The Defenders 1: Diamonds Are Forever

An absolute slam dunk from Bendis near the tail end of his career at Marvel, save for a few cheap storytelling ploys. Clearly inspired by the Defenders Netflix show, the team from the live action series are assembled here on the page to take on street level crime in New York City. The assembled team of Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Daredevil, and Jessica Jones are brought together when each of them is attacked in broad daylight by Willis Stryker aka Diamondback (way more imposing and interesting here in Bendis' book than in the second half of Luke Cage's Netflix series). The four friends and heroes are forced to band together to fend off Diamondback's attacks, all while he stays two steps ahead of them and attempts to unite NYC's criminal underworld under his banner (following Kingpin's attempts to go straight). With the Punisher also rearing his head in the streets, the Defenders have an all out gang war surrounding them. All in all Bendis nails the characters, the action, and the levity. The inclusion of exposes on Luke and Daredevil from the in-universe Pulse magazine are also great touches. The major drawback of the book so far is that Bendis relies way too heavily on fake out deaths and shocker cliffhangers. Within just this first volume Jessica is shot, Jessica is shot again alongside Iron Fist and Daredevil, Luke is poisoned, and Iron Fist seemingly has his back broken. While the book doesn't skimp on the violence and demonstrates the beatings these characters can taken (again, in line with the Netflix shows), after a while the book starts to lose any sense of stakes or suspense when each of these cliffhanger attacks is quickly resolved or patched up (usually thanks to the Night Nurse and unseen surgeries/triage). The book ends on a major cliffhanger and potential death, but again it is hard to believe the character in question really died when there were so many other fake outs.

With the Marvel Netflix crossover The Defenders likely to be a hit, it only made sense that the comics would try to capitalize on that popularity. At least that was the impression many people got when Marvel Comics announced their new Defenders series staring the same characters as the Netflix series, but it remains unconfirmed. Though the actual show wasn't great in my opinion, I'm glad this comic exists. Writer Brian Michael Bendis has worked with all of these characters extensively over the years, and it really shows in the comic. The streets of New York have been without a true crime boss for months since Wilson Fisk quit being Kingpin to pursue more "legitimate" avenues. It was only matter of time before someone would step up to truly take his place. This person ends up being a mysteriously returned villain from Luke Cage's past. With this Kingpin contender tearing up the streets, Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist form the Defenders to protect the people of New York with help from a number of fan favorite cameos. This comic is great, truly capturing the street level heroes of the Marvel Universe, something Bendis has always done well. The accompanying art by David Marquez is fantastic also. He is one of my favorite artists working today. As one of Bendis' last series at Marvel before his move to DC Comics, and one that really celebrates his past work, it's well worth it.5/5

While the story partially suffers from what would be serious cliffhangers in issues and repetition that works against it in a collected tradeback, the dialogue practically sizzles. This book truly lets Bendis shine with the banter between characters that never feels unnatural for them, which can be hard to achieve in a book that features this many characters. Within the first few pages you can immediately see where Netflix's take on the characters as far as team dynamics went wrong. It feels like you are simply getting a peek into what the character's eveyday lives are and just watching friends (and frenemies) interact with each other, massively helped by the small characters bits that come along with Marvel's NYC setting. There wee times where I would pass the book over to friends so they could read some of the dialogue for a laugh because it was just so good. The art is also pretty solid with great panel layouts and color behind them. All in all, I cannot wait for the next volume to come out so that I can immediately devour it.

Loved it, the art is amazing David Marquez is one of the best, and the story is good too can't wait to read the second volume :D

As introductions go, this one leaves a fair amount of backstory unsaid... while the relationship between the big bad guy and Luke Cage is well explained, the author more or less expected you to know the basic characters and world of this comic in advance. I knew some, but there was a fair amount that I did not know.That said, the big bad guy, Diamondback, was made sufficiently bad to care about. The storytelling was OK, the art was effective, if a little hokey at times.

The most fun I get out of this story is the art and how grounded the story is. And this is probably the most connected book in the marvel universe. There are constant cameos in the book that are my absolute favorite. It makes sense for marvel characters to run into other marvel characters with its mass amount of characters. The art is amazing and detailed, the mystery behind the revival of a certain villain keeps you hooked. Highly recommend this volume.

The only reason I gave this book 4 instead of 5 stars is it stops on a major cliffhanger! Loving the characters. Loving the relationships between all the characters. Now, I've got to hope I can get a hold the next issue(s) so I can find out what happens next. Do your self a favor and get this series! Good stuff, Maynard.

I was a little leery, thinking this was a cash grab based on the success of the series (which, let's face it, it is)... but at least to start, it looks pretty good. Let's hope they keep the quality up on this one...

Such a fun story! I love these characters and the writing and art here are top notch. Can't wait for the second volume!

Me gustó mucho. Adoro la etapa de Bendis en Marvel, y sus creaciones. Muy recomendable!

👍

Nice

It was everything that I hoped it would be. Thank you!