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Post by codystarbuck on May 8, 2019 15:55:06 GMT -5
pps If I sound obsessive about the Russian helicopters, please bear in mind that in 1985, I was studying Russian military weapons and forces as part of my NROTC training. While everyone else was watching Live Aid, on MTV, I was pulling into San Diego, at the end of my first Midshipman Training Cruise, during the summer break. So, these issues are all kinds of flashbacks.
Also reminds me that I had more hair and less weight.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 14, 2019 14:10:12 GMT -5
Defenders #140-141  Creative Team: Peter Gillis-writer, Don Perlin-pencils, Kim Demulder-inks, Janice Chiang-letters, Ken Feduniewicz-colors, Carl Potts-edits Synopsis: We start with Beast's neglected girlfriend Vera getting flowers and a poem, while standing around in a robe and slip (or short nightie), vowing to dump Hank, then adoring him. meanwhile, in New Mexico, Moondragon has new, non-swimsuity duds...  We get a wrap up to the whole everyone's in love with moondragon thing, as she admits to manipulating Warren and Bobby, and Cloud, to get the headband off. She then rebuffs Cloud completely, which is good, because.....jailbait! We soon get to the main story, as Moondragon intercepts a mental image from a mutant teenager. He is under arrest for raping his African-American teacher. His father is the sheriff and white supremacists are saying he is a scapegoat (since he is white). She calls the team, then just asks for a few and gets Warren, Cloud and Val. We learn that the boy brought a paper to the teacher, touched her, then his eyes glowed.  In court, Moondragon forces the truth, after the kid makes statements that basically condemns him. turns out, he tapped into past memories of the teacher, who had loved a whote man and had his child; but,w as forced to give it up for adoption. When she was forced to relive that, she equated the mental violation with rape.  The kid gets off, after causing others to release built up feelings. Meanwhile, a cow gives birth to another plant/man hybrid and we lead into part 2.  Warren Worthington's aircraft mechanic is attacked by the weird plant creatures and transformed.   The team gets an alert, spots more plant men riding horses and its on. The team fights plant monsters, while Beast does the Andromeda Strain bit. it comes down to Isaac and Moondragon fightin within the creature, to tap into its intelligence, with love.   Thoughts: Part one is a confused mess; but, has moments. The plant part, which carries over to part 2, doesn't do much of me, as mindless microbes turned into monsters isn't that compelling. Beast is straight out of Andromeda Strain, working in an isolation lab to determine how to stop the plant growth. he's got the whole body glovebox thing and everything.  Only way it could have been more of a swipe would to have been setting it at Project Pegasus.
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Post by badwolf on May 14, 2019 14:25:49 GMT -5
"The Heartbreak Kid" was and probably still is one of the odder superhero stories I ever read. I found it very unsettling and I think I had to read it a few times before I really got it. (I was pretty young when it came out and it deals with some mature topics.) I think it's a highlight of Gillis' run. The plant monster storyline is pretty horrific in its own right. The panel with the elongated arms reaching out of the stable haunted me.
And I really liked Moondragon's new costume.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 14, 2019 14:26:48 GMT -5
Defenders #142 Creative Team: Michele Wrighton on colors, rest are the same. Synopsis: On a Boston college campus, students are stirred up by a local tv broadcast that supports anti-mutant hysteria and Sen. Robert Kelly's Mutant Registration Act. it just so happens that Beast will be lecturing on said campus, and there is a student, Adrian, who has 6 fingers on each hand, can play incredible music, and sees only in the infra-red range.   Adrian confronts beast about playing the clown when mutants need an adocate, which leads the pair to speak, in private. meanwhile, Bobby and Cloud try to work through his issues. Adrian tries to stop Kelly and dies in the process and Hank steps up and forms MONSTER, an overly complicated acronym for Mutant Tolerance...  Meanwhile, Moondragon faces internal turmoil, as she meditates. Thoughts: The issue reads like a later era MASH episode, with heavy handed messages about tolerance, while dumping X-men continuity onto the book. Everything has to tie in to X-Men. Wonder why I stopped reading it? Well, actually, that was well before this; just tired of recycled plots and lack or real development; not to mention not caring for JRJR's art. it was a perfect place to leave the series. The Defenders is becoming X-men light and this emphasizes it. Ironically, another X title will put an end to the defenders; but, not yet. The story is actually fairly good; but, not particularly subtle, even for a Marvel comic.
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Post by EdoBosnar on May 14, 2019 14:51:39 GMT -5
I'd stopped reading Defenders a loooooooooooooooooong time before this, but I'm with badwolf: I really like this costume for Moondragon (only I would have kept some shade of green as the highlight color for the dark part of it, seems more dragony). |
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Post by codystarbuck on May 14, 2019 15:02:26 GMT -5
Defenders #143-144  Creative Team: Same as last time Synopsis: Moondragon relives the death of her parents, which leads to Mentor bringing her to Titan. She recalls meeting the Dragon of the Moon, as she fights its influence. She is weakened because she was infected by the alien microbes. She succumbs to the Dragon and is corrupted...  Val had prepped for this...  and sent Dolly and Candy away (sounds like a children's book) and the defenders battle the possessed bald chick...  Angel is blinded and things seem hopeless, until Val turns into Ultraman...   She gets some help from her sister Valkyrie...  and from Cloud, who is able to help Moondragon defeat the influence...  Thoughts: Still not done with this? This, mercifully, ends the whole Moondragon corruption thing, plus some other plot threads, while introducing a new one, as the Atlantean, Andromeda, is running from someone or something and ends up in NYC...   Giant Val is an interesting new twist. 8 issues left.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 23, 2019 11:34:58 GMT -5
Defenders #145 Oh, great, the obligatory Wolverine appearance! And, Hulk with a big gun! Wait, why does Hulk have a big ................oh, riiiiigggghhtttt...... Creative Team: Peter Gillis-words, Don Perlin-pictures, Art Nichols-inks, Janice Chiang-letters, Michelle Wolfman-colors, Carl Potts-blue pencils Synopsis: Some biker yahoo and his chick are out motoring around the desert, showing off by writing "Defenders" in the scrub, with his rear wheel, in cursive. Actually, that's pretty impressive! He burns through an Army roadblock, where we learn that Don Perlin gets his military references from a pack of Army Men. Seriously; it's 1985 and he has them in OD green, can't draw an M-16, and they all but look like the standard Army Men poses. He is missing the guy with the rifle and bayonet, though. At the Aerie (the Worthington one, not the GOT one), the wounded Defenders are getting Army medical attention. Gen. Fist thinks he is Patton and some lady soldier has never read the uniform regulations, relating to hair for females. They cart Warren and Cloud off for medical attention, while Gen Fist barks back at Bobby, about people like Sen. Kelly. Then, word comes in about the biker bursting through an illegal Army cordon. National Guard maybe; but, not Army. Gillis and Perlin have seen too many movies. We are interrupted by n interlude with Andromeda and some stockbroker, who is doing his Wolf of Wall Street thing, as her lips are blue and she gets a secret card from some flying mechanical thing.  They go off to spawn and we go back to the X-Men.....Defenders. The doctors are examining Cloud and everything is wonky, with her liver being made of connective tissue and her teeth being bone, with no enamel (she should brush more often). That has to wait, though, as our biker has arrived. He meets up with gun-toting Captain America, Sub-Mariner, Wolverine and the Hulk. Oh, yeah, it's that hologram security system they installed. It doesn't seem to be detering him. Money well spent!  The biker is Johnny Blaze, freshly freed from being Ghost Rider, who is doing the whole Easy Rider thing with Roxanne (cue the Police song). She had a vision of ghostly riders thundering across the desert and the word Champions and they headed there. While everyone gets acquainted, more stuff goes down in sickbay. The lights went out when the security system kicked on and the Army guys are having trouble. One spots a figure by the patients and smashes the observation window with the butt of his M-16. Which is plastic....and not a good thing for smashing thick medical windows with. Just saying. He fires a few rounds and Val blocks them, as she is the one there. She's not dead and neither is Moondragon, though she is on the other side of the world and her mind is a bit messed up, as well as her face. Warren wakes up but is still blind.Johnny joins the team and Hank spots the Army lady skulking around and confronts her. Turns out, she is one of his former dates; but, it secretly also turns out that she knows who Cloud is. Dunh-dunh-duh!  Thoughts: Transitional issue; regrouping and resetting things. Johnny Blaze is with the team, as support, Val is okay but Moondragon is missing, presumed a mess. Angel is alive but blind, while Cloud may be a 17 year-old Carol Faber, who was in a near fatal car crash. And an Army lady, named Nancy, seems to know her. Oh, and Andromeda gets secret messages from flying robot things, while stockbrokers shed their suits and her skin was turning blue. Might be related to being out of the water. Decent issue, though Perlin needs to get into the present. The US Army was wearing camo utilities by this stage, in the Woodland pattern, which lasted until after the first Gulf War, when the digital camo came along. His M-16 improves later in the issue. However, Nancy does not. Female military personnel are given greater leeway with their hair; but, it cannot reach past the bottom edge of their collar and cannot interfere with proper wearing of headgear. Nancy has a Marlo Thomas thing going, which won't fly. Civilians! The cover was a gag to see who still remembered the security sytem, while trying for cheap sales. this comic desperately needed them. It has only 7 issues of life left in it.
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Post by beccabear67 on May 23, 2019 12:31:22 GMT -5
Okay, now I know I dropped the title with #144. I guess I picked the Moondragon story finale as the place to jump off again and didn't care about the new storyline enough. It's possible I saw the silly Hulk and Wolverine cover going all Rambo with the military firearms and that put me right off, so the gag or attempt to attract fell flat on me.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 23, 2019 12:55:28 GMT -5
I doubt it had much of a positive effect on sales, period. It took Marvel a while; but, I suspect they eventually figured out that these constant guest star slots weren't bumping sales; or, if they did, it was for the one issue and sales probably dropped even lower, after. They had more of an effect on back issue sales, which didn't really benefit Marvel, except as reprint material. I have no numbers to prove it; but, I'd be willing to bet that the use of the guest star had more to do with sales boost than just an appearance; hence the reason why the X-Men popped Rom so much, compared to former X-Men in the Defenders series.
I bailed in the 60s, on this series and was too busy with college and ROTC to check these out. besides, DC had Crisis going, followed by Dark Knight, Watchmen, and Man of Steel; Marvel wasn't getting much of my comic book dollar.
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Post by badwolf on May 23, 2019 13:55:14 GMT -5
I guess I'm the only one who found the security system hilarious. Since I was already buying the book (and had been since the 90s), I never saw Wolverine's "appearance" as an attempt to boost sales.
I used the cover of this issue recently for one of our contests, where the theme was bikes or bikers.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 23, 2019 13:58:57 GMT -5
Defenders #146-147  Wahoooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!! Creative Team: Peter Gillis-writer, Luke McDonnell (146) and Don Perlin (147)-pencils, Art Nichols-inks, Janice Chiang-letters, Michelle Wrightson-colors, Carl Potts-edits. Synopsis: Angel is out flying blind (literally) as Cloud flots around him, acting as a navigator. They come back and Candy puts forward the idea of recruiting new members. She conjures up Thor, who has to consult his lawyer.....the Hulk!  It's just Beast messing with the hologram system. Johnny Blaze and Roxanne split and are given a gift...  So much for joining the team. We cut to New York, where Andromeda and her stockbroker dude are out clubbing. Get your spoons ready! Andrea (as she is calling herself) and Tony (not Stark) are dressed more for a banquet (evening gown and tux) and the scene is interrupted by the arrival of Adam Ant....or rather, Hotspur, some guy who starts out dancing, then slashes Tony's face with razor-sharp claws and blasts Andromeda with fire, when she becomes a Goody Two-Shoes. Hotspur is no Prince Charming and Andromeda has determined whether he is Friend or Foe and does a bit of Ant-Rapping her fist upside his head. Hotspur jumps on a horse and flees away, rather than Stand(ing) and Deliver(ing). Who Taught Him to Torture? Before you can say "Dirk Wears White Sox," it's all over and Andrea and Tony leave. Back in New Mexico, Warren gets an update on his condition and it is the same. His mutant physiognomy doesn't necessarily respond like the average human. the doc says he has to consult with his colleague, Dr MacNider. He probably won't be able to get back to them before Mid-Nite. The Army would like the Defenders to leave, so they can finish cleaning up the muck monster; so, everyone goes to NYC, so Warren can consult with the docs and everyone else can crash at Dr Strange's Sanctum, while he is conveniently out of town. They arrive, Wong rolls his eyes; but is polite, and Doc Strange's "business secretary," Sarah, gets everyone settled. Nancy the lady soldier was also sent along, to act as government liason, rather than a civilian Fed. Everyone settles in, though Isaac is having issues and so is Cloud. nancy turns up to comfort her and turns out to be Seraph! Val wakes the gang because she senses death and Isaac is gone. they trace the feeling to Central Park (well, yeah, Central Park, at night? Of course you sense death!). They find Hotspur heating up the place and people dancing around a bonfire. They fight (as you do with hellish Adam Ant clones, on horseback) and get whooped, until Andromeda shows up, in her warrior/aerobics gear...  I don't get the one bare leg aesthetic; but, what do I know? It's the 80s! Candy finds Isaac in a room, staring into a ruby gem, like its his Precious. She sends him on to Central Park and he still has the gem and is acting weird. He catches up to the gang, who are facing off against Hotspur, with Andromeda upping the Amazon count...  Andromeda attacks and Val follows up and it seems to make Hotspur stronger and affects the women negatively. The battle continues, while we shift to Candy and nancy having a chat, where Nancy slips Candy a mickey. It was so fine it blows her mind (Hey Mickey!). then, we cut to Siberia, where hungry (like the ) wolves turn away from some big bearded dude (who is not Brian Blessed). Then it's back to Hotspur, who relays his past. he is from the 18th Century and was part of a Hellfire Club wannabe, the Lords of Fun (doesn't have the same ring to it) and was facing death, when he made a deal with the devil, for immortality. It wasn't a Highlander type, he would return when someone called upon him, which some 80s dude did, pulling him back through, just in time to have Malcolm McLaren steal his backing band and force him to start over. Now he has some machine, which he has the Defenders hooked into, while he monologues. Sgt Fury turns up to set Beast and Ice Man free, then the rest, gives them Tommy Guns and they go all Wahooo, while Hank tries to figure out why Fury is in his WW2 fatigues, has an eyepatch and they have Thompson submachine guns against a supernatural being.   They are aiming at Hotspur's crowd, when they hesitate and Isaac breaks the spell, saying that is what Hotspur wants, as his crowd disappears. isaac has figured it out and then turns to Cloud and has her think of the despair she feels without Moondragon, which causes Hotspur to weaken and depart his host body, who turns into Stewart Goddard, or whatever his name is. They say goodbye to Andromeda and then Nancy turns up with Cloud, does an Arya Stark (or Martin Landau, if you prefer) and takes off her IMF mask, revealing Seraph, to the Defenders, and promising to reveal Cloud's past. Dun-dunh-duh! Thoughts: Okay, strange couple of issues. Hotspur is so ridiculously obviously a copy of Adam Ant...   So, put on Kings of the Wild Frontier or Prince Charming, while you read this pair. The battle isn't of much consequence, really, and the Isaac and his gem and Cloud and Seraph are the real interest points, for upcoming issues. As I pointed out, the reference to Dr MacNider is an easter egg for Charles McNider, aka Dr Mid-Nite, the DC JSA hero who can see in total darkness. Too bad Shooter wrecked the crossover detente or they could have had a defenders/JSA crossover come out of this. Somehow, I doubt it, though. Dr Strange has a business secretary? "Yes, you have a 3 O'Clock with Dormammu and then you have the testimonial dinner for Nightmare, at 8:00 pm. Your accountant says you need to produce receipts for your trips to the netherworld, to claim them as a business expense and Wong says he needs an increase in the household budget to stock fresh newt." "What about the Visine for the Eye of Agamotto?" "Third drawer down, right hand side." "Good work, Sarah; time for a 'performance review'" "I have mace." "Oh, well, in that case, I'll just go iron my cloak." "Good choice, Doc."
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Post by codystarbuck on May 23, 2019 14:02:36 GMT -5
I guess I'm the only one who found the security system hilarious. Since I was already buying the book (and had been since the 90s), I never saw Wolverine's "appearance" as an attempt to boost sales. I used the cover of this issue recently for one of our contests, where the theme was bikes or bikers. Oh, the joke is fine; but, the cover is total bait and switch, unless you had been reading and recalled the hologram of Hulk with a .50 cal machine gun. I'm referring more to the general trend of sticking Wolverine and the X-men into everything, which was getting underway, then; but got to its worst levels by the 90s. Substitute Batman, for the DC titles. Or Lobo. They should have done a Wolverine/Lobo crossover that starts with both getting kicked out by everyone else, in whose books they trespassed. |
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Post by beccabear67 on May 23, 2019 16:24:58 GMT -5
I'm thinking Hotspur might be from Tottenham.
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Post by badwolf on May 23, 2019 16:41:37 GMT -5
The indicia for #147 actually read SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLING DEFENDERS, causing irreconcilable confusion for database collectors everywhere.
Someone should have Johnny Blaze wearing that t-shirt in the comics today, maybe looking a bit worn. How would that be for an obscure Easter egg?
Those Frank Cirocco covers are great.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 29, 2019 18:12:21 GMT -5
Defenders #148 Um.......not the best cover of the series...... Creative Team: Peter Gillis-writer, Sal Buscema-pencils, Art Nichols-inks, Janice Chiang-letters, Bob Sharen-colors, Carl Potts-edits Synopsis: Daimon and Patsy Hellstrom are careening down the hills of San Francisco, in the cab of Rufus T. Hackstabber...  Say the secret fare and win a hundred dollars! They are delivered to what appears to be Norman Bates' house...  with an addition or two. They are taken inside, where the Defenders are waiting, while Rufus follows them in. They have been contacted to help locate a mystical object, the Lesser Grey God...  Hmmmm, that reminds me.... .jpg) ...of something...  They are interrupted by detective Harry Crun and private eye Oliver Cutlass, and his wife Kwan Tai Fung, aka Typhoon.  Detective Crun has a sworn complaint from one Minerva Bannister; but, he is interrupted by a hand grenade. It gets knocked into several hands before Rufus vollies it out of the house. Everyone is a bit confused by events...  Cutlass saw the man outside, grappled with him, went after the grenade and lost sight of him. Crun took off after the grenade blew. The detectives are put on retainer and Mr Van Vliet goes upstairs. A shot is heard and everyone rushes up to find a dead Van Vliet, killed by cyanide poisoning, with a knife wound, but, no knife and no bullet wounds, despite the gunshot. Further shots lead everyone outside, where assasins dangling from a helicopter are attacking Crun's car...  A fight ensues. Hellstrom had also previously explained that the Lesser Grey God could revive old curses and magicks. Cutlas knows where to go and takes them to the home of Minerva Bannister, where they find the Lesser Grey God, which proves to be a fake. Cutlass explains: Bannister hired crun to get the idol from Van Vliet. crun is in love with bannister and will do anything for her. Van Vliet heard her name from Cru and thought she had the idol and went up to commit suicide, as he loves her and won't say a word against her; but, she has beaten him to the idol. She figured out she had a fake and sent her assassins to kill Crun. It still doesn't make sense and rufus shows up with Hannibal King...  Who explains that Minerva was obsessed with becoming a vampire and saw king, pleading to be turned into one; but, he had been cured by Dr Strange. The Lesser Grey God could reverse that and she could get her wish. She tries to run and trips over rufus' racket and is taken into custody. Thoughts: this desperately wants to be funny, yet fails to really achieve it. Henry crun and Minerva "minn" Bannister are characters from the Goon Show, the British radio show, featuring Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe and Peter Sellers, which was legendary and helped influence monty Python. Henry and Minn were used for all kinds of sketches. Rufus T Hackstabber was created by Doug Moench for Master of Kung Fu. he is Groucho Marx and moench hada better handle on the timing, though nowhere near as well as Dave Sim, with Lord Julius (and, later, Chico, who turns up in High Society, for some great Marx banter). The mystery is even more ridiculous than Murder By death (or Clue, which ripped it off), but less effectively funny. This was a fill in issue, bringing back Typhoon and Cutlass. The Lesser Grey God is supposed to be tied to the Six-Fingered Hand. really, this story is just a sign that the end if nigh..
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