The Defenders #1
The Defenders #1 marks the formal launch of one of Marvel's most distinctive team concepts: a self-described 'non-team' of individualistic, often antagonistic outsiders who resisted the structured hierarchy of the Avengers. By giving Doctor Strange, the Hulk, and Namor their own ongoing title after a successful tryout run in Marvel Feature, Marvel proved there was an audience for a superhero ensemble built around character tension rather than camaraderie. The issue also introduced Necrodamus and planted early narrative threads — including a mystery around the Silver Surfer — that established serial, multi-issue storytelling as a defining trait of the title's DNA from the very first issue. The series that launched here would run until 1986 and spawn multiple revivals, a Netflix television adaptation, and enduring debates about what a 'team' comic even needs to be.
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The Defenders grew out of a trio of tryout issues in the anthology title Marvel Feature (1971–72), all scripted by Roy Thomas and drawn by Ross Andru, which proved commercially strong enough for Marvel to greenlight a dedicated series. For the ongoing title, Thomas moved into the editor's chair and handed writing duties to Steve Englehart — at that point a relative newcomer whose main Marvel assignment was the Beast feature in Amazing Adventures — while Sal Buscema, who had previously drawn the 'Titans Three' storyline in Sub-Mariner, replaced Andru as penciler. Stan Lee is credited as editor-in-chief on the issue, and Wikipedia notes that it was Lee who likely coined the team name 'Defenders,' a choice Thomas found too passive for his own taste. The story's villain, Necrodamus, ties back to the Undying Ones mythology that Thomas had seeded across Doctor Strange #183, Sub-Mariner #22, and Incredible Hulk #126 — a pre-existing continuity web that Englehart wove into the series from the outset.
Trivia · 7 facts
- Written by Steve Englehart, penciled by Sal Buscema, inked by Frank Giacoia, lettered by Artie Simek, with the cover inked by Jim Mooney over Buscema's pencils.
- Credited editor-in-chief: Stan Lee; series editor: Roy Thomas (who had written all prior Defenders appearances and moved to the editorial seat for the ongoing).
- First appearance of Necrodamus, a sorcerer and servant of the extradimensional Undying Ones, who attempts to sacrifice Namor in a stellar-alignment ritual.
- The story's title is 'I Slay By the Stars!' — the plot sees the Hulk discover an unconscious, energy-shielded Namor, seek out Doctor Strange, and the three Defenders foil Necrodamus by outlasting the stars' alignment window; the closing revelation that the Silver Surfer knocked out Namor sets up the next issue's storyline.
- The Nightcrawler entry in this issue's character index (per the Grand Comics Database) is listed as a flashback appearance of Kurt Wagner — pre-dating Nightcrawler's full first appearance in Giant-Size X-Men #1 (1975) by approximately three years.
- The issue has been reprinted in: Essential Defenders Vol. 1 (2005), Marvel Masterworks: The Defenders Vol. 1 (2008), Marvel Firsts: The 1970s (2011), and The Defenders Omnibus (2020/2021), among other international editions.
- The series this issue launched ran 152 issues (through January 1985, the final stretch under the title The New Defenders), with Doctor Strange and the Hulk serving as the most consistent members throughout its 13-year run.
Cast · 9 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Necrodamus attempts to sacrifice Namor to the Nameless One. Omegatron starts it's countdown again.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).