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Selector

Defenders #63

Sep 1978
David Kraft, Jim Mooney

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Story Name:

Deadlier by the Dozen!


Synopsis

Defenders #63 synopsis by Peter Silvestro
Rating: 4 stars

A couple of dozen heroes have shown up at the Defenders HQ at the riding academy, expecting to join the non-team. A handful of them have decided it is their duty to capture Hulk and are now coming to regret messing with the green giant. Nighthawk has been quarreling with Falcon and they have ended up in the center of the Hulk battle. Meanwhile, some of the guys were riding the horses and one of the steeds bucks Iron Fist into the melee. From the sidelines, Hellcat and Valkyrie appeal to Hercules to do something. Iron Man arrives to deliver a letter to Hellcat but also to inform them that hordes of super-villains are terrorizing Manhattan, claiming to be the Defenders. Herc takes the easiest method to halt the chaos: he uproots a tree and swings it in a circle, clobbering everyone else. Herc explains the villain situation and tells them they must work together. Hulk is fed up with fighting and leaps off into the distance. They divide into three teams, under Hercules, Valkyrie, and Nighthawk. Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell), Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers), and Paladin choose to depart. The three teams then head for the action….

Nighthawk’s team (Nova, Marvel Man, Tagak, Polaris, Son of Satan) comes upon a man shouting that his car has been stolen by a Defender. The heroes give chase and fly back with the car, only to discover the thief is a boy, the son of the car owner. The dad berates the heroes for scuffing the paint job and when they get cranky, he flees with his son, threatening to call the cops on them….

The Presence sweeps through the Soviet Forbidden Zone and discovers his creation, a giant amoeba, generated by his mistakes with genetic engineering and nuclear waste disposal. He tries to destroy the amoeba with an energy blast but the monster thrives on it and swallows Presence whole, possibly rendering it invincible….

Herc’s team (Black Goliath, Iron Fist, Torpedo, White Tiger, Captain Ultra), driven by Hellcat in her Hellcatmobile, come upon a band of evil Defenders looting the Diamond District, led by Sagittarius of Zodiac (Porcupine, Blob, Beetle, Whirlwind, Batroc, Electro, Looter, Plantman). There is a big brawl in the street and suddenly they are all surrounded by police. Hercules introduces his team to the police as the Defenders, saying they have caught the villains during a robbery. Sagittarius then claims his team is the real Defenders and Herc’s band are the thieves. The police settle the matter by arresting everyone….



 

Review / Commentaries


Defenders #63 Review by (August 2, 2023)

Review: Chaos proliferates in the second installment of “Defenders for a Day” as the heroes spill out from the Defenders HQ into the streets of the city. Adding to the huge Defender count are some bad guys, likewise involved in their brand of mayhem. And the police arrive to clean up matters the only way they know how. Crazy tale concludes next issue with even more havoc (and Havok who is on Valkyrie’s team).

Comments: Part two of three parts. Title is a play on the famous book (and movie adaptations) Cheaper by the Dozen. Prospective Defenders are Hercules, Marvel Man (a/k/a Quasar), Nova, Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers), Stingray, Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell), Black Goliath, Iron Fist, Son of Satan, Polaris, Jack of Hearts, Falcon, Prowler, Paladin, Torpedo, Captain Ultra, White Tiger, Havok, Tagak. Villainous Defenders are Sagittarius, Porcupine, Blob, Beetle, Whirlwind, Batroc, Electro, Looter, and Plantman.           .  



> Defenders comic book info and issue index

Elektra
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Excelsioring your collection:
Statue Hulk (Battle of New York) 1/10 - Infinity Saga - BDS Art Scale - Iron Studios
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Jim Mooney
Jim Mooney
Roger Slifer
Joe Sinnott (Cover Penciler)
Joe Sinnott (Cover Inker)
? (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Layouts: Sal Buscema. Letterer: John Costanza.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel

(Mar-Vell)
Falcon
Falcon

(Sam Wilson)
Hellcat
Hellcat

(Patricia Walker)
Hercules
Hercules

(Heracles)
Hulk
Hulk

(Robert Bruce Banner)
Iron Fist
Iron Fist

(Danny Rand)
Iron Man
Iron Man

(Anthony Stark)
Ms. Marvel
Ms. Marvel

(Carol Danvers)
Nighthawk
Nighthawk

(Kyle Richmond)
Nova
Nova

(Richard Rider)
Polaris
Polaris

(Lorna Dane)
Son of Satan
Son of Satan

(Daimon Hellstrom)
Valkyrie
Valkyrie

(Brunnhilda)

Plus: Black Goliath (Bill Foster), Captain Ultra (Griffin Gogol), Marvel Man (Wendell Vaughn), Paladin, Porcupine (Alexander Gentry), Presence, Sagittarius, Tagak, Torpedo (Brock Jones), White Tiger (Hector Ayala).