Defender # 3 Jusko Variant 2021 FN+

Defenders # 3, published in October 2021, is a mind-bending issue where the team, having traveled to the Fifth Cosmos (a realm of pure magic), must face the deadly sorcerer Mor-I-Dun and realize the metaphysical nature of their own comic book reality. 

The issue is narrated from the perspective of the Harpy (Betty Ross), highlighting her unique strength in this particular reality. 

• The Fifth Cosmos: The team—Doctor Strange, the Masked Raider, the Harpy, Cloud, and Taaia (mother of Galactus)—finds themselves in a realm of primal, dark magic where their usual powers are diminished, and even Doctor Strange's magic is overwhelmed.
• Mor-I-Dun: They are confronted by Mor-I-Dun, the powerful Sorcerer Supreme of this reality who is destined to become the next "Devourer of Worlds" (a version of Galactus). He already knows of their mission and views them as insignificant, save for their ability to traverse cosmos.
• The Colors of Reality: In a meta-textual turn, as Mor-I-Dun explains the archaic system of magic (cups, blades, staves, circles), Doctor Strange realizes that the five Defenders represent the CMYK printing colors (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key/Black) used to create comic books. This awareness allows them to use the fundamental "magic" of their own medium to fight back.
• Escape to the Fourth Cosmos: Using their understanding of their archetypal nature and the "colors of reality," the Defenders defeat Mor-I-Dun in that realm. They are then thrown forward in time into the Fourth Cosmos, which shifts in art style to reflect the four-color printing process of that era, where they land face-to-face with the Hulk of that reality. 

• Writer: Al Ewing
• Penciler & Inker: Javier Rodríguez
• Colorist: Javier Rodríguez
• Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna