In 30 issues, the original 1972 defender volume finally hit Peak Steve Gerber’s absurdity.
Certainly, the book had absurd moments under various writers (this is a series, and you may remember, as Len Wine was the brotherhood of Magneto and the evil mutant, and did that for years). And Gerber was odd throughout his previous run. The problems collected in Defenders Epic Collection: World Gone San aren’t that the book ultimately hit the most flashy Dadaist trail.
Gerber was not someone who didn’t know what would make Marvel strange. He handed over the adventure to the terrifying man in 1972, and introduced Howard the Duck to the book exactly a year after he got his job. For years since he became synonymous with the two characters (especially Howard).
Amazing
But Gerber wasn’t just Mackman and the duck guy. He wrote everywhere in the 1970s. Here the run at Daredevil, and the son of Satan’s son there, Gerber was becoming a trusted and trustworthy fill-inwriter. As his career at Marvel progressed, he began to jump more and more and more to the off-wall. Supported by legendary artist Sal Buscema, Gerber is handed the keys to two classic characters, Dr. Strange and Hulk, allowing him to build the weirdness with the team he wanted around them.
Amazing
The world built around the defenders is home to members of the cult who face evil fawns, gun-bearing elves and clowns. Brains are exchanged, prisons riot and presidents shrink. Things become dopey without leaning the title completely into parody territory. These are still superhero stories. They are stories of superheroes who appreciate open-ended creativity.
Amazing
The world’s sanity begins with the Guardians of the Galaxy crossover (he says this is the tame thing the book got). The rest of the book balances with two contradictory villain subplots by the grotesque headman, and one by Nebron, the heavenly man. The principal accuses Nighthawk and while he exchanges brains, Nebron attempts to take over the planet as a modest cult leader.
Amazing
With both threats coexist, the defender is always on his back and is totally confused as to why these things are happening. As a result, the book feels like a non-stop barrage of odd weirdness, escalating to infinitely escalating. It’s always fascinating.
Defender Epic Collection: World Gone Thane celebrates the absurdity of Marvel’s universe, allowing major characters to bump into something hilarious without losing touch with the self-spirited melodrama. It is a book by a legendary creator who utilized the title to expand on what Marvel’s story is.
“Defender Epic Collection: World Gone Sane” hits peak absurdity
Defender Epic Collection: World Gone Sane
Allowing the main characters to oppose absurdity without losing their self-spiritual nature, playing with the tone of the world’s sanity of the universe.
It’s fun and funny.
Absurd every turn.
The best classic creator.
A spacious and interesting cast.
Sometimes I lose threads.
