Fearless Defenders #1

by Tori B. on February 06, 2013

A team up between Valkyrie and Misty Knight? Hell to the yes. Fearless Defenders’ first issue shows to be just as strong as it’s main duo.
 
 
Writer: Cullen Bunn | Artists: Will Sliney
Cover: Mark Brooks| Publisher: Marvel
 
 
If anyone was having doubts about having a man write for two kick ass women, this is where we toss those doubts aside. Maybe it’s a girl power thing, but Fearless Defenders is looking good in it’s first issue, and the excitement to pick up the next issue is there (anticipation for Dani Moonstar notwithstanding). 
 
As is the premise of the Marvel Now! comics, Fearless Defenders actually follows through as a good starting point for those unfamiliar with either Valkyrie or Misty Knight. Brief but sufficient bits of information about them are scattered throughout, so it’s not an overwhelming biography that being read. It’s succinct and leaves plenty of page space for all the good action. Bonus, the action is really good. You can’t really expect anything less anyways, not given our cast of heroes.
 
Bunn does a great job of setting up the premise of where his story is going as Valkyrie takes along her newfound companions on an adventure. Already we’re witnessing a fun chemistry among the troupe. Misty and her archaeologist friend understandably have a good rapport with one another but it seems as though Valkyrie fits right in with her quips. (There’s also some lady lip-locking and to those who think it’s blatant fanservice, shut it, I thought it was fabulously adorable).
 
It’s really nice to see a run that’s going to be littered with female characters, but it’s not the usual women we see in most Marvel books (you know, Storm, Black Widow, Invisible Woman, etc.-- and I’m not saying that the ones in this book are total nobodies either). It’s refreshing to have the other ladies soak in the spotlight too, we’ve even got a lady nemesis to toss into the mix.
 
There’s a lot of satisfaction right now coming from reading Fearless Defenders, the writing seems good (Bunn himself is a Defenders fan with a lot of his own feelings about the characters, I fully want to believe he’ll do them justice), and the art is strong to match. Sliney proves that he’s got what it takes for this series when we see Valkyrie make her entrance, because that’s totally the defining moment. If Valkryie’s entrance isn’t grand, then it’s hopeless, but it was achieved. In all it’s grandeur of the last sheildmaiden of Asgardia, Valkyrie enters and it’s great. Valkyrie looks great. Misty looks great. Anabelle Riggs looks adorable.
 
Truly, if Defenders carries on in the same direction as its premier issue, it’s going to do well. Sure, it’s a female-dominant cast, but they’re awesome for being awesome, not because they’re women.

Our Score:

9/10

A Look Inside