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Defenders, The #26: Review

Aug 1975
Steve Gerber, Vince Colletta

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Story Name:

Savage Time!

Review & Comments

Rating:
4 stars

Defenders, The #26 Review by (May 5, 2021)

Review: I have always been a sucker for future histories, ever since I read Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon. Which is a good thing since that’s what the bulk of this issue is about. It’s nice and provides some background for the events of the next several issues. All the detail wasn’t strictly necessary but I liked it and otherwise the issue wouldn’t have had much going on. No one really cares about Jack Norriss and he’s a pain in the butt for everyone, not just Val. And now we’re sending our series heroes into the future to romp in some more futuristic adventures.

Comments: Part two of five parts. The Guardians’ future has been named Earth-691; it seems to be the same timeline as Killraven and the War of the Worlds. Val refers to Dr. Strange as Steven instead of the correct Stephen. Gaspar Saladino lettered the first page. The letters page includes one from Jo Duffy, future Marvel writer/editor, including for THE DEFENDERS.





 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Defenders, The #26 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

Story continues from GIANT-SIZE DEFENDERS #5.

At the Palisades, Jack Norriss will still not accept the fact that Valkyrie is not his wife Barbara but a new person inhabiting Barbara’s body. He even forces a kiss on her which she highly resents. Suddenly there is an earthquake and Jack is hurled over the edge of a cliff. Val quickly mounts Aragorn and snatches him to safety…but there are no earthquake faults in New Jersey….

Back at the Sanctum Sanctorum, the Defenders are picking up reports of crazy weather all over the world and Doctor Strange attributes it to the temporal displacement caused by their visitors from the future, the Guardians of the Galaxy (Vance Astro, Charlie-27, Yondu, Martinex). There’s another factor too: Vance Astro exists in this timeline as a child as well, causing time trouble….

The Guardians’ ship, the U.S.S Captain America, has been discovered and is surrounded by the military and the media. Martinex exits with young Vance Astro and a violent confrontation seems imminent but Dr. Strange casts a spell that (apparently) teleports the ship to another location. The team makes the necessary repairs while Vance Astro gives young Vance (and the Defenders) a history of the world up until his era—of course omitting that he is talking about Earth and keeping his identity secret from the boy. Short version: In the late 20th century there was an ecological crisis then a cyborg uprising, then a world federation, followed by an invasion from Mars, leading to barbarism for 500 years. Then the world federation was revived, the planets were colonized, and the Badoon conquered (in AD 3007), wiping out much of the population but with the rise of a revolutionary underground the Guardians are part of. Strange then wipes the kid’s memory of all this and teleports him home. Valkyrie and Jack Norris arrive and are filled in on the situation. The Defenders (Dr. Strange, Hulk, Valkyrie, Nighthawk) join the Guardians aboard their ship with a view to joining them in their battle with the evil Badoon. The ship takes off for the future….


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Barberoids 1 cover original artwork on ebay

Vince Colletta
Vince Colletta
Irene Vartanoff
Gil Kane (Cover Penciler)
John Romita (Cover Inker)
? (Cover Colorist)
Layouts: Sal Buscema. Letterer: Karen Mantlo.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange

(Stephen Strange)
Hulk
Hulk

(Bruce Banner)
Nighthawk
Nighthawk

(Kyle Richmond)
Valkyrie
Valkyrie

(Brunnhilda)

Plus: Charlie-27, Defenders, Jack Norriss (Jackson Norriss), Martinex, Vance Astro (Major Victory).

> Defenders, The: Book info and issue index

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