Revisiting The Defenders after forty plus years

I have fond memories of reading Defenders in the mid 1970s so when several collected volumes turned up in a Comixology sale I bought a few of them, i.e. Marvel Masterworks The Defenders volumes 4, 5 and 6 which reprinted The Defenders issues 22 to 57 plus a few other related comics.

It was the later issues, all in volume 6, that I most wanted but my memories were fond enough to get the earlier two volumes two, especially as Steve Gerber was the main writer then.

Those first two volumes were bit of a struggle but not so much that I gave up on them.

The stories were pretty weird and shallow, brains being kept alive in jars and other such matters, and The Defenders were a pretty poor team with Dr Strange doing almost all of the heavy lifting using his standard fare like the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, not really Sorcerer Supreme stuff (not that he was then, to be fair).

Nighthawk amused me the most as his only power was he got a little bit stronger when it got dark. Not particularly useful especially when you already have The Hulk in your team (for some reason).

It was off its time and quite readable, which is more than can be said for Deathlok which I also revisited.

Then, in volume 6, the creative team changed and we had (mostly) David Anthony Kraft on words with Keith Giffen on art with strong support from Michael Golden. These were the issues that I most enjoyed the first time round and I enjoyed them again this time.

And this art like this a comic always has a good chance.

Kraft was stuck with the poor team and I think that the only physical fight the The Defenders actually won unambiguously was against Scorpio's Zodiac warriors in issue 48 (June 1977). Still, I do not read comics for the fight scenes and I find the idea of super-humans throwing punches at each other somewhat idiotic, I read them for the stories and the art and these issues of The Defenders delivered on both.