Monday, January 22, 2007

Why Aren't They The New Defenders?

Dr. Strange, Power Man & Iron Fist, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Spider Woman, Ronin and Echo. Read all about it.

Wow. Except for the last two characters, who didn't exist, and the absences of Moon Knight and Gargoyle, this is the exact super team who's adventures I wanted to read in 1986.

Actually, after the initial story arc, it'll probably come time to fill out the roster with some new members. I'd add my boys Marc and Issac along with Valkyrie, Hawkeye and Mockingbird.

Mockingbird's dead, you say? Yeah, so's Jean Grey and Bucky Barnes. Oh, and Future Michael from 2008 just hopped off the Cosmic Treadmill, made a snide comment about Uncle Ben and Mary Jane being still "deseased" as well, and then disappeared. I hope that doesn't mean what I think it does.

Captian America may have said, "You're The Avengers, dammit!" but calling this team "The Defenders" isn't a reach either.

While we're discussing this, here's my beef with Ronin. He (or she) is just a cypher. The character is nothing more that a cool looking ninja costume. For the costume's previous appearances, it was Echo wearing the duds. Now she's got separate billing, so we have someone new dressing as a ninja. Since the A-team is ostensibly mint jelly* already, what further good does it do for the person wearing the Ronin mask to hide their identity? Rampant wide, wide world of web speculation has it that it's really Captain America wearing the ninja drag. It wasn't that long ago, two or three story arcs tops, that "Who is Ronin?" was the big mystery and now we're retreading that same plot device. Sigh. Hopefully, it's not just Cap in double secret hiding.

This time the person wearing the mask ought to be the "real" Ronin, someone with an origin story, secret identity, discinct set of powers, and personality. Otherwise the guise will rapidly devolve into parody. "Who is Ronin this time?" My guess is Speedball, or maybe Hank Pym.

Or maybe Ronin's real identity goes by the initials Brian Michael Bendis. No, I don't think that needs a Spoiler Alert! tag.


* Because they're on the lam. All credit to Abe Simpson.

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