All the fearless ladies on this cover are actually in this issue!
Plus: Valkyrie v.s. She Hulk!
The Good
Cover- This month’s cover it’s very reminiscent of the selection screen of a 2d classic fighting game. The art is very detailed offsetting the interior art by comparison.
Action- Glorious battle! This issue has my favorite dose of action in months! The art showcased the battle seamlessly,
Reveal- I did not see Dani Moonstar being the battery that would enable Valkyrie to return to her doom maiden identity nor did I see the volume of women who showed up on the battle field, a fraction were obvious but whoa! The other twist was that Valkyrie assembled them to take her down because she knew once she went berserk she would be virtually unstoppable.
Friends and conflicts past– The exchanges between Storm and Ms. Marvel reference the events of Avengers vs X-men and the battle Storm had with Valkyrie on Utopia before AVX. Misty Knight and Coleen Wing fighting back to back harkened back to their classic pairing since the 70’s and also showed a hint of jealously by Coleen on the many new female friends Misty had. Oh and lest I forget She Hulk’s mention of “knowing” Hippolyta’s Ex is a thinly veiled cover for f****** Hercules. Good $hit all around!
Black Heroes- Misty Knight and Storm are here but neither is the focus of our tale.
Diversity- An all female book with a band of all female villains and those women are from a multitude of backgrounds and ethnicity. Kudos to marvel!
The Bad
Art- The similarity in the faces and expressions of these women really are blight on the presentation. Same face with different clothes and hair really does not impress me at all.
The Ugly
This has been my favorite issue of Fearless Defenders so far, the gorgeous cover, intense action and so many marvel women kicking ass and taking names + two out of left field reveals give this one a very hearty recommendation. The only problem is the interior art which while great on action loses points for the sheer similarity of the features of the women. Issue #5 of Fearless Defenders gets a solid 3.5/5 stars!
