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Defenders #15

Sep 1974

Len Wein, Sal Buscema

Story Name:

Panic Beneath The Earth?

Synopsis

Defenders #15 synopsis by Fabian D'Souza

Rating:

Doctor Strange is giving a guided tour of his Sanctum Sanctorum to Nighthawk. He finally reveals the Cauldron of the cosmos in his Chamber of Meditation where, he ponders over the riddles of the cosmos. Later, Doctor Strange asks Valkyrie if she has changed her mind about quitting and she replies in the negative, since she has to find out more about a girl called Barbara. Valkyrie wonders aloud what to do with Aragon. Nighthawk tells her not to worry and asks his friend Pennysworth to purchase a stable for Aragon. Just as Valkyrie is about to thank him, they find Doctor Strange talking to someone they can't see, upon which, Doctor Strange makes Professor X's physiognomy visible to them. Xavier apologizes for his sudden visit, and explains that he urgently needs their help to stop a cataclysmic threat. He says that he would have called the X-Men had they not been away on another mission. Doctor Strange says that they will oblige Xavier and Xavier tells them to meet him at the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. Thereafter, Doctor Strange summons Hulk saying that they will need his incredible power for this undertaking. After everyone arrives at Xavier's destination, they enter the cave. Doctor Strange lights the cave with the Eye of Aggamotto when suddenly, they perceive an enormous Cyclopean Monster. Hulk leaps at it but it smites him down. Valkyrie and Nighthawk are then caught by it; Doctor Strange blasts it with the bolts of bedevilment but to no avail. Xavier then concentrates and dispels the monster. Just as he is about to explain to the others about the monster being an illusion and the one controlling it, all of them are blasted by Magneto.

Subsequent to regaining consciousness, the Defenders discover themselves ensnared within an indestructible magnetic bubble. Magneto then proclaims that after the one asleep behind him awakens, mutants will be at the vanguard of global dealings. Doctor Strange asks him how he got there, since he was supposed to be in the Avengers' custody. Magneto explicates that once Vision defeated him, Thor proposed sending him to the Earth's core in an energy bubble thus rendering him powerless because of the Earth's magnetic forces being in ideal equilibrium there. However, after many months due to the passing of a comet, the magnetic forces trapping him were marred thus liberating him. He then surrounded himself in a magnetic field and kept rising above, till he thought he had reached the surface. He then realized that he was in a cave that was filled with the remnants of a very advanced civilization. He says that he translated and studied their books and technology until he found something that was so astounding that he felt the need to divulge it. He then enlisted Blob, Mastermind, Unus and Lorelei after re-surfacing. Xavier then asks who the one asleep behind Magneto is, but gets no answer and Magneto starts to leave. Xavier then telepathically tells the others to concentrate on the magnetic field since thoughts being electrical in nature would nullify magnetism. They do so and are free just as Magneto orders Blob, Mastermind, Unus and Lorelei to ATTACK!

Hulk finding his punches useless on the spongy Blob, lifts him into the air and clobbers him unconscious. Valkyrie finds that her sword cannot pierce Unus's forcefield but as he grabs her thus deactivating his field, she hits him straight into Hulk who nails him. Doctor Strange, bewildered by Masterminds holographic monsters, makes several illusions of himself thus confounding Mastermind and overpowers him with a magic bolt. Xavier and Nighthawk are frozen by Lorelei but Xavier concentrates and manages to activate Nighthawk's jetpack, sending him careening into Lorelei. Doctor Strange says that they have to stop Magneto but Magneto says that their efforts would be futile. He says that he has already put the final phase of his plan into action and points to the glass compartment, which is now shaking violently. Just then, the entire compartment is filled with a light so bright, that the defenders are forced to look away. Magneto tells the Defenders not to miss this phenomenal moment and to behold the ultimate mutant that will make him the undisputed ruler of mankind.

Review / Commentaries

Defenders #15 Review by Peter Silvestro (January 19, 2021)

Comments: Part one of two parts. The X-Men are absent on the mission that was mentioned in MARVEL TEAM-UP #23 and comes to fruition in the classic GIANT-SIZE X-MEN #1. This Lorelei is not the sister of Amora from the Thor titles but a mutant named Lani Ubanu, introduced in X-MEN #63. First (shadowed) appearance of Alpha, the Ultimate Mutant. Magneto’s account of the aftermath of his defeat in AVENGERS #111 contains mostly new material (and the Vision is drawn inaccurately as he is in disguise in the previous issue).

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This comic is in the following collection:

Collecting SUB-MARINER (1968) #34-35, MARVEL FEATURE (1971) #1-3, DEFENDERS (1972) #1-19, GIANT-SIZE DEFENDERS #1-2, and AVENGERS (1963) #115 (B STORY) and #116-118.

Excelsioring your collection:

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Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Len Wein

Sal Buscema

Klaus Janson

Sal Buscema (Cover Penciler)

Listed in alphabetical order. All stories.

Blob
(Fred Dukes)

Defenders

Doctor Strange
(Stephen Strange)

Hulk
(Robert Bruce Banner)

Magneto

Mastermind
(Jason Wyngarde)

Nighthawk
(Kyle Richmond)

Professor X
(Charles Xavier)

Valkyrie
(Brunnhilda)

X-Men

Plus: Lorelei (Lani Ubanu), Unus (Gunther Bain).

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Defenders #15

Panic Beneath The Earth?

Synopsis

Review / Commentaries