CBR: Shelf Life - Jun 30, 2011

[CBR News]

Ron Marz is back with a tale about how going out to lunch with your editor to discuss your current book can sometimes lead to an assignment you never asked for.


Full article here.

[U-Foe]

I wouldn't mind seeing something like Secret Defenders done again. A rotating cast per arc chosen by a central character.

[eh_ver]

I have fond memories of these issues of SD. I liked what was being done with Nova at the time, I liked that Thunderstike was getting appearances outside his book and the scene where Nitro and Genis meet and shake hands (right???) before Genis has any idea who Nitro was, was just a great scene and led into one of my favorite comics of that era, the "Legacy" issue of Cosmic Powers where Genis goes after Nitro for killing his dad.

[builttoill]

I remember fondly reading these books, what a great story thanks for sharing. I use a line from the first story arc about building skyscrapers all the time in my life, it's a great lesson. (i would try and quote it here but i know i would butcher it)

[Boabie]

When I first heard about the Secret Defenders, I remember thinking it was an interesting idea that, while difficult to pull off, could be a memorable comic. I saw it more in the vein of Marvel Team-up or Marvel Two-In-One (especially the annuals which usually had a group of heroes rather than just a pairing) rather than Mission Impossible, although Ron's description is much better. The old MTU often depended on coincidences and chance encounters and SD avoided the sometimes very contrived situations in MTU/ MTIO.
Unfortunately, it wasn't great. There was a lot of mediocre comicbooks at the time, and it was far from the worst, admittedly. Still, it was disappointing, especially in terms of the artwork. Tom Grindberg sounds a decent bloke but I will never be convinced he should have drawn a mainstream Marvel title.

[ian33407]

SECRET DEFENDERS was an absolute wonderful concept. I still don't understand how it could have been screwed-up as it had been. Unfortunately, it was at a time when DEFENDERS themselves didn't mean so much for the audience, and if I remember well DOCTOR STRANGE started to look like a mix of SHADE THE CHANGING MAN and KID ETERNITY soon after.........

But look at it, what a wonderful room for all the B-Listers of the MU..yeah,sure, there is certainly a little of "Mission:Impossible" in it, but look also at the success of this past year : SECRET AVENGERS and X-FORCE, strangely, undercover black ops teams, with characters from differents horizons.

IMHO, Warren Ellis and Mike Deodato showed the way onto what a SECRET DEFENDERS book should look like with the wonderful combo of American Eagle, Steel Spider and Sepulchre in THUNDERBOLTS..More than that, he defined the path for the Marvel stories for years to come after him, imposing Mike Deodato as the "must-have" artist for THE AVENGERS, and how ?.. just by scratching his balls (coz Ellis is reputed for not being a mainstream-comics fan), just like you did with proposing this Thanos story under circumstances. With less success.