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Defenders #89

Nov 1980
Ed Hannigan, Pablo Marcos

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Story Name:

A Death in the Family!


Synopsis

Defenders #89 synopsis by Peter Silvestro
Rating: 4 stars

Hellcat and Valkyrie, the latter bearing the unconscious form of Bruce Banner, arrive at Kyle Richmond’s penthouse apartment to find his lawyer Milton Rosenblum arguing with IRS Agents planning to seize Kyle’s property. Kyle takes a phone call from Clea and must inform Patsy that her mother has died. The group goes over to the home of Doctor Strange, where Clea makes them welcome. Kyle and Bruce go out to buy suits for the funeral (though Bruce still doesn’t have one in the next issue); Patsy asks Val to wear her original costume which had been transformed by Clea some time earlier. With a simple spell, Clea changes it back….

Lawyer Matt Murdock goes to Kyle Richmond’s penthouse but there is no answer to his knock. He discovers that the apartment has been sealed by order of the IRS. Matt hears the Fem-Force arriving to kidnap Hellcat and Valkyrie on orders from Mandrill. Matt switches to Daredevil but the Fems toss a grenade in the room, which explodes, interfering with DD’s senses of hearing and smell. DD tries his best against the Fem-Force but he is overwhelmed and shot with a tranquilizer gun. They report back to their boss who tells them to bring the stunned hero back to their base….

At Mrs. Walker’s graveside, Patsy pours out her mixed emotions for a mother who always wanted the perfect daughter, which put a strain on the relationship. Afterwards, they meet Mrs. Walker’s housekeeper and friend, Dolly Donahue, and Patsy, who has inherited the house, invites the Defenders to stay with her for a time. So they return to the spacious home in Montclair, New Jersey, and settle in. Patsy takes Kyle to the attic to show him her mother’s magazines: Mom wanted Patsy to be  a child model but Patsy didn’t want to so Mom turned her daughter into the star of a series of comic books, based on her Mom’s idealized version of her. Patsy rebelled by marrying her childhood sweetheart Buzz Baxter but the marriage failed. After the divorce Patsy cut herself off from her old life, becoming a superhero….

Dolly sends Valkyrie to the store to pick up some groceries and moments later realizes that Val probably doesn’t carry money. She dispatches Bruce with the funds to the store. On the way, Bruce is roughed up by some local punks and he becomes the Hulk, scaring them off. Hulk proceeds to the supermarket where an armed robbery is in progress. Val and Hulk take care of the crooks though Val loses the shopping list in the confusion. So Hulk fills the shopping cart with cans of beans, pays for them, coming up a bit short but the manager decides to forgo it as a reward for stopping the robbery.

That evening, only Hulk enjoys the supper of beans. Later, at Dolly’s request, Kyle uses his Nighthawk wings to fly up to the roof and adjust the TV antenna. That night, Kyle is unable to sleep because of flashing lights and passing trains, ensuring he is still tired when he must rise and appear in court….

Daredevil awakens and his senses tell him he is in a bank vault….



 

Review / Commentaries


Defenders #89 Review by (May 15, 2024)

Review: So after all these years, we finally have a backstory for Patsy Walker, not that we necessarily needed one. The clever part is how it ties together Marvel’s funny comics and superhero comics, in an oddly meta kind of way, since Millie the Model is also part of the MU, without any complicated explanations. For some subtle humor, Patsy’s facial expressions while recounting her dark past are taken from various romance mags while the adventure of Hulk and Val at the market has a “funny comic” vibe to it. And for some superhero action they had to import Daredevil which may be the funniest bit of all.

And I won’t mention the famous dirty word—not until the Comments, at least.

Comments: Part one of three parts. Hellcat’s origin is revealed: and yes, PATSY WALKER was a real comic book published by Timely-Atlas-Marvel for 124 issues between 1945 and 1965; Patsy was moved into the superhero part of Marvel in AMAZING ADVENTURES (1970 series) #13 and became Hellcat in AVENGERS #144. Valkyrie’s costume was magically changed in issue #47. Mandrill was the baddie in issues #79, 80, 85 and onward, sort of. Issue includes a map of the Walker house and its surroundings, for some reason. Co-plotted by David Anthony Kraft and Ed Hannigan; Mark Gruenwald and Steven Grant are credited with ideas and continuity contributions. It’s big notoriety, aside from providing a backstory for Patsy Walker and her comic book career, is that on page 2, panel 2, artist Don Perlin snuck in a dirty word as a joke for his co-workers and to his surprise, no one caught it and it appeared in the comic as published; the word is still there on Marvel Unlimited.  



> Defenders comic book info and issue index

Elektra
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Excelsioring your collection:
Marvel Legends in 3D Comic Daredevil 1:2 Scale Bust
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Pablo Marcos
Pablo Marcos
George Roussos
Michael Netzer (Cover Penciler)
Joe Rubinstein (Cover Inker)
George Roussos (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Layouts: Don Perlin. Letterer: Diana Albers.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Bruce Banner
Bruce Banner

(Robert Bruce Banner)
Daredevil
Daredevil

(Matt Murdock)
Hellcat
Hellcat

(Patricia Walker)
Hulk
Hulk

(Robert Bruce Banner)
Nighthawk
Nighthawk

(Kyle Richmond)
Valkyrie
Valkyrie

(Brunnhilda)

Plus: Milton Rosenblum.