Facebook Marketplace is where I have found cheap furniture for our apartment. Me and the boyfriend bought our living room comfy chair for $30 along with a used TV stand for $50. As I was browsing through Facebook Marketplace, I found someone selling a complete run of the 1980s Defenders from Marvel. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to acquire these comics for my collection. Three months later, I have read every single comic in the stack. It surprised me how little I knew about this supergroup.

Before Luke Cage, Iron Fist, or Jessica Jones, there was Doctor Strange..? The Defenders in the 1980s comics I had been reading were led by Doctor Strange featuring the Hulk, Valkyrie, Namor, and Nighthawk. Nighthawk was a supervillain belonging to the Squadron Sinister attempting to flood the Earth by melting the polar ice caps which by the way aren’t we as a population doing that already? Realizing how horrible this would be, he seeks out The Defenders who defeat Nebulon, a golden god reminding me of David Bowie in comic book form. Nighthawk becomes a hero and fights for the Defenders trying to right his wrongs.

Guest appearances include the Silver Surfer, Hawkeye, and Luke Cage before he became a full-fledged member of the Defenders and the Fantastic Four. Hellcat aka. Patsy Walker also appears in a couple of the comics as a friend to the Defenders. One of my favorite issues features a comic inspired by Dr.Seuss and shows the Defenders being transported to a cartoon-themed planet.

As someone who is relatively new to comics, I’m a huge fan of reading older series. This comic run helped shape the comics universe and we wouldn’t have the new Defenders without Doctor Strange or The Hulk.