If at first you don’t succeed, relaunch with a hot creative team after a huge crossover event. Matt Fraction and Terry Dodson made mutant magic on Uncanny X-Men. Fraction’s Fear Itself epic unleashed supernatural forces on earth courtesy of The Serpent.
Now Doctor Strange recruits a new team to face threats unleashed by the Asgardian God of Fear . Namor the Submariner, Red She Hulk, Iron Fist and Silver Surfer join the Doctor’s mission against mystical monsters threatening the planet.
When you’ve got teams of Avengers and the X-Men plus the Fantastic Four, why does the world need The Defenders? I’ve always been puzzled why the “non-team” keeps getting reboots.
Fraction joins a fraternity of writers including Roy Thomas, David Anthony Kraft, Steve Gerber, Kurt Busiek, Keith Giffen and Joe Casey that have crafted the adventures of a team of outsider/lone wolf types.
Doctor Strange, Hulk and Namor are the most iconic members that have appeared in most versions of the series. My favorites have always been Valkyrie and Hellcat. The steely noble warrior woman and the sexy crimefighter were odd couple that worked great together.
My earliest memory of The Defenders is their most outrageous storylines. You could say Kraft’s Defender for a Day was ahead of its time. Long before reality shows took over television, this story showed how slick producers and wannabes could exploit and tarnish the most heroic ideas.
In Defenders #62-#65 a promoter exposes the team to the world and announces a membership drive and videotapes the whole thing for a documentary. Some of the lamest back burner characters and villains invaded the Defenders home hoping to join the team. It was great fun with hilarious moments especially from the Hulk. The story is infamous now but as a little kid I loved seeing so many costumed characters all packed into one issue. And if Captain Ultra has a shot maybe I could be a Defender?
Does the world really need another variation of the Defenders? Maybe not. But with this creative team and membership it’s definitely worth finding out.
By Editor