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 "quite 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 [Phil 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, Caroline 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."