Comic Review: The Defenders (Vol. 4), Issues 1 to 7

I picked up Matt Fraction’s new Defenders series on a whim the other day.  I was at my local shop when I saw the Black Cat on the cover of issue #7, and then I noticed that they also had a copy of the first trade, collecting issues 1 through 6, and I thought, “What the Hell, let’s give it a whirl.”  The thing is, I really like comics, especially when they’re good.  But finding good comics is a little like finding leprechauns—not at all easy, and often accomplished by accident.  I’ve gotten frustrated lately with the new Justice League—in fact, I’ve given up on the new DCU entirely—so I’ve got a little space on my Pull List at the moment.  And while I’m not overly familiar with Fraction’s work, fact is you hear good things about him, and I mean, who doesn’t want to read a book with the Silver Surfer and Doctor Strange in it?  Also: why is there a Red She-Hulk?  So there you have it.  Nothing to do but give this thing a look.

The Defenders #1

As it happens, this new Defenders book is crazy.  Our heroes’ charter is “to defend the world from the impossible,” and apparently the Impossible is on the move and getting stronger.  As I read the book, I couldn’t help thinking that of it as Marvel’s answer to Hellboy or maybe Planetary.  It’s got that same kind of weird-assed mythological resonance going for it and that same kind of drawing-on-the-heroes-of-yesteryear vibe. Issue #1 opens with Doctor Strange having just bedded a grad student who came to him looking for help on a research paper she’s writing—she’s regretting what’s quickly shown to be a very awkward one-night stand while he’s so self-absorbed that he can’t even be bothered to offer her a cup of coffee the next morning—and it goes downhill for our heroes from there.  We see the Red She Hulk try to drown her sorrows after single-handedly destroying the Running of the Bulls at Pamplona, and we see Danny Rand making bad decisions personally and professionally while those around him start losing their confidence in him.  We see the Silver Surfer at such loose ends that he’s turned himself into a winter snowfall.  And soon enough, the team—or rather, the not-a-team—starts coming together, and it’s a bunch of seemingly random but incredibly powerful heroes.  They race off to stop against a black-skinned incarnation of the Hulk at Wundagore Mountain, and then they discover a Concordance Engine, and well… wackiness ensues. 

Fraction has discussed in interviews the fact that he likes writing the Defenders because its heroes are all supremely flawed characters, and I agree.  This team—Doctor Strange, Silver Surfer, Namor, Red She Hulk, and even Iron Fist—are all incredibly, even cosmically, powerful heroes.  But they’re also a bunch of classic nut jobs and self-identifying loners, and it’s when the book is exploring this aspect of its protagonists’ lives that it’s at its best.  It’s a satisfying counterpoint to something like the first volume of the New Avengers, where the team members all seems to know who they are and what they want, but they’re underpowered against the kinds of threats they face.  In contrast, the Defenders all kick ass, but they don’t necessarily get along, and they can’t seem to out of their own heads.  Every one of the leads is a seriously flawed human being, and it’s that sense of outsiderness, that discomfort in their own skin, that drives the story.  Happily, Fraction gives that sense of otherness plenty of time to develop, weaving it seamlessly into the primary plot points. Whether it’s Betty Ross’s oddly touching tenderness towards the Silver Surfer or Doctor Strange’s creepy ever-present sexuality, the fact is that it’s these little details that allow the heroes to either succeed or fail.  It’s these little details that open up Pandora’s Box.

The Defenders #7

The art in the first few issues of this series—by Terry and Rachel Dodson—is okay, but I personally preferred the styles employed by the Michael Lark and Mitch Breitweiser in issues 4 and 5 to what appears in issues 1 through 3.  Lark in particular goes with a more understated approach, an approach that’s then matched by more a more subdued color palette, and I thought that approach suited the mood of the writing more effectively than the more heroic, lantern-jawed style seen in the book early on.  On top of that, those first three issues just scream with electric colors.  It’s a bad contrast with the actual mood of the book’s writing if you ask me, and that’s a Hell of a shame because I think it changes the whole mood of the story.  It’s so bad in issues 2 and 3 that Fraction’s actually forced to switch over to a Third Person Omniscient narrator in order to set the correct tone for the story.  The later issues—thankfully—don’t have that kind of heavy-handed tone-setting, but that’s mostly because it’s just not needed.  However, in fairness my absolute favorite panel from the book came out of the first issue, and it works almost perfectly, so… what the Hell do I know?

Fifty Shades of Strange?  It could totally work.

So.  The Defenders is a cool idea.  It opens strong, and although I didn’t love issues 2 or 3, the story picks up quickly once we’re into issue 4.  By the time I got to issue 5, I was pretty thoroughly hooked.  At this point, I’m planning to give the series some time to develop.  It seems like Fraction knows that he might be onto something here, and I agree.  It’s just a question of what that something is, and frankly at this point, I’m as eager to find out as anyone.  It’s either gonna be great, or it’s gonna come apart at the seams.  Here’s hoping for the former.  As long as they can get control of that color palette, I think they’ve got a book with real potential here.