253. Defenders vol 1 #152 ... Marvel ...

Another review, another THE END issue ... hehehe! We have had many first issues so it is only appropriate we have a few final issues as well. And this is yet another unique title in the sense that when it was first launched more than 10 years ago, the team consisted of a roster of solid (Hulk and Dr Strange) characters with others that have also had their time in the sun

It was supposed to be Marvel's non-team team ... ie they are all solo players ... but someone forced them to work together for if not, life as we know it on planet Earth will go awry and so they did

And over the course of the years, their members did change including at one stage more mystical oriented characters besides Strange ... and some mentally challenged paranoia split personality types as well ... it makes for good reading

While the issues may not always be action pack, you can bet that quite often the stories are not for "kids" or at least not for 6-year-olds

As for its end, we can only assume that failing sales had a factor ... that and the fact that the Mutants have other places to be ... and the team too is generally weaker at this point in time

In this final issue, it is not only the end of the comic but for some of the characters as well. Basically Moondragon (a human who was raised on an alien planet and ended with great martial arts and mental powers and is supposedly the daughter of Drax the Destroyer) has been tainted by an evil cosmic presence called the Dragon of the Moon (yeah, right, please bear with us) ... even though she has always been arrogant and condescending in past appearances while being in the Avengers ...

Earlier in Defenders run, she had become the baddie and they thought her defeated but here she is back for one final gambit and this time, she planned well. The good side is still fighting the bad side but the bad half of her is ascendant and capitalized on her own inner sense of failure to control her ... and in turn, she channeled it into the Gargoyle, a fellow Defender who became corrupted and caved in to the demon's body that he inhabited

And so we end this issue with all the Defenders going against her and Gargoyle ... and when this is not enough (not revealed on the cover so SPOILER ALERT) ... an Eternal and a past enemy came to give their aid ... so who lives? And who dies (for a while anyway since this is comicdom)?

Ratings: 7/10