Defenders #1:
Summary: This issue kicks off proper with the Hulk coming to Dr. Strange for help. What could possibly lead to the Hulk asking ANYBODY for help? Nul, Breaker of Worlds, the being Hulk had merged with during Fear Itself, was still around due to Hulk breaking free of Nul's influence before the Serpent was killed(it happened in the Fear Itself: Hulk vs Dracula mini, fyi). Hulk tells Strange that as much as it irks him he couldn't help out since he was worried that coming into close proximity with Nul may force the two to bond again. Strange gathers Namor and the Silver Surfer and Hulk recommends Strange take his wife, She-Hulk(or Red She-Hulk), to replace the muscle they would be lacking without Hulk... What is it with Marvel heroes just lending out their wives to super-hero teams?! Anyway, Strange realizes that he needed transportation and turns to Iron Fist and his snazzy new airplane to handle that, thus adding Iron Fist to the team. After compiling some data on Nul sightings, it turns out that Nul was marching towards Wundagore Mountain, which could have severe repercussions seeing as that Wundagore had a mess of crazy energies within it. While the Defenders are flying towards Wundagore, the airplane goes dead and gets shot out of the sky. The Defenders manage to land with no real damage done to themselves, at least until Iron Fist is shot by Prester John(who seems to be working for Nul) and several of the High Evolutionary's manimal creatures.
Thoughts: Huh. I didn't like this one. Go figure. I mean storywise, I see great potential here. Nul is a huge threat, one that would definitely give this band of heroes a run for their money. And the team itself(well, expect for Red She-Hulk, I'd have MUCH rather regular She-Hulk) is good. However, there were just oodles of things that I thought were wrong. The characterizations for so many characters seemed off somehow. Namor was fine, but Iron Fist was in some sort of bizarre Tony Stark mode, and the Surfer... I don't have a clue what's going on with him... Last I knew, he was depowered and living in Broxton, Oklahoma, in Mighty Thor, a series WRITTEN by Matt Fraction! Then add Prester John to top everything off, who, last I recall, had ceased being a bad guy and had worked with Cable on Providence... In a way, reading this issue felt like something out of the Twilight Zone... It was all just somewhat off. I'm still holding out hope for this series, because like I said, the story here could be great, but for me, this issue didn't start off on the right foot.
Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.
So wait, did I miss something in Mighty Thor concerning the Surfer or something?
ok....... ill... i like red she hulk being on here
ReplyDeletebut come on she is way better being here than lyra (shudders....)
hmm i dont think the surfer was depowered fully i think he just was given the ablity to turn from his natural form to silver at will
as he said in the issue that that happened that he wants to go out and travel the world
that said if he is able to silver at will why the fuck dont he just go back to his home world and be with his wife???????
but yeah being that fraction wrote both u would think he might be able to clear that up with a panel of diologe or somthing.
Oh, no doubt. If I had to rank my She-Hulks, I'd go like this: Green She-Hulk > Red She-Hulk > Lyra.
ReplyDeleteThat's the weird thing... I don't recall Surfer changing back to his silver form in Thor after Galactus took that preacher and left. Now I could very well be wrong(I mean I read so damn many comics a month that easily could have slipped my mind), but like you said, it would have been nice for Fraction to kind of throw a little something in there to say that yes, Surfer did indeed still have some of the power cosmic left in him and could change back and forth at will.
What is it with Marvel heroes just lending out their wives to super-hero teams? I thought exactly the same thing.
ReplyDeleteAnd I already ask you a similar question with Spiderman...
How many Hulks are around in the Marvel U? I counted like four (two green and two red)
And what do you think about the Avengers vs X-Men? It surprise me that Marvel have not do it before.
alien Oh they have my freind
ReplyDeletehttp://www.comicvine.com/x-men-vs-avengers-x-men-vs-avengers/37-191724/
jezzz marvel try some fucking originality lol (im am exited for the event dont get me wrong)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteoh one other thing im sure u will agree x-man
ReplyDeletethis panel totaly has me yearning for a taskmaster vs bullseye vs hawkeye mini serie
http://www.funnyjunk.com/funny_pictures/2991002/BULLSEYE+GETS+OWNNNED
.... and have it be drawn by that guy that drew the ultimate hawkeye series loved that art
I think there are four Hulks running around. Plus Bruce Banner, who used to be the Hulk. But I'm def not a major Hulk expert, so I could be wrong, Alien.
ReplyDeleteI'm actually really psyched for the Avengers/X-Men x-over too, Movieartman. And Taskmaster vs ANYBODY is a must buy for me! :P
But I dont know much about the Avengers, it seem pretty difficult that they can win against, Magneto, Ciclops,Namor, Iceman (with all his power), Jugger/colosus, Emma Frost, Fantomex, Psycolocke, etc etc.. and even Hope that i don't particularly like but she seem to be really powerful.
ReplyDeleteI put this issue back on the shelf. I read some of the dialogue and laughed, not at the great hilarity of it but the sheer out of characterizations. EVERYONE cracks jokes and plays off of each other as if they were on some terrible sitcom. Iron fist was not the same iron fist from fractions old run, and I thought strange as a complete playboy was ridiculous. The only thing the slightest enjoyable were the classic discoveries by strange. I will not pay 4 dollars for a mash up of some random team that they have no reason of explaining "why this team?" I do hope that it get better though because maybe i could read it in trade :-P
ReplyDeleteAlso, i am excited for the avengers/x-men too. However, with two very likable teams; I think we may be in for dissapointment. I feel that the conflict will be resolved in s tupid way or that they will unite to fight the real threat (sinister) or something. Also also, depending on what team of avengers you pick, They can more than hold their own with the x-men. With Wolverine being on so may teams it will be interesting to see where his loyalties lie. I hope that it is good! but i have a feeling its just a mashup of some random ideas by the "architects" and probably wont be all that important. Here's to hoping that i am wrong!
ReplyDeleteDon't sell the Avengers short, mi amigo. They're a force as well, Alien. Now, I grew up reading X-books, so I am a bit biased towards the X-Men, but Cap. America, Iron Man, Red Hulk, Thor(if he's back by then), Ms. Marvel, Vision, Luke Cage, as well as less powerful but uber-experienced heroes like Hawkeye, Pym, Black Panther(if he's there), etc. The Avengers could very easily be a match for the Evil X-Men.
ReplyDeleteCap, I agree completely. This comic was NOT what I was expecting... Everything just felt off, and like we both said, the characterizations missed by a lot for most of the characters... I'm definitely going to stick it out for the first storyarc(say 6 issues or so), but if it doesn't improve, yeah, I could definitely see myself dumping this one.
I'm seriously hoping we don't get a "super-hero teams meet, have misunderstanding and then team-up against real threat" deal here... With the way Lord Summers has been acting, I'm hoping that this FINALLY reveals what his problem is. I'm still holding out hope that he's been manipulated, driven crazy, anything and that it could be fixed. The fact that Wanda is going to be in it gives me hope that they'll reverse the M-Day garbage and finally fix the X-books...
If you count Hulk's two kids there are six Hulks.
ReplyDeleteAh, that's right. Thanks, Jermox. And I'm sure there are probably others.
ReplyDeleteIf you count Maestro thats 7! lol anyway i may have to take back what i said about the avengers vs. x-men idea. I completely forgot about X-sanction coming out next week. It is is said to be the precursor to the huge event.
ReplyDelete***SPOILER ALERT****
Rumors have it that cable thinks the avengers are trying to kill hope! his daughter in the marvel universe way haha. With the phoenix on the rise and hope being crazy powerful we could actually be in for something awesome!
There was a What If story where Hawkeye and She-Hulk had a Hulk-like kid named Mustang... So there's 8! :D
ReplyDeleteOoo, I didn't realize that the first issue of X-Sanction was dropping this Wednesday! You can bet that'll be a comic that gets reviewed for Wednesday night!