Defenders #11, January 2002
Erik Larsen (With help from Sal Buscema and Kurt Busiek) has some fun with the Defenders on this frenetic splash, as they clobber the undersea warlord Attuma and his feckless fish men. The Defenders are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year.
I only learned recently the reason that Doctor Strange replaced Silver Surfer between their first “unofficial” appearance in Sub-Mariner, and their official launch in Marvel Feature later in 1971. Apparently, Stan Lee was feeling precious about the Surfer, and didn’t want anyone else to write stories featuring him.
Eric solves that line-up problem here by including both of them, along with original stalwarts Hulk and Sub-Mariner.
(Many of the latter members of the group — Nighthawk, Valkyrie, et al — are along for the ride as well.)
All in all, a fun 20-year-old mini-series that has yet to be collected as far as I can tell.
