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Order #4

Jul 2002
?, Dan Jurgens

Story Name:

Norrin's Rib


Synopsis

Order #4 synopsis by Peter Silvestro
Rating: 4 stars

Continuing the path they were set on by Yandroth’s curse, the Order is putting the finishing touches on the defeat of the villain known as Locust. Gray Hulk plans to entertain himself by thawing out some of Red Raven’s female subjects as sex slaves. The others find this unacceptable so Doctor Strange and Silver Surfer combine their powers to blast him into unconsciousness. Hulk wakes up in a magic prison, swearing revenge against the others. Strange proposes seeking another incarnation of the Hulk, one not so difficult to work with. Strange uses his new amulet, the Star of Capistan, to dismiss Gray Hulk but what they get is the familiar Green Hulk….

At their new headquarters in the Manhattan mansion of the Parringtons, the Defenders, Nighthawk, Hellcat, Valkyrie (Samantha Parrington, whose parents have opened their home to the adventurers), supplemented with She-Hulk, Clea, and Namorita, Papa Hagg snowboards in with a solution to the problem of finding a female analogue to the Silver Surfer. He explains the plan, the others agree to it but Mrs. Parrington questions why they would want to stop the Order when they are doing so much good, leading their daughter to explain the nature of tyranny. And so they teleport off….

At the Order’s floating citadel on Sky Island, Green Hulk is giving his allies a lot of trouble. When he grips Sub-Mariner by the neck, Strange and the Surfer cast their spell again and this time they get the Professor Hulk, who is aware of the situation and willingly joins them. They all repair to their individual quarters for some rest…

…as the Defenders watch from nearby, ready to put the plan into action. Clea casts a spell to shield them from Dr. Strange’s mystic perceptions and they seize the sleeping Surfer and Clea stabs him with a mystic dagger and, with a special spell, the Surfer bleeds light which forms into a golden woman, his female reflection. She introduces herself as Ardina and, once they explain that she was created to help subdue four heroes who have gone mad, assents to the plan. But the rest of the Order has arrived and a fight breaks out, each man battling his female counterpart. Surfer blasts Ardina into Hellcat and Nighthawk, seriously injuring them. Clea denounces her husband for his wickedness so Strange responds by teleporting the Defenders across the dimensional gulf at random. Meanwhile, a shadowy being materializes on the throne at the center of their lair and Papa Magg waits to see if the Earth lives or dies….


 

Review / Commentaries


Order #4 Review by (February 23, 2022)

Review: And so everyone who has wondered what Silver Surfer would look like as a Golden Girl, you’ve gotten your wish. No time yet for any sort of characterization beyond, “What’s going on?” before they launch her into a battle of the boy heroes versus the girl heroes. Decent enough battle caps off the second half of the issue. The first half concerned the many headaches caused by various Hulks; we’re used to them, though not usually three incarnations in a single issue. So the bad boy Defenders are doing their warped thing and the good girl Defenders (plus Nighthawk) are out to stop them. More to come.

Comments: Numbered both #4 and in a smaller font, #16, as a continuation of DEFENDERS Vol. 2/2001 series. Title is a pun on “Adam’s Rib,” the Biblical organ from which Eve was created. First appearance/origin of Ardina. Locust was previously seen in X-MEN #24, INCREDIBLE HULK #194, and X-FACTOR #52, making for four widely spaced appearances. The Star of Capistan was previously seen in DEFENDERS #42-45 and Volume 2 #9 and 10; oddly, it does not appear in issues #5 and 6 of this miniseries. Papa Hagg is a fan of the TV soap opera PASSIONS (1999-2008), which featured an actual witch as a character. Written by Jo Duffy and Kurt Busiek. Colors credited to Gregory Wright and Tom Smith’s Color Arts. Issue includes “The Call of Duty: 911 [Part 2]” which appeared across several titles this week.



> Order comic book info and issue index

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Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

?
Dan Jurgens
Bob Layton
?
Carlos Pacheco (Cover Penciler)
Jesus Merino (Cover Inker)
? (Cover Colorist)


Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange

(Stephen Strange)
Gray Hulk
Gray Hulk

(Hulk)
Hellcat
Hellcat

(Patricia Walker)
Hulk
Hulk

(Robert Bruce Banner)
Nighthawk
Nighthawk

(Kyle Richmond)
She-Hulk
She-Hulk

(Jennifer Walters)
Silver Surfer
Silver Surfer

(Norrin Radd)
Sub-Mariner
Sub-Mariner

(Namor McKenzie)

Plus: Ardina, Namorita, Papa Hagg, Valkyrie (Samantha Parrington).