The Defenders Appreciation 2021

**Astral Disaster** · 02-26-2021, 09:50 AM

Originally Posted by kcekada

Thankfully, they did eventually beef up Valkyrie's powers again. I never understood why she went from someone who could trade punches with the Hulk (pre-Defenders appearances) to being slightly above Spider-Man level (strength-wise).

This has long irked me as well, it's amost as if after having her tell Namor she doesn't hate men, she just knows she's their equal, someone at Marvel decided "oh no, we're having none of that...". Of course prior to The Defenders I think she only had two other appearances, first in The Avengers as a disguised Enchantress, and then the Hulk issue (Samantha Parrington infused with Valkyrie's spirit by the Enchantress) where she pretty much hands ol' jade jaw his own backside, she even exhibited concussive energy blasts with her spear in that story, though one could always say she was amped by Amora's magic. So, essentially, at the time she was added to The Defenders roster, she only had a loosely defined power set which only really solidified once she became a recurring character. Unfortunately, her strength level was wiidly inconsistent, from being near ineffective to taking out over a dozen other super beings (yes, most were Z list pushovers) without breaking a sweat during a berserker rage, and subsequently over the years, most writers, and readers, tended to put more emphasis on her low showings.

**Phoenixx9** · 02-26-2021, 10:25 AM

The Valkyrie was initially right up there with Namor, Hulk and Surfer in terms of raw strength and durability. Remember, it was she who physically broke them out of their prison cells and which was the very reason for her creation in the Defenders.

However, within the span of just a few issues, the brakes were massively applied to Val's strength and she was downgraded. While Valkyrie was the first super-strong female heroine to appear, technically in the Defenders issue she was the second, as Thundra had appeared over in the FF 2 months sooner. Thundra was another massively strong female but she retained her strength, even being stronger over time.

Another weakening of Valkyrie is that they really made issue of the body part of Valkyrie being a transformed Barbara Norriss with the spirit of Brunhilde being submerged. But there were also inconsistencies. While for the most part Valkyrie was watered down, then there were times where she could fight Hulk and Thor. The Hulk fights usually left her okay, but sometimes bruised and sore, as she herself would state. The Thor fights she seemed to hold her own and no worse for wear.

Only after Val was rejoined in her original body, did her strength return to its true level. However, to me, that level stated by Marvel was only half of what it should have been, and I look at it like they just kept her former strength level and forgot to double it. To me, Valkyrie is in the top levels of strength.

**Adam-X** · 02-26-2021, 02:55 PM

Valkyrie is one of the greatest things about Defenders. I will literally pick up a book if she's in it.

**Phoenixx9** · 02-26-2021, 03:29 PM

Val is my gal. She is the best!

**Nomads1** · 02-26-2021, 04:34 PM