The Defenders #1 is a gem of an issue, bringing back the grandiose 70"s loopiness of the team and tying it to a new sensibility with great success. Read Full Review

Its only the first issue, but Defenders is set be one of Marvels best books. Read Full Review

Oh, and if you want to get a special fanboy jolt, pay close attention to the comic Iron Fist is reading on page 16. Now that's how you get some attention. Heh! Read Full Review

This book definitely deserves a spot on your pull list, but let's hope it doesn't stay at 3.99. It isn't a 3.99 title. Overall, it's a standard #1 issue, it doesn't take any chances,but it's relevancy is firmly footed in the larger Marvel Universe. The events are spinning off of Fear Itself, one of the many loose ends that need taken care of. I'm very satisfied that the first story arc will deal with an unresolvedproblem from Fear Itself. If Marvel can let this book come into its own, it could become a staple of the Marvel Universe. Read Full Review

In the end, "Defenders" #1 is a beautiful, very fun book that leaves you with the feeling of a lot more of the same to come. While it might have benefited from digging just a little bit deeper, I'm absolutely excited to see what Fraction and the Dodsons can deliver in the coming issues. This is a good start to what promises to be an exciting new series. Read Full Review

Pretty good, but the art is doing a LOT of the heavy lifting on this issue and there are some worrying problems with inconsistent characterizations. Fraction has had a tendency to write characters however he pleases in the past, so if you like consistent characterization".well".this might not be the book for you. But if you just want jaunty fun, it looks like that might be possible. And again, great art. Read Full Review

So The Defenders #1 finds writer and artist using Marvel Method to handle their jobs equally -- Matty Frax writes what happens and what Dr. Strange says while Terry Dodz draws it all out at his discretion. It's a trust thing, and the risk pays off in my eyes, as Defenders #1 is everything I want in a superhero comic -- it's imaginative, ambitious, fun to read and, most importantly of all, weird. Read Full Review

The Defenders, in other words, is not a perfect book, but its imperfections are at worst in the “kinks that will work out” category, and at best reflect the haphazard nature of the team itself. If you are a fan of character-oriented storytelling and/or the Dodsons, give this one a look. Read Full Review

All in all, The Defenders #1 is what any fan of The Defenders and most importantly, superhero comics wants. It's well-written and well-drawn, providing a platform for characters to simply do the spectacular. Where better than The Defenders? Read Full Review

As a first issue of The Defenders works well by introducing us to the various members and providing a threat reasonable (if admittedly kind of dumb) enough to force them together. Still, it's got some funny bits and the Silver Surfer, which should be enough to get me to buy the next issue or two. However, unless the threat of the month, the art, (or preferably both) improve in the next couple of months, I'm not sure how long I'll stay with this version of The Defenders. Read Full Review

Defenders is halcyon now, because we have no idea of the threats that face us. And postmodern levity is perhaps the only way to negotiate the dangers. For Fraction and Dodson to convey that in just 22 pages… there really is promise here. Read Full Review

I'm really hoping Matt Fraction finds a comfort zone with his cast of Defenders. It's really the main thing holding this series back at the moment. Now that the first-issue formalities are out of the way, we can get to the real meat of this story -- the stuff that makes that Casanova comparison apt. But it's going to be hard to enjoy the trippy goodness with a cast of characters that all sound alike. I love funny comics just as much as the next guy, but sometimes you need to step back and realize when too much of a good thing turns gold into coal. Read Full Review

Nice to see The Defenders back together again after all these years, it fills my little comic book geek heart with glee. Who knew Doc strange was such a player? Written by Matt Fraction (Invincible Iron Man) whos made a name for himself at Marvel and illustrated by Terry Dodson (Spider-Man/Black Cat : The Evil That Men Do). Not a bad start for a new series. Read Full Review

I'm still holding out hope for this series, because like I said, the story here could be great, but for me, this issue didn't start off on the right foot. Read Full Review

There have been various attempts to revive the Defenders in recent years. So far, none have been successful. This version may be the most pretentious and least exciting version yet. Maybe we can find Len Wein and Sal Buscema again and just have them do a good rousing story about a fight with the Wrecking Crew. Read Full Review

Not helping matters is the art from Terry Dodson, which comes across like bad animation cells from some eighties Saturday morning cartoon. There’s zero depth to anything that Dodson does and his panel placement keeps the excitement at zero. For some reason he draws the Hulk like a big green baby and Iron Fist looks like he’s either always going fast or constantly surprised. Perhaps Dodson read the script and decided to phone in his art the way Fraction did the story. Whatever the reasoning, The Defenders #1 is an embarrassment and Marvel should be ashamed of themselves. Read Full Review