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 whole complete run of the 1980’s Defenders from Marvel. I couldn’t pass 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 super group.

Doctor Strange started the Defenders? *photo taken by me*

Before Luke Cage, Iron Fist or Jessica Jones, there was Doctor Strange..? The Defenders in the 1980’s comics I had been reading were led by Doctor Strange featuring the Hulk, Valkyrie, Namor and Nighthawk. Nighthawk was a super villain 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, 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.

Dr. Seuss inspired Defenders comic. *photo taken by me*

After finishing this comic book run, I wanted to know for myself when did Luke Cage, Iron Fist and Jessica Jones become involved with the Defenders. Luke Cage was written into the Defenders in the series Secret Defenders which was released in May 1994 along with IronFist. Both Daredevil and Jessica Jones weren’t introduced to the Defenders until the release of Defenders Vol. 5 in 2015.

I finally read all of these!

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. There are two things I learned from the Defenders comic series: #1: The Defenders didn’t start out as the team I originally knew and #2 Facebook marketplace can be useful in acquiring vintage comics.