0181: Defenders #41
Cover Date: November 1976 On-Sale Date: August 17, 1976
Whew! That overly extended and ridiculous Headmen/Nebulon arc is finally done. We can finally get back to simple and good stories. What better way than digging up an old villain we've seen but once before and throw in Nighthawk's ex-girlfriend for good measure. And away we go!
Doc and Nighthawk have travelled to a ranch in Nevada in search of his ex-girlfriend Tricia Starr. I'm not sure why this is suddenly an issue for Kyle. Perhaps it'll be revealed the load of flashbacks we're about to get hit with. Or maybe she was on his mind because her image was used by the Headmen to lure him into the trap where he lost his mind, literally. Doc acts the complete gentlemen to the ranch's proprietor, a Mr. David Anthony. Nighthawk immediately goes off the rails demanding to know where his ex, that he only thinks about when the story calls for it, is.
Mr. Anthony (call me David) recount's Trish's arrival and how she basically took over the running of the ranch remaking it into her own image. Fortunately this was a good thing as it included improving irrigation, education, facilities for permanent and transient residents and the mention of communal living smacks of the 70s.
Trish then got bored and started playing will all the things the horror movies tell you not to touch. That's tarot cards, I-Ching, Ouija and possibly some other stuff not revealed in the flashback panel. She starts to develop all the symptoms Linda Blair did in The Exorcist bar wetting the floor at your mom's party and this happens.
Trish gets increasingly irritable, announces she's leaving and heads out into the desert, never to return. The ranchers did bother to report this to the police. They also found Nighthawk's name and number circled in Trish's little black book so David rang him up.
Doc and Nighthawk head out to search for Trish the next morning. Kyle attempts to explain why he's being an ass and Doc's responses aren't the most helpful.
Doc strongly advises Nighthawk to stop. He asks Doc why and Doc is about to explain something about his psychic scan but this happens first.
Doc and Kyle survive the ambush and both get into costume. Whatever's out there, Doc says their physical bodies can't penetrate it so Doc goes ghost leaving Nighthawk to guard his corporeal self. Doc winds up in another universe and finds Trish's body floating in space. She has closed herself off to all external stimuli. Doc seems to be planning on bringing Trish back when he's attacked by some red uglies.
Doc brushes them off and hauls Trish back to Earth. Doc rejoins his body and once he removes the protective shield around Trish, she and Nighthawk immediately start mackin' on each other. Doc recommends a cold shower so he can get to the bottom of why Trish was kidnapped. Using the All-Purpose Amulet to probe her mind (perhaps with some degree of consent this time) he uncovers his old foe Shazana, last seen during the Mordo loves Dormammu so lets kill Doc epic from over a decade ago.
Sal seems very true to Dikto's original design for the character, so kudos to you, Sal! Shazana tells the group that it's Doc's fault she's there. When he probed her mind, he broke the barriers Trish created to keep Shazana in check. Oops! Shazana's demonic forces join the fray and Shazana herself grabs Trish and holds a knife to her throat causing Doc to surrender (for now.)
Doc and Nighthawk are suspended over the ranch and Doc informs his fellow Defender that the cube is made of their own life essences. That means breaking the cube kills them. But, all is not lost. Doc then probes Trish some more attempting to use the link between her and Shazana in their favor. He uses the link to send a telepathic message to Clea. This gives Shazana a HUGE headache and she removes Trish from the cube.
Moving over to the Sanctum Sanctorum we see that Jack Norriss is STILL hanging around with the Defenders. I wonder if Kyle can get a refund on his get the hell out of our lives payment from a few issues ago. Clea and Hulk both manage to receive Doc's message and Hulk isn't too happy about it.
Shazana is about to have her executioner chop off Trish's head, but the Defenders arrive just in time for Hulk to kick the executioner's butt and for Red Guardian to make some commentary.
The Defenders take care of Shazana's minions while Clea goes to rescue Doc and Nighthawk. She frees them with some nonsense that amounts to expanding and changing the shape of the cube which causes the energies to flow back into the captive pair. With Doc no longer distracted by Shazana's minions, he is able to confront her. He offers her the chance to surrender. She declines and Doc banishes her and her demons with a wave of his hand. The ranchers are freed and we discover that Doc has built a dimensional barrier to keep the extradimensional witch at bay.
Doc wants to make sure the link between Trish and Shazana is broken and turns to where he thinks she's standing but she's gone. Trish and Nighthawk are having a moment. Doc will wait a bit to perform his psychic surgery.
Wow! Doc's face in that middle panel is way off! What the heck happened there! Sal is inked again here by Klaus Janson who has a bit rougher touch. There's also less detail than in previous efforts by these two. I wonder if this was a rush job?
We're back to more basic stories here. Everything is done in a single issue. After the massive arc that just completed it feels like a weight has been lifted. Doc is more fully fleshed here. He is compassionate, but can't help being a jerk. And once he gets the upper hand at the end he's arrogant. It's nice when Doc is more than a plot device.
The story itself breaks no new ground. Nothing is earth-shaking. We do explore Kyle and Trisha's relationship a little more. Will this go any further or was Kyle merely concerned about someone he once had feelings for? Is Trisha done with Kyle and will go off again once her emotions have settled down? Only time will tell. It's entertaining but not unmissable.
