Peter B. Gillis Big Comics Readthrough

Micronauts: The New Voyages #5 (1985) Pencils: Kelley Jones Inks: Pat Redding Following the peril and deathtraps of the opening issues, the Micronauts take advantage of the hospitality of small, friendly, shapeshifting aliens (known as the Children of the Dreaming Star) they met on the mirror world.  Jones draws fantastic alien tech. The impossible science of the Microverse bothered Gillis; Homeworld looks like a model of a molecule, with dowels connecting spheres. So who exactly made this crazy thing became a driving force of the storyline. Here the big cosmic revelation is that from a distance, their galaxy resembles a DNA spiral. Overall this issue is a welcome respite with nice, gentle character building. Each of the Micronauts bear emotional scars from their long battles, and must learn how to live again in times of peace. Micronauts: The New Voyages #6 (1985) Pencils: Kelley Jones Inks: Bruce Patterson Bill Mantlo established a love triangle of sorts between Rann, Mari a...

To reintroduce Micronauts and Moon Knight to newsstand distribution, Marvel relaunched both books from #1, with added subtitles. Nowadays titles often get relaunched on a yearly basis, but at the time it was practically unheard of. Sales wise this gambit didn't meet with success: Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu only lasted 6 issues. Thankfully  Micronauts: The New Voyages  fared somewhat better... Micronauts: The New Voyages #1-2 (1984) Pencils: Kelley Jones Inks: Bruce Patterson The opening scene introducing a sentient asteroid, absorbing periodic energy from its cepheid variable star, immediately establishes that New Voyages is going to be proper science fiction. Some might argue that it's Star Trek level, backed up by the space suited 'nauts and a "Ship's log" recap, but it's still at a level rarely seen in mainstream US comics. The Micros jet off in their shiny new Endeavor starship, seeking new worlds to relax in. A convenient hyperspace malfunction qui...

Following the success of their Star Wars comic in the late 70's, Marvel licensed several short lived toy lines, searching for a similar mass market hit. Bill Mantlo developed Mego's Micronauts action figures into a hit series, alongside the inspired pencils of Michael Golden. This sci-fantasy title clearly riffed on Star Wars, although as Peter Gillis pointed out, the model for the series was closer to George Lucas' inspiration, Flash Gordon (or if you want to travel further back to the root, John Carter). All the archetypes are present; the otherworld hero, the feisty princess, the dashing rogue, the stoic warrior king, and of course the bickering robot servants. Following Golden's departure after the first year, The Micronauts became stuck in a cycle of repeating story arcs and diminishing returns. The title was only saved from cancellation by a pioneering move to direct sales only, along with fellow strugglers Ka-Zar and Moon Knight . The microscopic heroes would p...

Cancellation of The New Defenders was officially announced in Spring of 1985, with 7 issues still to print. So Peter Gillis had time to ensure the title went out with a real bang.  The New Defenders #149-150 (1985) Pencils: Don Perlin Inks: Art Nichols, Dell Barras, Alan Kupperberg, Randy Emberlin Cloud's origin is finally revealed, with a little help from Seraph. Cloud turns out to be a sentient nebula, befriended by the star roaming Cosmic Cube from Gillis' early stories . Surrounding stars begin disappearing, so Captain America groupie the Cube sends Cloud to Earth to find help. Once on Earth, Cloud witnesses teenage couple Carol and Danny crash their car. She decides to take their forms to blend in, but the shock renders her amnesiac. Which is the state the Secret Empire later found her in, implanting false memories of a life on Earth. If this all sounds overly convoluted, that's because it is.  Visiting Carol and Danny in a coma proves enough to restore Cloud's mem...

The New Defenders #145 (1985) Pencils: Don Perlin Inks: Art Nichols The remains of the New Defs take a moment to feel sorry for themselves post battle in Five Women , the flipside of the earlier Three Women. On a side note, this team had an impressively gender balanced lineup by 80's standards. With Moondragon fled, Cloud injured and Angel blinded, the remaining Defenders find themselves at a low ebb and consider calling it a day. Luckily old Champions teammate Johnny Blaze rides in to cheer up the ex-X-Men contingent. It's a quiet, talky issue for reflection and setting up future plotlines, with Seraph returning and the mystery of Andromeda. Departing inker DeMulder is replaced with the mismatched Art Nichols, who rather swamps Perlin in an ugly ink heavy style. The New Defenders #146-7 (1985) Pencils: Luke McDonnell, Don Perlin Inks: Art Nichols The battered Defenders take refuge at Doctor Strange's sanctum, searching for a cure for Warren's blindness. Brunnhilde'...

The New Defenders #140 (1985) Pencils: Don Perlin Inks: Kim DeMulder The Heartbreak Kid is a very odd story, even by PBG's standards. Half the team investigate a disturbance on the small town of Abbotsford. Danny Shepard, an unrepentant teenage boy is awaiting trial, accused of raping his black teacher. The Defenders arrive to find rifle wielding racists in unsubtle Nazi outfits attacking the crowd gathered outside. In the ensuing court case, Danny comes clean and admits what happened; his (presumably mutant) power had kicked in to absorb bad memories, or heartbreak, from people. Danny had taken the pain of a forced adoption from his teacher, which left her confused and feeling defiled. He then walks out of court, taking everyone's secret emotional pain with him, like some revered faith healer. The Defenders play a mostly passive role again, with newly reformed Moondragon taking the lead, worryingly gung ho with her mental control. She sports a fetching new costume in black an...

What can be difficult to get across on capsule reviews is the nuance of character interaction that makes New Defenders special. Peter Gillis rarely wasted a line of dialogue without revealing some aspect of a personality or how they interplay with others. The early focus on their personal lives was on the unusual love triangle between Iceman, Cloud and Moondragon. To understand that, we need to first delve into some complex backstories. Cloud is a new DeMatteis character, first appearing in #123 as a brainwashed agent of the Secret Empire, alongside Seraph and Harridan. Once freed from their control, she joined the New Defenders, although her past and origin remained a mystery. Maiden, Mother & Crone Moondragon has a much more complex and morally ambiguous history. Heather Douglas first appeared in an early Iron Man as a bathing suited mad scientist with a submarine, calling herself Madame MacEvil. Which as supervillain names go, is right up there with Boaty McBoatface. Steve Ger...

Not only had Peter Gillis inherited a team of little known oddballs for his Defenders run, he also had to contend with their lack of agency. Beast had transformed them from a 'non-team' who banded together when required, to a more traditional outfit living together in a hero headquarters. Bizarrely, just before the end of his run, J.M. DeMatteis had relocated them to Angel's holiday home on a clifftop in New Mexico. Although this made for a unique setting, there are a whole lot less supervillains (roughly zero) in New Mexico than New York. Gillis got around this flaw by making them a passive team, where trouble came to them every issue, the majority of it self inflicted. This had the knock on effect of making the team seem aimless and redundant. Their enemies were largely supernatural in nature, and certainly on the weirder end of the spectrum. I'll look at the first few setup issues individually, until it becomes more interwoven.. The New Defenders #131 (1984) Plot: J...