Appearing in "Games Godlings Play!"
Featured Characters:
- Defenders (Main story and recap)
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- ⏴ Grandmaster ⏵
- ⏴ Prime Mover ⏵
- Takkor (First appearance)
- Chiroptera (First appearance)
- Dumog ⏵ (First appearance)
- Teju ⏵ (First appearance)
- Grott the Man-Slayer ⏵ (First appearance)
- ⏴ Korvac ⏵ (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- Kang the Conqueror (Nathaniel Richards) (Only in recap)
- Avengers (Only in recap)
- Captain America (Steve Rogers) (Only in recap)
- Goliath (Clint Barton) (Only in recap)
- Iron Man (Tony Stark) (Only in recap)
- Thor (Odinson) (Only in recap)
- Squadron Sinister (Only in recap)
- Hyperion (Only in recap)
- Doctor Spectrum (Only in recap)
- Whizzer (James Sanders) (Only in recap)
- Nick Fury (Only in recap)
- Doctor Doom (Victor Von Doom) (Only in recap)
- Aragorn
- Hela (Invoked)
- Neptune (Invoked)
Races and Species:
- Humans
- Mutant Atlantean-Human Hybrids
- Asgardians
- Winged Horses
- Aliens
- Robots
- Reptoids (First appearance)
- Grunds (First appearance)
- Fomalhauti (First appearance)
- Cyborgs
Locations:
- Earth
- North America
- Europe (Only in flashback)
- Latveria (Only in flashback)
- Doomstadt (Only in flashback)
- Doctor Doom's Castle (Only in flashback)
- Doomstadt (Only in flashback)
- Latveria (Only in flashback)
- Atlantis (Mentioned)
- Valhalla (Invoked)
Items:
- Eye of Agamotto
- Cloak of Levitation
- Daredevil's Suit and Billy Club
- Dragonfang
- Captain America's Uniform and Shield (Only in recap)
- Mjolnir (Only in recap)
- Doctor Doom's Armor (Only in recap)
Synopsis for "Games Godlings Play!"
The Defenders and Daredevil are selected by the Grandmaster and the Prime Mover to participate in their latest game, in which the Grandmaster pits them against beings from different eras and planets selected by the Prime Mover to do battle. The winner gets Earth as their prize.
Pitting two of the Grandmaster's champions against at least one of those of the Prime Mover, the Defenders still manage to win, even though some of their numbers are killed in the battle. However, when the Grandmaster wins, he revives those who were killed. Having lost, the Prime Mover short-circuits and breaks down, after which the Grandmaster prepares to take ownership of Earth. However, Daredevil challenges him to a coin toss, which Daredevil wins thanks to his heightened senses. Losing it all, the Grandmaster returns the Defenders to Earth, leaving all alone... until the next time, that is...
Appearing in "The Sub-Mariner Strikes"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Byrrah
- Communists
Other Characters:
- Atlanteans
- Betty Dean (Only in flashback)
Locations:
Synopsis for "The Sub-Mariner Strikes"
Namor then subjects to himself the device and finds his powers restored to normal. Happy to find his experiment a success, the Emperor orders Namor to resume his one-man war on the surface world. Despite Namor's pleas that he has friends on the surface (such as Betty Dean), he has no choice but to follow the Emperor's orders. On the surface, the Sub-Mariner spots what appears to be a Russian sub attacking an American ship. Disabling the sub, he witnesses Byrrah and his men and his faithful minions flee the sub, in an attempt to make Namor betray the Emperor's orders.
Namor holds the American ship together and helps it get back to port. There, the Sub-Mariner informs the crew of the ship that it was he who helped keep the ship together and get them to safety. When the crew refuses to believe him, the Sub-Mariner angrily sinks it before returning home.Appearing in "The House of Shadows!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Unidentified TV Crew
- Bill Brinkly (First appearance) (TV Show Presenter)
- Allan Stevens (First appearance) (TV Show Reporter)
- Numerous unnamed employees
Antagonists:
- House of Shadows (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- Numerous unnamed New Yorkers
- NYPD
- Unnamed Police Officer
- Vishanti (Invoked)
- Dormammu (Invoked)
- Munnopor (Invoked)
- Ancient One (Invoked)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Earthspace
- Astral Plane
- Munnopor (Invoked)
- Moons of Munnopor (Invoked)
- Unidentified Dimension (Mentioned)
Items:
- Lesser Cloak of Levitation
- Amulet of Agamotto
- Spells
- Hands of Oshtur (First appearance)
- Hosts of Hoggoth (Invoked)
- Moons of Munnopor (First appearance)
- Vapors of the Vishanti (First appearance)
Synopsis for "The House of Shadows!"
Notes
- Inks (issue pages): Adkins pages 1-7, 10-11, 22-27, 43, Newton pages 14-19, 31-36, 38, Mooney pages 8-9, 30, 37, 39, 44.
Trivia
- The Valkyrie seems to lose her magical sword Dragonfang in this issue, but it appears at her side in future appearances without comment. A note in the letter column of Giant-Size Defenders #4 clarifies that it was restored to her by the Grandmaster when the Defenders were sent home to Earth.