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.
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| Maiden, Mother & Crone |
J.M. DeMatteis had both Angel and Iceman lusting after Moondragon from the outset, irritating ickiness that Peter Gillis thankfully dropped. Instead, Gillis establishes an Iceman crush on teenage Cloud, who is in turn crushing on Moondragon. And if you're wondering whether this is mostly a subtle manipulation on Moonie's part, you may be on to something...
The New Defenders #136-137 (1984)
Pencils: Don Perlin
Inks: Kim DeMulder
We'll get to the Gargoyle A plot later, but #136 is probably better remembered for the B story: Cloud, tormented by the "wrongness" of her love for Moondragon, turns into a boy. According to PBG, this twist "came out of my fascination over sexuality. I had a friend who transitioned from man to woman, but I didn't pretend to be either oracular or championing about it - merely to speculate about identity."
To put this in a historical context, up until Northstar's terribly handled 'coming out' issue in the early 90's, all Marvel characters were portrayed as strictly heterosexual. This includes Iceman, Valkyrie and Moondragon, all of whom have recently been portrayed as LGBTQ characters. So at the time the notion of a character who could change sex at will was pretty revolutionary, intentionally or not. It's also easy to read subtext that wasn't designed to be there into Iceman's horrified reaction that the mostly naked girl he's crazy about is now a mostly naked boy. Like most early twenty somethings, Bobby has a few shallow relationships and crushes under his belt. Having his current infatuation suddenly change sex must be disorienting to the say the least, so he lashes out at male Cloud.
Back in the main storyline, Gargoyle has been enslaved by a crazed wizard in Afghanistan, who summoned the demon body Isaac inhabits. First the wizard uses Gargoyle to melt a corrupt general in a scene so gruesome, EC would've been proud. Then he makes Isaac transport them to the Rockies, where the Defenders inevitably confront the now hundred feet tall Gargoyle. Up until now, Gillis has shied away from big action scenes, yet when you have the Defenders facing down a giant orange monster in the desert, you might as well go all out. A gripping issue long battle is eventually concluded by a combination of Beast's smarts and Valkyrie and Moondragon's innate scariness, as they convince him they're fellow gnostics, not the corrupt evildoers the wizard sees all around.
The New Defenders #138-139 (1984)
Pencils: Don Perlin
Inks: Kim DeMulder
"Three Women" is a well deserved downtime issue, where the team regroup and recover at home. The Beast had occasionally thrown his hat into an otherwise empty ring for leadership of The New Defenders. However they'd managed to muddle through without one. Eventually Beast and Angel conclude what they really need is a behind the scenes manager to handle logistics, so Candy Southern became the obvious choice. Mostly an honourary position, leadership at least gave her a role and personality beyond the fretting girlfriend.
Gargoyle lost a hand in the melee (which cooly turned into a scuttling monster), but here he's told it will regenerate, somehow. In his delirium, Isaac accused Moondragon of being evil, which is the talking point here, as he recounts her true origin he learned during a mind meld. The account differs in one major factor over the Gerber and Starlin original; here Heather fought off a shadowy ancient evil that destroyed the first rulers of Titan, the Dragon of the Moon. In arrogance, she took its name, to the horrified reaction of the elder priests of Titan. Originally she told Daredevil that the priests gave her the name, so it makes sense that she might want to gloss over that part. However, part of the dragon had wormed its way inside her, corrupting her ideals. As Isaac eloquently put it, "inside her brain, dragon's claws scratched at the gates". On the one hand, semi-demonic possession explains Moondragon's inconsistent and arrogant behaviour, and paints her in an even more tragic light. On the other, it seems a bit of a cop out for the character. I would've thought her traumatic childhood would be reason enough to explain her petulance and need to control everything. Losing your parents in a terrible car crash caused by Thanos, then being raised by unfeeling monks on an alien moon, is hardly a stable childhood.
Regardless, Heather's meditation leads to another inward battle with the dragon, which physically manifests itself as her old rival Mantis. The ensuing fight spills over into the start of the following issue, with a confused team being handed Cliff notes by ex-Avenger Beast. Of course it's all a mental projection from Heather, who has a mini breakdown/tantrum at the realisation.
Then it cuts to two weeks later on page 8 as the next story starts. I can't help think truncating this opening scene into the action light #138 would have given #139 more room to breath. As it is, #139 seems rather rushed, making for contrasting oddly paced issues.
Angel is out flying, when an eagle mentally tells him there's trouble in town. Maybe I'm missing something, but this sudden talking to the animals bit is never explained. Usually for the latest threat, Gillis resorted to Moondragon or Valkyrie suddenly declaring "I sense danger! Thataway!", but a telepathic eagle is a step too far.
In town, they run into forgotten hero Red Wolf, who takes them to a mine, the source of livestock disappearances. Valkyrie soon realises the mine somehow leads to the realm of Asgardian trolls. How, or precisely where, is another mystery. Fun fact: Peter Gillis mapped out Asgard, Atlantis and Attilan for the Marvel Handbook and even penned a gazetteer of Asgard in Thor. The trolls take the Defenders without a fight with their hitherto unbeknownst to me paralysis breath. Moondragon toys with conning the trolls into removing Odin's pesky headband, but resists temptation. Heather instigates an escape, then Val brings the cave roof down on the Trolls, mostly off panel. If you're wondering where the epic fight scenes in this issue went, I direct you to the 5 pages that over spilled from the previous one.
On the final equally rushed page, Beast forgives Moondragon for all the mental manipulation and her headband suddenly drops off, as Odin figures she's finally learnt her lesson. I don't mean to diss this issue as it's enjoyable enough, but the cynic in me might suggest that the whole Trolls escapade was contrived just to get that dumb headband off of Moonie.
In the presumed words of Manslaughter, next issue it's time for something completely different.
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