Fifty years ago, behind a cover by Gil Kane and Frank Giacoia (and maybe Mike Esposito), the latest chapter of the “Headmen” saga opened upon a sight that was strikingly bizarre, even for this series:
There are probably other scenes that epitomize the sheer weirdness of writer Steve Gerber’s Defenders run just as well as this one — any of the “Elf with a Gun” mini-episodes would probably do the trick — but I think you’d be hard-pressed to find one that tops the debut appearance of Evil Bambi for absurdity… if for no other reason than artists Sal Buscema and Jim Mooney’s utter commitment to the bit. I mean, I would not want to mess with this baby deer. Would you?
Along with recapping several of the major events of Defenders #31, this first page of Evil Bambi’s reverie also features what I believe is the first use of the given name of the most hirsute of the Headman (for Arthur Nagan’s previous appearances in this book, Steve Gerber had followed the lead of the character’s debut outing back in Mystery Tales #21 [Sep., 1954] and just referred to him as “Nagan” or “Dr. Nagan”).
As Evil Bambi’s recollections continue, readers are once again shown how Chondu the Mystic’s brain was transplanted into the body of Nighthawk (aka Kyle Richmond), who then infiltrated one of the Defenders’ two headquarters locations, i.e., the Sanctum Sanctorum of Doctor Strange. Things quickly went south, however, when Chondu/Nighthawk dropped his pretense and attacked the non-team directly…
Evil Bambi’s speculations turn out to be pretty well on the money as far as recapping several major plot point of issue #32 are concerned, as readers again see how Dr. Strange was able to use the Eye of Agamotto to reveal that the mind inhabiting Kyle Richmond’s body was actually Chondu’s. At this point, however, we get to see a critical sequence of events that Gerber and co. sneakily hid from us last time:
(Just in case anybody has forgotten, the orphaned baby deer entered our storyline back in #31, following an altercation between the Hulk and some hunters who’d killed its mother; not knowing what else to do, the tender-hearted Jade Giant had brought the animal to Doc Strange for help.)
Around this point in the recap, the point-of-view shifts from what Evil Bambi — alright, alright, Chondu — actually remembers (or imagines) having happened to him, to the events he’s more recently been observing unfolding in real time in the Orb of Agamotto. That of course includes the Defenders’ arrival at the home of Dr. Arthur Nagan, and the team’s subsequent being blasted into unconsciousness by the exploding head of the newest Headman, Ruby Thursday. Although initially elated by this turn of events, Chondu’s good mood doesn’t last for long…
(Gerber seems to have made a vocabulary error here in assuming that “trimester” means the same thing as “third”, as opposed to “three months” — either that, or Mitchell and Cissy are freakishly well-developed for human infants.)
Reading this scene for the first time back in December, 1975, one could only wonder… was this going to be another one of those seemingly-unrelated interludes — like the aforementioned “Elf with a Gun” scenes, two of which had appeared to date — that we were going to have to wait for months (or maybe forever) to see how it would tie into the main action? Or would we actually get some sort of payoff in this very issue? As it happened, the latter of those two possibilities was the one that came to pass… but at this point in Gerber’s run, the odds of either being true were about fifty-fifty.
Meanwhile, back at Nagan’s place, he, Morgan, and “Chondu” have moved into the group’s conference room, where the newest member of their team awaits…
We’ve all been there, right? Maybe in a job interview, or in another sort of business meeting, or even in a public speaking situation. You’ve been called upon to talk, and your mind is utterly blank. But you have no choice — you have to say something — and so, you open your mouth, and…
This gambit buys Jack Norriss all of three quarters of a page, during which each of the “other” Headmen basically reintroduce themselves (which is actually pretty handy for any new Defenders readers who have wandered in with this issue). But, as always happens in this kind of situation, his number finally comes up…
Doctor Strange explains that there’s to be no fighting — at least, not until they’ve recovered Nighthawk’s brain. But now that the Headmen know that their ruse has been discovered, Nagan’s original plan to simply let the Defenders go free (albeit with their minds having been mysteriously altered) is off the table. Both Nagan and Ruby attack the heroes, focusing their efforts on Strange and the Valkyrie. But the mere fact of the Hulk’s hands being bound together has hardly left him helpless, as ‘ol Greenskin himself helpfully explains:
You remember this nice family from Defenders #21, right? When we last saw them, the dad, George, was wondering if their home insurance policy covered them against “destruction by big green monsters”. I’d like to think that the fact that they’re rebuilding on the exact same site means that they were.
If you’re having trouble placing Nebulon, he originally appeared in a two-part story that ran in Defenders #13 and #14 — which, not so coincidentally, was the very same two-parter in which Nighthawk (the real one) first met and joined our favorite non-team. In the climax of that story, Nebulon and his allies in the Squadron Sinister had apparently been blown to smithereens in a massive explosion — but, as we’d learned about a year ago in Giant-Size Defenders #4, both the Squadron and Nebulon had somehow escaped their fate, thanks to the intervention of some group called the Ludberdites. Steve Gerber had promised us then in a footnote that we’d learn more in a future issue — and it does appear that that time has come. Well, almost… but hey, having waited this long already, what’s another month? In any event, I hope to see you back here in January for our look at Defenders #34.
Do the Ludberdites get their spaceships from the same second-hand spaceship dealer as the Skrulls in the origin of Mantis starting around Avengers #134? I know our pal Sal B was cranking out layouts/rough pencils as fast as possible around this time, but a little variety in design would have been nice.
This storyline was the point at which Gerber’s seat-of-the-pants approach to writing comics reached its pinnacle. Sheer, exuberant, inspired, mad genius. It blew my mind at thirteen and I still love it today.
I was fourteen back then and felt/feel the same. Very few epics before or since have managed to be as wildly absurd and captivating!
Rather fitting that once the Headmen had a trio of Defenders at their mercy, they didn’t intend to kill them or keep them confined but merely to mess with their heads and make them see things more their way. And they actually did that — before the Defenders awoke and Hulk knocked down their suburban headquarters. Enjoyed all the little bits of Gerberesque droll humor, including Chondu as evil Bambi making his great escape only to be immediately captured by aliens! Fortunately for him, they weren’t conducting anal probes! And with the conclusion of this chapter, Gerber prepares to take us over the threshold to even greater heights of absurdity with celestial mind control and Bozos! Very high entertainment and still only for a quarter per episode. Thanks for another wild ride down memory lane, Alan!
Did they explain why the mind-altering didn’t work on our heroes? I remember being puzzled by that at the time.
In later issues of the story, Hulk, Doc & Val all behaved in inexplicable, unusual ways that were attributed to the subtle mind-altering done to them by Nagan’s machine, so it wasn’t meant to change them dramatically but to somehow “adjust” their thinking and behavior, so it did work, but was probably too subtle for many readers to pick up on. Some of the events included Hulk landing in a women’s liberation protest and throwing a fit; Doc watching an outdoor campaign speech by a politician and casting a spell to cause the speaker’s pants to fall down; and Val savagely beating Chondu who was in his dramatically unsubtle new body. Apparently,the changes to the Defenders’ minds weren’t permanent — or maybe once Dr Strange became aware of them he found a way to reverse them, although I don’t recall that ever being made clear. But after de-pantsing the politician, he reproached himself and wondered what prompted him to do such a thing.
Thank you, Alan. I hadn’t read this issue for years, and I’d forgotten how utterly, exuberantly, breathlessly, ridiculously brilliant it was. Gerber seemed to have embraced the inherent absurdity of the superhero genre and decided to crank it up to 11. And Sal B and Jim Mooney looked to be enjoying themselves as well. The pace and inventiveness of this issue is astounding. And, as that “Next” box on the last page indicates, it was only going to get weirder.
That said, I think Gerber missed a trick by not addressing what happened to the fawn’s consciousness during Doc’s mind swap shenanigans. Imagine if he’d “closed the loop” by placing it in Jack Norris’ newly vacated brain; or if it had stayed where it was, cohabiting with Chondu – the ensuing internal dialogue surely would have had some entertainment value in Gerber’s capable hands.
Looking forward to seeing the next instalment!
I suspect Gerber hadn’t given any thought to the consciousness of the fawn, although that seems to be something Grant Morrison would have played up. Morrison clearly took inspiration from Gerber’s work and taking weirdness to ever greater levels, particularly in his early works.
When we were warned in the letter pages a few issues back that the upcoming issues of The Defenders were going to be “weird,” I didn’t take it too seriously. But after this issue, my fifteen-year old mind was absolutely spinning. Probably as much as all the plates Gerber had going in this storyline. And yes, it would dive even further into the absurd with “bozo’s” in the coming issues. And I could handle it as a kid. Even enjoy it. But there was one thing that bothered throughout these issues more than anything else. Something my more grounded senses couldn’t handle. What in the world was Nighthawk’s brain doing sloshing around in a bowl? How in the world did it survive with just some liquid? Now that’s one the thing that made no sense to me.
What did make sense, however, was Alan’s excellent review of this delightfully bizarre comic!
Kyl’s brain in a bowl was to signify that the HEadmen were such geniuses they could keep a human brain healthy and intact in a bowl. They were THAT smart.
Dr. Strange transfers Chondu’s consciousness into the fawn the Hulk brought to the sanctum sanctorum.
Then he doesn’t arrange for a psychic or physical restraint to keep the fawn Chondu from causing more mischief.
He doesn’t even instruct Wong to keep an eye on him.
(Contrast Steve Gerber with Steve Englehart, when the 1950s Captain America infiltrates Avengers Mansion in *Cap* #154. Yes, Jarvis should have asked him to show his Avengers membership card, but he didn’t because Cap’s been part of the team for so long that he didn’t think anything was amiss. It makes sense. This doesn’t.)
I can imagine that the liquid in which Kyle Richmond’s brain reposes has some sort of preservative qualities, but given Nagan’s casual and chilling remark about “just throwing it away” in #31 I don’t see why the Headmen didn’t dispose of the brain as soon as Nagan performed the surgery.
Ultimately, I hear the echo of Raymond Chandler from *The High Window*:
From 30 feet away she looked like a lot of class. From 10 feet away she looked like something made up to be seen from 30 feet away.
Or else this from Oscar Wilde’s *Picture of Dorian Gray*
Children begin by loving their parents; after a time they judge them; rarely, if ever, do they forgive them.
What I read of this in 1975-76 (I left the series with #36) I loved.
When I read the whole sequence more than thirty years later, I enjoyed it — with reservations.
Now, going through it with your incisive and sympathetic commentary, Alan, I feel like Wilde’s James Vane with his mother.
I’d better stay out of thickets.
Yep, the logical thing would have been to lock the fawn up in a room somewhere in the mansion where he couldn’t get into trouble, but then we would have been robbed of those delightfully absurd opening pages of Chondu the Deer (now I’m hoping for a guest appearance in Howard the Duck). If Gerber considered putting the deer’s consciousness in Jack Norris, I can see why he changed his mind. With Chondu the Deer and Jack the Super-hero running around, Bambi the Human might have been one ridiculous subplot too many.
Regardless, the absurdity here is over the top, as the story transitions from intelligent woodland creatures to grasping aliens and back to the Hapless Headmen, who, for all their amazing intellect, possessed very little common sense. As someone said above, this is Gerber at his free-wheeling finest and it’s a pleasure to go back and read these again. Thanks, Alan!
Wow. Has there ever been a stranger splash page than to see an angry deer with a hideous sneer on its face? It’s interesting to consider that that a crucial plot point was revealed on the cover of Defenders 33 (“the Defenders will never be the same!”) but that would not be fully understood until the conclusion of this storyline (50 year old spoiler alert!) in Defenders Annual 1 which would not come out until the end of July 1976. Gerber’s plotting may have been loose but he was clearly playing a long game here and he would throw out a lot of different ideas which we would see play out over the next seven issues and culminate in the first Defenders Annual. Like other commenters, I also thought that Nagan’s machine had not affected the Defenders in this issue and was puzzled at what had actually happened, but it’s all there in the story. Nagan’s plan was very subtle (I guess a little too subtle for me and other readers..), that the machine would affect the Defenders’ minds in ways they would not recognize. The other interesting point is that it would be Jack Norris who would figure this all out eventually (sorry, another spoiler). Gerber again referred to Norris as “the Valkyrie’s husband”, which again is technically not correct. He is Barbara Norris’ husband. But this indicates to me that Gerber really liked the Norris character and wanted him to have a continuing role in this series. Of course we’ll never know what Gerber might have done with Norris since Gerber departed the series after issue 41.
But at this point Gerber’s writing was at tis peak and I admit I was absolutely riveted. The Headmen were perfect antagonists for the Defenders and the ending with the return of Nebulon had me on the edge of my seat. There was no way I would miss the next issue!
Thanks for another excellent review Alan!
I loved all Gerber’s 70’s Marvel work. I appreciated he came up with things like an “encephelo transmogrifier” instead of the more pedestrian “brain transfer machine.” I love that kind of cheesiness. I always wanted to see more of Ruby Thursday (who was definitely not a Beatles song) but I haven’t checked anything lately to see if she ever appeared again.
Ruby Thursday was definitely not a Rolling Stones song either.
All the same, she could beat and roll whenever she liked, or even re-shape her head to look like the Andy Warhol-designed big lips & tongue logo for the Rolling Stones.
The Fawn’s expressions just cracked me up!
I didn’t purchase this one, but it certainly is wacky! My only comics cover dated March 1976 are the Incredible Hulk no. 197 with a Wrightson cover (and his handling of Marvel’s rival swamp creature, the Man-Thing) and Swamp Thing no. 21 drawn by Nestor Redondo.
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/3/35/Incredible_Hulk_Vol_1_197.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20200508022507
https://dcuguide.com/images/f/ff/Swamp_Thing_21.png
By the way, Alan, you haven’t posted any DC titles in over a month. Nothing caught your interest at the time?
Generally speaking, MoB, I was buying fewer DCs than Marvels during this period; given that I can only write so many posts in a month, the odds tend to favor Marvel.
Looking ahead, I’m planning three DC-related posts in January — after that, however, it’ll probably be June before I feature another DC book. Sorry if that comes as a disappointment!
That’s all right. Seems neither of us were buying Charlton or Gold Key. 😉
Yeah, my last Gold Key, as far as I can tell, was Star Trek #18, published in February, 1973. And I never got into Charlton at all, for better or worse.
Charlton was a place where a number of artists got started before going to the Big Two: John Byrne’s Rog-2000 was a back up feature in E-Man (whose lettercol E-Mail would have made creators Joe Staton a billionaire if he had trademarked it). Writer Denny O’Neil and artists Jim Aparo and Don Newton also got their start at Charlton.
Steve Ditko seemed to have worked at Charlton during and after his tenure at Marvel. I never felt he gave his Charlton work the level of commitment his did in his silver age Marvel and Warren work. His DC art decreased in quality as the 1960s became the 1970s.
There are a few very early Jeff Jones and Mike Kaluta stories at Charlton before their work came into artistic maturity.
For me, Pat Boyette was the poster child for Charlton: proficient but hopelessly bland art.
I find Boyette to be one of the most interesting and idiosyncratic artists of the time, having a style like no other. His painted covers for Charlton were particularly delightful. Along with Grandenetti, Stallman, Robbins, Sutton, Estrada, Infantino and Sekowsky, Boyette’s quirkiness brought welcome variety to the comics scene of my youth.
To Chris: I much prefer the great British comics artists like Frank Hampson, Frank Bellamy, Don Lawrence, Gerry Haylock, Ron Embleton, etc. Very few US comics artists drew or painted as well as these did.
I grew up with Frank Bellamy. It’s a shame his Heros the Spartan has only been reprinted (as far as I know) in a very limited edition that even used goes for high prices. His work was gorgeous.
Frasersherman, depending on what your disposable income level is like, there’s a recent volume just released which reprints the first eight Bellamy Thunderbirds stories…
https://gerryanderson.com/en-au/products/thunderbirds-comic-anthology-volume-one-hardcover
And Lady Penelope too. Outside my price range at the moment but worth keeping in mind for later.
To Chris: yes, Heros the Spartan was quite good, but I liked Fraser of Africa even more. Bellamy in top form.
There’s a more obscure series starring the Greek legend Orion in various battles against gods and monsters. I only came in on it near the end but it seemed cool.
I recall thinking a lot of Boyette’s characters looked like George C. Scott (and a lot of Nicholas/Alascia;s characters looked like Henry Fonda in that team’s Fightin’ Army and Fightin’ Marines stories at Charlton).
Apoligies if you’ve been asked this before, Alan, but how far ahead do you plan your schedule of reviews?
No worries, Chris, I always enjoy talking about how the sausage is made. 😉
I generally try to work ten or more posts ahead; at present, I’ve got 14 rough drafts in the can. Coincidentally, the post I’m currently working on is the one for Defenders #36, which won’t see the light of day until March.
Beyond that, I have a chronologically arranged, annotated spreadsheet of my comics purchases (not comprehensive) that presently extends out as far as December, 1981. It gets less detailed and defined the further out you go, so that while I can tell you that in December, 2031 I will for sure be posting about Daredevil #181 (assuming of course that the blog and I are still around), the rest of that month is still up for grabs. Closer to home, however, the schedule through next August is already pretty well set.
I hope that wasn’t more than you wanted to know!
No, that’s great, thank you. Did you keep a log or diary of your purchases back in the day, or are you relying on memory?
Neither, actually! I have all my comics in a database (Human Computing’s ComicBase), but for the month-to-month chronology, I am utterly dependent on The Newsstand at Mike’s Amazing World of Comics (https://www.mikesamazingworld.com/main/features/newsstand.php ). As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, while this blog might not be impossible to produce without that resource, it would be exponentially harder.
My SIlver Age reread over at Atomic Junk Shop would also be several times more difficult.
Hmmm ….. . My guesses for January would be 1st Issue Special #13, Metal Men #45 and Superman vs the Amazing Spider-Man. The latter is a cheat as it appears at the bottom right hand corner of the current header and ( hopefully I’m right this time!) is the last of the comics shown in the header that you still have to blog about. Looking forward to what will appear in the new header in the Neapw Year. 😁
Right on all counts, Brian!
Just FYI, we’ll probably be at least a couple of months into ’26 before the new header is ready for its close-up — but the selection process is already well underway. 😉
You know, I must have been a weirder kid than I thought, because I don’t recall seeing any of this as absurd as an 11 year old. (Maybe because I read a lot of DC s with reprints from the Weisinger era?) At least until the Celestial Mind Control cult showed up. That I recognized as strange. This storyline still remains my most fondly remembered Defenders run.
I can’t recall if I really thought these comics were really weird as I read each installment 50 years ago, but I do remember Gerber’s stories in the mid-70s leaving me anxious to get the next issue to see what would happen next. I found it all highly entertaining.
Oh boy how crazy that Gerber was….and brilliant with it too. I can’t believe that he was dumped off the book!
And oh boy, how erudite some of my fellow commentators are ( and that goes for you too Alan) …. Wilde, Chandler, Bellamy…..and speaking of Bellamy I…ummm….made an impulse purchase off ebay this Christmas and bought the Heros book for Christmas! Absolutely beautiful…and weighs a ton!!! I can’t believe that some much of Bellamy’s Garth work still has not been reprinted!
Finally thanks Alan for giving us some insight into how you go about putting these blogs together. I hereby nominate you for the Ditko Master Planner award!