Defender Comics and other books

When it comes to reading, I made a few post Christmas purchases concerning books and comics. 

I now have all of the first 125 Defenders with the exception of #26-#30 (120/125). Maybe I can finally figure out what went on with Barbra and Valkyrie.  Also at 55, that much closer to fulfilling my 12 year old dream of reading them all. 

Curious thing is issue #26-30 deal with an early Guardians of the Galaxy team up with the Defenders and it looks completely different than the Guardians we know from the Marvel movies.  So at some point, I'm really going to want to read these.

I also picked up 3 Terry Goodkind books in Sturgis Kentucky and received 5 new Terry Brooks for Christmas in Lola Kentucky.   One of the Terry Goodkind books was the hardback version of Debt of Bones, which I have read - but I had never seen this version of the book before.

I also received a NASB 1995 and a NASB 2020 Bible.  Lastly I hauled home a huge 1903 Catholic Handbook.

This should be enough reading to keep me entertained for a while.

The Avengers/Defenders

Marvel Comics has had many superhero groups.  Only two were used to high light superheros. Almost every major superhero that has been on one of these two Teams. The Avengers and The Defenders.  Not including guests, I decided to map the members of both and show the superheros that have been members of both.

The Defenders: * (** founding member)
The Avengers: + (++ founding member)

Angel (Warren_Worthington_III) *
Ant-Man / Giant-man / Yellowjacket (Hank Pym) * ++
Beast (Henry "Hank" McCoy) * +
Black Knight  * +
Black Panther +
Black Widow (Natalia Romanova) +
Captain America (Steve Rogers) +
Captain Marvel (Carol Danver) +
Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau) +
Clea *
Devil Slayer (Eric Simon Payne) *
Doctor Druid +
Doctor Strange (Stephen Strange) **
Falcon +
Gargoyle (Isaac Christians) *
Goliath  +
Hawkeye (Clint Barton) * +
Hell Cat (Patsy Walker) * +
Hercules +
Hulk (Bruce Banner) ** ++
Iceman (Robert Drake) *
Iron Man (Tony Stark) ++
Mantis +
Moondragon * +
Nighthawk *
Power Man (Luke Cage) * +
Quicksilver +
Red Guardian (Tania Belinsky) *
Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) +
She Hulk +
Silver Surfer *
Son of Satan (Damon Hellstorm) *
Spiderman +
Sub-Mariner (Namor) **
Swordsman (Jacques Duquesne) +
Thor +
Vision +
Wasp +
Wonder Man (Simon Williams) +
Valkyrie *

1973 comics to 2017 movies

The newest Thor movie, Thor: Ragnarok, had everyone pretty excited.  The movie appeared to be something new for Marvel with the particular paring of super heroes.  I must say I enjoyed the movie.  But the movie was not a completely original Marvel work of art. In reality, back in 1973, Marvel had Valkrie, Thor, Hulk, Dr Strange, and Loki all together then.  Yes, the story scenario is much different, but there are similarities. Starting Feb 1973, The Defenders vol 1 issue 4 - the super hero group, The Defenders consisted of Dr. Strange, Sub-Mariner, Hulk, and Valkyrie (This was her first appearance with Defenders, issue she joins the team.)

I didn't read these early Defenders growing up.  I did not start reading The Defenders 'till issue 105.
By then, these comics had become much more soap-opera like.

Valkyrie of the old comics is not the same as the Valkyrie of the movies, The spirit of the Asgardian has possessed the body of an earth woman in the early Marvel world.

In the movie, the big sell was having Thor and the Hulk fight. In the 1973 issue 10 of The Defenders, that is exactly what happens. I thought this was the first time the two fought each other, but this comic was 3 time out of 15 times in the comic.  But this comic is a gem with many pages of the two muscles fighting each other.  The fight ended in a draw.

 Few snap shots of panels drawn of the fight.

 Here is a good summary of Thor vs Hulk

 https://www.cbr.com/thor-vs-hulk-biggest-comic-book-fights/