Examining Egghead

I wonder if Egghead ever considered joining the Headmen. After all, he was an evil genius—with a distinctive head to boot. But perhaps the monicker Egghead would have been too on the nose. Also, whereas the four Headmen were basically unknowns, Egghead had established himself early on as a member of Ant-Man's rogues' gallery. The criminal mastermind went on to lead the Emissaries of Evil (Defenders #42-43).

This pnael from Marvel Feature #5 (Sept. 1972) shows one of numerous times Egghead crossed paths with Ant-Man (Hank Pym).

Orrgo the Unconquerable

Defenders #9-10 (Volume 2) featured the powerful extraterrestrial named Orrgo the Unconquerable! After briefly siding with the Headmen, however, Orrgo decided to depart from Earth. Orrgo promised that no one from his planet would return until humanity was destroyed by others—or had destroyed itself.

A version of Orrgo originally appeared in Strange Tales #90 (Nov. 1961). In that fateful tale, Orrgo exhibited vast control over mind and matter, eventually placing humankind in a mental trance. But Orrgo's actions had unintended consequences. A circus gorilla broke out of his cage after his hypnotized master neglected to feed him. Sensing that Orrgo was somehow responsible for the predicament, the enraged ape slew the extraterrestrial as he slept.

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.

Ruby Thursday

Unlike her teammates in the Headmen, whose Golden Age origins were reprinted in Weird Wonder Tales #7, the villainous Ruby Thursday was undoubtedly an homage to the Rolling Stones' song Ruby Tuesday.

With the ability to reshape her ruby-colored head into various objects, evil scientist Thursday Rubinstein might have drawn inspiration from these lyrics.

"There's no time to lose", I heard her say
Catch your dreams before they slip away
Dying all the time
Lose your dreams and you will lose your mind
Ain't life unkind?

Goodbye Ruby Tuesday
Who could hang a name on you?
When you change with every new day
Still I'm gonna miss you

This image of Ruby Thursday comes from The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe.

Through the Eyes of Agamotto

In place of the asterisks and footnotes traditionally found in comic book panels, Defenders (Volume 2) took a different approach to citations. Appearing on the letters page, a box titled Through the Eyes of Agamotto included reference information for certain issues. Some of the endnotes from that section appear below.

	Defenders #3 PAGE 16 Strategic Hazard Intervention/Espionage Logistics Directorate. Made you look!
	Defenders #4 PAGE 20 Attuma attacked in #2, the bum.
	Defenders #5 PAGE 12 The Headmen first appeared—as a group, at least—in DEFENDERS vol. 1 #21.

No Laughing Matter

Compared with other heroes, the Defenders acquired a particularly unusual rogues' gallery. So when Jennifer Walters landed her own comedic series as The Sensational She-Hulk, she inherited some of the non-team's earliest enemies.

With Chondu the Mystic still upset with the new body he received in Defenders #35, the other members of the Headmen surprised their teammate yet again—this time by attaching his head to a cloned body of She-Hulk from the neck down (Sensational She-Hulk #1-3).

She-Hulk also faced Xemnu the Titan, who resurfaced with a new set of schemes to repopulate his home planet, including an experiment to transmogrify the green heroine into his bride (#11).

Be it comedy or tragedy, in a misbegotten effort to subsume the Defenders brand into the Fifty States Initiative, Iron Man recruited Nighthawk, Colossus, She-Hulk, and Blazing Skull into his own federally-sanctioned vision of the team, headquartered out of New Jersey (Last Defenders #1).

Disappointed by his handpicked heroes after only one mission, Iron Man disassembled this version of the Defenders part-way into the six-issue limited series.

On a deeper level, Iron Man had a hard time coming to terms with the original concept of the Defenders. The non-team had long succeeded in making a home for Jennifer Walter's cousin Bruce Banner in a way the Avengers never could (Incredible Hulk #279).

Yet whatever misgivings Iron Man may have had, he the not have the "last" word on the fate of the Defenders.

Powerless

Not long after Power Man went into business with Iron Fist, an old enemy from Power Man's days with the Defenders came looking for revenge. But as a side effect of an adventure the previous issue, Luke Cage had no super powers when ambushed by Arthur Nagan, a.k.a. Gorilla-Man of the Headmen (Power Man and Iron Fist #68).

Unquestionably outmatched, Luke Cage did his best to flee … until an attack from Gorilla-Man flung the hero-for-hire into an electrified fence and unexpectedly reinstated his powers.

Just as Iron Fist arrived at the scene, Power Man delivered the closing blow to Gorilla Man by slamming the villain into the ground head-first.

Power Man and Iron Fist. Vol. 1. No. 68. April 1981. "Where Enemies Gather!" Mary Jo Duffy (writer). Bob Layton (co-plottter). Kerry Gammill (penciler). Ricardo Villamonte (inker), Jim Novak (letterer), Ben Sean (colorist), Denny O'Neil (editor), Jim Shooter (gipper).

The One and Only

Back in the days when comic book series routinely added a king-size stand-alone issue once per year, the Defenders had only one "annual" of their own.

Published in 1976, Defenders Annual #1 opened with the team watching a videotape of agent Jack Norriss describing uncharacteristic emotional reactions on the part of the heroes ever since their encounter with the Headmen in Defenders #33.

That call to action prompted Dr. Strange, Valkyrie, Nighthawk, Red Guardian, and Power Man to investigate a series of unusual political turnabouts across the globe. With help from the Hulk, they thwarted the Headmen's bid for world domination in the process.

But the Headmen weren't the only threat at hand.

Having surmised that Nebulon might be responsible for some of the international upheaval, Dr. Strange held his ground against the extraterrestrial instigator during a climactic battle of wits. While Nebulon told of his plans to mentally reprogram humanity into a state of "liberation," the sorcerer maintained that "free will" was a necessity for the people of Earth.

Dr. Strange: We attain our most glorious heights when we admit our ignorance … and force onward to surmount it. Perhaps this classes us as anomalies in the universe, but--

Nebulon: Enough, Strange! I concede! Your race is beyond redemption! And so I hereby abandon my efforts--to--

Although Nebulon disappeared at the end of the debate, he became one of the Defenders' most persistent foes.

Defenders Annual. Vol. 1. No. 1. 1976. "World Gone Sane?" Steve Gerber (writer), Sal Buscema & Klaus Janson (artists), John Costanza (letterer) D. Warfield (colorist), Archie Goodwin (editor).

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Secret Origins of the Headmen

Three of the four criminals who would later form the Headmen first appeared in tales published in science-fiction and suspense anthologies. Those cerebral stories ran as reprints in Weird Wonder Tales #7 (December 1974).

Dr. Arthur Nagan led a group of aging men on a jungle expedition in the story titled "It Walks Erect!" Building on his prior research, Nagan exchanged internal organs from each of the men with those of a captured gorilla. The procedure made the men feel young and vigorous while greatly weakening the ape. As a form of retaliation, a group of gorillas attacked Nagan and placed his head on the body of an ape, turning him into a Gorilla-Man.

Before ever becoming Shrunken Bones, Jerry Morgan was a scientist with big ambitions. But when not even his step-brother believed in him, Jerry threw out the experimental vapor he'd been developing. In irony of ironies, step-brother Sam happened to walk through the cloud of Cellular Shrinkage Vapor. Inadvertently reduced to a few inches in height, Sam Morgan was a "Prisoner of the Fantastic Fog."

The mysterious Chondu attracted his share of critics early on when speaking of the powers of the mind. But he proved the nay-sayers wrong, and even acted heroically, in his debut adventure titled "The Wrath of Chondu!" When an escaped convict threatened to murder Chondu on the street, the mentalist made the criminal's gun vanish—then mystically banished the crook to limbo.

"It Walks Erect!" originally appeared in Mystery Tales #21 (Sept. 1954).

"Prisoner of the Fantastic Fog" first appeared in World of Fantasy #11 (April 1958).

"The Wrath of Chondu!" originally ran in Tales of Suspense #9 (May 1960).

Primates

If Beast had been a member of the Defenders during their skirmishes with the Headmen, he most certainly would have exchanged barbs with Gorilla-Man. While the face of Arthur Nagan (Gorilla-Man) looked nothing like Henry McCoy (Beast), from the neck down Gorilla-Man bore a striking resemblance to Beast, after further mutation added fur to the hero's already ape-like anatomy (Amazing Adventures #11).

The above portrait of Gorilla-Man first appeared in The Official Guide of the Marvel Universe. Beast's profile image from that edition appears with the post titled Beast: The Intellectual Unconventional. Amazing Adventures. Vol. 2. No. 11. March 1972. "The Beast!" Stan Lee (editor), Gerry Conway (scripter), Tom Sutton (artist), Syd Shores (inker), Sam Rosen (letterer).

Four Heads Are Better Than One

The four criminal geniuses known collectively as the Headmen were a group of super-villains the Defenders could truly call their own.

In their first major storyline, the Headmen kidnapped Nighthawk (Defenders #32) and abducted Dr. Strange, Hulk, and Valkyrie as part of a twisted plot to swop minds and bodies (Defenders #33). Although the other Defenders escaped intact, Nighthawk required surgery to place his brain back inside his head (Defenders #35).

With their plans foiled, the Headmen to turned against each other. Known for their distinct appearances, Shrunken Bones, Gorilla-Man, and Ruby Thursday experimented on their teammate, Chondu the Mystic. The operation changed Chondu from the most conventional looking member of the Headmen to the strangest of them all.

• A horn protruded from his forehead.
• His teeth became fangs.
• His tongue was that of a serpent.
• Clusters of lampreys replaced his arms.
• Crimson bat-wings spread from his back.
• His legs ended in knife-sharp talons.

Chondu was so horrified when he awoke to discover his altered form that he went berserk.

Reading between the lines, the villain's magical influence might explain why the police arrested Valkyrie for using excessive force when apprehending Chondu. Any bias against Valkyrie was short-lived, however. After Valkyrie broke out of jail (#39) a judge dismissed all charges against her (#40).

Defenders. Vol. 1. No. 33. March 1975. "Webbed Hands, Warm Heart!" Steve Gerber (story), Sal Buscema (layouts), Jim Mooney (finished art), Annette K. (letterer), Phil. R. (colorist), Marv Wolfman (editor).

Defenders. Vol. 1. No. 35. May 1975. "Bring Back My Body to Me, To Me…!" Steve Gerber (writer), Sal Buscema and Klaus Janson (artists), John Costanza (letterer), Petra Goldberg (colorist), Marv Wolfman (editor).

Prequels and Sequels

A multi-part story that wrapped up loose ends for the hero Omega (whose series had been cancelled) reunited Hellcat with Moondragon and Wasp, heroes she had worked with in the Avengers.

Omega had never guest starred with the non-team before, but made a cameo appearance in Defenders #39.

More important than the main plot, however, was the worthwhile character study Defenders #76-77 provided of two women who had been only footnotes in Defenders history up to that point.

When husband Yellowjacket came out of retirement (Giant-Size Defenders #4), Wasp continued her leave of absence from crimefighting, at his request (and made only a non-powered cameo appearance that issue).

But in #76-77, free of patriarchal expectations, the Wasp acted with more confidence and intelligence than she had shown in almost two decades of comic book stories. Though a founding member of the Avengers, Wasp said she never had an opportunity to fly an Avengers' Quinjet until helping Valkyrie and Hellcat on that mission.

Telepathically sensing that Hellcat was in need of assistance, Moondragon returned to Earth to aid the Defenders (having made a one-panel cameo in #44). But the emotionally-complicated Moondragon chided Hellcat for scarcely developing her psionic abilities since leaving Titan, the moon of Saturn where she had trained.

Although Valkyrie had minimal interaction with Moondragon, Wasp warned the Asgardian warrior that Moondragon's arrogance was hard to take.

Claiming that the other heroes had botched the mission to save Omega, Moondragon ended the adventure demanding that the Defenders never summon her again. But as time would tell, this was only the beginning of Moondragon's involvement with the team. The self-proclaimed goddess eventually returned as a reluctant member of the New Defenders, with Valkyrie serving as her Odin-appointed parole officer.

The Omega plotline also brought back Ruby Thursday, still holding a grudge after fighting the Defenders several times before as a member of the Headmen.

Steven Grant wrote Defenders #76-77, and Herb Trimpe illustrated those issues.