Defenders issue 4 page 12 by Sal Buscema and Frank Bolle

And here I thought that no deals would happen in auctions anymore- glad I was wrong as I just picked up this super cool early Defenders page featuring Black Knight and the Enchantress. This set up the Avengers/Defenders War and one of my favorite duo of Avengers issues (also by Sal and then Tuska) as Black Knight turned to stone. The Buscema brother both drew Dane so damn well I just fell in love with this page. As I could not afford the Valkyrie cover to this issue a bit ago I am really glad I have a super page from this book now. Fun that the writer signed it too as it was a well plotted and written issue. Here is CL's write up


This Sal Buscema page from comes from a key issue, Defenders #4 (1973), in which Barbara Norriss is transformed into Valkyrie for the first time and is given the Black Knight's winged horse Aragorn after the Knight is turned into stone. It would be years before the Black Knight would return while Valkyrie and Aragorn would go on to play key roles in the Defenders title for the remainder of the Bronze Age and beyond. On this page the Enchantress explains that after her last battle with the Avengers she and the Executioner traveled to an Asgard-like realm and the Executioner soon became the consort of the queen Casiolena, much to Enchantress' chagrin. Wanting revenge she charmed the Black Knight into helping, but both were defeated and locked up along with a woman named Barbara Norriss. In the scene following this page, the Enchantress turns Barbara into the Valkyrie, and with the help of the Defenders manage to free themselves. In the heat of battle, the Enchantress kills Casiolena, and reclaims the Executioner as her own. However, when the Black Knight revolts believing that the Enchantress loves him, she informs him that he was only a pawn in her game, and turns him into stone before leaving with the Executioner. The Defenders then travel back with the stone Black Knight, where Valkyrie adopts Aragorn, and decides to join the Defenders, where she stays for the next decade.