Iceberg was from the old school. Truth. Justice. The American Way. During World War II, you knew who the bad guys were: they wore swastikas. But the when world turned, and the Nazi's went the way of the dodo, the hatred they had spawned did not. It festered, like a badly healed wound, waiting to break open again.

They didn't wear swastikas. They didn't even wear white hoods. But still, the boiling mass of fear and hatred for anything different bubbled to the surface once more to terrorize the lives of those born into lives they could not control.

It wasn't race this time. Nor religion. Nor gender. Not even sexual orientation.

This time, it was genetics. A single strand of DNA misplaced, which gave certain people strange abilities. Abilities that were sometimes dangerous, but always exceptional to what folks had come to regard as "normal." And like anything else new and different, there were those that feared it. Hated it. Were willing to kill to remove it.

The need to preserve Justice runs too strongly in some people to be ignored. But there comes a time when one has done all one can for King and Country. Then comes a time when the Torch of Freedom must be passed on to others. Iceberg had seen it all: World War II, the Cold War, Vietnam. He was old. Too old to fight anymore. But, he thought. Not too old to pass on his experience and insight to the next generation of freedom fighters.

Thus were the Defenders born.

Iceberg took his savings, and capital he had earned from his successful computer business and bankrolled the start of a new company: The Defenders of Atlanta. All he had was his experience, dedication, and a small amount of capital to help four newcomers learn the ins and outs of crimefighting, to protect them from the retribution the new hatemongers would try to heap upon them. From the Wrath of Genocide.

It might have been happenstance. It might have been destiny. Whatever it was, when Genocide terrorists attacked a local mall in a blatant robbery, four people had the courage and character to face them and declare, "Enough!"

Emerald was a martial artist. Born out of wedlock to a Korean mother and an American father, she knew the pain of discrimination and bigotry all too well. But her natural beauty, grace, and love of life refused to allow her to be overcome with bitterness or pettiness. Instead, Emerald became a linguist and split her time between trying to bridge gaps in people's understanding and training for the Olympics.

Andrew Justice was a cop. A good, old fashioned street cop who'd seen too many kids burn out their lives in drugs, alcohol, and sex. He lost his wife to the ravages of crime, now he feared losing his only son. But when the subatomic twist to his DNA turned him into a demonic thing, he did the only thing he could, and became the living incarnation of Justice.

Commando was a soldier. He'd grown up hard on the city streets until a kindly judge gave him a choice: join the military or go to prison. The Navy made him into a man of honor, worthy of defending the greatest nation on Earth. Now he was going to use his talents to help kids like he'd been from falling down the wrong path. The school of hard knocks taught him some painful lessons, and when a misfired spell altered his genetics, he found he had to courage to face himself as well as the enemy.

Joe Superhero is an enigma. No one knows who he is, or where he came from, or even his real name. But his love for children is outmatched only by his love of television. But there is a darker side to Joe, a terrible avatar of Vengance that threatens to destroy the very ones he loves most.