*Minor spoilers ahead*

10 issues of The Defenders? I didn’t think the run would be that short but there you go. Okay yeah, it’s obvious why this was book was greenlit given the then upcoming Netflix show of the same name at the time (both the comic and show were published/uploaded roughly around the same time last year) and both lineups were the same with the team consisting of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist. Amusingly, it’s Iron Fist’s recent books that are better than the Netflix show but I digress.

This is the first of the final issues of each comic written by Brian Michael Bendis. Others like Spider-Man and Jessica Jones will follow. And it appears that Bendis wanted the book to be self-congratulatory of sorts because it does feel like he wants to showcase much of what he’s accomplished in over 20 years or so. But it doesn’t feel arrogant, don’t get me wrong. It’s a decent issue that I really, really like. Bendis as a writer, when given the right task than event comics, he can do solid down to earth superheroic plots. And the chemistry between Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist is well done such as the first panel with Jessica, Luke and Rand (Iron Fist) looking over proudly at the newly installed sign for Heroes for Hire so yeah, that’s still going. It’s a nice scene and ended on an amusing note once people walk by.

Despite solid characterization and decent set up for The Hood as the main villain, there is a major flaw with this book; it just ends. That’s it. There’s this whole setup of The Hood being the new Kingpin as well as he plan with the other villains of the Marvel universe and the two final pages or should I say, a two splash page that promises something of a final confrontation and it just ends. Maybe the point is to set up a Heroes for Hire book full time given the amount of heroes but even then, it features characters either created by or who Bendis has written for. It just feels so annoying because it feels like the book got started.

And it’s a huge shame because as I said, Bendis can be a good writer under the correct material and he had something here!

But in any case, Bendis is Bendis with his ups and downs and this is a solid book he’s written despite my main issue. David Marquez‘s art is also solid, good dynamics in regards to the action and facial and physical expressions, they compliment Bendis’s writing well. And colors by Justin Ponsor give it a nice shaded look but not too much. All very well done.

It’s a decent end to The Defenders and whether you like the book or not, you can’t deny he no doubt had fun writing these characters. And if you’ve been enjoying the series so far, maybe you’ll like it fine and hope based on the final splash page, it’ll go somewhere.

 

Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review