Essential Defenders
Graphic Novel Summary: Written by STAN LEE, ROY THOMAS, STEVE ENGLEHART & LEN WEIN Penciled by GENE COLAN, ROSS ANDRU, SAL BUSCEMA, JACK ABEL, MARIE SEVERIN, BOB BROWN & HERB TRIMPE Cover by NEAL ADAMS Dr. Strange. Namor. The Hulk. The Silver Surfer. Set apart from others by nature and choice, this team of Marvel's mightiest loners embarked on a string of strange adventures rarely equaled since - joined by some of the most off-kilter heroes of their time. Sorcery! Super-science! The war of the super heroes! Learn how the 'non-team' got its non-start in this multi-title compilation! Collects DR. STRANGE #183, SUB-MARINER #22 and 34-35, INCREDIBLE HULK #126, MARVEL FEATURE #1-3, DEFENDERS #1-14, and AVENGERS #115-118.
Codes: 75960611547100111 7.60E+016 SEP072379 MAR051961 DEC072385 JAN082335 FEB082417 MAR082391 APR082492 MAY082498 JUN082568 JUL082537 AUG082592 SEP082591 OCT082669 NOV082608 DEC082594
- Price:
$16.99$13.59- Artist:
- Herb Trimpe
- Artist:
- Jack Abel
- Author:
- Len Wein
- Author:
- Stan Lee
- Artist:
- Gene Colan
- Cover Artist:
- Neal Adams
- Artist:
- Bob Brown
- Artist:
- Marie Severin
- Artist:
- Sal Buscema
- Author:
- Steve Englehart
- Artist:
- Ross Andru
- Author:
- Roy Thomas
- Artist:
- Various
- Author:
- Various
- Estimated Ship Date:
- December 15, 2008
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- Preorder now!
- Genre:
- Superhero
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Customer Reviews
That's the Defenders, in essence, and this first Essential edition features classic stories that exploit the concept well, even if the truly weird stuff hasn't quite come around the corner yet.
Roy Thomas is a key player in this book, penning some of the initial stories on the Undying Ones that initially bring the Hulk, Doctor Strange, Namor and Silver Surfer together. The villains in these tales are a clear riff on H.P. Lovecraft and his Old Ones mythos, but they're effective especially when penciled by Gene Colan, whose moody work really kicks this book off with a creative bang.
At the other end of the volume is one of the first big crossover events maybe in the history of comics, the Avengers/Defenders War. If these issues by Steve Englehart read a bit dated and quaint today, it's worth remembering when these were published, and cutting all involved a break. Fans who grew up reading them will no doubt find some nostalgic value, and modern fans may scratch their heads at times, especially once they realize that the "war" promised in the story's title is little more than a series of typical Marvel "misunderstandings" that lead to battles between heroes. Regardless, it's an undeniable part of the history of Marvel and of comics in general.
In between those two tales, we get the introduction of the Valkyrie, who will blossom into one of the more intriguing creations of the seventies over the course of the series. Hawkeye also joins up with the "team" for a time and hits on Valkyrie, naturally. Throughout, there's plenty of great character beats, driven by the book's central premise, which is that these heroes will work together if they must, but they don't like each other very much.
1 pts.