By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Want more Defenders? Let Captain Comics take you to the source for the reaing that will tide you over until the next Netflix series comes out.

But first, let’s get this out of the way: While the comic book Defenders are mostly like their Netflix counterparts, there are some surprising differences. For example, in the comics:

* Luke Cage and Jessica Jones are married, and a have a kid (whose super-power is adorableness).

* Luke “Power Man” Cage and Danny “Iron Fist” Rand have had a long partnership as “Heroes for Hire.”

* Danny Rand has had a long-running romantic relationship with Misty Knight, who has a bionic arm.

* Misty Knight and Colleen Wing have had a long partnership in the “The Daughters of the Dragon” P.I. firm.

Matt “Daredevil” Murdock has had a long history with Elektra and The Hand, who have nothing to do with Iron Fist’s mystical hometown, K’un Lun.

f you watched Defenders closely, you might have noticed that some of the above may still happen on TV. Meanwhile, the comics are slowly re-inventing themselves to look more like Netflix.

So let’s explore:

THE DEFENDERS

There have been 181 issues of four comic book series titled The Defenders since 1971, not counting annuals, crossovers and the five issues of Giant-Size Defenders. (The book was giant-size, not the characters.)

You can ignore all those

Read instead the latest The Defenders series, which is the fifth to bear that name but the first to star Luke Cage, Daredevil, Iron Fist and Jessica Jones. They are currently battling a mysteriously resurrected Diamondback (here he’s just Luke’s childhood frenemy, not his half-brother).

It’s a good read, written by Marvel superstar Brian Michael Bendis (the dialogue about Luke thinking Daredevil’s real name is “Gary” had me laughing out loud), with lovely photo-realistic art by David Marquez. Oh, and you also get appearances by The Punisher; Night Nurse (who is Linda Jane Carter in the comics, not Claire Temple); Daily Bugle reporter Ben Urich (not dead in the comics); and Spider-Man foes Black Cat, Hammerhead and Kingpin.

The Defenders 5.0 is currently on its fourth issue, so it should be easy to catch up.

Copyright Marvel Entertainment Inc.

The current The Defenders title is the first to star the Netflix quarter of (from left) Luke Cage, Daredevil, Iron Fist and Jessica Jones. 

DAREDEVIL

When discussing Daredevil, I am required by the Unwritten Rules of Comics Journalism to remind everyone that it was Frank Miller who put the character on the map with “The Elektra Saga” in the early ‘80s. Those issues, available in more reprint formats than you can shake a billy club at, introduced Stick and Elektra; established Bullseye, The Hand and Kingpin as Daredevil enemies; and changed Daredevil himself from a low-selling acrobat/boxer to the popular acrobat/ninja he is today.

But there is a lot more to Daredevil than that. I suggest Daredevil by Mark Waid Vol. 1, a hardback that collects the first seven issues of a long run by writer Mark Waid and artist Christ Samnee. It’s almost the opposite of the cynical, rough-edged Miller run, with a much more light-hearted DD and smooth, fluid illustration. If you like it, there are many more volumes by this award-winning duo, most of them gems.

the current series. It’s a well-done title, written by Charles Soule with a variety of artists, and this particular run features Elektra, so you get an idea where these two crazy kids stand with each other currently.

Copyright Marvel Entertainment Inc.

In Daredevil: Back in Black Vol. 2 – Supersonic collects several issues from the current series, including a storyline featuring Elektra.

LUKE CAGE

There aren’t a lot of great solo Cage stories; the character seems to work better in a group setting. But I’m always going to recommend the first nine issues of Luke Cage, Hero for Hire, available in a variety of reprint formats, because that includes the scene where Cage travels to Latveria to collect on a bill owed by Dr. Doom. Seriously, he wants his money.

IRON FIST

Danny Rand’s first 15-issue series was drawn by legendary artist John Byrne, and is one of my favorites. But for the “wow” factor, check out Immortal Iron Fist Vol. 2: The Seven Cities of Heaven. Written by Matt Fraction and Ed Brubaker, with art by David Aja and others, this is the story that explosively expanded and explored the Iron Fist mythology.

Fraction and Brubaker had already introduced the idea that Iron Fist was a title, and had introduced the previous one, a soldier of fortune named Randall Orson. In Seven Cities, Rand discovers that K’un Lun is just one of seven mystical cities, and each has its own “immortal” champion, including Bride of Nine Spiders, Dog Brother No. One, Fat Cobra, Prince of Orphans, Steel Phoenix and Tiger’s Beautiful Daughter. This being comics, he had to fight them all in a tournament – reminiscent of Enter the Dragon, one of the movies that launched the kung fu fad of the ‘70s, which in turn gave us Iron Fist to begin with.

POWER MAN AND IRON FIST

I said these guys had a long history, didn’t I?

To get the skinny on how these two mismatched characters became friends and partners, plus a lot of Misty Knight and Colleen Wing, look no farther than Power Man and Iron Fist: Heroes for Hire Epic Collection Vol. 1, which collects their first 23 issues together.

That’s pretty pricey, so if you’re on a budget, the most recent Power Man and Iron Fist series (2016-17) is pretty good. Featuring the characters after Luke’s marriage has broken up the Heroes for Hire team, it’s got a lot of humor and heart, although the art is a little too cartoony for my taste.

Check out Power Man and Iron Fist Vol. 1: The Boys Are Back in Town for the first six issues.

Copyright Marvel Entertainment Inc.

The first series to star Jessica Jones was called Alias, which obviously couldn’t be used on TV, where there has already been a series with that name. The character’s current series is titled simply Jessica Jones

JESSICA JONES

Jessica Jones first appeared in her own series, titled Alias, which was more-or-less adapted to Netflix in the first season of Jessica Jones.

Her second series, The Pulse, is pretty important in that it was here, while she was working for The Daily Bugle, that her pregnancy by Luke Cage was revealed. But I found that one to be overly familiar territory (after a gazillion Spider-Man comics set in the same office), and it didn't have the no-effs-given sizzle of Alias.

Which is why I’m recommending her current series, named simply Jessica Jones. It reunites the original Alias team – writer Brian Michael Bendis, cover artist David Mack and interior artist Michael Gaydos – so it might as well be a continuation of that sensational first series. Except that Jones is married and has a kid, of course, which is a formidable set of responsibilities for a private investigator.

Jessica Jones is on its 11th issue, so it should be easy to catch up on the whole series, especially with one trade paperback already out.

Which should keep everyone busy and happy until November. That’s when The Punisher arrives on Netflix, and new reading assignments will be handed out!

Find Captain Comics by email (capncomics@aol.com), on his website (captaincomics.ning.com), on Facebook (Captain Comics Round Table) or on Twitter (@CaptainComics).

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