We had a virtual birthday party for David Anthony Kraft, anyway! He had too much cheer for the happiness and friendships to end. So! Peter Benno Gillis also wrote the title which has become signature DAK, The Defender, by Marvel Comics Group. Dwight Zimmerman here became friends in art class back in North Dakota. One day, he put in a year's notice and joined Dave the Dude in the Big Apple! Jim Salicrup? Only the founding Mad Genius Associate. The Spider-Editor of my youth, and uncredited writer of Spidey Super Stories. He's busy with the Papercutz imprints today. Jo Duffy? She makes it over the roped bridge, past the gorilla, and gives DAK a sterling tribute. She pioneered writing and editing at Marvel, wrote Power Man and Iron Fist, Catwoman , and something called Star Wars . She's quick to explain, he basically WAS his Dollar Bill supporting character, dropped into the midst of the Defenders via Valkyrie's attempt to attend Empire State University...camera...

Or Download it, here! Download this episode (right click and save) "> David Anthony Kraft tells the story behind the story about writing The Defenders for Marvel Comics Group. He goes into the heads of some of the characters and provides some unique insights as well as some creative background. It's actually part two! Take a look at my August posts.

Listen here! Distinction: how to keep a character voice familiar anywhere, as seen in Luke Cage & The Defenders Luke Cage and the Defenders: Brother in A Strange Land “I couldn’t hear the woman’s heartbeat...no way to judge whether she was lying. None of my hyper-senses can tell me what to do.” “I gotta be some kind of blamed fool, swallowin’ this dude’s rap. But when he started droppin’ names like ‘Nighthawk’ an’ ‘Doc Strange’--yeah, this is the address, all right. I dunno...he came on mighty convincin’ once he got rollin’, and since I didn’t have no plan o’ my own for dealin’ with--- Before you tap that shoulder, sugar- identify yourself.” “Sticks hurt red man- but not Hulk!” “I shall take my magic cloak of levitation and follow, no matter where the trail may lead!” “This is ridiculous! Here I am, putting up one of the greatest fights of my star-studded career, and there’s no one around to applaud!” “If you know me as well as you apparently think you do—yo...

I just wrote a feature on J.M.'s first superhero work in the post before. Here's the questions John Marc DeMatteis graciously OK’d: Cecil 1. I think one of your thematic abilities involves discovering a character that might have been, alternative takes of who they might have been, when corporate trademarks were editorially guided to be written “a certain way.” “Going Sane” is a story that became a Batman/ Joker story before it became the essence of “Kraven’s Last Hunt,” which then transformed once more essentially into “Going Sane”: your favorite mainstream superhero story. J.M. Stories, like people, have a natural growth curve and we have to honor that as writers. That story led me from Batman to Spider-Man and back again (with some other twists along the way). Since “Going Sane” and “KLH” are two of the best superhero stories I’ve written, I’m glad I had the sense, and patience, to let them guide me along, instead of trying to control them. 2. Tell me about anoth...

Defenders 92 “Eternity...Humanity...Oblivion!” So, Defenders #92 becomes the first regular superhero series assignment for John Marc DeMatteis, who had taken over Conan The Barbarian for a few issues. J.M. went on to write ‘Kraven’s Last Hunt,’ script the wildly-popular and hilarious Justice League series starting in ‘87, and pen many original, thoughtful tales, from his novice Marvel Team-Up efforts to this year’s Augusta Wind: The Last Story series for IDW Publishing (where novice me joins the ranks of pro comics writers with Hero Duty). He’s written cartoons like Justice League Unlimited, Teen Titans Go!, and somber comics like Mercy, one of the first Vertigo Comics, and Savior 28. And I do believe I saw his son Cody’s name in the credits for Rick and Morty last night, a William St. Production Manager. J.M. took over for Ed Hannigan, whose last story in #91 was probably my favorite from his run, along with the intriguing ‘Inquest’ from #87. Ed’s tale involved nuclear pow...

Having fun? We’re over a year into Steve Gerber’s Defenders run, from the days when I still ate my share of Gerber, no doubt. It may be one of your favorites, it may be you just discovered them. If I’ve done my job, you don’t even have to like comic books to appreciate what an unusual entity Steve’s slant on superhero comics truly was; there’s no doubt his approach inspired many of the field’s most lauded talents, and, I suspect , many creative people who went into other directions. I hope a lot of kids grew up, if never again to read comics, to fondly half-remember these strangest and most fun comic books of days gone by. Come to it like a little child and you’ll find imagination heaven inside! “I think we’re all Bozos in this Book!” we've got: Nebulon, the Celestial Man...the most glam rock of super villain designs. School of scaly Lubberdites... and Jack Norriss, as....le Beaver. Naw! Something WAY more outlandish than that. Say it with me: His consciousness resides in...

"Ordinarily, I don't approve of revenge as a motive..." The Defenders mix it up with the Headmen, only to be left in a pile of Ruby-disgorged goop...while Nighthawk races away with Kyle's brain, which is to say, it's a body flying away with its own brain in its hand, while another brain occupied by another mind does the thinking. Now isn't THAT fiction? That's the end of issue. I may describe it more lovingly later---especially the part about the guy from #21, whose house was destroyed by the Hulk, laughing about the Defenders destroying someone ELSE's house. And there's Nagan's grin, described in caption as Dr. Strange commands "Nighthawk" to quickly scoop up Kyle Richmond's brain and book it. See, Nagan believes in the melee Strange has forgotten that Chondu is in Nighthawk's body!!! So he thinks a villain now has the brain. He gets no time to gloat about it. Good thing Ruby has some self-defense mechanism---the afor...

The first five pages of this issue, #33, are a recap, from the point of view of...a fawn. A fawn, with the mind of a villain trapped in his head---the magician Chondu the Mystic, who now has no mouth or hands with which to conduct spells. He's watching the Defenders, captive at the hands of Ruby Thursday and the rest of the Headmen, mentioned a couple of blogs ago. That's also the location of Kyle (Nighthawk) Richmond's brain. What Chondu knows that his allies don't is this: they believe Chondu's mind is his own brain, which has been transplanted into Nighthawk's body. The frustrating truth is this: Valkyrie's "husband" Jack Norriss is now the dominant mind inside that brain...and Chondu's brain is now in a fawn the Hulk brought home, in #31. So their own treachery's being played against them. Talk about head trips. It's Steve's prose working with Sal & Jim's art to create absurdity worthy of Samuel Beckett. "Lus...