Calling All Defenders

When Sub-Mariner sought revenge against the warlord Attuma for overthrowing New Atlantis, Dr. Strange offered his assistance. But with only the young mutant Loa at their side, the master of the mystic arts called for reinforcements (Fear Itself: The Deep #1).

Casting a spell initially designed to gather alchemical ingredients, Dr. Strange intended to summon core members of the Defenders. To everyone's surprise, the magic summoned Lyra (a.k.a. the Savage She-Hulk), even though she had never fought with the team. Lyra's mother was Thundra, a 23rd-century amazon—and her "father" was genetically engineered DNA from the Hulk, which explained why the magic inadvertently brought her instead.

Silver Surfer soon joined the fray as well, more or less rounding out this grouping of Defenders.

Yet against the armies of Attuma, Dr. Strange tried widening the scope of the earlier spell to summon even more allies. This time, to everyone's amazement, the magic summoned 11 more heroes who previously called themselves Defenders or accompanied the Defenders at least once (Fear Itself: The Deep #4).

Roll call:
(Top) Stingray, Cloak, Devil-Slayer.

(Middle) Daimon Hellstrom, Dagger, Blazing Skull, Black Panther, Hellcat.

(Bottom) Cloud, Moon Knight, Gargoyle.

Cullen Bunn wrote Fear Itself: The Deep, one of several Fear Itself limited series published in 2011.