Featuring the following heroine!

The Valkyrie

Val Real name: Brunnhilde, although the name of the woman whose body she inhabited is Barbara Denton-Norriss.

AKA: Val

First appearance: The Enchantress impersonated Val in Avengers 83. In the Incredible Hulk 142, Samantha Parrington was given the Valkyrie's powers for a brief time. Barbara Denton first appeared in Defenders 3, and was driven mad by mating with a demon (ewww!). The Enchantress then implanted Val's spirit into Barbara's shell, making Defenders 4 Val's first real appearance in Marvel continuity. Val's body and spirit were united in Defenders 109.

Favorite quote: "A man's strength and character are not measured by the length of his blade ... but by the boldness of his heart." (Defenders 22. Just write your own punchlines here, kiddies...)
Team affiliation: Val was born to be a Defender. Formerly she was the leader of the Valkyries. She also worked with Ben Grimm (Marvel Two-in-One 6-7) and Spiderman (Marvel Team-Up 34-35, 116). And, if the story arc leading up to Thor 300 is to be believed, she and the Thunder God were a pretty hot item a lifetime or two ago.

Powers: Superhuman strength and virtual immortality.

Favorite Storyline: My favorite Defenders story is the depressingly still-current Sons of the Serpent saga (Defenders 22-25). It included Clea out-magicking Doctor Strange, the best entrance by a Son of Satan ever scripted, and the greatest throw-away line ever written for comics: Nighthawk, after witnessing a supernatural apparition, saying matter-of-factly "I am dreaming. Yes. Of course. This cannot be for real." Unfortunately, Val spent much of that saga unconscious tied upside down to an inverted cross. My favorite long running plot thread involving Val herself was actually in the letter column; the debate over that awful, wretchedly uncomfortable costume she wore for years. It was a great moment in fandom when she got a new one. It was a tacky moment in fandom when various authors thought giving her the old uniform back would re-create the early Defenders' magic.






















Favorite Storyline In Which Val Actually Participated: Rob Harris suggests Defenders 35-40 where Val, after wrecking a restaurant subduing a supervillian, spends time in a women's prison. Rob says he appreciated "the sheer novelty of actually seeing a do-gooder arrested for property destruction." I like this one because it dealt with sexual harassment a decade before such a thing was acknowledged to be a serious problem. And because Val takes out the prison bully without ever landing a punch!

Least favorite storyline: Just couldn't buy into Marvel Two-In-One 6-7, which concluded in Defenders 20. There's something about a cosmic harmonica, and Ben Grimm restoring the planet by playing it, that doesn't quite jive. (On the other hand, I have no problem with a Norse goddess inhabiting a human body carrying an enchanted sword and riding a flying horse. Hmmm...)