Advance Review: The Defenders #1 (of 5)

The Defenders have been a mixed bag for Marvel. Probably, the one incarnation that most people will remember is the Doctor Strange, Hulk, Namor and Valkyrie ably supported by a rotating cast. More recently, there was the Defenders TV show on Netflix; sandwiched between these polar opposites are a number of re-starts and mini series including the god awful Secret Defenders of the 90’s. So, I have to ask, will the real Defenders please stand up?

When the ruminations and meditations of Doctor Strange are interrupted by the Marked Rider are disturbed, there is very little patience abound. However the Rider brings information of a great threat to the cosmos requiring a great defence. therefore Strange pulls out his tarot card in order to bring together the next team of Defenders, all of which may be familiar though there are a couple of facsimiles thrown in for good measure.

Immortal Hulk writer Al Ewing is on hand to weave the sort of long winded effort that can either make or break a book. With so much writing in the first issue, the story could potentially wilt under its under setup. With a magic user of Strange’s statue you would expect some of the horror tropes that made Ewing’s Hulk book so interesting. In its place is a mix of characters that you will have to care about and a villain that screams cosmic problems. No, not that one, the other one! The dialogue from Ewing mirrors Marvel’s current “everyone is a comedian” trend, that can become tiresome, though here there are serious signs and portents in the odd mix of characters to kind of even it out.

The art is provided by Javier Rodriquez who I loved on the Denis Hopeless Spider-Woman book. The simple body styles, mixed with strong lines adds a pseudo lightness to proceedings. There is a lot going in this book; Rodriquez utilises a myriad of panel designs and full bleed pages and panels in order to draw the reader towards the correct path. The art is well detailed throughout, coupled with the strong colors also from Rodriquez. With so much lines and colors battling fro attention, it falls to the inks of Álvaro López and Rodriquez to help delineate the characters from the chaos. Letters are supplied by VC’s Joe Caramagna has to work double time, with a mix of monologuing and dialogue fonts to deal with. There are a number of covers to choose from; as always it’s buyers choice.

The original Defenders book was a cult classic; Secret Defenders was a mutt of a book. It will interesting to see how this new mini series fares, especially given the up and coming publicised Death of Doctor Strange,

Writing – 3.5 Stars
Art – 4 Stars
Colors – 4 Stars

Overall – 3.5 Stars

Written by; Al Ewing
Art by; Javier Rodriquez
Inks by; Álvaro Lopez with Javier Rodriquez
Letters by; VC’s Joe Caramagna
Published by; Marvel Worldwide Inc.

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network