I read the first issue of the new five-issue mini from the creative team of Al Ewing (2000 AD, Immortal Hulk), Javier Rodriguez (Daredevil, History Of The Marvel Universe), Alvaro Lopez (Dr. Strange And The Sorcerers Supreme, Catwoman) and VC’s Joe Caramagna (probably like a third of the comics you’ve ever read). This is some classic Marvel Nonsense, and I’m totally here for it! You’ll want to add this to your pull list this week, read on and find out why!

Magic Has A Price

And that price is $3.99. Not bad really, considering! Defenders has a long history, starting in 1969 with the sudden demise of the Dr. Strange ongoing. It has always been an exciting, galactic, multiversal dog pile of random Marvel characters. In this one, we are thrust right into the action with a tense dialogue between Dr. Strange and the Masked Raider, a storied character himself who dates back to the 30’s. I won’t spoil the story, but I will give a rundown of the different characters we get on the current team:

• Dr. Strange – The Sorcerer Supreme, Master of the Mystic Arts, if you’re reading this blog, you’re probably pretty familiar with this guy!
• The Masked Raider – Currently a guy named Carlo Zota, he wears an ancient artifact known as the Eternity Mask, which gives the wearer various supernatural abilities.
• The Silver Surfer – Wielder of the Power Cosmic, former herald of the mighty Galactus, and all-around nice guy. I believe that he is still Norrin Radd, although there have been a number of Surfer comics recently, so there might be some lore surrounding him that I’m unaware of.
• The Red Harpy – Betty Banner, former wife of Bruce Banner, and a Gamma-infused hero in her own right. She’s been a huge part of the Immortal Hulk ongoing, and is top-of-mind for any reader of that.
• Cloud – Boy, what a cool character to include here. Cloud is a NEBULA that was essentially given human form by Kubik during the whole Secret Empire period. Cloud inhabits the body of one Carol Faber, and has the powers of, you know, a nebula.

King Ewing

Al Ewing is my favorite Marvel writer right now (not necessarily my favorite overall, but he’s in the top five for sure), mainly for his work on Immortal Hulk. Since about 2014, he’s been all over some of the biggest characters and teams in Marvel, from the Avengers, to the Hulk, to Jane Foster, and a slew of others. Currently, he is writing two ongoings, Immortal Hulk and the Guardians Of The Galaxy that started in 2020. He’s a Big Brain when it comes to continuity, and the deep history of the Marvel Universe, which is why both readers and editors love his work. He also chooses or gets teamed with some incredible artists, and this book is no exception. I think his favorite thing is to take a mostly discarded character, and breathe new life into them. If you haven’t checked out his work, just go buy Immortal Hulk, it’s really incredible. Some say it’s dwindled in the past couple of arcs, but I’m enjoying it as much as always.

Javier Rodriguez is kind of an unknown for me, but damn he does a good job here. Looking over his resume, I’ve read a couple of books that he did the internal art for, Mark Waid’s Daredevil run, and the recent Doctor Strange And The Sorcerers Supreme. The art in those doesn’t jump to the forefront of my mind particularly, but I might not have been paying close attention. Either way, he really gets the feel of a Dr. Strange story. I like an artist on a Strange book that can switch from a traditional style to a really wild, post-modern style at the drop of a hat, and he can do that. Once the magic starts flying, I think all the rules about layout and linear art should go out the window. Some people are too restrained, and others try to break the rules, but you have to have a really solid grounding in the rules of any art if you want to transcend those rules. Rodriguez has that in spades, so he seems like a great choice for this book!

If you like Marvel at all, or any of these characters in particular, I’d say this is a no-brainer addition to your pull list.

Find this issue on Comixology here.

I’m not sure this is actually his site, but you can buy some art from Alvaro Lopez here.

And make sure to visit your local LCS! They can help you find new or old issues of whatever you’re looking for, and they need your support!

Happy reading, and I’ll talk to you next time!