Tag: defenders

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Marvel Masterworks: Defenders Volume Two

This is a review of Marvel Masterworks Defenders Volume Two. The high point of this graphic novel is the six-issue Avengers/Defenders war, in which the two teams duke it out to retrieve what looks like a plumber’s helper. The plot has a slapdash energy that I liked, even though I’ve seen it a million times before. Other storylines include a romp in the past with the Black Knight, along with The Hulk fighting the Abominable Snowman. Also: The Squadron Supreme sells earth to aliens!

Being Marvel’s one and only non-team, The Defenders’ roster changes with the winds, but semi-regular members include Doctor Strange, The Valkyrie, and The Hulk. In the volume I read, Hawkeye and Nighthawk come to visit, but only Nighthawk stays. 1970’s superhero comics mostly consist of a bunch of one or two issue storylines and have a villain of the month quality – Loki, Mordred, The Squadron Supreme, Magneto, etc.

These issues read fine, but are mostly forgettable. Writer Steve Englehart leaves, and writer Len Wein arrives. Both Mr. Englehart and Mr. Wein do good work here, but both have done better elsewhere. This is perfectly decent comics schlock that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

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Marvel Masterworks The Defenders Vol. One

This a review of Marvel Masterworks The Defenders Vol. 1. This graphic novel looks to be an attempt to catch lightning in a bottle with some of Marvel’s offbeat (i.e., less popular) characters. The Defender’s first appearance features The Sub-Mariner, The Silver Surfer, and The Hulk. The Surfer is gone by the second storyline, mainly because Stan Lee didn’t want anyone not named Stan Lee writing the character. He’s replaced by Doctor Strange.

The first stories, written by Roy Thomas, are okay. Very workmanlike. The same plot is recycled – a demon/elder god/whatever tries to sacrifice a Defender – several times. The series finds its legs with the addition of writer Steven Englehart, who pens stories about wizards with rat friends, talkative Doomsday Machines, etc.

Mr. Englehart adds fan favorite The Valkyrie to the team, and she stays until the bitter end (when I started reading The Defenders over a decade later, she was still a member). As an added bonus, Sal Buscema does a few issues of the art. Mr. Buscema draws my favorite version of the Hulk – big, green, and dumb with purple pants.

Fun read.