Issue(s): Defenders #148
Published Date: Oct 85
Title: "The Kickshaws consignment"
Credits:
Peter Gillis - Writer
Sal Buscema - Penciler
Art Nichols - Inker
Carl Potts - Editor

Review/plot:
A fill-in issue that interrupts Seraph's revelations about Cloud. The issue was written by regular writer Peter Gillis and inked by the regular inker Art Nichols, and since issue #146 was drawn by a fill-in artist (Luke McDonnell) without interrupting the regular plot, i'm sure there's a story behind this issue, but i don't know what it is.

It returns to the zany style of Gillis' earlier issue, #133, and features the return of Typhon and Cutlass from that story.

The Marvel Appendix says of those characters: "I had to read Cutlass and Typhoon's stories four times before I could claim to understand the plot well enough to explain it to someone else." I haven't read this four times, so i'll just tell you it's a zany over-the-top murder mystery that features overt Groucho Marx tribute character Rufus T. Hackstabber (who originally appeared in some Master of Kung Fu issues)...

...and also has two characters, Minnie Bannister and Henry Crun, that (Appendix again)...

...were recurring characters in the surreal 1950s BBC radio comedy "The Goon Show", played by Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers. They were an elderly couple who, like most of the characters, did whatever the plot required. Having Min want to become a vampire and Henry as a private detective certainly wouldn't have been too unusual for a Goon Show plot.

I wouldn't want every issue to be like this, but it's a weird little break and i enjoyed it.

In addition to current Defenders Beast and Gargoyle...

..it also features Hellcat and Hellstorm...

...plus Hannibal King (in basically a cameo).

The McGuffin of the plot is the Lesser Grey God statue...

...a relic created by the Six-Fingered Hand which is said to have the power to reactive curses, and the Minnie Bannister wanted to use it to restore Hannibal King's vampirism so that he could make her a vampire.

The one seen in this story is a fake and it turns out the real one is the hood ornament of Hackstabber's cab.

Quality Rating: B-

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: The MCP places this in the same break in Defenders as the Gargoyle mini-series, between issues #141-142.

References:

• Cutlass and Typhoon previously appeared in Defenders #133.
  
• A little weirdly, when Hannibal King arrives and introduces himself, a footnote just says "See Doctor Strange #62". I guess that's a relevant issue, since it was when he was cured of his vampirism, but the footnote doesn't really line up with anything specific.

Cross-over: N/A

Continuity Implant? N

Reprinted In: N/A