Essential Defenders, Vol. 5

Essential Defenders #5

by Don Perlin, Mike Zeck (Contributor), Jerry Bingham (Contributor)

The further adventures of the team that's not a team! Hulk! Dr. Strange! Namor! Silver Surfer! Hellcat, Valkyrie, and Nighthawk! Son of Satan, Devil-Slayer, Clea, Gargoyle, and the Beast! As several Defenders struggle to manage the mistakes of their past, the team must face their deadliest threat, the demonic cabal, the Six-Fingered Hand! Guest-starring Dracula, Ghost Rider, Man-Thing, Spider-Man, Mr. Fantastic, Daredevil, Thor, Captain America, and Wonder Man! Versus the threats of Nebulon the Celestial Man, Secret Empire, Null the Living Darkness, the Serpent-Men, and more! Collects Defenders (1972) #92-106, Marvel Team-Up (1972) #101, #111, #116, and Captain America (1968) #268.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Comic Book, Graphic Novels, Superheroes

448 pages, Paperback

First published April 10, 1982

About the author

Don Perlin is an American comic book artist, writer, and editor. He is best known for Marvel Comics' Werewolf by Night, Moon Knight, The Defenders, and Ghost Rider. In the 1990s, he worked for Valiant Comics, both as artist and editor.

Reviews

[Baba]

Collects The Defenders #92–106 and Marvel Team-Up #101, 111, 116. (I couldn't find Captain America #268). Most notable events are the Gargoyle and then the Beast joining. J.M DeMatteis, Don Perlin etc, together bring a marked improvement to the series, albeit from an ongoing low! - 5 out of 12.

2017 read

[Brian]

The 1980s...where anything could happen and usually did in the pages of The DEFENDERS~!
This series had an Amazing cast of B-lister (and some even further down the alphabet) characters... but the writer (J.M. DeMatteis) does an outstand job of telling really, really offbeat and weird tales... and transitions away from the arrogant & too powerful NAMOR, STRANGE & SURFER... these stories introduces and develops more interesting and complex characters like GARGOYLE, and a personal favorite of mine, DEVIL-SLAYER~!

and don't get put off by the art... it's some of the best layouts of the time...remember: the Artist had to draw a whole Cast of Characters every 30 days....

Enjoy

[Brent]

The Defenders continue to do what they do. Which is having weird adventures. The Gargoyle is a great addition to the team.

[Travis]

This is when I started collecting Defenders regularly.
Before I'd pick up the occasional issue, usually if the Hulk or some other hero I liked was on the cover, but during this run, I had more steady income for my comic habit and the series started to get weird and interesting.
JM Dematteis started playing a long game, creating a more solid core to the team, setting up lots of long story arcs that paid off in interesting ways and breathing life into some cool looking, but generally meh characters.

I mean, did anyone really care about Devil slayer or the son of Satan before...?
Along with a regular writer, the team got a regular art team.
The art is nothing fancy, but has a solid, consistent look, that I appreciated.

The melodrama with Nighthawk dragged on and on, but otherwise, I love this era of the Defenders.

[Rexhurne]

i found much of the earlier volumes quite boring, but i actually quite like this set. The overarching storyline against demons was enjoyable. lots of dark elements in what was mostly a comical series. Nice to see all of the devil familiy (satan, mephisto etc). I thought they were the same guy in the marvel universe but apparently they're brothers. The satanic part of the marvel universe wasn't around that much before, so it was interesting to see it explored more.

[Little Timmy]

I read these comics way back when I was a kid. The Defenders are an iconic comic team. Great read and an important part of the Marvel comics mythos. Very recommended