0099: Defenders #5
Cover Date: April 1973 On-Sale Date: January 23, 1973
This is the first story with Valkyrie as a member of the team. It sees the return of the remnants of the team's first enemy. We finally get an answer to that mysterious ticking clock that has been interrupting the story flow of the previous few issues. Namor's little cousin even hops aboard as a guest star. It also reveals Val's search for her new identity. She's a bit of a blank slate and will spend a while finding herself.
In an earnest attempt to fit in with the rest of humanity, Valkyrie walks the local streets in her skimpy Asgardian armor complete with cape and sword. If fitting in is causing a major distraction for everyone who's vision she crossed then mission accomplished! This poor street seller managed to trash a piece of merchandise and scare a poor kitty cat.
While on her walk of discovery, a group of green hooded men attack Valkyrie. The reason for attack is that she lives in Doc's house and they have some beef with him.
Val bats them around for a couple of pages. As the leader of the bunch and last baddie standing attacks Val, he's suddenly blown away. Val turns around and it's Doc who blasted away her foe. The two bicker back and forth about whether she needed Doc to help her. Doc's like "Girl, you need some friends!"
Arriving back to Doc's Sanctum Sanctorum, Val points out the paradox in her attempt to make friends. She can't trust dudes and she inspires distrust in women. This illustrated by showing a close-up Clea from the midriff up. Val's also in love with the statue of the Black Knight. At least she won't have to worry that Viagra hasn't been invented yet.
Doc suggests Val make peace with the other Defenders and gives her a couple of pointy rubies to help ferret them out. Val goes flying around the city on her winged horse as any normal woman attempting to fit in would do. Very quickly her ruby starts to buzz and she encounters Namor with his little cousin Namorita and Betty Dean, who's history goes back almost as far as Namor's. Val and Namor bandy words back and forth about the necessity of human contact when Namor goes all monochrome and disappears.
Val realizes that he's still alive because the pointy ruby is still poking her. She mounts her winged horse to go find him. Namorita insists on accompanying her.
Of course, because these stories rely on lucky coincidences, the pair fly over the Hulk. The Hulk doesn't want any human contact either and attacks them when they request his aid. Mid-attack Hulk also goes monochrome and disappears as well.
Val is now falling, but is rescued by Aragorn. She sees that the pointy rubies both point in the same direction. She and Namorita follow their lead and wind up at the lighthouse where the late Yandroth built the Omegatron. Val and company run, literally, into the invisible shield that the other Defenders encountered on their first mission. Fortunately, the Black Knight's Ebony Blade which Val is borrowing while Dane is taking it easy. The blade is able to penetrate the shield.
The Omegatron greets the visitors in slow motion. Doc's spell is still somewhat effective.
The Omegatron recounts the events of the Defenders first mission when Doc cast the spell and the first issue of Defenders where another spell Doc cast weakened the first. The Omegatron then informs the ladies they have six minutes until the timer runs out. Val is like "not a problem!" but the Omegatron casts a bunch of images of Namor and Hulk to distract them.
Val uses Aragorn to dispatch the fake Namors and Hulks leaving only the real things standing in her's and Nita's way. They fight and Val uses a hunk of machinery to subdue the ensorcelled pair of brutes. The clock has now run down and the vibrations from the fight gave Omegatron enough mojo to carry out his mission and explode all the world's nuclear reserves.
Hulk and Namor snap out of their trance just as Omegatron prepares to do his dirty deed.
The brutes attempt to subdue Omegatron but he bats them away. Just as he's about to speak 'Yandroth' Val swoops in and decapitates him. Two of the physically strongest beings in the world and one of the world's most powerful sorcerers weren't able to do this, but an Asgardian Chooser of the Slain wielding a blade enchanted by Merlin did it in one stroke.
Afterwards, the Hulk gets angry at more talk of the Defenders and bounces away. Val is despondent, but Namor has softened his views and wants to discuss things with her.
Sadly, Doc's involvement in the story is minimal. He serves mainly to push the narrative along and send Valkyrie in the right direction. The end of the story is good and it's nice to have a resolution to the Omegatron arc. It's been promoted over the previous four issues. The start of the story with Valkyrie trying to find herself is a bit of a slog. I know conflict is the essence of drama, but is it necessary for everyone to be snippy to each other? I'm not sure if all the back-and-forth resolved anything or even pushed Val's journey forward. SoL first half, meh, second half, good.
