by two female soldiers, and striking other women would cause her harm.

The argument about Valkyrie's weakness may have been premature, as the guards could not stop Valkyrie from lashing out at "Dorma," soon breaking through the disguise and revealing Nebulon's true identity.

Defenders. Vol. 1. No. 93. March 1981. "The Woman Behind the Man!" J. M. DeMatteis (writer), Don Perlin, Joe Sinnott and Friends (artists), Diana Albers (letters), George Roussos (colors), Al Milgrom (editor), Jim Shooter (ed-in-chief).

Who Was Barbara Norriss?

Long before she was physically and mentally restored as one, an ongoing burden faced Valkyrie. She was living in the body of someone else.

The armored adventurer joined the Defenders with her mind mystically bonded to the body of Barbara Norriss, a woman rescued from another dimension, but driven mad by the netherworldly imprisonment (Defenders #3-4).

With no memory of this other woman, and only a general sense of her own self, the spirited Valkyrie found friendship and acceptance among the Defenders.

But there was still one problem. Barbara Norriss was married. And explaining the situation to her husband was an uphill battle (Defenders #21).

Valkyrie: Must I remind you again, Mr. Norriss? This is your wife's body--but I am not your wife. And my name is Valkyrie--not "Barbara." The personality of Barbara Norriss has been submerged 'neath my own by the magic of the Asgardian Enchantress. I am what I am--the woman warrior. The Defender. And you, Mr. Norriss, are a stranger to my eyes and to my heart.

Out of obligation, Valkyrie tried to play the role of wife to Jack Norriss. But he disapproved of her life as a hero, and she did not love him. The feminist subtext played out topically in the 1970s, with Valkyrie symbolic of a woman forging her own identity amidst social expectations to be someone she was not.

Because of the fragmented nature of her psyche—with the madness of Barbara Norriss and the manipulative intentions of the Enchantress in the mix—Valkyrie often swung her sword when men behaved chauvinistically, only to second-guess her rash behavior afterward.

The inner conflict came to a head in Defenders #64. While fighting a minor villain named Joe the Gorilla, Valkyrie began to hallucinate that all of the nearby Defenders for a Day were Norse trolls. When she realized what had happened, Valkyrie knew she could not continue this way.

An initial trip to Asgard seemed to remedy the situation, with the mind of Barbara Norriss resting safely in Asgard and Valkyrie returning to Earth (Defenders #66-68). But not until Defenders #109 was Valkyrie back in her own body, with her full sense of identity intact.

Along with peace of mind, Valkyrie also gained more strength. The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (1983) ranked Valkyrie with the power to lift 45 tons (in her restored Asgardian body).

Though not precisely recorded, her strength level in the human body of Barbara Norriss was much less than that.

Red Guardian: The Super Surgeon

The Red Guardian's role in the Defenders was largely symbolic. When Nighthawk needed brain surgery, Dr. Strange sought the help of world-renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Tania Belinsky.

Her introduction reminded readers that slight nerve damage had ended Stephen Strange's surgical career, and that modern medicine could be more powerful than magic. (To further illustrate this point, Nighthawk's medical problems became a recurring theme in the series.)

Only after Dr. Belinsky arrived in the United States did the Defenders discover that she was secretly a superhero, the latest incarnation of the Red Guardian (Defenders #35).

While envisioning herself as a Soviet version of Captain America, the Red Guardian fought crime covertly in her homeland. In the midst of the Cold War, the Soviet Union suppressed superheroes, regarding them as too "American," no matter how patriotic their intentions. The end result villainized the Soviet government while explaining the shortage of communist heroes in the world of Marvel Comics.

The Red Guardian was standoffish toward the other Defenders, but without inciting the emotional tug-of-war reminiscent of other tempestuous members of the team. Although the results may have been less dramatic, they provided an understated sophistication to the character.

Dr. Belinsky's neurosurgical skill again came into play during a complicated story involving the Cobalt Man (Defenders #43, basically a sequel to his debut in X-Men #31).

The above image of Red Guardian first appeared in The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. A male Soviet agent with a similar costume had died in Avengers #44.

Clea's Finest Moment

Clea made several guest appearances in the Defenders well before joining the team. Relegated to the role of romantic interest and mystic trainee, however, she stayed overshadowed by Dr. Strange. As a result, it is easy to forget that this mysterious woman from another dimension was instrumental in the team's second mission. This somber tale was one of Clea's strongest issues.

Marvel Feature #2 began with an evil sect plotting to bring the dread Dormammu to Earth on Halloween, when the barriers between dimensions were weakest. Detecting the threat, Dr. Strange traveled in astral form to hold off Dormammu in the Dark Dimension. But moving his consciousness to the astral plane left the magician physically unconscious and vulnerable. Dormammu's followers broke into the Sanctum Sanctorum, left Wong badly beaten, and abducted Dr. Strange's body, intending to bring Dormammu into the sorcerer's physical form.

Responding to Wong's call for help, Clea used Dr. Strange's mystical amulet (the Eye of Agamotto) to locate Sub-Mariner and Hulk. Still an inexperienced spell-caster at this point, Clea used hypnosis to prompt Hulk to revert to Bruce Banner, then outlined a rescue plan. Clea also brought a change of clothes so the tattered Dr. Banner and swim-trunk-clad Sub-Mariner could remain incognito until entering the sect's remote headquarters at Bald Mountain.

Banner took tranquilizers to stay calm and not become Hulk prematurely. This cooperation showed Banner's trust in the Defenders to act as superego to Hulk's impulsive id. When time came to transform, Hulk willingly followed Sub-Mariner's lead even without knowing why they were fighting the cloaked opponents.

Near the end of the battle, Clea's magic revealed that Dr. Strange had been drawing energy from Wong to remain in astral form longer than usual and keep Dormammu at bay. As the gateway to the Dark Dimension sealed, trapping Dormammu, Bald Mountain volcanically erupted. Dr. Strange, now conscious within his physical body, flew Clea and Wong to safety, while Hulk and Sub-Mariner smashed out from under the rubble.

Marvel Feature. Vol. 1. No. 2. March 1972. "Nightmare on Bald Mountain." Stan Lee (editor), Roy Thomas (writer), Ross Andru (artist), Sal Buscema (inker), Sam Rosen (letterer). The image of Clea appeared in The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. Dr. Strange first met Clea during his initial battle against Dormammu (Strange Tales #126-127). Dr. Strange received his cloak of levitation and the Eye of Agamotto at the end of that adventure.

Nighthawk's Sinister Beginnings

The Squadron Sinister first appeared in Avengers #69-70 as a way for Marvel heroes to square off against members of the Justice League: Superman (Hyperion), Green Lantern (Dr. Spectrum), Flash (Whizzer), and Batman (Nighthawk). Yet when time came to tell Nighthawk's origin, the bird-nosed adventurer had only superficial similarities to the Dark Knight.

Unlike Bruce Wayne of DC Comics, Kyle Richmond spent much of his life unfocused. Kyle's mother died in an accident when he was nine, and he grew up estranged from his wealthy father. When his father later died in a plane crash, Kyle inherited Richmond Enterprises (instead of Wayne Enterprise). His father's top business associate had the last name Pennysworth (a nod to Batman's butler, Alfred Pennyworth).

But money couldn't solve Kyle's problems. Poor grades got him expelled from college, reckless driving almost killed his girlfriend, and a heart murmur kept Kyle out of the military (when he received a draft notice, as originally told in Defenders #32, before the Vietnam War inference dated the hero).

In a reversal of Captain America's origin story, the Grandmaster offered Kyle a secret serum to cure his heart condition and magnify his strength at night if he agreed to battle Earth's mightiest heroes. Kyle agreed to the challenge and joined the Squadron Sinister.

Nighthawk gained a stronger sense of direction after reforming and joining the Defenders. He financially supported the team throughout much of the series and became leader for a time. Nighthawk has resumed these responsibilities in the Last Defenders limited series, with Pennysworth now a hero as well.

Defenders. Vol. 1. No. 32. February 1976. "Musical Minds." Steve Gerber (writer), Sal Buscema and Jim Mooney (artists), P. Goldberg (colorist), J. Costanza (letterer), Marv Wolfman (editor). The illustration at the top shows Nighthawk in his original costume, from the opening page of Defenders #13.