Secret Defenders #11: Fast and Furious

Secret Defenders #11
“Speed-Lines”
Writer: Ron Marz
Penciler: Tom Grindberg
Inker: Mike DeCarlo and company
Letterer: John Costanza
Colorist: John Kalisz
Secret Editors: Mike Rockwitz, Ralph Macchio and Tom DeFalco
Released: Nov. 9, 1993

“Secret Defenders” #11 is a simple, breezy filler issue that seems minimally necessary to the crossover of which it is the third part.

I'm about to overthink it.

The previous Secret Defenders stories have been two and three parts, but this barely qualifies as one. That's not meant as dismissive as it sounds; the issue does stand on its own but it references a larger story while also providing a prologue to next issue's apparent shift in the status quo.

There's nothing wrong with one-and-done issues or crossovers, and this one checks both boxes. I briefly considered a detour into the “Starblast” crossover, but the titular limited series isn't on Marvel Unlimited and I just used my latest back issue bin foray to fill in more gaps in the Scott Snyder Justice League run. The Marvel Fandom wiki says Starblast has 12 chapters, spanning the four-part limited series and issues of Quasar, Namor, Fantastic Four and this installment of Secret Defenders.

As is a frequent refrain here, this issue, like many comics of its era, does a great job informing the reader of what's happening without requiring them to buy the other issues, while offering enough of a glimpse to get them curious. I'm not sure it would have worked on me. Despite the misplaced nostalgia I occasionally feel for Quasar (I think I bought two issues) and the fact that this was my era for jumping in and out of Fantastic Four, Namor's never really moved the needle for me and I wasn't much into cosmic Marvel stuff back then. It also involves the Starbrand, a New Universe concept I knew nothing about until Jonathan Hickman picked it up in his Avengers run.

But mixing in the Secret Defenders with the Hulk, a New Warrior and an Alpha Flight...er? That will get my attention!

The issue opens with Nova seeking the assistance of Doctor Strange, as many Marvel characters tend to do. Unfortunately, the Sanctum Sanctorum has been demolished (due to events in Strange's own title). Fortunately, the Human Rocket with a Cosmic Mullet still finds the Doctor is in... his astral form.

Nova explains that Quasar's girlfriend Kayla has the Starbrand and was abducted by some space villains called the Starblasters. Nova tried to help, but he was summarily dismissed by the baddies, who left behind “a little present” in the form of a super-fast robot carving a sizable path of destruction. With Quasar and a squad of cosmic crusaders out to rescue his girlfriend, Nova is left to deal with the 'bot and the New Warriors are out of town.

Doc tells Nova to keep pursuing his quarry, while he calls in the reserves. Nova is rather underwhelmed to find his backup is Northstar. Nova is being kind of a jerk. I mean, I get Northstar's no A-lister (“Because I don't come swinging in on a web or riding a flaming motorcycle, I must be fairly useless,” Northstar barks), but you're pursuing a flying, super-fast foe, and he's a flying, super-fast ally.*

The heroes catch up with the robot in, I think, Washington, D.C., where it proceeds to slow down and beat the tar out of both of them. They realize they don't have the raw power to defeat it, and that's when Strange returns in a cloud of mist and deposits the cover boy, the Incredible Hulk himself (the smart, Professor edition), on the battlefield.

In a double-page splash, the Hulk destroys the robot, who apparently didn't think he needed to be fast for this encounter, or maybe was getting a little cocky.**

Then Hulk trudges off (maybe in a nod to the old TV series?), but not before letting Nova know he's even less impressed with him than nova was with Northstar.

Despite being tagged as the end, we still have five more pages of comics left, if not five pages of content. In the first example of a Secret Defenders storyline tying back to a previous one, we see Geatar floating in space for several pages, drifting toward a mysterious figure revealed to be, on the fifth page, Thanos. The “next issue” box promises Thanos' Secret Defenders.

Record scratch.

The issue works as a quick demonstration of the Secret Defenders premise, but once again, it ditches the tarot cards. I don't even know that they're necessary anymore, but there's nothing (save Geatar's appearance) linking it to the rest of the series.

I'm used to Marvel characters seeking Strange's help with mystical problems, but why would Nova call on him for help with a fast robot? Isn't that more of a Reed Richards thing? The Fantastic Four weren't shown in the Starblast flashback, so I'm guessing they weren't involved yet. Iron Man seems like a good choice, but I think he was on the West Coast at this point. What about Hank Pym? That guy sciences in a variety of disciplines.

The answer, of course, is this was a Secret Defenders story, so Strange is the guy that gets things moving. But a line like “I already tried the FF” or “I heard Strange can put together teams when you need help” or “Maybe he can use the Rolodex of Agamotto to round me up a posse!” would have been nice.

Aside from that, it's a pretty efficient bit of assistance by Strange. The robot is fast; here's a speedster. The robot is strong; here's a Hulk. While it's a little weird to have the character featured on the cover occupy just four interior pages, it works. The Hulk will help out Doctor Strange, but he's not going to hang around for celebratory beers with his brief teammates (and let's face it, Northstar wouldn't have either). This roster existed for just long enough to solve a specific problem and, hey, not every problem needs to be able to fill a trade paperback.

The letters page has no team suggestions, so we've got to go back to issue 9 for our Suggested Secret Defenders of the Week. How about Death's Head II, Quicksilver, Firestar and Gamora, from Tony Hartgrove of North Carolina?

* - Who, to be fair, is also a jerk.

** - Can robots get cocky?