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Post by badwolf on Apr 4, 2019 19:49:55 GMT -5
That was one of the few issues I missed since I started reading at #93. Yeah, some of that doesn't really look like Zeck. Nice though, wish he could have been the regular.
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Post by codystarbuck on Apr 17, 2019 13:41:28 GMT -5
Defenders #131 Fairly generic 80s Marvel cover. Creative Team: JMD-plot, Peter Gillis-script, Alan Kupperberg-art, janice Chiang-letters, Glynis Wein-colors, Carl Potts-edits This issue marks the transition from JMD to Peter Gillis, as Gillis will handle full writing duties, with the next issue. Synopsis: A secret experiment unfolds, underneath the Home Economics Building, of Brooklyn University (apparently, this school hasn't changed since the 1950s). A tubby, middle aged guy (I can relate) is strapped to a table and subjected to Omicron rays, which give him proportional strength of.....something. He runs off to figure out what, while his mad scientist uncle devises a field test, against the New Defenders.  As luck would have it, appearing that day, at said university, is one Dr Henry McCoy, aka the fuzzy Beast. The girls are all swooning over him (whatever happened to his pheromone thing?), when he is rescued by Warren and Bobby. Bobby plays a prank which helps feed future retcons...  Also coming to the university is the new, young(ish)Leap Frog, out to join the new team, by meeting Hank, or something. Hank, after recovering from the technicolor yawn, bounces onto the stage and wows the crowd. Hank talks about superheroing, then takes questions from the audience, responding with lame jokes ("What's the difference between the Avengers and the Defenders?" "We shower more often!"). He is interrupted by Leap Frog (who dons his costume in the audience, to the horror of the girl sitting next to him) who leaps onto stage, crashing into the podium. Hank helps him up just as Iceman and Angel turn up on stage, in costume (or ice form, as the case may be). We cut to New Mexico, where the women are in bikinis (well Moondragon is in a one-piece). Cloud questions why they didn't go along and Val says "boys will be boys" and MD says they should be above that, which Cloud questions her shunning Warren, when Candy walks in all frosty and basically jabs a verbal finger at MD, who gets all superior and passive aggressive...  Obviously, she is up to something. Back in Brooklyn, a local hamburger joint has a bit of excitement, as a Walrus bursts through...  Unc sends him off to face the Defenders, so he can be on Donahue... "He wears a lab coat....he experiments on family members...creates monsters and jock itch..,.some say he's mad, he says he is a scientist....we'll let our audience be the judge!" Back at the auditorium, the crowd is behind Leap Frog joining the team, while Warren isn't, with him remarking that it's tougher than being a milkman, which gets a response from someone who looks suspiciously like Reid Fleming...  Before the argument goes any further, in bursts the Walrus. Hank has had enough and attacks, whilst butchering a bit of Lewis Carroll...   Hank gets bounced away and Bobby and Warren don't do so well, either. leap Frog makes his attack and misses, twice, before Walrus comes over woozy and collapses, with Leap Frog standing over him. The Omicron Rays have worn off and the uncle disappears. The crowd wants Leap frog to be let on the team and Warren is ready to try to buy him off with a vice presidency in Worthington Industries, when LF's dad shows up and drags him away. The dean of the university presents the bill for damages and says he will warn other collages, after Warren makes the crowd think it was all an FX show. Hank's lecture career is over. Thoughts: Load of fun as JMD goes out on a laugh, highlighting what he would be doing, over at the Distinguished Competition. Loads of silliness and a bit more foreshadowing of what is going on with moondragon. The whole proportional strength of a Walrus is a nod to Spider-Man (duh!) and ther is mention of Zeta Rays, for Adam Strange fans. About a decade down the line there will be another hero with the proportional strength of a walrus...  ...in the pages of Lethargic Comics Weakly, with Walrus Lad, one of many superhero and comic parodies in that series (including The Grad, a riff on Archie, the No-Mutants, who ban all mutant members, Him, and Guy With A Gun). So, goodbye to JMD and his sense of humor and character development (and mostly supernatural plots) and welcome Peter Gillis. Let's see what he brings.
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Post by codystarbuck on Apr 17, 2019 14:06:02 GMT -5
Defenders #132 Creative Team: Peter Gillis-writer, Don perlin-pencils, Kim Demulder-inks, Janice Chiang-letters, Christie Scheele-colors, Carl Potts-edits Synopsis: A man named Ephraim Soles stumbles across the desert, near the site of a former gamma bomb test. In desperation, he eats some lichen and collapses. Soon after, he suddenly gets up and stumbles on. At the Defenders HQ, Cloud is sunburnt and Bobby cools the burn, with a shot of ice, with lots of giggling and Moondragon talking about Bobby's subconscious hostility towards women. Wonder where the seeds of Bobby being gay were planted? Anyway.. Ephraim sets off their perimeter alarm, they see his weakened form and bring him inside, where he mutates into some kind of plant monster  Moondragon tries to tap his mind and gets composted...  Individual attacks don't work; but, Isaac combines his power with Cloud's lightning bolts and it subdues the creatures. The team starts to clean up and Val decides to make sure the ebast is dead...  which has surprising results...  The flowers then attack Cloud. More fights ensue and Bobby encloses it in an ice dome. Warren tries to consult with Hank, still (somehow) on a lecture tour, but can't reach him. The creature grows and attacks again and Bobby applies some college biology and sucks all of the moisture out of the room, killing the plant creature. There is a tag at the end that suggests the suggestion may have been telepathically relayed y Moondragon. Thoughts: Decent Monster-of-the-Week issue, without much in the way of consequences, other than some character interaction and introspection. Warren muses about the failure of the Champions and doesn't want that to happen here (may be Carl Potts and or Peter Gillis talking). Sorry to say guys; but it ain't gonna last. Perlin and Demulder show off their stuff as the combo makes the art look far better than it has in many an issue.
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Post by codystarbuck on Apr 20, 2019 15:22:54 GMT -5
Defenders #133 Well, I don't know if the stories have improved; but, the covers certainly have. Creative Team: Peter Gillis-writer, Alan Kupperberg-pencils, Kim Demulder-inks, Janice Chiang-letters, Christie Scheele-colors, Carl Potts-edits Synopsis: We open with a page out of the Spirit...  ...which pretty much sets the tone for this one. The Defenders are locked out of the Aerie, while it is decontaminated, after our plant dude. They decide to head to San Francisco, for a mini vacation, since Warren owns property there. They stay at his house on Nob Hill, where they spot a man clinging to the roof of a speeding taxi and try to rescue him. However, this is no ordinary man. A little earlier, we mee private dicks Oliver Cutlas and his wife, Kwan Tai Fung aka Typhoon. A client of theirs has been shot and stumbles into their office, which is then attacked by an assassin. Cutlass runs out and hails the cab to chase the assassin's car, leading to our meeting.   Meanwhile, Typhoon tracks down the partner of their dead client and is getting him to safety, when they are attacked by what appears to be Tong or Triad assassins (Triad would be more correct). Cutlass and the defenders show up and rescue them, though the partner is killed, with Treasure Island being his last words. A DEA agent, Ozu, turns up and is ready to haul in Cutlass and Typhoon, when she takes care of the situation...  They track the assassins to a warehouse, thanks to Cloud hiding in their lungs, in gaseous form, relaying things mentally to Moondragon. Hidden machine guns ring out; but the superheroes stop them. The assassins and the fat man run away; but, Cutlass stops to have Typhoon dig out a bullet from his shoulder (with her teeth!). It has micro-circuitry, making it a literal tracer bullet. They track the criminals to Treasure Island, where they interrupt the transfer of cocaine, smuggled inside cannisseters of banned caviar (trade sanctions against the USSR), when Ozu and the DEA arrive. However, Cutlass then reveals that the wrapping is actually computer tape and it all is an extremely elaborate plan by Ozu to pass defense secrets, via the computer tape. The wrappings would be tossed aside, during the search, and would sail back with the freighter, once it was released. Cutlass then dismisses his flunkies, the Defenders. Oh, and Beast meats Prof. Frye (Northrop Frye) while on his lecture tour. Thoughts: Very goofy detective riff. Cutlass is the Sam Spade/Philip Marlowe type hard-boiled detective, while Kwan Tai Fung, aka Typhoon is a mix of the Dragon Lady, Velda, and an Asian Modesty Blaise. They make a weird couple; but, i wouldn't have minded more of them, in a mini-series. They will return in the future, in Defenders. This was the time of Remington Steele (though before Moonlighting); so, a romantically linked detective couple was trendy, though that goes back to Hammett's Nick & Nora Charles. These are no socialites, though. They are mired in stereotype, though it's more a lampoon of the stereotypes. Typhoon is at least spared fortune cookie dialogue, though she runs around in a sexy red silk Chinese dress and high heels. Oliver is in the trademark rumpled suit and fedora and looks older than Typhoon. This seems an odd time to try a humor story, so close on the Walrus story and so early in Gillis' run; but, given where comics were headed, it was a nice change of pace. For this kind of stuf you had to go to Eclipse for BC Boyer's Masked Man, which was a Spirit pastiche, appearing in Eclipse Magazine and Eclipse Monthly, before getting his own series. It would be about 3 years before the delightful Mage Agency would hit the stands, from Mike Barr and Adam Hughes (published by Comico, then Innovation), though Mike Mauser was appearing in the revived E-Man, at First Comics. Fun issue!
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Post by badwolf on Apr 20, 2019 15:42:06 GMT -5
The Cutlass & Typhoon story threw me off the first time I read it. I was pretty young at the time and maybe didn't understand all the references and stuff they were poking fun at. Ended up loving it, and its follow up, though.
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Post by codystarbuck on Apr 20, 2019 16:02:31 GMT -5
Defenders #134 Creative Team: Peter Gillis-writer, Don Perlin-pencils, Kim Demulder-inks, Janice Chiang-letters, Christie Scheele-colors, Carl Potts-edits Synopsis: Beast comes home to the Aerie, from his lecture tour, and finds the place seemingly deserted. He looks around and then gets grabbed in a sleeper choke, by Valkyrie, who releases them and they then fill him in on previous events. Each of them received death threats, there in the house. Cloud was sunbathing an woke up with a garland of flowers around her neck. She went to thank her teammates and snakes jump out of it, which prove to be garter snakes (who proved extremely immobile, while in the garlands, around a person's neck, as they moved around). No one had knowledge of it. Bobby gets branded by a weight bench arm, while working out. Gargoyle disappeared in a blazing pentagram, while Moondragon's mental powers were blocked and Dragonfang was stolen, from Val. They are interrupted by the perpetrator, Manslaughter...  Valthrows her knife at him and he catches it and tosses it back, before disappearing in explosive smoke. Later, they are gathered in the central living room, watching for their tormentor, when Cloud declares she has to tinkle. Val escorts her and she still gets attacked by Manslaughter, who slits her throat, in the bathroom. he gets away before the others can attack and the hunt him, individually. He ambushes Bobby, in the basement and breaks his neck. Angel slams into him, yet gets poisoned by gas. Val meets up with him, with her spear and fights him; but, he wounds her with a poisoned Dragonfang. Moondragon corners him and his mental powers prove greater than hers...  He is ordering her to cut her own throat, when the Defenders show up alive and take him down. Cloud turned to gaseous form, as he started to cut, so she was alive. She inhabited an ice shell, as Bobby, so all that was broken was a hollow form. Val ad Angel are frozen to slow their poisons. Manslaughter is trapped in ice and Moondragon wants to kill him, for violating her mind, when Beast stops her. Cloud comforts her with a surprising statement...  Thoughts: Well, last issue was a detective riff, this is a slasher film. The Defenders are taunted by their would-be killer, then stalked separately. He is tricked and defeated in the end, all right out of the slasher playbook. Moondragon takes the mental domination pretty hard and Cloud's statement is surprising; but, the question is does she mean love, as a parental figure, as a friend, or something romantic? That intrigue will carry s forward. Otherwise, this seems to put the Defenders in a bad light, which isn't likely to draw new fans. I get the sense that Carl Potts told Gillis to do whatever he liked, hoping that something might click, as the book was on the fringes of cancellation. That can have the effect of allowing the team to experiment and click on something good that draws fans. I don't think this is happening now; but, it makes for better reading than that Secret Empire stuff, or the Six-Fingered Hand. Perlin and Demulder continue to be an excellent team, which makes the book look better than it had. We still don't know what happened to Gargoyle, though.
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Post by badwolf on Apr 20, 2019 16:50:52 GMT -5
Creepy, dark and weird. I couldn't help but think of that old Superfriends episode where the Legion of Doom apparently killed the JL, but in the end they turned out to be robots.
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Post by dbutler69 on Apr 23, 2019 9:25:30 GMT -5
I thought #133 was fun. Goofy, but fun.
I don't remember #134 as well, but it sounds like a mixture of dark, with the obvious slasher film riff you mention, but almost a bit of Silver Age DC where they make you think characters are being defeated but then you find out at the end that they actually tricked the bad guy (and the reader, presumably) into believing they had won when they really hadn't, of course.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 2, 2019 17:31:03 GMT -5
Defenders #135 Creative Team: Peter Gillis-writer, Don Perlin-pencils, Kim Demulder-inks, Janice Chiang-letters, Christie Scheele-colors, Carl Potts-edits Synopsis: Candy Southern brings medical help to the Aerie, while Manslaughter is held prisoner in the kitchen, watched by Beast.  Once the stricken Defenders are stable, they take him to town to be jailed. The ocal sheriff (of Elijah, NM) has enough to deal with and questions under what legal authority he was arrested, if his Miranda Rights have been read and other such technical points you don't often get in comics. beast makes a citizen's complaint and contacts Washington, who orders Manslaughter's jailing at the facility. The sheriff obliges, then gets a call about trouble at a local bar he left earlier. One of the locals, known as Blowtorch brand, is drunk and showing off that he is impervious to fire. Moondragon and Cloud go with the sheriff and he speaks of being called by the Aerie and Moondragon thinks he is not the one. Cloud douses the flames enough for the sheriff to hit him with an extinguisher and arrest him.  Brand is bailed out by a local money man, who hires him to torch a secret sweatshop, because INS is poking around. brand torches the place, holding workers at gunpoint. The Defenders answer the emergency call and save the people, stopping Brand.   They get the workers out, but learn that two more are trapped in a restroom. The sheriff runs back in and saves them; but, succumbs to smoke inhalation. Valkyrie collects him and carries him off to his reward, as a true hero.  Meanwhile, Gargoyle is still missing and seems to be a prisoner. Thoughts: Minor threat story, more of a character piece. Gillis gets into the legalities of superdom, though the sheriff immediately falling in line when ordered by a general is a bit out of step. Unless he is with the Justice Department and Manslaughter is being held on Federal charges, he would have no jurisdiction, unless there is a super-villain precedent in the Marvel Universe. It would still fall under civil authority, not military, unless this is a retired general, serving in the Justice Department. The issue features the local town, where some resent Warren and the Defenders, with displays of mutant prejudice, as well as anti-Latino bigotry, as the same folk complain about jobs being taken from good "Mericans." Some stories never change. The sheriff is a fair man doing a tough job and acquits himself well. Valkyrie carries him off to dwell in Valhalla as a hero, fulfilling her true role. Gillis is depicting Val as more supernatural, as she remarks, earlier, to Candy Southern, that she heals differently than "humans," which sends chills down Candy's spine. Why that is different than mutant differences isn't explored. Brand speaks of being called to the Aerie and Moondragon, after meeting him, thinks he "isn't the one." Something fishy going on, probably tied to the identical thoughts appearing in the heads of Bobby and Warren. Cloud is hiding a secret of some kind and seems to be suffering anxieties. More there. Who is holding Gargoyle is still unknown. More character, more mystery; not much action of a level befitting the characters, yet.
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Post by badwolf on May 3, 2019 10:33:49 GMT -5
I thought the identical thoughts of Warren and Bobby were just supposed to be funny, but maybe I'm forgetting something.
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Post by beccabear67 on May 3, 2019 12:46:49 GMT -5
Still enjoying the reviews of this. I seem to have remembered this period with rosier glasses than the reality warrants but not being as familiar with some of what DeMatties/Gillis were copping from it seemed more original. I loved that cover of Angel in a giant hand for some reason too. I only remember one cover like it, The Falcon #2 from the early '80s mini-series. Forgot all about that Magical Mystery Walrus guy though, maybe a good thing?  |
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Post by dbutler69 on May 3, 2019 14:32:12 GMT -5
I thought the identical thoughts of Warren and Bobby were just supposed to be funny, but maybe I'm forgetting something. So did I. |
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Post by codystarbuck on May 8, 2019 14:37:46 GMT -5
Defenders #136-137  Given the then-association of Heavy Metal music with Satanism, I assume that Gargoyle is being tormented with the sounds of Lawrence Welk. Wunnerful, a-wunnerful; And a-one-a and a-two-a Creative Team: Usual bunch Synopsis: Somewhere in Afghanistan, a crazy old wizard, who is not a Muslim; nor is he Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist, Baha'i, Christian, or Jew (could be Zoroastrian) has Gargoyle imprisoned in a pentagram. Isaac tries to persuade him that he is not a demon; but, the power of the pentagram and incantations and the fact that lightning bolts are coming out of Isaac's hands suggest otherwise.   The local mujahadeen commander tells the wizard he is useless and he is requisitioning his castle as a base and would toss the wizard to the Soviets, if his men didn't believe he was a holy man. The point is moot, as the Soviets turn up in what Peter Gillis says are Mil Mi-24 Hind gunships...  ...but which Don Perlin draws as Kamarov Ka-27 Helix naval helicopters...  Come on Perlin, get your Reagan-era Soviet helicopters right! The gang over at Airboy wouldn't have that that mistake! Anyhoo, Ruskies attack and get smooshed by a giant, lightning-wielding demon, who looks like a gargoyle...  He then goes to the Soviet base, where officers sit around in Bolshevik-era uniforms and the Wizard melts the commander, like a candle, then forces the "demon" to whisk him to New York, Times Square, where a billboard about the Rockies gives him the impression of the Defenders and he heads over to say "hi."  Meanwhile, Cloud has a nightmare, as Beast's dog plays with her shoes, then Moondragon comes in to comfort her and Cloud yells at her to leave her alone. moondragon mentally blasts the puppy to show she is still evil. Later, Cloud dreams of Moondragon, says something about not being able to come to her, since it is wrong. Moondragon (in the dream) says it can't be wrong unless Cloud thinks so, and it gets all misty (metaphor!)  Moondragon is meditating, when Cloud comes into her room and disturbs her, in more ways than one...  Holy Orlando! The commotion attracts the rest of the gang and the news is shared, then Moondragon is alerted to the presence of the wizard and they head out, while everyone is stunned. On the way, Bobby acts like a tool, while Val defends Cloud and compares the transformation with Bobby's physical alterations and mutant ostracization. Bobby ain't having it. They are interrupted by the meeting site, which is a newly formed chasm. They investigate, run into the wizard and Isaac...  The next issue is a lot of fighting, with Bobby making snark about Cloud, the Defenders getting whooped, Moondragon begging Gargoyle to smack off her headband, so she can control the wizard. In the end, Beast uses his knowledge of Gnostic history and beliefes and a bit of help from Moondragon, to manipulate the wizard into believing that they are fellow Gnostics, not demons and the dude finally releases Isaac and pops off.   Isaac gets a hand chopped off, in the process...  which turns into a monster...  before all is said and done. Isaac reappears as himself, minus a hand. He then tries to warn about Moondragon's attempts at manipulation and gets brainfried or passes out, delirious from blood loss. You be the judge! Thoughts: So, we get the lowdown on who nabbed Isaac and throw him into the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. Perlin really needed to do some research, here. Helicopters are wrong, Soviet military uniforms aren't even close. This is almost as bad as Rob Liefeld and his Nazis in brown uniforms and silver helmets, in Team Youngblood. Like I said, Airboy was the only comic doing research on this stuff. Thank you Chuck Dixon, Stan Woch, Tim Truman and the rest! All of that is incidental. The big news is Cloud's gender swap, and the fact that she is in love with Moondragon. let's start with the first. This was totally new for Marvel, looking at gender issues, though with the less than subtle metaphor, as you would expect. The idea is not new, as Virginia Woolf's Orlando changes gender several times, through the ages. If you are the answer to Who's Afraid of virginia Woolf, I suggest the 1992 film, starring an aptly-cast Tilda Swinton, as the character (in both genders). The film itself also features a few gay icons, such as Jimmy Somerville, the former lead singer of Bronski Beat, who had several gay-themed songs (and an album titled "Age of Consent") and British gay icon Quentin Crisp, as Queen Elizabeth I. In other fields, Berg Katse, aka Zoltar, in Gatchaman (aka Battle of the Planets), could change genders, though he was actually a mutant, formed by the alien entity Sosai X (the Luminous One), out of male and female fraternal twins. The mutant status is what drove Katse mad, as we learn in later stages of the series. Here, Cloud shows similar mental issues. This is also an early exploration of a gay character, though not as you would think, with the gender change. So, we don't have a female cloud and the female Moondragon. Cloud changes to male form to "make it right" Well, no, it still isn't exactly "right," as Cloud is only 17 and Moondragon is well above. It's not a gender issue, it's an age of consent issue and abuse of an adult-minor relationship. Then, there is the question of whether these are genuine feelings or manipulations by Moondragon. We have already had hints of Moondragon manipulating Warren and bobby, as seen in identical thoughts about Moondragon. That might be comedy effect; but, it might be a clue to Moondragon subtly defying the imprisonment of her mental abilities. Her mental conversations with Isaac and his collapse suggest the manipulation hypothesis. Booby acts like an ass towards Cloud, despite Val's illustrations of both mutant prejudice and both Bobby's and Val's physical transformations. Bobby is unconvinced. This adds much fuel to the theories that Bobby was gay and overcompensating to bury his true self. If that is the intent, then bingo! If not, Gillis sure makes Bobby into a real jerk. Quite frankly, the wizard element seems mostly a way to appease the demands for action in the story, rather than having a real point. obviously, Gillis is more focused on character interaction; but, that ain't selling the book (neither is the action, frankly). I don't think Marvel was the best place to experiment with stories surrounding gender identity and same sex relationships, in this period. Shooter wasn't exactly that liberal in his attitudes to those stories. I suspect Gillis was able to pursue it because the book was on the cusp and he had nothing to lose. Maybe Carl Potts figured it might get them some folks who gravitated to Alan Moore and Swamp Thing, or the Love & Rockets crowd (wouldn't bet on the latter). Either way, this is revolutionary for a company who put so many restraints on John Byrne and Alpha Flight, where Northstar was concerned. You had to do a lot more reading between the lines than this story.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 8, 2019 14:41:19 GMT -5
ps, the helicopter mistake might have been Gillis', when doing the dialogue, for the finished art. He might have assumed they were Hind gunships, since those were often mentioned in Western news reports of the war (and latched onto by Hollywood, as seen in Red Dawn and Rambo: First Blood Part II).
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Post by codystarbuck on May 8, 2019 15:50:37 GMT -5
Defenders #138-139  Creative Team: No changes. Synopsis: The Defenders scoop up Isaac and head home, where Candy Southern unveils their new security answering system...  and medical treatment facilities...  Infact, she is all over things back at the Aerie, running things like you wouldn't believe, while rocking a New Wave outfit...  Cloud randomly swaps genders again, which makes Bobby more sympathetic, until she swaps back to male and he leaves her room...  Issac talks to Cloud and speaks of what he tapped in Moondragon's mind, replaying her origin, as Heather Douglas, survivor of Thanos' assault on her family's car, after witnessing his ship, on Earth. She is taken by mentor to Titan and raised with the Priest of Shaolum. She hones her mental skills and far exceeds everyone, including her teachers, which leads to tapping into a consciousness, the Dragon of the Moon, which was there before Mentor and his branch of the Eternals. The dragon attacks her mind; but, she fughts it off and has ever since. maybe that's why she is such a bitch to everyone.  Perhaps the dragon is what is manipulating people and was the motive for her previous conquest. We see her mentally fight Mantis, who turns up at the end of the issue.  While this happens, Warren and Hank decide on who will be leader and it is Jenette Khan....no, wait, Candy Southern!  The next issue, titled "Hungry Like the Wolf".... ...can you tell it is 1985? I want my MTV! (that was 1983, but who's counting). Odin is watching the proceedings, as Mantis kicks the defecation out of Moondragon. the Defenders are unable to stop her, though Hank notes it can't be her because she became the Celestial Madonna...  No, not that one!  Yup. Anyway, Hank slaps Moondragon and she wakes up, then Mantis disappears. It was all in her head. She tells everyone off...  then turns on the water works and the team feels lower than ant doo-doo. We cut to the title page, with the pop culture reference, and move on. Warren goes for a morning flight and has a conversation with an eagle, about trouble below. He feels that it is strange, since he is not Dr Doolittle. he calls the sheriff and is told about cattle deaths, after the local native tribe reopened a silver mine on their reservation. So, off the defenders go to the sheriff's office. on the way, Moondragon admits to Hank about trying to remove the headband, drawing people like Blowtorch brand there, but Hank thinks she is only confessing because of Isaac's revelation. She tells himoff and leaves and he wonders if she is becoming human.h They go the the sheriff's office and meet Mr Tall Trees, who takes them to the mine and speaks of the dead animals, after they started drilling deeper. He is then revealed as Red Wolf.  His flashback shows all of the tribe wearing buckskins and feathers and such, despite it being 1985, instead of 1885 (and the fact that we are in New Mexico, not the Dakotas). Meanwhile, a rancher named Bill McAllistairs (a real wolverine of a guy), is hunting for the wolf or coyote that has been killing his sheep. he runs into something else and may be lucky to escape without losing an arm! Red Wolf takes the Defenders into the mine, where they meet up with trolls...  more like this, actually...  Their magic is too great for the Defenders and they are taken prisoner (though only the female Valkyrie gets chained up) and the troll leader tempts Moondragon by offering to remove Odin's headband and release her from his control. She fights the temptation off, frees Red Wolf, who frees the others, they collapse the mine on the trolls and escape, with moondragon now free of the headband, having proven herself worthy to the watching Odin.  Thoughts: Here endeth the Redemption of Moondragon. At least, that's what it appears. We are to assume tat the Dragon of the Moon was manipulating Moondragon and everyone else, and, she fights off temptation and wins her freedom from odin's punishment. Well isn't that special! The issue takes some nice shots at people who wouldn't listen to Moondragon and who weren't exactly offering friendship. Granted, she made Katherine Hegel seem warm and personable; but, you know, nobody was really trying very hard, either. The Cloud question is still unresolved, though bobby is made more of a jerk; but, at least is starting to recognize that fact. Isaac is regrowing the chopped off hand; so, no harpoon for him. Perlin and demulder are drawing him more and more like Kirby's Demon, which was inspired by Prince Valiant. Next thing you know, the Black Knight will show up with some new duds and a bowl haircut! Over at Supermegamonkey, someone in the comments section brings up the then-recent Dr Who stories, Kinda and Snakedance. In those episodes, the Doctor's companion, Tegan (an Aussie stewardess played by English actress Janet Fielding, with a bad accent) is possessed by a snake being, that has manipulated another into killing people and sabotaging a scientific station. Those two stories were some of the most popular of the Peter Davison run of the show and certainly some of the most layered. A scholarly work examined the episodes and compared them to the themes of Ursula Le Guin's The Word for World if Forest, which has similar themes. I wouldn't be surprised if either or both sources were inspirations here. or, it could have been a love of Duran Duran, with their song, "Union of the Snake." You be the judge! The team has some fun with the new security system, as we see other gun-toting holograms, including this beauty...  Later, we see an announcing system that features holograms of cherubs, blowing trumpets. I can't wait to see the dinner bell! I'm not 100% sure; but, I Think William Mac Allistairs, the rancher, aka Bill, is a tribute ti William Messner-Loebs and his book, Journey, featuring mountain man Wolverine MacAlistaire. Sure looks like it. It also seems to be related to an upcoming story, not this one.
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