The Secret Origin of The Defenders!
Hold onto your word balloons — Longbox Graveyard is back! For one post!
After a number of kind inquiries about the fate of this blog, and after fourteen months of radio silence (during a global pandemic!), I thought it might be welcome to post a proof-of-life video.
One of my better habits of this weird year of long days and short weeks has been a regular, secret Zoom call with the strategic masterminds behind Malibu Comics’ late, great Ultraverse. Once a week, I gather with Chris Ulm, Tom Mason, and Dave Olbrich, to bloviate about any number of things, including comics.
A couple weeks ago, I delivered an impromptu monologue about the origins of the Defenders (as one does). Dave — the DWO — captured it all, and after light editing to remove some casually salty language, DWO posted the video to his new(ish) YouTube show — Geekview Tavern.
So … if you’d like to see me opine about Marvel’s premiere non-team, then here I am in all my quarantined, heavy, hairy, pasty-faced glory:
I did this off-the-cuff (again, as one does), so if I mucked up some of the details … well, it was worth what you paid for it.
Nerd Life Update: Despite my silence, I’m still enjoying comics. My family reactivated my Marvel Unlimited subscription as my Christmas present, so I’ve been catching up on Marvel books both old and new (primarily the X-Men reboot, Zdarsky’s Daredevil run, and the Ka-Zar/Doctor Doom issues of Astonishing Tales). All good stuff! I sometimes post about comics on my Twitter feed, which is the best place to find me these days. Micro-blogging is about the best I can manage, including various TweetStorms about Giant-Size X-Men #1, Captain America’s Bicentennial Battles, and that time Green Lantern and Green Arrow went off to discover America.
You’ll also find a thread about all the movies I watched in the long, strange year just past (only one of which was a superhero film, believe it or not).
Real Life Update: Everyone here is healthy and feeling blessed. I’ve landed a new and amazing job that lets me work from home and all is well. Best wishes to everyone with sincere hopes you are bearing up well in these challenging times.
And now, Longbox Graveyard goes back to sleep! Stay safe out there!
Posted on January 5, 2021, in Announcements and tagged Geekview Tavern. Bookmark the permalink. 11 Comments.
dangvozden
Paul O'Connor
Kris (not Chris)
markginocchio
miloapama
Dean Compton
Moya
ryanmcswain
Longbox Graveyard 
Great to see your new post. The pandemic has certainly turned our word upside down. I’ve kept wiring throughout, although must admit I’ve found it tough during the lockdowns not being able to see family and friends. During out first lockdown here in UK I re read a load of the early Defenders comics again, wonderful stuff, so will look forward to checking out your YouTube video. We are going back into lockdown again here in the UK on Wednesday because of a resurgence of the virus, no doubt reading comics and box set binging will see me though the next few weeks. Take care and be safe.
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Nice to hear from you, Paul, thanks for commenting. I read about the renewed UK lockdown, dire times indeed. The Longbox Graveyard secret headquarters is in Southern California, USA, which is a major virus hot zone right now. I said in this post that I was blessed, and I mean it — I am well-off enough that I can afford to bunker up, work from home, and opine about the Defenders. There are so, so many people out there living hand-to-mouth without the luxury of staying safely indoors, to say nothing of those who are sick and suffering loss.
Binge those books, stay safe, keep your eyes on the horizon for better days to come!
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Cheers Paul. Yeah, its tough going back into lockdown again here in UK, but hopefully the vaccine rollout will give us some light at the end of the tunnel now. Like you, I feel lucky enough to be able to do everything from home and manage ok. Its been an incredible tough time for some many people economically before this pandemic even struck, so I can only imagine some of the hardships people have endured throughout these terrible times. Great to hear from you. Take care over there in California, be safe, and here’s to better times as we move though 2021 for a brighter tomorrow. 🙂
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Right back at you, brother.
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That was tremendous fun! Thank you. Good to see you’re doing well. I never understood that odd rude comment from Dr Strange to Valkyrie–i think he was temporarily possessed by the Nameless One.
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Yeah, it’s more like he was possessed by the Tactless One, right?
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Glad to hear you’re back (of sorts) amongst the blogging (living) haha. Good to hear you’re doing well considering these crazy and very uncertain times we’re currently living in.
Interesting bit of trivia on the REAL 1st app of the Defenders. I’m guessing this probably flew under the radar/noses of a lot of fans with the exception of a select few, true, diehard Marvel Zombies, thus why Thomas isn’t given the credit he deserves for the saga that started the non-team.
Solid video man. I definitely learned a lot.
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Glad you liked it, Dale, thank you for writing. I was directed to those Doc Strange/Namor/Hulk issues by (I think) a Wikipedia article about the Defenders, so I can’t claim any great scholarship in digging up that connection. I think it does reflect one of the strengths of early-70s Marvel that ideas could bloom up and make it to print as easily as they did. It was a chaotic era, to be sure, but also a real creative explosion that pop culture continues to mine for new comics and multi-billion dollar film franchises. It’s one of the reasons I’m “stuck” in the 70s, my dalliance with more contemporary comics these last few weeks notwithstanding.
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Zzzz…
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Happy Holidays, Krackles!
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Happy Holidays to you Paul!
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