Broken Frontier

Dr. Strange assembles his ragtag team of heroes.

In Defenders #1, Matt Fraction assembles a ragtag group of some of Marvel’s criminally underused heroes for a tongue-in-cheek take on the superhero team.  Never straying into the realm of too serious, Defenders maintains a light-hearted take on the Marvel Universe, even in the face of new monstrous foes.

Right out of the gates, the two most exciting aspects of Defenders is the involvement of King Namor, and the team’s lead, Dr. Strange.  Though fans of the Silver Surfer, Iron Fist, and She-Hulk will surely be pleased by their involvement, Namor and Strange steal the show every time they appear on the page.  King Namor’s ever vigilant and suspicious attitude towards the surface world still prevails, though a more friendly side does emerge at times.  Dr. Strange, on the other hand, balances out his heavy-weight counterpart, as his confident personality leads to several comedic clashes with the King of Atlantis. 

When considering the other characters, however, some of Fraction’s dialogue begins to verge into the repetitive.  Fraction relies heavily on inner-monologue to progress his story, making the personalities of Iron Fist and She-Hulk read quite similar, almost to the point that they are interchangeable.  Hopefully, as Defenders progresses, Fraction will develop each character’s individual voice and personality, making the team a much more diverse group to read.

Terry Dodson’s art is more than sufficient for Fraction’s story.  The highlight of Defenders #1 is King Namor’s triumphant ascent from the blood stained Aegean Sea, clad in armor and wielding his sword.  With most of the story being composed of standard character introductions and talking-head scenes, however, Dodson does not have much room to stretch his artistic muscles.  This is sure to change in the future, but as of now, Dodson feels rather limited.

Defenders #1 is a welcome break in tone from the main Marvel direction as of late.  The light-hearted attitude works quite well with the motley crew of heroes, even if their enemy is a serious one.  As Matt Fraction and Terry Dodson continue to develop the team’s individual voices, and the battles begin to rage, Defenders could definitely rise and compete with Marvel’s leading team books.