Defenders #10
Title: “Breakthrough!”
Writer: Steve Englehart
Penciller: Sal Buscema
Inker: Frank Bolle
Colors: P.Goldberg
Editor: Roy Thomas
People start to run as the Hulk walks down the streets of Los Angeles. Hulk walks up to one of Los Angeles’ finest hotel’s fountains. Hulk seems to not really be thinking, but listening to the mystical voices from Dr. Strange that are leading him to the final component of the Evil Eye. Hulk doesn’t know that the Avengers and Defenders now realize that they are being used. He only knows that he is doing his part to help his friend the Black Knight. Hulk holds his head. He leans down and rips up a chunk of concrete. Hulk looks down and sees the Evil Eye. Hulk says that he didn’t have to do much at all.
Thor is quickly flying towards the scene. He
lands next to the Hulk and says that he would “have
words” with him. Thor says that he understands that Hulk
hates the way that the world has mistreated him, but that the
Defenders’ plan to conquer the universe is wrong. Thor
beseeches Hulk as one Avenger to another. Hulk says that he was
an Avenger once, but that he didn’t like it. Hulk hauls off
and punches Thor. Thor collides with a brick building. Hulk says
that he doesn’t like the Defenders either, and that he is
only helping them to help the Black Knight. Hulk says that when
he gets back to Dumb-Magician that he might smash him too.
Suddenly Thor’s hammer smashes into Hulk’s chest. The
hammer returns to Thor’s hand, and Thor asks Hulk how he can
turn his back on him when he knows that Thor is his superior.
Hulk asks if Thor just said that he was better than Hulk. Thor
says that while no one won that day that he knew that his prowess
exceeded Hulk’s.
Hulk smashes
the ground sending Thor buckling into the air. Hulk shouts,
“You are not better than Hulk! No one is better than
Hulk!” and then punches Thor launching him.
The police call for back up. The adults watch in awe while the children cheer on their favorites.
Thor and Hulk collide in a brawl. Thor
pounds Hulk to the ground. Hulk reaches up and grabs Thor’s
cape and spins him so fast that he screwed him down into the
sidewalk. Hulk says that Thor wasn’t thinking to challenge
him. Hulk says that he beats everyone, and that anyone who says
different is crazy. Hulk says that he is the strongest one there
is. Hulk sees that the ground is starting to shake. Hulk says
that it can’t be Thor. Hulk starts to say that Thor is not
as strong as him, but Thor interrupts as he bursts from the
ground, “…as strong as thee, monster? Nay! I be
stronger!” Hulk gets up and grabs a car to smash Thor with.
Thor’s hammer shatters the car, but as it doubles back Hulk
grabs it in the air. Hulk says that he thought of throwing
something first. He is about to say how Thor is not going to get
the hammer back, but the hammer drops to the ground taking the
Hulk with it. Hulk says that he can do anything, but that he
can’t pick up the hammer. Thor says that it is Odin’s
imperial decree that the hammer is Thor’s alone. Thor hits
Hulk knocking the hammer loose. Hulk gets up and says that
Thor’s strongest hit doesn’t hurt him, but that now he
is going to destroy him.
The people watching the fight are suddenly gripped by fear as they watch the battle. They look at Thor and see his sense of purpose and commitment, and then they look at Hulk and recoil from his “twisted visage”.
Hulk and Thor lock up. Hulk’s left hand is holding Thor’s right where his hammer is located, and Thor has Hulk’s right wrist with his left hand. Sweat pours down their faces as the time passes from ten minutes to twenty, from twenty to thirty, and finally into an hour. Neither is showing a sign of tiring when Dr. Strange calls out to them and says that there is no need for this violence. . Thor sees that the Avengers and Defenders now stand united.
Chapter 10- “United We Stand!”
One hour ago, Surfer, Valkyrie, and Black Knight stand next to Dr. Strange with four pieces of the Evil Eye. Val notices that the pieces are all similarly designed with one piece just slightly smaller than the next so that they can fit within each other. Strange suddenly senses the Sub-Mariner outside the mystic defenses. Strange dissolves the barriers so that Namor can enter. Namor walks into the room and announces that he has brought guests. He reveals that he has brought the Avengers with him. Valkyrie, Hawkeye, and Strange all rise to defend themselves, but Namor announces that he has “vital news”. He tells them that in his battle for the Evil Eye that he and Captain America were forced to talk with each other. Namor says that Captain America and the Avengers were told that the Defenders were trying to conquer the universe by Loki. Namor says that he and Cap thought that they needed to talk this through and so they swung by and picked up the other Avengers where they were. Cap says that in his defense that there was other things that lead them to believe Loki such as the Black Knight’s disappearance, their inability to get into Strange’s home, and the Surfer’s attack on Vision and Scarlet Witch, but that if there is a reasonable explanation that they are willing to listen. Black Panther asks that if they haven’t joined seeking revenge on humanity why they did join together. Strange says that he can see why the Avengers might believe that of them since they all tend to follow their own paths. Namor says that from time to time their own paths tend to overlap and so they fight together occasionally, but that they retian their freedom. The Avengers and Defenders talk with each other for the next half hour. Surfer tells Wanda that he had no idea that his accidental triggering of the volcano injured her. He apologizes. Wanda says that all of them jumped to conclusions. Hawkeye says that with the way the Avengers were hassling him after he quit that he was just getting into them being the bad guys. Swordsman says that Hawkeye is as dumb as ever. Hawkeye tells the “spare tire Avenger” to look who is talking. Hawkeye says that if he hadn’t left that Swordsman wouldn’t have even gotten into the Avengers. The two teams realize that the Hulk and Thor are still out there fighting.
Back in Los Angeles, Thor says that if someone is playing with them that they have to find out who. Hulk thinks to himself that he doesn’t understand any of this. Thor says that of course one enemy is his half-brother Loki. Thor says that when he last saw Loki it was in Rutland, Vermont, but that he lost his vision and that he couldn’t have managed this alone. Strange recalls that one of their first battles was in Rutland against the dread Dormammu. Strange says that Dormammu could have easily been in invisible attendance during Thor and Loki’s fight. Strange says that he thinks that they should examine the Evil Eye more closely. Strange asks Hulk for his section. Hulk says that he fought Thor for a long time to keep his piece, and now “Stupid Magician” wants him to give it back. Hulk hits the ground and causes a quake that knocks people into the air. Captain America tells everyone to clear the area under Avengers authority. Hulk hands Strange the piece, but says that this is the last time he is doing anything Strange asks. Surfer hands Strange the other five pieces. Strange lays them out in a row. Suddenly Asti, a servant of Dormammu, swoops down and grabs up all the pieces of the Evil Eye. They try to chase him, but he quickly disappears. Strange says that for Dormammu to have revealed himself that the Evil Eye must be of great importance to him.
Suddenly the city of Los Angeles begins to change before their very eyes. Strange constructs grow out of the ground. The people all begin transforming into monsters. Dormammu’s visage appears over the city. He says that while he has sworn never to invade our dimension that now with the power of the Evil Eye that he is merging the two dimensions and that his world is becoming ours. Dormammu says that in his dimension he is undisputed king, and that within one hour they will all be his slaves. Strange says that they are going to fight back, and Namor says that Dormammu will have to kill them all if he wants the Earth.
Dr. Strange’s rating: 10 out of 10
How do you get better than the Hulk vs. Thor? You don’t. This crossover represented some great things. In the beginning of the Marvel Universe the stars of books would fight each other in a “who’s stronger” type of thing. Then for a long time nothing happened along those lines until this crossover. Our boys the Defenders are cast as the villains primarily, but what did you expect going against the all America Captain America? The revelation that Dormammu and Loki have been playing the two teams finally unites them, but the excitement that the feuds bring is still there. Buscema does a great job with probably the most titanic battle in the history of the Marvel Universe- the Hulk versus Thor fight.
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