Following their appearance as a team in Marvel Feature (1st series) #1-3, the Defenders were given their own title. Although similar to the Avengers, the Defenders maintained a more unofficial status and gained the description of a "non-team."
The title changed names on the cover with #125 to "New Defenders." It was canceled with #152 when most of the team died. Three of the surving members, the Angel, Beast and Iceman, would help form X-Factor a few months later.