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The Defenders is the name of a number of Marvel Comics superhero groups which are usually presented as a "non-team" of individualistic "outsiders", each known for following their own agendas. The team often battled mystic and supernatural threats. Its original incarnation was led by Doctor Strange and included the Hulk, Namor, and, eventually, the Silver Surfer. They first appeared as The Defenders in ''Marvel Feature'' #1 (Dec. 1971). The group had a rotating line-up from 1972 until 1986, with Dr. Strange and the Hulk being more or less constant members along with a number of other mainstays such as Valkyrie, Nighthawk, Hellcat, the Gargoyle, Beast, the Son of Satan and Luke Cage, and a large number of temporary members. The publication was retitled near the end of the run as ''The New Defenders'' but featured none of the original members and only Valkyrie, the Beast and the Gargoyle of the former long-term members. The concept was modified in the 1993–95 series ''Secret Defenders,'' in which Dr. Strange assembled different teams for each individual mission. Later, the original team was reunited in a short-lived series by Kurt Busiek and Erik Larsen. In the 2000s, Marvel published a new miniseries featuring the classic line-up. Writer Matt Fraction and artist Terry Dodson launched a new Defenders series in December 2011. ==Publication history== The origin of the Defenders lies in two crossover story arcs by Roy Thomas prior to the official founding of the team. The first, in ''Doctor Strange'' #183 (Nov. 1969), ''Sub-Mariner'' #22 (Feb. 1970), and ''The Incredible Hulk'' #126 (April 1970) occurred when the ''Dr. Strange'' series was canceled and the storyline was completed in the other series. Dr. Strange teams with Sub-Mariner, then the Hulk to protect the Earth from invasion by Lovecraftian inter-planar beings known as the Undying Ones and their leader, the Nameless One. Barbara Norriss, later the host of the Valkyrie, first appears in this story. In the second arc featured in ''Sub-Mariner'' #34-35, (Feb.–March 1971), Namor enlists the aid of the Silver Surfer and the Hulk to stop a potentially devastating weather control experiment, inadvertently freeing a small island nation from a dictator and facing the Avengers under the unofficial name of the "Titans Three". The Defenders first appeared as a feature in ''Marvel Feature'' #1 (Dec. 1971), where the founding members gathered to battle the alien techno-wizard Yandroth, and remained as a team afterward. Due to the popularity of their tryout in ''Marvel Feature'', Marvel soon began publishing ''The Defenders''.〔Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 156: "The Defenders moved into their own bimonthly comic book with ''The Defenders'' #1, written by Steve Englehart and penciled by Sal Buscema."〕 Valkyrie was introduced to the team in issue #4 (Feb. 1973).〔Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 158: "() Enchantress of Asgard, endowed Barbara Norriss with the consciousness, physical appearance, and superhuman powers of Brunnhilde, leader of the Valkyries."〕 Writer Steve Englehart has stated that he added the Valkyrie to the Defenders "to provide some texture to the group." Englehart wrote "The Avengers-Defenders War" crossover in ''The Avengers'' #116-118 (Oct.–Dec. 1973) and ''The Defenders'' #9-11 (Oct.–Dec. 1973).〔Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 160: "Loki and Dormammu manipulated two super-teams into the Avengers-Defenders war starting in ''The Avengers'' #116 and ''The Defenders'' #9 in October."〕 Len Wein briefly wrote the series〔DeAngelo p. 6〕 and introduced such characters as Alpha the Ultimate Mutant〔Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 166: "Professor Charles Xavier teamed up with the Defenders to oppose Magneto, the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and Magneto's creation, Alpha the Ultimate Mutant."〕 and the Wrecking Crew.〔Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 167: "The Wrecker joined with fellow super-powered convicts to become the criminal Wrecking Crew."〕 He later became the editor for several issues. Steve Gerber first worked on the characters in ''Giant-Size Defenders'' #3 (January 1975) and became the writer of the main title with issue #20 the following month.〔DeAngelo p. 7〕 He wrote the series until issue #41 (Nov. 1976).〔(Steve Gerber's run on ''The Defenders'' ) at the Grand Comics Database〕 Part of Gerber's oeuvre was reviving forgotten characters; he brought back three pre-Marvel characters, the Headmen,〔Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 169: "Writer Steve Gerber teamed up three villains from old Marvel science fiction stories...as the Headmen, a group of would-be criminal masterminds"〕 as well as the Guardians of the Galaxy.〔Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 170: "In this story line by writer Steve Gerber and artist Sal Buscema, the Defenders had traveled to an alternate future, in which they aided the Guardians of the Galaxy against Earth's conquerors, the alien Brotherhood of the Badoon."〕 The Defenders met Gerber's Howard the Duck in ''Marvel Treasury Edition'' #12 (1976).〔(''Marvel Treasury Edition'' #12 (1976) ) at the Grand Comics Database〕 In 2010, Comics Bulletin ranked Gerber and Sal Buscema's run on ''The Defenders'' first on its list of the "Top 10 1970s Marvels". David Anthony Kraft's run as writer〔(David Anthony Kraft's run on ''The Defenders'' ) at the Grand Comics Database〕 included "The Scorpio Saga" (issues #46, 48–50) and the "Xenogenesis: Day of the Demons" storyline (issues #58-60).〔DeAngelo p. 9-11〕 "The Defender for a Day" storyline in issues #62-64 saw dozens of new applicants attempting to join the Defenders, as well as a number of villains attempting to present themselves as Defenders members in order to confuse the authorities and the public as they commit robberies. Kraft later recalled that reactions to the story's off-beat humor were polarized: "readers were either wildly enthusiastic or absolutely and ''very'' utterly appalled." Kraft and artist Ed Hannigan explained some of the Valykrie's backstory in ''The Defenders'' #66-68 (Dec. 1978-Feb. 1979). Steven Grant wrote a conclusion to Steve Gerber's ''Omega the Unknown'' series in two issues of ''The Defenders'',〔DeAngelo p. 11〕 at the end of which most of the original series' characters were killed. While Gerber seemed unhappy with Grant's conclusion, it nevertheless tied up the loose ends of the comic series, and is considered "canon" by Marvel.〔Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 190: "Writer Steven Grant devised this wrap-up of the Omega story line, killing off the other protagonist, James-Michael Starling. The mysterious connection between Omega and Starling was never elaborated upon."〕 Writer J. M. DeMatteis took over the series with issue #92. Coming from a background of writing eight-page horror shorts for DC Comics, DeMatteis found it a struggle to adapt to writing a 22-page superhero comic on a monthly basis. He and Mark Gruenwald co-wrote ''The Defenders'' #107-109 (May–July 1982), which resolved remaining plot points from the Valkyrie story by Kraft and Hannigan published three years earlier.〔DeAngelo p. 13〕 While working on the series, DeMatteis developed a strong friendship with penciler Don Perlin,〔 who would draw the series for nearly half its run. During his run, Perlin recalled, he became what he has characterized as "the first guy, unwittingly, to put profanity in 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Defenders (comics)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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