THINGS YOU MAY NOT HAVE KNOWN ABOUT THE DEFENDERS

Most of this information is taken directly from the letters pages in the back of the Defenders books called DEFENDERS DIALOGUE and the more interesting observations made by the fans and the creators have been included here for your review and comment.

Hulk Vs. Hulk?: "A Titan Walks Among Us" (Marvel Feature #3) features Xemnu whose first appearance was during the pre-superhero days at Marvel Comics. In these early days of Marvel, Xemnu was called "The Hulk"! Despite later changing the name to the Titan, Roy Thomas, in a tongue-in-cheek fashion, presented the first Hulk vs Hulk battle as an in-joke for those in the know.

Why The Surfer Failed as a Defender: During the early days of the Defenders, there was speculation that a fourth Defender would be added by the fourth issue. Many had presumed that the Silver Surfer was the shoe-in and so many were surprised when Valkyrie ended up as the addition. The reason was that Stan Lee wanted the Silver Surfer in his own series and did not want the headache associated with continuity problems (Hulk, Namor and Strange already were appearing regularly in their own series). Later, because of fan pressure, the Silver Surfer became more a regular member.

The First Pin-Up Poster of the Defenders: In issue #6, the story ends rather quickly and to fill pages Marvel had Sal draw up a single page poster of the Defenders featuring: Valkyrie, Hulk, Doctor Strange, Sub-Mariner and the Silver Surfer.

Defenders Goes Monthly: The Defenders went monthly after issue #7. Which also marked the first Defenders title not fully written by Steve Englehart. Len Wein penned pages 11-28.

Oops! Steve Englehart Goofs!: According to Defenders #5 (page 18, panel 1), the Omegatron says "I am Omegatron, built by Yandroth, scientist supreme, to automatically disintegrate this planet". Notice here that he said his creator's name. BUT: in Marvel Feature #1, it was explained that when Omegatron speaks his maker's name "...once, and only once, it shall speak my name..." the world would explode. Well, he said it and we are all still here! After this fact was brought to the attention of the Minds at Marvel, they admitted their goof. Roy had a talking with Steve to ensure it would not happen again!

Too Many Heroes?: The Defenders story arc entitled "Defender for a Day" (issue #62-64) features several dozen guest hero appearances. However, three which do NOT appear within the storyline but DO appear on the cover of issue #62 are: Human Torch, Spiderwoman and the Angel. Go figure.

What Created the Defenders?:  Well, according to Stan the Man, the Defenders' origin ranks as the most inconspicuous origin of all the Marvel Super-Heroes. It is suggested in the letters section of the Issue #23 that the Nameless Ones were directly responsible for the formation of the Defenders. This is later confirmed in Day of the Defenders which was released in January 2001. This summarized the key issues which lead to formation of the famous non-team.

Nighthawk's New Powers and Valkyrie's Weapons: Nighthawk's hair changed colour from brown (12 panels in issue #21) to blonde (20 panels in issue #22) making one wonder if Nighthawk possessed the powers of the Chameleon! In issue #25, the writers comment on the ineffectiveness of having Val use a sword. After all, what good is it for other than chopping an arm off or slicing someone in two. They were considering her using a quarterstaff...hmm...but, it was decided that Dragonfang was her trademark and so it was maintained.

Just What Colour is Pennysworth Anyway? In Defenders #19 (page 2, panel 4) Pennysworth's hand is visible and it is clearly the hand of a white man. However, in issue #25, Pennysworth is revealed to be a black man. A reader won a no-prize for discovering that colouring error.

Cover Complaints In Defenders #27,  the cover was a source of many reader complaints because what it depicts is not in the story. Specifically, the Hulk and Val are not trapped on the same world, and Doctor Strange does not enter the fight until the following issue. Moreover, the text balloon on the covers reveals that the Badoons who Val fights are women, and this fact as well was not revealed in the story until issue #28. Marvel apologized and blamed it on Len Wein. He was unaware that Steve Gerber wanted that kept hushed until Defenders #28.