The Defenders #89

(November 1980)

A Death in the Family! (Table of Contents)

The Defenders / comic story / 22 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

David Anthony Kraft (plot); Ed Hannigan (plot, script); Mark Gruenwald (idea); Steven Grant (idea)

Pencils:

Don Perlin (breakdowns); Pablo Marcos (finished art)

Inks:

Pablo Marcos

Colors:

George Roussos

Letters:

Diana Albers

Job Number:

LF235

Content Information

Genre:

superhero

Characters:

Defenders [Hellcat [Patsy Walker]; Valkyrie; Nighthawk [Kyle Richmond]; Hulk [Bruce Banner]; Clea]; Mr. Beekman; Milton Rosenblum; Daredevil [Matthew Murdock]; Fem-Force; Mandril [Jerome Beechman]; Dolly Donahue; Dorthy Walker (Flashback); Millie the Model (Flashback; Cameo); Buzz Baxter (Flashback; Cameo)

Synopsis:

Hellcat learns of the death of her mother, Dorthy Walker. Nighthawk's assets, including his penthouse apartment, are siezed by the IRS. The Defenders attend the funeral of Dorthy Walker and then move into her old house in the suburbs until they can find a better place to live.

Reprinted:

• In Essential Defenders (Marvel, 2005 series) #4

Indexer Notes

Valkyrie in old costume on cover, restored by Clea at Hellcat's request for Patsy's mother's funeral.

Story has a profanity panel which Don Perlin revealed was supposed to be an inter-office joke; In one of the panels of the story, there is a TV on in the background and a pink rabbit is holding up a box of cereal that says "SHIT" across the top. Perlin claims that he thought the guys in the office would get a kick out of it before they changed it, but nobody caught the vulgarity and the comic went to press. Jim Shooter, reportedly, found this far from funny and chewed Perlin out about it before Don pointed out that it made it past an assistant editor, an editor, a proof-reader and the editor-in-chief who are paid to catch stuff like that.

The panel was not changed in the reprint in Essential Defenders.