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As JUST ANNOUNCED at the Marvel "Fear Itself" Panel at the San Diego Comic Con...
December 2011 will see the release of a new series...
THE DEFENDERS!
Cover art to issue # 1 by Terry and Rachael Dodson!
(It appears that DR. STRANGE is to get a new costume of black and red...)
Being unable to physically attend the Con (as I'm on the East Coast, am generally lacking the funds for such a trip and am nursing an illness) I instead linked up to their webcast videos and news posts, waiting for the news from the 'Fear Itself' panel - waiting for news on what is to come for DOCTOR STRANGE and the other "6-Dimensions" characters.In this case, specifically those presented in the teaser images I posted here the past few days (most recently - [HERE]) .
Suffice it to say, and I'm sure it can be found fairly easily at most of your major comic news sites, if not already, then any second now... but I was forced to play video, pause it and grab this image of the announcement as well as the cover image seen above (Edit: I have been able to replace the cover image now with a better quality as it does now appear on sites like CBR [HERE]).
Fans of the original team will be thrilled to know that NAMOR; the SUB-MARINER also joins other original members; SILVER SURFER and DOCTOR STRANGE as they, and other new members, IRON FIST and RED SHE-HULK join to help the HULK who is in desperate need of their aid.
As it seems, there is a huge mystery of cosmic importance that the Hulk brings to these "friends" and he requires their aid to solve it and deal with it. However, the mysteries will be of such immensity that the members of the team will find themselves unable to speak of any of it to ANYONE other than members of the DEFENDERS!
Much like the Marvel ILLUMINATI, which Strange and Namor were a part, the DEFENDERS will also shoulder unbearable burdens to which no one else may be privvy.
With all the animosity and problems that exist recently between all the members of this team, as well as the mystery of IRON FIST's allegiance to AGAMOTTO (as seen in issues of NEW AVENGERS (review found ([HERE]) and the recent issue # 7 of IRON MAN 2.0), this is going to be one heck of a tense team of heroes. VERY much a MARVEL team. Very much like the classic DEFENDERS!
Perhaps, I shouldn't be saying anything negative at this early stage, but the artwork shown on that Defenders cover looks to be of pretty poor quality.
I've seen the Dodson's art on Spider-Man and X-Men titles and it usually comes across as more... polished... than this.
As it stands, this cover image looks like the same rushed "quality" of the old "SECRET DEFENDERS" issues by Tom Grindberg (whose work I liked... WHEN he took his time to do a crisp job of it).
Still, this may not be the "final" image, as some glitzy coloring, or finished inks, might help it out somehow.
ALSO of note, is that while this spins out of 'Fear Itself' it also bears watching because of the membership's ties to other "link-ups" being promoted at Marvel.
First off; the MIGHTY (as seen in promos - and as I blogged about weeks ago [HERE]) this image shows that Doctor Strange and Iron Fist are among those who battle the "WORTHY" (of which HULK is a part)...
... as well as having DOCTOR STRANGE be a part of something that also spins off of the event; "BATTLE SCARS", which, like the "INITIATIVE" will be an ongoing title showing what happens to these major players of this 'Fear Itself' battle.
Note, the ORIGINAL, UNEDITED version of this image - as was seen at the Con, and subsequently, on the video feed featured THOR (or someone looking like him) in the top left corner.
As an added bonus, Valkyrie appears to play a big role as a member of the MIGHTY as well as this BATTLE SCARS crew.
Interested? Intruiged? Looking in eager anticipation for December?
Well... so am I! (And NOT just because I can't stand the 100+ degree heat this past week!)
To get some hopefully good stories featuring Doctor Strange in several titles... I'll be a VERY good boy and wait for Santa to drop these issues down my chimney!
"Tamam Shud!"
~P~
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