Figures. I finally catch up on The Fearless Defenders, a comic that I truly enjoy reading, and it ends up getting cancelled! Just great. Either way, I’m seeing this book out. Does it end on a high note or go out with a whimper? Is it good?
The Fearless Defenders #12 (Marvel Comics)
The Fearless Defenders head to confront Caroline LeFay and her Doom Maidens as they plan to unleash their evil plan of… something! The heroes don’t exactly know what it is, but whatever Caroline wants, it must be bad. Can the heroes stop this unknown threat? How does it all go down?
First, they must recruit one final person!
I’m not even sure where to start with this one. With the book being cancelled, it was obvious Cullen Bunn, our writer, would have to rush the remaining plot and subplots. Oh dear, does it show! It offers no characterization to any of the characters, besides Valkyrie and Annabelle (though the conflict around seems to have come out of nowhere); the action is extremely brief and glossed over (most of the villains are taken care of off-screen); subplots do not feel finished (so what was the purpose of that offer to Amazon’s last time?); some characters don’t even speak at all; the ending is abrupt and ultimately, who knows if the cliffhanger at the end will be followed up on? Everything is just so rushed and really could have benefited from a couple of extra pages.
There are some small bright spots here and there; some of the humor for instance. If the story continued on, I think the new edition to cast for this issue could have had potential. There were some neat double page spreads of showing the characters and the action. The rest of the writing is perfectly fine as well, dialogue and pacing-wise. However, because everything is so hurried, Fearless Defenders #13 is just lackluster for the most part.
If you have to ask, you’ll never fully get it.
The artwork is by Will Sliney and he does an alright job like always. Like I mentioned earlier, his double page spreads of the characters fighting are nice to look at, but that’s about it when it comes to standing out. Facial expressions feel off; even though some characters are supposed to be talking, their mouths aren’t open; some of the characters look stiff; the backgrounds and locations are lackluster; and ultimately it is kind of forgettable. The artwork is not bad or anything, it’s just not that good here. It’s been like that for most of the book though, so no change there.
6.0
- Good humor in spots.
- Double-spread pages are pretty good.
- Very rushed conclusion.
- No characterization and some characters don’t even talk.
- Artwork is below average.
Is It Good?
The Fearless Defenders #12 comes to a rather disappointing close overall. It’s very rushed and many subplots are wrapped up before they could ever truly develop. Even worse is the fact that some of the characters are given the shaft and put into the background. This was my favorite book of the Marvel Now relaunch and it is a sad sight to see it end like this.
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