Defenders: From The Marvel Vault (2011)

My little theme of seeking out various instances where the original Defenders have reunited comes to an end with a one-shot from 2011.

Hulk (2008) #10 was great fun, Defenders (2005) #2 was insipid trash. This book is somewhere in the middle.

The story starts in kind of a jarring fashion. All the characters appear to be teleported into a forest setting and are talking like college students. For half the book, we have the Defenders in body only, which is a little disappointing.

Each character encounters something he wants very much. In effect, he is taken to his proverbial happy place. For Namor, naturally, that means encountering his former lady love, Dorma.

Whoever the kid is that's inhabiting Namor's body, when Dorma's advances make him uncomfortable because he's crushing on another girl already, he senses that things aren't right. He rejects the new reality and breaks the mind control spell.

The next part is a little unclear to me. Silver Surfer and Doctor Strange deduce that an alien ship was separated from its fleet and its passengers tried to bond mentally with the people of Earth in order to rebuild their society. This is what caused the "happy place" effect.

Unfortunately for Namor, the first teammate he freed upon breaking the spell was the Hulk. The green giant was none too happy about having his fun ruined (being yanked from his own happy place) so they started throwing down.

pillock
noun
British slang a stupid or annoying person

Don't act like you knew...

While these two pound on one another, Strange and Surfer quite simply solve the problem by sending the aliens home. The experience has had some impact on our favourite prince, however.

And so we end on a tender moment.

Not a bad book overall but by no means a classic. I would be surprised if this story was every referred to again in continuity but I'm sure if you're a fan of The Defenders, it made for a good nostalgic read.