This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at Marvel Comics’ very first multi-issue crossover event – the clash between the Avengers and the Defenders.
AVENGERS Vol 1 #115 (September 1973)
Title: Below Us, the Battle
Avengers Roster: Thor (Donald Blake, MD), Iron Man (Tony Stark), Captain America (Steve Rogers), Scarlet Witch (Wanda), Black Panther (T’Challa), Vision (N/A), Mantis (Mantis Brandt), Swordsman (Jacques Duquesne)
Defenders Roster: Dr. Strange (Stephen Strange, MD), Sub-Mariner (Namor McKenzie), Hulk (Bruce Banner, PhD), Silver Surfer (Norrin Radd), Valkyrie (Barbara Norris) and Hawkeye (Clint Barton)
Villains: The Troglodytes
Synopsis: The Avengers fly in a Quin-Jet to Garrett Castle in England to check up on their British member the Black Knight (Dane Whitman). He has been out of touch for an alarmingly long time.
NOTE: That’s because the old Avengers foe the Enchantress turned the Black Knight’s body to stone in the pages of the (at the time) secret superteam the Defenders, covered previously HERE.
Arriving at Garrett Castle the superheroes land their Quin-Jet on the grounds and warily approach the castle. The Avengers find their way blocked by an invisible force-field which surrounds the castle. Continue reading
The Clouds was written by Aristophanes around 423 BC and next to Lysistrata is the Big A’s most- discussed satire, mostly because of its lampooning of the philosopher Socrates, a contemporary of Aristophanes. 
In the ancient Greek democracy Athenian citizens were expected to represent themselves in court in both criminal and civil proceedings. 
ROYAL GORGE RAILROAD WAR – To this day I’m astonished that comparatively few people are familiar with the 1878-1880 war between William Jackson Palmer’s Denver & Rio Grande Railroad and William B. Strong’s Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Fighting started near Trinidad, CO in February 1878. The initial goal was to lay the first railroad lines through Raton Pass on the border between Colorado and New Mexico. 
That’s more name appeal than many Range Wars of the Old West had, so you’d think there’d be at least as many movies about this situation as there’ve been about the Earps and Doc Holliday vs the Clantons and McLaurys. It’s not like Westerns have ever cared about historical accuracy so they could easily spice up the slow periods of the war involving the outcome of assorted court cases.
Here at Frontierado international headquarters things are as hectic as you would imagine with the Frontierado holiday coming up on Friday, August 1st. These are my best bourbons for your celebrations this year, with a new brand in the top spot. (I’m not affiliated with any of these brands.)
SMOKEYE HILL – Making its debut on the Bourbon Breakdown for Frontierado is this Colorado-aged bourbon which meets my usual standard of letting you blow flies out of the air after taking a swig.
CASANOVA’S ICOSAMERON OR THE STORY OF EDWARD AND ELIZABETH WHO SPENT EIGHTY-ONE YEARS IN THE LAND OF THE MEGA-MICRES, ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF PROTOCOSMOS IN THE INTERIOR OF OUR GLOBE (1788) – Yes, that IS the actual, complete title of this obscure item and yes, it was written by THE Giovanni Giacomo Casanova, the legendary ladies’ man and adventurer. 
The pair of twenty-somethings prove their identity through that beloved fictional trope of birthmarks and scars, then proceed to tell their tale. When the ship that Elizabeth and Edward were aboard sank at sea the then-children climbed into an empty, water-tight coffin in the cargo hold. 
CIMARRON STRIP (1967-1968) – Here’s another seasonal post for Frontierado, which is observed this year on Friday, August 1st. Cimarron Strip was the stretch of land also called the Oklahoma Panhandle. Stuart Whitman starred as U.S. Marshal Jim Crown, assigned to tame the nearly lawless region in the late 1880s. 
THE BATTLE GROUND – A range war breaks out in the Cimarron Strip after the government cancels leases on land owned by cattlemen. Those ranchers clash violently with farmers and settlers with Marshal Jim Crown caught in the middle as he tries to end the war before a massacre occurs. Telly Savalas himself guest stars, along with Warren Oates, L.Q. Jones, Richard Farnsworth and R.G. Armstrong. 
BODIE, CALIFORNIA – Gold was discovered there in 1859 by William (or Waterman) S. Bodey, the man that the subsequent town would be named for despite the spelling error made by a sign painter. For nearly twenty years, Bodie produced less gold than similar sites out west. 
FANTASTIC FOUR Vol 1 #81 (Dec 1968) 
The team’s old foe the Wizard invades the Baxter Building to keep his recently confiscated Power Gloves from being reverse engineered by the Fantastic Four. 
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