From what I understand, Marvel was planning on reprinting these, Gerber found out and found a way to use them in modern appearances.

That's the way I always heard it, too...but CuCr is right about the release dates...it probably was planned in advance...maybe I'll check some old Defenders' letters pages for clues.

I think it was Gerber who planned the release date of the Defenders meeting the headmen to coincide with the release of Weird Wonder Tales #7

Wasn't this the Jury? They were in one of the Venom minis....

I've never heard of any of those people other than Sentry (and I wish I hadn't heard of him), and the only team I know USAgent ever leading was Avengers West Coast.

I don't remember the name of the group (DZ probably has it right), but I think he was put in charge of them about the time of the second U.S. Agent miniseries and the eminently-forgettable Maximum Security event. I seem to remember him having some rather interchangeable super-lackeys about then. Add in the new costume (which always struck me as a little too Judge Dredd-ish) and the goofy energy baton, and it was probably one of the low points in John Walker's career.

Which is a bit like saying Shemp was the dumbest Stooge.

Yes, it was/is the Jury. They've made several appearances over the years. The last incarnation was run by Edwin Cord and had US Agent lead them as they fought the "New" Thunderbolts and lost.

The Sentry in this case isn't the current guy. This Sentry is Curtis Elkins and he was a Guardsman working out of the Vault. Venom, whilst making an escape, killed another guard, who was a buddy of this guy.

General Orwell Taylor, the father of the dead guard, gathered together a team , the Jury, to kill Venom. All of these guys were either former Guardsmen or related to the dead guy.

When it comes to the dumbest stooge, I'd say it's a toss-up between Ted Healy and Joe Besser.

For a while in the Seventies, while Hank Pym was stuck at a few inches tall, his Ant-Man costume was destroyed by a hungry bird. Who hand-sewed a new outfit for him?

I honestly don't know, so I'll toss out a guess. It was Captain America.

I didn't know Hank resumed his Ant-Man identity in the 70s - I thought the identity/costume lay dormant until Scott Lang stole it.

But, since that would be before Hank's breakup with Jan, given her eye for fashion, I'll guess the Wasp was the one who helped Hank out with the new costume.

Not the Wasp. For reasons Hult stated, I figured someone would guess her, but it was actually a character who gained greater fame in a non-Avengers team book.

And yes, Pym was Ant-Man for at least part of the Seventies...there was a memorable "inside the Vision" story in Avengers #93, Sept. 1971, a team-up with Hulk vs. Hydra in Incredible Hulk #154, Aug. 1972, and a solo series in seven issues of Marvel Feature, #4-10, 1972-1973.

Jarvis. Because the butler always does it.