There have been seven versions of reality before this one, and the Defenders have made their way back to the Fourth Cosmos, and things have gotten weird. Your Major Spoilers review of Defenders #4 from Marvel Comics awaits!
DEFENDERS #4
Writer: Al Ewing
Artist: Javier Rodriguez
Colorist: Javier Rodriguez
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Editor: Wil Moss
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: December 15, 2021
Previously in Defenders: Doctor Strange and his Defenders land in the Fourth Cosmos (home of the Archetypes of Good and Evil, primal entities of pure myth destined to echo through every reality to come) as the desperate Dr. Zota attempts to harness their power to rewrite all existence in his own hand! It’s a cosmos-colliding epic you’ll have to experience to believe!
THE ARCHETYPES OF CREATION
The Fourth Cosmos is one of immediate conflict, as the Defenders meet a creature called The One-Is-Four, a massive green creature of multiple minds. The team is quickly overwhelmed by its raw power, but Doctor Strange realizes that if there’s one archetype, there’s likely more, and the creature is taken in by the force fields of the Four-Are-One, the archetypical basis for the Fantastic Four. Tenuous communication takes place, though the archetypes don’t have quite as much nuance in their vocabulary as our heroes, and the Defenders are led to a battlefield full of of familiar archetypes (which the letter column challenges readers to identify). Once again, though, the nefarious Zota has insinuated himself with this reality’s devourer, What-Must-Be!
“THE MAGIC NUMBER IS FOUR.”
Once again, there are multiple joys to be found in these pages. From Taaia’s dialogue (reminiscent of Jack Kirby’s high-energy “Coming Next Issue” screeds from his ’70s work) to the interplay between Doctor Strange and the sardonic Harpy, but my favorite here is seeing the archetypical versions of Captain America, Spider-Man, and the other heroes of Marvel. Rodriguez’s visual concepts are fascinating, with more than a few that make you really sit and think visually to understand. Combine that with the language of the world (representing the CMYK four-color printing of colors, with all the backgrounds evoking the color-dot printing of the Bronze Age) and you’ve got a comic that can withstand multiple readings, and with new revelations on each pass. The team loses a member again this issue, but it’s a moment that not only makes perfect sense, it actually provides satisfying closure for that exiting Defender.
BOTTOM LINE: JUST PLAIN WONDERFUL
In short, Ewing and Rodriguez have created another winner, as Defenders #4 stuns on all levels, from coloring to art to story, making an engrossing chapter in the ongoing saga of the worlds that once were, earning 5 out of 5 stars overall. This entire series has been fascinating both in terms of the story and the meta-story, with concepts that feel at once surprising and inevitable, which is a hard balance.
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DEFENDERS #4
Each new reality is more creative than the last, and this one is both portentous and breathtaking, with a story to match.
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Writing10
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Art10
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Coloring10
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