Defenders #2 - Mobile Edition

Marvel Comics
Defenders #2
By Hervé St.Louis
October 23, 2005 - 19:47

Marvel Comics
Writer(s): Keith Giffen, J.M DeMatteis
Penciller(s): Kevin Maguire

Last issue, Doctor Strange had teleported the Hulk and the Submariner to the dimension where his archenemy Dordammu lives to stop a plot involving the megalomaniac villain and his sister, Umar. Although the Defenders are ready to fight Dordammu, the Hulk has been cast outside Dordammu’s realm by a spell keeping out mindless creatures. Capturing the rest of the team is but small talk after that.

I’m glad that Giffen, DeMatteis and Maguire have found a niche at Marvel where fans can appreciate their humour and take on super heroes. Well, I don’t know how many Defenders’ fans wrote in objections, but I much prefer reading them today than ever before. This is still a set up issue where Dordammu renders the heroes helpless and the real objective of the villains is shown. The rest of this series can only be pure fun.

The colorist on Defenders, Sotomayor did a better job than on JLA Classifieds, the last project the entire worked for before starting the Defenders series. The nuances fit well with Maguire’s work and enhance it. There’s a pulp feel to the book, like in the old comics we used to read in the 1980s. Maguire’s work is as elegant as usual, although I don’t like his Namor. He looks ugly. As ugly as Namor is, I find his depiction perfect for this book and I wouldn’t want it to change. It makes the Submariner look like a jerk. I like it.