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''The Fearless Defenders'' was an ongoing comic book series published by Marvel Comics that debuted in February 2013 as part of the company's Marvel NOW! initiative. The series, written by Cullen Bunn with artwork by Will Sliney, centered on the Valkyrior, a team of female superheroes led by Valkyrie and Misty Knight. Despite favorable reviews from critics, the series ended in December 2013 after thirteen issues due to poor sales. == Publication history == In May 2012, writer Cullen Bunn stated that the concept of the series came to him while scripting the fifth or sixth issue of ''Fear Itself: The Fearless'', which also starred Valkyrie. Bunn said he was campaigning for the book following the conclusion of ''Fear Itself: The Fearless'', when an editor pitched the idea of doing it as a Defenders title. However Bunn explained that beyond the name there is "little connection" to the Defenders. In November 2012, Marvel Comics teased the announcement of ''The Fearless Defenders'' by releasing an image of the word "Fearless" with the creative team of Bunn and artist Will Sliney. A week later, Marvel made the full announcement. Bunn said, "The basic idea of the book is that Valkyrie is choosing a new team of Valkyrior, and she's been asked to choose all these women from the heroes of Midgard (Earth), instead of from Asgard". Bunn also said that Misty Knight co-stars in the series, "They're our co-leads, and the rest of the team will build around them. I think it'll be interesting to see how the two of them see things differently. You've got Misty, who's a very street-level character. And you've got Valkyrie, who's a goddess". Dani Moonstar was revealed as the third member of team. Bunn said, "She has such a connection to the Valkyrie. She was on the top of my list when I started putting together who I thought would be the core roster". Hippolyta, who died in ''The Incredible Hercules'' #121 (September 2008), returned in issue #2 under the moniker, Warrior Woman and received an updated look and power set. Editor Ellie Pyle, who worked with artist Phil Jimenez on Hippolyta's design, said, "He (Jimenez ) wanted to use a lot of the Greek imagery. We wanted to update her look a little bit. Phil has a background in fashion, so he wanted to bring a bit of that modern aesthetic to her look." In April 2013, Marvel announced that the series would tie into the ''Age of Ultron'' crossover event with issue #4AU (May 2013). In the issue, it is revealed that the series villain, Carloline Le Fey is the daughter of Morgana le Fey and Dr. Doom. Bunn said, "I always knew Caroline would be a descendent of Morgan, but I didn't decide that she would actually be her daughter until a little later down the line. My original plan was to drop clues to her heritage over time... Then ''Age of Ultron'' happened, and that changed everything! I wanted the tie-in issue to have impact on the main series, and revealing Caroline's origins seemed to fit the bill." Bunn also said he wrote two versions of Hippolyta's confrontation with her father Ares; the first was darker and less action oriented but decided to go with the second as it better reflected the spirit of the series. The first story arc of ''The Fearless Defenders'' came to a close with issue #6 in July 2013. Bunn said, "The first arc has definitely been very Asgardian. That's just the nature of doing a story about Valkyrie. As we go into the next arc, I take the opportunity to show that there are stories for this team in any number of environments... Issues #7-#12, while they tell a complete story, we're going to do a series of done-in-one stories with those issues. Each of those issues will be pretty good jumping-on points for anybody." Issue #6 also featured the death of Annabelle Riggs, who ''Newsarama'' called "one of Marvel's few prominent lesbian characters", which drew a strong reaction from fans. In response Bunn wrote, "the fact that she was a lesbian didn’t even enter the equation for me, except that it was part of what made her who she was — just one part of many" with Pyle adding, "I feel very strongly that her sacrifice was very true to everything we love about her. As to whether the fact that she is a lesbian should have kept us from telling a story in which she died… in this particular case, not having this specific character sacrifice herself would have made for a story in which we were less emotionally invested." In June 2013, Marvel announced ''The Fearless Defenders'' #10 (October 2013) would tie into the ''Infinity'' crossover event. Bunn said, "The main ''Infinity'' crossover will be in ''Fearless Defenders'' #10. They're here on Earth facing the threat of Thanos’ forces trying to raze the city of New York... At the same time though, not only are they going to be dealing with Thanos’ forces, they're going to be dealing with the ever-present Caroline Le Fay who's going to be up to no good during this event and it's all going to center around this new character who'll be surfacing in the issue, a new super-powered individual." Bunn also revealed that ''The Fearless Defenders'' #10 will be a dance issue explaining, "I’m not sure how many dance comic books are out there anyway, but definitely not dance super hero comics. I’ve tried to do different things with the book from the beginning and this issue will definitely live up to that ideal." In October 2013, Bunn stated on Tumblr that the series will end with issue #12 (December 2013). Sales of the series steadily declined since its debut in February 2013 and reached its lowest point in September, selling 15,840 units. In contrast the first issue sold 53,688 units. Bunn said, "We’ll try to wrap up as many story elements as we can", but admitted, "I typically plan for a much longer story. I should know better, because there are no guarantees that the story will make it that long. But I just can’t help it when I’m excited about a book." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Fearless Defenders」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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