The Outhouse - The Greatest Comic Book Forum

by **GLX** » Thu Dec 08, 2011 9:36 pm

Stephen Day wrote:
Yeah I know, it surprised the hell out of me too. The store only got two copies for some reason and they were both gone by the time I got there. They said they're getting more as soon as they can. It seemed pretty clear that I wasn't the only one who was looking for it.

How closely do they follow the industry, out of curiosity?

by **Stephen Day** » Thu Dec 08, 2011 10:56 pm

GLX wrote:
How closely do they follow the industry, out of curiosity?

They could follow it more closely.

by **oogy** » Thu Dec 08, 2011 11:50 pm

Getting shorted by Diamond isn't the shop's fault. My shop gets shorted on big titles like this about twice a year. They almost always get the order filled in a week.

by **Starlord** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 12:05 pm

Eli Katz wrote:Oh, okay. I was worried that maybe it ended up being overly cluttered. Some team books are a mess, with characters packed into every corner of every panel.

Only man who can ever do that well is George Perez. Gorgeous George! :smt007

by **ReturnoftheMack** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 1:07 pm

Is anybody else going to review this book?

by **Punchy** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 1:08 pm

The President wrote:Is anybody else going to review this book?

I will.

On Sunday.

by **BlueStreak** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 1:12 pm

The President wrote:Is anybody else going to review this book?

Probably do it tomorrow.

I generally liked it but didn't find it to be particularly special. I also think that the art and writing didn't mesh well. The Dodsons aren't really a good fit for a supernatural themed book.

by **Eli Katz** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 5:43 pm

In DEFENDERS #1, Matt Fraction shows that he's an efficient writer, laying out the main plot and putting together a new superhero team in a quick series of interlocking scenes. There are no knock-out moments here, no points that readers will remember even next week, but there are no boring or overly ridiculous pages either. Things flow in this book. And they flow fast.

The basic story is that a black ghost Hulk, known as the destroyer of worlds, has made an appearance in Budapest, and the always loveable green Hulk seeks out his old pals, Strange and Namor, to destroy this entity before it can fulfill its apocalyptic mission. There's just one hitch: Hulk himself can't join the mission because there's a risk he will fuse with his black counterpart. So, to boost the team's muscle, Surfer, Iron Fist, and She-Hulk join the ranks of the Defenders and quickly find themselves in the heat of world-saving combat.

But while Fraction shows he's an efficient writer, he also demonstrates that he's rather cliched in his approaches. The story is standard and the characters are a collection of odd couples destined for predictable disputes. Strange is the unrivaled genius; Iron Fist is the comics-reading simpleton. Namor is angry and cynical; Surfer is a hippie-dippie in love with the beauty of nature. And She-Hulk is the hard-drinking, straight-talking rebel, who'll stir things up when necessary. I suppose this mix of characters has potential, but the contrasts between them seem rather forced.

The art by the Dodsons is strong, but it isn't as dazzling as some of their previous work. Their version of the Hulk is rather bland, for example. I'm glad to see them on this book, and I look forward to seeing their illustrations in subsequent issues. But I hope they take greater risks with character designs. Right now, the book looks good but also rather ordinary.

DEFENDERS #1 is a fun but mostly mindless action book. It isn't a waste of money, but it also isn't worth a trip to your local comic book shop. And if this series doesn't seriously improve, this book won't last more than a few arcs. It just isn't interesting enough to sustain a loyal and strong following.

STORY: 6/10
ART: 7.5/10
OVERALL: 6.75/10

by **Stephen Day** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 6:33 pm

The President wrote:Is anybody else going to review this book?

I wanted to. :smt102

by **Punchy** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 7:05 pm

I liked this, it felt like the closest to Casanova Fraction we've seen at Marvel since Immortal Iron Fist.

by **Starlord** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 10:20 am

My review will be up later but I wasn't as happy with it as I had hoped to be. Not bad, just not as fun.

by **Chris** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 11:19 am

The President wrote:Is anybody else going to review this book?

I'm not in the group, but I read it so..

I liked it a lot. It was fun. I don't know if I agree that it was very close to Casanova in terms of Fraction's writing, but it was good. I actually liked the little notes on the bottom of the pages, and I loved the interactions between Strange, Namor, and Hulk.

My only issue with it was Terry Dodson's art. I'm not a fan. It's not bad.. but it's not good either. It's kind of a middle ground where I don't really hate it, I'm just kind of annoyed by it because I think the book would be so much better with someone like Stuart Immonen on art.

Story 8
Art 6

7

by **Eli Katz** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 12:31 pm

You are in the group now. Welcome!

by **Stephen Day** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 11:58 pm

OK, I found out that a friend of mine was one of the two people who were able to get Defenders #1 at my LCS. He let me borrow his copy.

by **Stephen Day** » Sun Dec 11, 2011 12:11 am

I wasn't sure about this issue while reading the first few pages. Sleeping around with a grad student seems a little out of character for Dr. Strange to me, although the the two pages depicting the effects of the Breaker of Worlds existence were pretty cool to read. The rest of the issue was fun though and more than made up for the uneasy start. It was great seeing the team assembled. I especially enjoyed the solo Iron Fist scene aboard the DongXI-Rand. The zero G fight was great.

I'll give it 7 out of 10.