And the fallout from Fear Itself continues! The big difference this time is that it didn’t annoy the hell out of me to read it! Since I have barely recovered from a nasty bout of Crossover Fatigue I am not really looking to keep reading about this storyline anymore then I have to. In fact, I almost didn’t even buy this comic since there isn’t even anyone in it that I regularly read (I mean at least Secret Avengers has Beast), but after reading Marvel Point One and all the promo information that’s been pushed about this title, I felt compared compelled to at least give it a chance. And boy am I glad I did! I may not be 100% sold on collecting this title forever but this first issue definitely bought them a few arcs (much in the fashion that I gave FF a few chances to win me over). On the plus side, this title DOES have a lot going for it. Many of the original Defenders members who are returning are not quite the same as they were when they last were on the team. Dr. Strange is no longer Sorcerer Supreme and is sleeping with graduate students; Namor is now carrying a proud mutant flag and a torch for Emma Frost; Iron Fist has had more than one life altering event in his life; and Hulk is now…well…female and red. Like I said, lots of changes.
First and foremost, my favorite character has to be Red She-Hulk! I am not a huge Hulk fan as a rule but ever since I have been hearing about this crimson femme fatale, I have been very interested in her story. It helps that original She-Hulk is one of my all-time favorite characters ever but I was instantly intrigued about the origins of this new hulk. To find one that she was long time Hulk lover Betty Ross was a huge deal to me and only made her an even cooler character. Of course liking the one character isn’t a reason to start collecting Hulk comics (especially since she isn’t really in all the issues) so her taking Hulk’s place on this brand new team book (after all, I DO love a good team book) was a dream come true. This way I get to follow this amazing character without subscribing to a line of books where the main character doesn’t really interest me all that much.
Another great character in this book is Nul. As sick to death as I am of Fear Itself and its spin-offs, I was really into the characters of the Worthy and was somewhat sad to see them all evaporate at the end of Fear Itself #7. But this book showed us two thing: first, that the Worthy aren’t completely gone and can be summoned without a host and second, all it takes to bring forth a Worthy is to shatter its hammer. I sorta hope Valkyrie knows that over in The Fearless... I did somewhat wonder why Dr. Strange had to be TOLD what was going on with Nul since I am sure there would have been news footage of the Bucharest attack, but this is fiction after all so a little suspension of disbelief is perfectly acceptable.
Add Wundagore Mountain and a quasi-intelligent, non-ragey Hulk guest appearance to this mix and you’ve got the makings of a great story! There weren’t any major glaring problems in the issue worth talking about but it was only the first issues so anything can still happen. It’s no X-men or Avengers so they don’t get a clear endless subscription but they have definitely bought themselves at least to issues 10 or 12 with stories like this. If the writers can keep the excitement of this first issues going through every issues of this series, they will definitely have a mega hit on their hands!
