Secret Defenders #9: Accept These Substitutions

Secret Defenders #9
“Revenge, Part One”
Writer: Ron Marz
Penciler: Tom Grindberg
Inker: Don Hudson
Letterer: John Costanza
Colorist: John Kalisz
Group Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor: Mike Rockwitz
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco
Released: Sept. 14, 1993

“Secret Defenders” gets a new lineup, a new creative team and a slightly different direction with issue 9.

We open on a hulking, rather surly looking Doctor Strange, demanding to know why someone has come to his home. On the ensuing double-page splash, we see his guest is the Silver Surfer, who astutely reads the room and says he can go if he's intruding. The still-creepy-but-slightly-less-irate-in-appearance Sorcerer Supreme says of course not, ol' Norrin Radd is welcome in his home anytime. Perhaps he just mystically cleared his constipation?

The Surfer wants Strange's help in capturing Nebula, the alleged daughter (or is it granddaughter?) of Thanos. She recently escaped from prison with the help of a guy named Geatar, whose name I, personally, will be pronouncing as if I was saying “guitar” in an exaggerated country accent. Nebula is now sporting her Marvel Cinematic Universe bald look and hanging out on the Mars moon Phobos, preparing for, the Surfer presumes, an attack on Thanos' homeworld of Titan.

The Surfer describes Nebula as a master strategist who will have an advantage over anyone she's fought before. So he asks his old Defenders buddy to help him assemble a team of unknown quantities.

Strange sends the Surfer out of the room to, I presume, shuffle his deck of magically intuitive tarot cards or maybe flip through his magic rolodex. I would have liked to see some reference to the cards, but, as in “Fantastic Four” #374, this could be a case of Strange helping an ally put together a more specific team. That begs the question as to how much this really falls under the Secret Defenders banner, but I'll allow it because I approve of the roster he chooses.

Strange calls in War Machine and Thunderstrike, who were much more exciting to young Evan than Iron Man and Thor. I've always preferred the alternate versions to a lot of characters. I hadn't read much, and wasn't particularly interested in, the adventures of Thor, Iron Man and Captain America back then. But Thunderstrike, War Machine and USAgent (not to mention Beta Ray Bill), those guys were cool! Honestly, I had probably not even read as many comics featuring them as I had their predecessors, but I had a fondness for variant heroes that predated variant covers or timeline variants.

Strange teleports this titanic trio to Phobos, dropping them right into a mass of alien ne'er-do-wells Nebula has assembled for no-doubt nefarious purposes. The Surfer leaves War Machine and Thunderstrike to mop up that mess while he hunts down Nebula. But Nebula and Ban-Jo – sorry, Geatar – are waiting for him with a “synaptic disruptor” that is just the thing to take down Galactus' favorite former herald.

War Machine and Thunderstrike clear the lackeys and go looking for the Surfer, only to find him strapped to a great big fusion bomb with which she plans to turn Titan into Alderaan. The fellas talk tough, but Nebula introduces them to Kurg and Kruk (presumably not the former Philadelphia Phillies first baseman, who I remember as less green), two monstrous soldiers who feel no pain, setting up a fight for next issue.

Even if the story doesn't quite fit the format established over the first eight issues, it's still enjoyable. A throwaway reference to the tarot gimmick (or why Strange isn't using it; after all it didn't work so well against Xandu) would have been nice. But I like the idea of Marz picking up a thread from his lengthy Silver Surfer run and bringing it into another title. It's something I've always enjoyed about the large, established comic universes, and the information is recapped efficiently so you know all that you need to know in case you haven't read the Surfer stories.*

The art is... different. I remember seeing Grindberg's work on “Warlock and the Infinity Watch,” where I came to think of it as almost like a house style for that offbeat book (although a quick check of Mike's Amazing World of Comics reveals he didn't do as many issues as I thought). It's Mike Mignola-esque at times, although the Surfer and Strange look too bulky. It's not particularly to my taste, but there are some nice touches like the eyes floating around in the Sanctum Sanctorum.

Rather than ignore what War Machine and Thunderstrike have in common, Marz writes a nice section of mid-fight dialogue where they talk about the challenges of being considered knockoff superheroes. Not addressed is the fact that both have also filled the boots of their predecessors, but that chat could have happened off-panel while Surfer was getting blasted by Nebula and Git-fiddle.

I could tell from the covers of the next few issues that gears were shifting on the title, with bigger changes to come down the line. The premise of Secret Defenders is so terrifically simple I hope they don't stray too far. But as long as we keep getting oddly matched teams in weird situations, I'll keep coming back. I mean, I've already bought most of the issues.

Late addition here: I originally posted this without any Suggested Secret Defenders of the Week! That's particularly bad since this issue's letters page has dozens of proposed lineups. I'll just list the one that stood out to me most though, since I'll be using Marvel Unlimited to read some upcoming issues and those editions don't usually have the letters page.

The Suggested Secret Defenders of the Week were pitched in a letter from Jerry L. Garner of Texas: Bishop, Cerise, Night Thrasher and Thing. Ben Grimm provides a classic Marvel anchor in a team that otherwise consists of up-and-coming 90s stars.

* - I haven't.