Who will defend me against this writing!?
The Defenders #1 is your basic team book start-up. A threat is brought to the attention of one of the team members (in this case, Dr. Strange) and it is up to him to collect a rag-tag bunch of misfits to put a stop to it. Sort of the Marvel B-team, I wasn't sure what to expect from this book going in and I'm not quite sure I liked what I got.
The Good
1)The story moves a long at a brisk pace. This isn't like the current JLA series where we're 3 issues in and still we don't have the team all put together. By the end of the issue they're already knee deep in the adventure.
2) Namor. Really he should have his own book, but as a fan of Namor it is nice to see him here.
3) The threat they're going to be fighting is actually kind of cool.
The Bad
1) Everyone in this book is written like they've just fallen out the third story window of a frat house during an unfortunate keg-stand accident. Namor goes from being a badass on one page to making snarky quips on another. It just doesn't feel right.
2) I haven't been reading any Marvel books lately, but what's with the little messages at the bottom of each page? Are those in every book or just this one, because they're distracting and ridiculous. I don't need a message that says "Everyone you love dies" at the bottom of my page.
The Verdict
This book just might not be for me. I think they really nailed the pacing and the plot development, but the writing left much to be desired. I understand that it is supposed to be kind of campy/pulpy, but the book seems a little too self-aware for its own good.
