DEFENDERS #10
"Vengeance!"
Mildly Recommended (6/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writers: Kurt Busiek & Erik Larsen
Pencils: Erik Larsen
Inks: Sal Buscema
Colors: Gregory Wright & Color Arts
Letters: Chris Eliopoulos
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Price: $2.25 US/$3.50 CAN |
Busiek and Larsen wrap up a plotline that's been ongoing since the first issue, and it makes for some fun super-hero action. Some inventive scripting spruces up an otherwise ordinary plot, and the Larsen/Buscema collaboration continues to impress. Still, I hope that going into the title's second year, some new story directions and less of an emphasis on nostalgia will breathe some new life into this title.
The time has come for Attuma's reign over Atlantis to end, and Namor and his comrades in the Defenders hatch a plan to depose the underwater barbarian and his allies, such as Orka, Nagala, Tiger Shark, Sea Urchin and the Piranha. The problem is that with the curse still hanging over their heads, the team's most powerful members -- the Hulk, Dr. Strange, Namor and the Silver Surfer -- could be magically whisked away at any moment.
Larsen brings the same kinetic energy to this book as he does to his creator-owned effort, The Savage Dragon. But with Sal Buscema on inks, his art has an even cleaner feel. The two artists' styles mesh incredibly well together, and Gregory Wright's colors are appropriately bright, given the action-packed but light tone of the book.
I continue to be amused with Busiek and Larsen's take on the Hulk. The comic relief is the shining point of the script. The writers really don't have the space to delve too deeply into his character, and they know the cursory glance won't be all that compelling. So they play him up for laughs, and it works.
I enjoyed how the narration showed the team's careful planning while also conveying their personalities nicely. This issue was easy to follow, due in part to the clarity and accessibility of the script. Another reason it's so easy to follow, though, is that this is a rather ordinary and derivative plot. There's no suspense, and while it was fun to see such obscure characters and elements as the Piranha and the Serpent Crown again, we really visit with them only briefly.
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