Hulk had to do what Stephen Strange couldn't. Hulk was there to actually fight, since Strange was just an astral projection. He distracted Nebulon while Silver Surfer and Namor freed Vodan from the train, causing it to slightly shift direction. Borss and Mog'rys' essences fled into Nebulon's body after Hulk destroyed theirs. With the train off course, the Sol system was saved.
The Best Defense: Defenders #1
8.1
Critic Rating
7 Reviews
7.8
User Rating
25 Reviews
| Writer | Al Ewing |
| Artist | Joe Bennett |
| Cover Price | $4.99 |
"THE BEST DEFENSE" FINALE!
• The lost Atlanteans. The Train. The bedsheet man. Dead Steve. The Stock Exchange of Souls. Trust us, it all makes sense.
• In fact, it makes enough sense to destroy our entire solar system... Unless four very different heroes can come together to stop it.
Rated T+
CRITIC REVIEWS Back to Top
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10
Major Spoilers - Matthew Peterson
Dec 23, 2018Long story short, this issue makes me want to see an ongoing Defenders book by this creative team, as we get four characters who SHOULD BE impossible to work together in a team setting working beautifully while denying it all. Defenders: The Best Defense #1 is a really good comic, with stellar art and a perfectly-crafted story that has thrills, laughs, adventure and makes it clear that these guys kinda hate one another, all the while keeping their individual mystiques intact. Read Full Review
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9.0
AIPT - David Brooke
Dec 19, 2018This issue serves as a promise for more Defenders action. The heroes themselves must admit by the end they work well together even if they aren't technically a team, yet. This is a cosmic tale with huge stakes and an even bigger scope. It's a story only comics could pull off and Ewing and Bennett do so smashingly. Read Full Review
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8.0
ComicBook.com - Adam Barnhardt
Dec 19, 2018The gang is finally all back together and the end result is a comic that's enjoyable from start to finish. Read Full Review
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8.0
Newsarama - Justin Partridge
Dec 26, 2018Though the plot gets a bit wordy and "inside baseball" at times, Defenders: The Best Defense #1 is a rousingly weird and super entertaining return of the "classic" Defenders. Scripted by a consistently interesting voice at Marvel and given sweeping, black light poster ready visuals, this finale makes a great case for the team's existence, even if no one on Earth really knows (or cares) what they do together. If you want your team-ups to be esoteric, then Defenders: The Best Defense is the book for you. Read Full Review
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8.0
Epicstream - Brian McCormick
Dec 27, 2018There's a cliffhanger at the end, and I hope Al Ewing has a chance to delve further into exploring it. Read Full Review
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7.0
Comic Watch - John Jack
Dec 26, 2018I feel like this issue fell short of the other 4, and far short of 3 of those. Read parts 1-3 and pretend the second 2 don't exist, you'll be happier that way. Read Full Review
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6.8
Sequential Planet - Steven Martinez
Dec 19, 2018Defenders: The Best Defense #1 sees the original team in a cosmic crossover to save the Earth. The story is a little underwhelming with a lot of moving parts, but the art is fantastic and the best part of the issue. Read Full Review
USER REVIEWS Back to Top
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10
Well, unsurprisingly, Al Ewing nailed it. The mystery is explained and Strange's plan works magnificently. I think they did something special with this series. I hope we get more cool things like this in the future.
+ Like • Comment• Likes (2) -
9.0
Great! Not necessarily a proper team up book but a nice teaser of what could be. Ewing and Bennett are quickly becoming a great duo. I just wish i had more pages for better delivery. Could have been another 5 series mini to delve into all the angles.
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9.0
Excelent. Felt old school Marvel in the best possible way. And that art....¤ï¸¤ï¸¤ï¸
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8.0
I actually quite enjoyed this, it really tied everything together.
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8.0
The four Defenders unite to pull off Old Man Strange's mulligan plan for saving Earth from the Train. It's an insane yet logical plot that would warm the cockles of Steve Gerber's heart, particularly the "random jaguar demons short-selling Mephisto's souls" idea that sets everything in motion. Joe Bennett's art makes this finale look gorgeous. His layouts are wildly inventive while also delivering seamless panel-to-panel flow. Doing the Immortal Hulk has really inspired him to up his game. In hindsight, the groundwork in the build-up issues doesn't quite fit the payoff here. The Namor issue, in particular, stumbled by failing to clarify that Vodan was a whole other planet.
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7.5
Despite that sweet sweet Bennett art, this was a bit of a mess and never came fully together. The Hulk didn't really contribute much - as if Ewing didn't want to overuse the character he's writing 18 times a year - and future Stephen was a cypher. But this was still entertaining and weird.
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7.0
It barely connects all the previous one-shots and tries to make important even the Namor's one. However, I really doubt this book was worth reading at all. The art is awesome, that's a fact, but the story feels not that interesting and cool. Some moments were very questionable for me. Also Ewing continues to unfold some Immortal Hulk mysteries, but if you are here only for the Hulk - you can skip it without a second thought. It's readable and I even enjoyed some parts of it, however, I would hardly recommend it to anyone.
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4.5
The art was eh ok. Had some awful panels but the real crime is the story. It started to fit but the it slowly went messy and things got confusing. Was Hulk even necessary? Feel like he didn't even do anything. Overall when this comes in trade, I won't recommend it to anyone.
+ Like • Comments (4)• Likes (1) -
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