Action Packed And Wacky – Review Of The Fearless Defenders #1

The Fearless Defenders, written by Cullen Bunn with art by Will Sliney, wants to pack a lot of cinematic punch into its 23 pages. Fast moving, the action takes the reader quickly through character establishing scenes on the cliffs of Asgard, a smuggling vessel in the North Atlantic, and an archeological dig set in the middle of a national forest, barely pausing for breath along the way. The protagonists are introduced in large point font with witty subtitling in a style reminiscent of a 70s action flick. They battle air pirates, zombie vikings and their own feelings for one another, tossing off witty lines with an ample amount of ass kicking.

So, this should be a slam dunk, right?

Beware the siren song of judgement and spoilers, after the jump!

The issue opens with Brunnhilde the Valkyrie, Last Sword Maiden of Valhalla, standing on a cliff overlooking stormy seas, her arms outstretched and eyes closed as she feels the spray of a rather ominous, bloody rain on her face. Meanwhile, Misty Knight, bionic private investigator, is in the process of stealing a weird little angel statue from a group of heavily armed men over open water. She fights off the men on board, as well as invading pirates who attack from above and makes off with her score. Knight turns the find over to Dr. Annabelle Riggs, an archaeologist with a fixation on all things Asgardian and an eye for the ladies. She’s also cut from the Danger Prone Daphne mold, so she immediately finds the hidden switch that turns the statue into a beacon that animates the undead vikings on her dig into deadly action. Valkyrie shows up on scene as Misty begins to do her best impression of 70s Pam Grier-meets-the-Bionic-Woman and the two immediately do not get along. If it smells like a buddy cop flick set up, you’d probably be right. By the end of the fight, Dr. Riggs has played tonsil hockey with Valkyrie and demanded to follow her back to Asgard to investigate the zombie vikings and the statue. Misty tags along because Riggs needs a body guard and oil for lubricating bionic arms does not buy itself. And a bigger bad is teased. Whew! Decompressed this story is not.

If I have any hesitations in recommending this book at all, it is in the dialogue choices Bunn has Valkyrie and Knight engage in from the start of the book. Each one comes off almost as a caricature, to the point that one of the first things the two do when they have a moment in battle is ask why each of them are talking the way they do. It’s probably all intended to have been part of the gag, but it felt a little forced and heavy handed. At times Valkyrie feels like she’s channeling old school Thor dialogue and Misty come up just short of stealing Luke Cage’s “Sweet Christmas” line. But, the overall story was attention getting. Will Sliney does a fine job on the art. His panels are straightforward in their layout and the line work is crisp and detailed.

A slam dunk? Not entirely. But the story is fun and has potential. As long as Bunn can keep the pace up and not have it start to drag, the way The Fearless did, or veer off into the hard to follow, the way Matt Fraction’s run on The Defenders did, we should be in good stead. Action packed and wacky, with more of that 70s action flick vibe and noticeably decompressed storytelling – a welcome change of pace from a Marvel book.