AudioShocker

Last week, I was a big jerk and I only gave you reasons nine thru five of why Marvel Comics' Last Defenders miniseries didn't get the proper comic book love. Now, here are the top four reasons... which I will still title "The Top 9" even though it's only the top four. Why? Because I'm a lazy bastard and writing these lists can be a bitch so I have to stretch things out.

4. What's the deal with Mark Millar's New Defenders? Here's part of where Marvel went wrong with Last Defenders. Mark Millar's Fantastic Four has, directly after the completion of Last Defenders, introduced a team of New Defenders. Think about that. Casey writes a book called Last Defenders, detailing the ULTIMATE fated destiny of the team, only to have Millar spin out his time-traveling future Defenders in a book featuring another cast of elemental characters. Plus, Millar's gearing up for the Lady Liberators, featuring She-Hulk (a member of the fated Last Defenders), and Valkyrie (a classic Defender).

How did that go down? Was FF editorial too scared to say no to Mark Millar? He is, after all, the new golden boy of the intersection between comic books and movies. Meanwhile, Joe Casey has been Marvel's resident Avengers continuity custodian for the past few years. If Millar is Marvel's rock star renegade writer, Joe Casey is Marvel's team book librarian who makes sure that you don't run down the halls.

3. Did Last Defenders get shorted on promotion from Marvel Comics? Despite his longing to play in the sandbox of continuity nostalgia all day, I saw Joe Casey take a break and go to bat for Last Defenders all over the Internet. And that was nearly all I saw from Marvel regarding this book. There were very few ads for Last Defenders, none of which utilized Jim Muniz's captivating art. And the book's promotion was highly obtuse. No one announced Last Defenders as the end-all love note to Defenders history. That angle may have actually attracted more readers.

2. Was Last Defenders unfairly overlooked by reviewers? Despite Casey's passion for the content and his fairly sophisticated method of storytelling, I saw little-to-no hype on this miniseries from reviewers. I thought it was positively fantastic for most of its issues. And while I concede that the story gets awfully confusing, the final issue wrapped it up nice and neat for me. It created an intriguing blueprint for future Defenders stories.

1. Where are the Last Defenders follow-up stories? Millar obviously had no trouble getting his Defenders approved despite the fact that it blows right past everything that Casey, Giffen, Muniz, Smith, and Fabela just did. The lack of internal Marvel promotion leads me to believe that this book either underwhelmed with sales or simply didn't lineup with the company's future plans. I haven't seen anything suggesting that the Last Defenders lineup will appear anywhere else.

It's a shame that this is all we'll get out of Casey's elegant Last Defenders concept. This story is a smart piece of fallout from Civil War -- but it got released too long after the end of the Civil War event to make a splash. So just like Christopher Priest's The Crew, Dwayne McDuffie's Fantastic Four, and Scott Lobdell's Alpha Flight vol. 3, it looks like Last Defenders now sits on Marvel's list of "to be ignored" superhero stories that took bold steps but never received the recognition they deserved.

Next: The Top 9 Star Wars Characters to Dress Up as for Halloween

Why the Top 9? Because 10 is too many and 9 is better. 3 X 3 = Awesome. Now that’s what I call math.