Defenders Dialogue: Non-Team

Defenders #21 (March 1975) included this letter contrasting the Defenders to Marvel's other superhero teams. For context, the original X-Men were appearing in reprints at the time; their series would revitalize with an "all-new, all-different" team of mutants starting with X-Men #94 (August 1975).

Dear Marvel,

With their new official headquarters, the Defenders seem to be slowly edging toward becoming a real team instead of a non-team. This should not be done.

What makes each Marvel superhero group individual is its form of organization. The Fantastic Four is a family, and with all its supporting characters it almost takes on the form of a tribe. The Avengers is a democratic body. The X-Men, of course, are organized as a school, so they never quite gained the respectability of the F.F. or the Avengers. There is nothing more respectable than family and democracy, but students don't really belong to polite society.

But the Defenders are anarchistic. They don't even exist as far as society is concerned. They should stay as loose and anarchistic as possible to retain their distinctness from the other Marvel groups.

Jana C. Hollingsworth
Port Angeles, Wash.

Expenses

As master of the mystic arts, Dr. Strange earned no income. This put his servant, Wong, in the unenviable position of explaining that he couldn't pay their pharmacy bill because he had already withdrawn their last penny to pay that month's rent. To make matters worse, building inspectors informed Dr. Strange that his home would be condemned unless he painted the building and sealed up the trap doors and hidden passageways. To make do, Dr. Strange asked Wong to take a handful of jeweled trinkets from their vault and sell them at market price (Strange Tales #147).

Dr. Strange must have learned a thing or two following that ordeal. When a battle against the mystic Kaluu left the Sanctum Sanctorum in need of repair, Wong broached the subject of money again. This time around, Dr. Strange repaired their home by casting a spell. He then conjured up stacks of coins and dollar bills so Wong would never need to ask for money again (#151).

Strange Tales. Vol. 1. No. 147. August 1966. "From the Nameless Nowhere Comes … Kaluu!" Stan Lee & Denny O'Neil (script), Billy Everett (art), Sam Rosen (lettering), Irv. Forbush (amulet polisher).

Strange Tales. Vol. 1. No. 151. December 1966. "Umar Strikes!" Stan Lee (script), Bill Everett (art), Artie Simek (lettering).

Meditation Practices

The Defenders were no strangers to meditation. Dr. Strange had a Chamber of Meditation within his Sanctum Sanctorum, the original headquarters for the non-team. As one of the New Defenders, Moondragon often meditated as well. For all their differences, both characters were fiercely private and relied on meditation for mental clarity.

Dr. Strange shows Nighthawk and Valkyrie his Chamber of Meditation in Defenders #15; Moondragon meditates (and levitates) in New Defenders #136.

Patsy and Hedy's Apartment

After Patsy Walker and Hedy Wolfe graduated from high school, the words "Career Girls" began appearing on the cover of their series beginning with Patsy and Hedy #96. The two young women began sharing an apartment and the comic book adopted a soap opera tone.

This annotated apartment layout appeared in Patsy and Hedy #101 (August 1965).

All the World's a Stage

Dr. Strange #55 found the sorcerer supreme distraught. Clea had ended their relationship two issues before … a decision some time in the making.

Acting as a mystical guide, Dakimh the Enchanter visited Dr. Strange, who was experiencing visions that his life lacked substance—an understandable fear for a sorcerer who spent so much time traveling across dimensions. To Dr. Strange, his teammates in the Defenders were now a facade and his home was no more real than a theatrical set. Wandering outside, he saw a movie marquee promoting the film Doctor Strange II: Beyond Raggadorr! To the world, Dr. Strange was a fictional character.

An element of reverse psychology was at work here. In presenting Dr. Strange with visions that nothing in his life was real, the story showed the sorcerer how much he still had left.

This image from from Dr. Strange #55 (Oct. 1982) features Dakimh and Dr. Strange, with visions of Gargoyle, Daimon Hellstrom, Hellcat, and the Sanctum Sanctorum.

Nighthawk-eye

When the villain Foolkiller burned down Nighthawk's ranch in Defenders #75, the hero was understandably on edge. When TV news reporter Fia Lundstrom arrived on the scene to cover the story, she made matters worse by mistaking Nighthawk for Hawkeye (who had resigned from the Defenders shortly before Nighthawk joined).

Nighthawk reacted to the tense situation by announcing that the Defenders had dissolved. As a non-team, however, the Defenders continued without Nighthawk as their leader or his ranch as their headquarters.

The Defenders. Vol. 1. No. 75. September 1979. "Poetic Justice." Ed Hannigan (writer), Herb Trimpe (penciler), Mike Esposito (inker), I. Watanabe (letterer), Carl Gafford (colorist), Allen Milgrom (editor), Jim Shooter (editor-in-chief).

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.

… Try, Try Again

To save the Earth from annihilation, Wolverine went back through time to kill Henry Pym before he could build the artificial intelligence called Ultron (Age of Ultron #6). Accompanied by the Invisible Woman of the Fantastic Four, Wolverine arrived as Pym (then Goliath) originally examined the artificial construct known as Dragon Man (circa Avengers #41).

Following Pym's death, Wolverine and Invisible Woman returned to the present. But the divergent timeline that unfolded was no better than the apocalyptic reality they had hoped to prevent (Age of Ultron #7).

Led by Dr. Strange, the Defenders on this grizzled Earth included Thing, Star-Lord (from the Guardians of the Galaxy), Captain Marvel (formerly Wasp), Cable (formerly Cyclops), Hulk (with the mind of Bruce Banner), Colonel America (formerly Captain America), and Wolverine. The group operated out of Defenders Sanctorum (Age of Ultron #8), also referred to as Defenders Headquarters (Fearless Defenders #4AU).

In yet another time-travel attempt, Wolverine went back to stop himself from assassinating Pym. This time, Wolverine suggested that Pym follow through with his idea to build Ultron yet add a time-release program to prevent Ultron from one day devastating the world (Age of Ultron #9).

I would have liked to have seen more of the Defenders from this alternate reality before the timeline was more-or-less restored.

Micro-Management

Before he was Ant-Man, Scott Lang already had one foot in the door to becoming a superhero. In his debut appearance from Avengers #181, Scott Lang was the engineer hired to install a new security system at Avengers Mansion.

Returning from the movies, Wonder Man and Beast were the first to test out these new defenses, as they accidentally triggered a set of mechanical arms designed to stop intruders from entering the headquarters.

But mechanical arms weren't the only security measures introduced that issue. With a ballooning number of heroes coming and going from the mansion, including the Guardians of the Galaxy, the federal government decided to limit the Avengers to seven active members.

Government liaison Peter Gyrich announced the new lineup as Iron Man (chairman), Vision, Captain America, Scarlet Witch, Beast, Wasp, and Falcon (recruited specifically to add an African-American to the group).

Of the heroes who didn't stay on, Hawkeye was the most outspoken against the government intervention. In a thought balloon, Wonder Man noted that Moondragon left without even saying good-bye.

When Falcon decided to step down in Avengers #194, Wonder Man filled the open slot (with no mention of maintaining racial quotas).

The team membership remained fairly consistent until Moondragon's abrupt return in Avengers #211.

Avengers. Vol. 1. No. 181. March 1978. "On the Matter of Heroes!" David Micheline (writer), John Byrne & Gene Day (artists), F. Mouly (colors), Elaine H. (letters), Roger Stern (editor), Jim Shooter (editor-in-chief).

Coming of Age

The end of Defenders #16 left five members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants transformed into infants. Yet when the evil mutant Blob next faced the Defenders (#63), he was an adult again. What happened to the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in the time in between?

Following his transformation into an infant, Magneto went in captivity at the mutant-research facility on Muir Island, off the coast of Scotland. When the villain Eric the Red used an energy ray to restore him to adulthood, the master of magnetism broke free (X-Men #104).

Held inside a neighboring cell, other members of the Brotherhood inadvertently returned to adulthood as well. But they did not rejoin Magneto. Instead, Blob, Lorelei, and Unus teamed up with Vanisher, who concocted a plot to keep them free (Champions #17).

Chased by a trio of mutant-hunting Sentinels (secretly controlled by Vanisher), the escaped members of the Brotherhood sought refuge in headquarters of the Champions. Since Angel and Iceman of the original X-Men were members of the Los Angeles super-team, Vanisher gambled that the Champions would sympathize with their fellow mutants and agree to harbor them.

The first part of the plan paid off beautifully, as Black Widow, Hercules, Ghost Rider, Angel, Iceman, and Darkstar trounced the Sentinel robots. But instead of taking in the evil mutants, the Champions captured the band of criminals.

Mastermind, a founding member of the Brotherhood who too became an infant in Defenders #16, did not regroup with his teammates in Champions #17. But the master of illusions must have returned to his true age with the others, as he would become the lynchpin in the Dark Phoenix saga in the pages of the X-Men.

Champions. Vol. 1. No. 17. January 1978. Bill Mantlo (writer), George Tuska (artist), John Byrne (embellisher), John Costanza (letterer), Phil Rachelson (colorist), Archie Goodwin (editor). This was the last issue of the Champions series.

Defenders Defenses

Considering how often villains broke into their headquarters, the New Defenders needed to bump up their security measures.

Defenders #145 showed their upgraded base, protected by holograms of several heroes carrying guns.

The life-like holograms included the three founding members of Hulk, Prince Namor, and Dr. Strange, along with recurring ally Captain America, and Wolverine, who had never worked with the Defenders but later joined the Secret Defenders.

Nighthawk's Ranch

One of the earliest posts on this site showed rough schematics of Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum, the original headquarters of the Defenders. Here at last is an image of Nighthawk's ranch, which served as the group's base of operations from Defenders #17-75.

Keith Giffen illustrated this view of the Defenders' Hang-Out, which appeared in #50, and David Kraft wrote that issue.

Defenders Headquarters

The Defenders had several headquarters over the course of the original series, changing locations more often than most super teams. As a rule, their base of operations depended on the wealthiest member of the group at a given time.

1. The Sanctum Sanctorum, home of Stephen Strange. This three-story townhouse at 177A Bleecker Street in New York's Greenwich Village was the Defenders' first and most recognizable meeting place.
   


2. A Long Island riding academy owned by Nighthawk. The group first visited the ranch in Defenders #17. Nighthawk's penthouse later served as a base.
   


3. A two-story house in Montclair, New Jersey, that Hellcat inherited when her mother died. The team relocated there in Defenders #89 after Nighthawk lost his assets. A street scene that issue placed the house on the corner of Hautvale and Cedar Streets.
   


4. A mountaintop estate in New Mexico. Angel owned the mansion and surrounding land, which served as the base for the New Defenders.
   

I have never seen detailed floor plans of any of the Defenders' headquarters, but a sketch of the Sanctum Sanctorum and related notes appear below. The Defenders usually kept to the first-floor living room and adjoining library when they met there. Only Dr. Strange and his servant, Wong, lived in the building.

Third Floor: meditation chamber, library, storage area for occult artifacts, with a separate room for the Orb of Agamotto crystal ball.
Second Floor: Dr. Strange's bedchambers, guest quarters, Wong's bedchambers, and a study.
First Floor: foyer, drawing room, library, living room, dining room, and kitchen.
Basement: furnace, laundry room, and storage cellar.

An alleyway on Fenno Place led to a courtyard where Valkyrie often kept her winged horse, Aragorn.

Images here appeared in issues of The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. Aragorn and the Sanctum Sanctorum are not to scale.