It was momentum, pure and simple, that kept me purchasing DEFENDERS each and every month through this period. As it was a Marvel team title, on some level I felt as though i “had to” buy it or risk missing something important. Which is crazy, but also a part of the key to Marvel’s success in those days. The pervading sell that everything that happened in the Marvel Universe was contributing to a storytelling whole, and thus all of it was important. It was a message that was effectively delivered, and it kept me purchasing titles such as this one and GHOST RIDER and a few others for years after by all rights I should have dropped them.
This issue, it turned out, was a scheduled fill-in job designed to help new writer Ed Hannigan a bit of breathing space. It was plotted by now-EIC Jim Shooter and then handed over to newcomer Jo Duffy to script. Shooter was adamant past a certain point about all of his editors getting to experience life on the other side of the desk, so he regularly pushed for people to write a story or two, just to get a feel for the job if nothing else. This issue was illustrated by Herb Trimpe and inked by the title’s current editor Al Milgrom. I have to assume that Al took the assignment before he had been handed the editorial reins to the book, as it wasn’t permitted for Marvel editors to assign themselves work.
The story revolves around the Omegatron, a doomsday device created by Dr Strange’s enemy Yandroth and which served to bring the Defenders together for the first time. The issue opens with Dr. Strange and Nighthawk journeying to where the wreckage of the destroyed Omegatron still exists, as Strange has picked up activity with his mystic senses. And indeed, the Omegatron is still somewhat active. We are then introduced to Jeff Colt and Hilary, a couple who manage an animal shelter and clinic. But there’s something off about Jeff. Every time he gets excited or expends energy, the gauge on the Omegatron ticks upward just a little bit, as though his actions were charging the device in some manner.
When Jeff and Hilary return to their clinic after a game of tennis, they find a group of criminals looting the place. Jeff is grabbed by one of them, and almost unthinkingly he hurls the man across the room with super strength. Another of the crooks shoots Jeff, but the bullets are unable to harm him. Jeff realizes that he’s now got super-powers. But unbeknownst to him, every time he uses them, the gauge on the destructive Omegatron rises a little bit more. And a few nights later, Jeff has another chance to test his newfound powers as he stumbles across the same gang robbing the Dover marina. He sends the thieves scattering back to their boat, then follows after it by swimming at ridiculous speeds, their stray shots bouncing off of him harmlessly. And all the while, the Omegatron grows steadily stronger.
But Doctor Strange has become aware of the situation, and he dispatches the Defenders to put a stop of Jeff’s heroic rampage and calm him down until his connection with the Omegatron can be severed. The team approaches Jeff on a desolate stretch of beach where he’d brought the escaping criminals to heel, and at first Colt figures that they’re here to offer him membership in the group. But Jeff’s powers are like an addiction, driving him to use them, and while the Defenders try to talk him down, explaining that his power use imperils the entire planet, Jeff is spoiling for a fight. And the Hulk is there…
Strange is momentarily able to convince the Hulk not to join in the skirmish, but the rest of the Defenders are attacked by an uncontrolled Jeff. And one by one, he takes down first Hellcat and then Valkyrie, both of whom are forced to fight defensively so as to not give Jeff the energy that his benefactor is looking for. Jeff’s powers allow him to defeat anyone, so he impromptly names himself Anything Man. At a certain point, the Hulk can contain himself no longer and he grabs up a huge bounder intending to join the battle. Strange has no choice but to forcibly revert the Hulk to his Bruce banner form, even though this will leave him vulnerable before Jeff’s attack. So only Nighthawk is left to carry the ball.
Fortunately, Nighthawk has a plan, and the will to carry it out. Using his jet pack, he lures Jeff to a secluded island off the coast and then allows the man to pummel him unmercifully until his stored energy is expended. Then, Nighthawk tells him that they’re going to leave Jeff stuck on that island to prevent him from using his powers and destroying the world. Fearful that this means that he’ll never see Hilary again, Jeff comes to his senses and agrees to permit Dr. Strange to sever his connection with the Omegatron–which was Nighthawk’s plan all along. And so, the danger is past. This particular issue I liked–I knew the Omegatron from having read the first Defenders story in a Treasury Edition, and I liked the callback to that earlier story. Plus, the conflict here was very straightforward and relatable.
The Defenders Dialogue letters page in this issue contains a missive from future Marvel writer Kurt Busiek, who wasn’t happy with how the series was developing either. And it also includes a letter wondering how Millie the Model, who recently appeared in the series, and Patsy Walker can still be so young after so long a time. This may be one of the earliest references to “Marvel Time”, the fact that events pass more slowly within the Marvel Universe than the real world, to account for why Spider-Man can have been having adventures since 1962 and yet still only be in his 20s.
The Tom Brevoort Experience 
Yep it’s simple and fun story.
Something about the splash page to this issue fascinated me as child. Unlike Tom, I had no prior exposure to the “Omegatron” so it was like Dr Strange was explaining what the giant robot was to both Nighthawk and Myself đŸ™‚
The Layton inks really make the Trimpe cover pop. Nighthawk and Val especially look great.
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Oh Tom while you are back in Mar 1979 really hoping (begging) you will cover Iron Man 120, Black Panther 14, and Red Sonja 14
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I don’t think Jim plotted this issue and handed it to Jo to script. Aside from the credits listing him as co-plotter and the lettercol intro by Al crediting Jo as plotter, I don’t think that Jim, plotting solo, would have brought back the Omegatron, a piece of early Defenders continuity that he’d have thought so old and obscure that modern readers wouldn’t care about it.
But Jo, I think, who was a Marvel fan who liked those stories, is absolutely the kind of writer who’d have gone back to the roots of the team (no matter how forgotten) to pick up an element that’d help make a fill-in story feel more important. [And I say this as a writer who went back to those origin stories myself, in both the DEFENDERS revival I did with Erik Larsen and the continuation of it I co-wrote with Jo.]
I would suspect that Jo came up with a basic plot and Jim felt the need to fix it somehow, to put in the kind of conflict or character struggle he felt essential to stories, both because he thought it was needed and as a way of showing a relatively-new writer how he wanted things done. And Jo felt it was a sizable enough change that she credited Jim when she wrote the credits for the issue.
And yeah, I did not like DEFENDERS in this stretch. I thought it had run out of steam around issue 50, though there were occasional signs of life thereafter. I didn’t stop buying it for another year and a half, though, for the same reason as you: I’d been buying it regularly and it was hard to break that momentum. I don’t think it was until I was renting my own place in college and had to budget my expenditures more carefully, that I gave up on it.
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I guess Tom and I have the same Treasury Edition, cause that was my first exposure to the Omegatron, Nebulon & the Squadron Sinister. I too bought the Defenders longer than I should ( which is pass the Sal Buscema & Keith Giffen years ).
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If Marvel’s Defenders had been a TV show @ the time, then as per Page 15, Panel 5, I could see Jeff Colt (any retconned relation to Kid Colt? đŸ˜‰ ) played by guest star Richard Hatch (“Battlestar Galactica”).
I figured we might see Kurt comment on this post, since it’s Defenders related, & he has a long & admirable history with the “non-team” (I dislike that term). But then Jo, I mean, lo, & behold, young Kurt Busiek had his letter printed in the very same issue. Even better symmetry than Ms. Duffy using the Omegatron. I also liked Kurt & Jo’s Defenders with Tom Simmons, Ivan Reis, & others. The heroes rarely looked as good.
I hesitate to mention this, as I notice that one of the subject tags for this article is “Jim Shooter”, and the skirmish scanner of the esteemed activist group, Concerned Citizens for Jim Shooter, might pop this up on their radar, bristling for battle. But I can’t help myself. Maybe this story WAS almost all Mary Jo’s. But seeing Mr. Shooter’s name on the credits on a story of yet another new character given amazing, god-like physical powers, comes as no surprise. 
It seems a common thread, a re-occurring plot point, throughout his work. And one that, for readers this issue isn’t their first (or @ least just me), it isn’t exciting. Neither are Jeff’s short-shorts & over-the-calf athletic socks (but that’s not Mr. Shooter’s fault).
I like Jo’s Defenders dialog. Everyone was in character, & no member’s voice rang false. But w/ each BHOC Defenders entry, I’m reminded of the missed opportunities of this series. If the writing was on point, then the art seemed lacking. If we had a stalwart like Sal inked by the innovative Klaus Janson, then the story could be on the periphery & over some readers’ heads. 
It’s different for everyone, but unlike books like the Avengers or JLA, with whom the Defenders share the same “weight class” in terms of members’ power, there doesn’t seem to be a run or runs that most readers can point to as firing on all cylinders, seminal for the ages. And the characters deserved it. But that’s the self-defeating effect of that “non-team” moniker. Rather than self-identifying as a loose alliance of Earth’s “other” mightiest heroes…
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I’d have to disagree. I think the early years — especially Steve Gerber’s two years (primarily, but not solely, Sal Buscema art) — should be considered a seminal run. Indeed, establishing Val, Kyle and Hulk as the emotional heart of the (non) team implanted DNA threads that the book strived to equal years after (including this fill-in). Gerber’s quirkiness though was so unique that few could meet that standard (I thought David Anthony Kraft came closest).
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Fair enough. I’m glad you enjoyed those. And I know others feel similarly fond of that era.
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Ah, the depths of the Kyle’s Kooky Quartet era. How the title survived this I’ll never know.
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As a kid, I was never much of a Defenders fan. I didn’t like most of the characters and guys like Nighthawk stuck out like a sore thumb. I’m sure we had a few of the comics, but none of them were memorable to me. I’d have rather read the Champions than the Defenders.
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Blasphemy! đŸ˜‰
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I always had a soft spot for Nighthawk since Defenders #17 which featured a cool fight between him and Luke Cage. It showcased what he did and didn’t bring to the table. I like his 70’s costume a lot and I think the team chemistry between him, Valkyrie, Hellcat, and any 1 or 2 super-randos was what made me interested in the team. It was never a must buy but it was a weird little corner of the Marvel universe that I’d check out occasionally.
I think this issue might have been the beginning of the end for me on the title though I stuck around for another few issues, and was out when Doc Strange, Hulk and Sub-mariner returned, and I never bought another issue past #77.
If I had to pick a high point for the title based on what I’m familiar with… I’d say it was probably Gerbers run followed by the Giffen issues, but I also remember enjoying the Giant-size books… especially 2 and 4.
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Nighthawk was a personal fave. Flawed, redundant. But felt like a quintessential Bronze Ager to me.
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Good enough for the majors but never gonna get picked for the all-stars!
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@DavidPlunkert đŸ˜… Perfect analogy.
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I’m a minority who never liked Gerber’s run. A big part of that was that I was a Valkyrie fan and he used the “she can’t hit women” rule to sideline her a lot (If the Enchantress had intended to neutralize Val as a threat a “you can’t hit me, your maker” rule would have made more sense).
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