Defenders #142 (1985)

Beast and Cloud and Iceman are touring college campuses across the USA to raise awareness about anti-mutant sentiment, and in this issue they’re protesting a speech by Senator Robert Kelly, who is a prominent bigot.  The student rights organization has a very odd name: MONSTER (Mutants Only Need Sensitivity, Tolerance, and Equal Rights).   Why would you call a civil rights group something scary?  Anyway, the splash page shows what Marvel thought a college dorm looked like in 1984:

Dig the posters!

Cloud is crushing on Iceman pretty hard, but Iceman–who in 2010s canon is a homosexual–can’t be into her because she has both genders.  Can you imagine if a character like Cloud was in the comics today?  With all the current dialog about gender identity?  Way ahead of its time.

And finally, Moondragon is dying!

Gillis is a solid writer for this book, and Perlin’s art has grown on me.

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