Defenders #9

Posted: Sunday, September 16
By: Jason Cornwell

Writers: Kurt Busiek, Erik Larsen & Eric Stephenson
Artists: Ron Frenz (p), Scott Hanna (i)

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Plot:
With the big guns of the Defenders off in space, we see the second-stringers are left to deal with the latest threat to the Earth, which amazingly enough turns out the Headmen, who have managed to awaken a highly powerful creature, that thanks to the possession of an ancient artifact, the Headmen control. The Defenders are made aware of this threat when they are attacked by the forces of A.I.M., who they discover have formed an alliance with the Headmen, and what's more these three Defenders have been targeted for death because they came into contact with the creature controlling artifact in an earlier issue, and as such when this creature uses it's powers to alter the entire globe to suit the desires of its masters, these three Defenders are left unaffected. The trio does manage to escape their captors, but with the entire world against them, they are in desperate shape when contacted by Doctor Strange.

Comments:
An issue that does rely quite a bit on your being a fan of the second-stringers, who I must confess I'm not overly familiar with. In fact, I often find myself linking Nighthawk to his Squadron Supreme counterpart, and as such whenever he slips into his "I love being a super-hero" mode, I have to remind myself this guy is not the serious-minded, highly moralistic Batman clone that I keep viewing him as. As for Hellcat, she was around when I first started picking up the Avengers, but the character is largely an unknown to me, though I will confess her narration of this issue did help me connect more with her. As for Valkyrie, she's an entirely new character to me, though since she does seem to be a new version with ties to the original, rather than the original herself, I do feel like I'm on the ground floor with her, and as such I know as much about her, as the fans who read the entire original series. It's an interesting trio, but I'll be glad when the big guns return next issue.

Now that I've wasted a column discussing the cast involved I guess I should get around to the plot itself. First off, I must confess this issue caught me off-guard, as the one page scenes of people being gunned down by a mystery figure had me thinking a certain elf had returned to the Marvel Universe, so the revelation that these killings were linked to this issue's plot was nicely surprising. The Headmen's use of a reality-altering creature is certainly an exciting plot, and if nothing else this book has proven that it is able to deliver highly engaging material with some of the lamest ideas ever to grace the pages of a Marvel comic. I've seen the world taken over countless times in comics, but this is one of the rare times when the heroes left untouched have been so ill-suited to the role of saving the Earth from it's conquerors. I also like that this story took the time to show us what the rest of the Marvel Universe was up to when this threat emerged.

Ron Frenz turns out a very solid effort. In fact, his work on this issue is so strong that I'd love to see him replace the departing Erik Larsen, though if memory serves I do believe a replacement has already been announced. Still, I'll enjoy Ron Frenz's visit however long it lasts, and he's certainly been given a story to suit his style, as this issue reads just like one of the big monster magazines that Jack Kirby earned his chops on before the Fantastic Four's creation. The action is dynamically rendered, as the scenes of the Defenders battling their way through the swarm of A.I.M. goons are visually exciting, but their later encounter with the giant, reality-altering monster is this issue's highlight. The idea that this creature is able to conquer the world is perfectly capture in a mere two-page sequence, but it's the last couple pages that really sold the idea that the second-string Defenders were in way over their heads.

Final Word:
Well the lack of the big guns is a sight more noticeable than it was in issue #5, but I will concede that this issue's threat was more than enough to make up for my concerns that the second-stringers would be asked to carry yet another issue without the support of the infinitely more interesting main cast. This book does seem to love it's obscure threats, as this issue we get a monster from the 1950's monster comics, a group of bizarre super-villains who have sat on the shelf for the better part of the past two decades, and the forces of A.I.M. who while not exactly obscure, are certainly not in high demand among comic fans. Still, while this issue reads like a laundry list of the villains fans aren't demanding, the book is still a wildly fun read, and I look forward to the next issue a great deal, which given the players involved is really quite a feat.