Captain Marvel No. 1 review: Carol Danvers returns from the stars
By Alex Widen
Carol Danvers is back from outer space! Can she pick up the pieces of her life on Earth in Captain Marvel No. 1?
Captain Marvel No. 1
Writer: Kelly Thompson
Artist: Carmen Carnero
Colorist: Tamra Bonvillain
Cover Artists: Amanda Conner & Paul Mounts
More from Comics
- X-Men: 6 reasons why Marvel’s mutants are the best superhero team
- Harley Quinn renewed for a fifth season on Max (and it’s well-deserved)
- Marvel Comics announces seven important X-Men comic books
- The X-Men were betrayed by Captain America in Uncanny Avengers
- Spider-Man: Miles and Peter team-up for their first ongoing series
The life and times of Carol Danvers have both been a rising rocket and a smoldering crater. Created by Roy Thomas and Gene Colan in 1968’s Marvel Super-Heroes No. 13, she began as the female lead attached to the Kree superhero Mar-Vell. Half the reason he even existed was to claim the copyright to the name “Captain Marvel” once DC Comics drove Fawcett Comics into insolvency via lawsuits. Yet by 1977, Carol became a super-heroine herself, as the distaff counterpart Ms. Marvel. Going from a military figure to a women’s magazine editor, she symbolized the “women’s lib” movement of the time — sort of like a Silver Age Wonder Woman.
Image by Marvel Comics
Yet before long she had to be salvaged from poor writing herself by Chris Claremont in Uncanny X-Men, where she spent much of the late 1970s into the mid-1980s. She became a member of the Starjammers and renamed herself Binary. Yet by the late 1990s, she’d become an Avenger again, and saw a boost in recognition out of 2005’s House of M. She subsequently had a volume of her own series last for 50 issues — a staggering landmark. Now set to star in her own feature film this year, it is time for Captain Marvel to revel in her long deserved status for a new generation.
Image by Marvel Comics
Shooting the Breeze as a Monster Attacks!
The first page does a good job of recapping Carol Danvers’ past and her various identities without bogging the reader down in exposition. It is similar to the opening page of All-Star Superman. Carol has spent the last few years running her own “Corps” in space, alongside Alpha Flight. She’s still remained an Avenger, but also was known as “the boss of space.” Yet now it’s time for her to return to NYC based heroism, clobbering a giant monster alongside her BFF, Spider-Woman.
Image by Marvel Comics
Jessica Drew may have plenty of experience on her side, but she doesn’t have the sheer power to defeat a massive tentacled monster (dubbed “a Kraken”) herself. Thankfully, Captain Marvel does, and the pair quickly uses the opportunity to catch up and have jokey banter with each other amid the monster-punching. Carol even manages to heft the massive creature away from Wall Street and close to the Hudson River. Yet when the beast seems to devour a kid (and her little dog too), it’s on!
Image by Marvel Comics
Luckily for both the child and her pup, Carol is as tough as she is confident. She manages to tear the monster’s head apart from the inside to rescue them. Within moments, some local pedestrians are celebrating Carol as if she’d never left — even offering her a free t-shirt to clean monster guts off with. Since this is New York, it isn’t long before another superhero turns up. Iron Man, or at least an army of his remote piloted suits, turn up to lift the giant monster away.
Image by Marvel Comics
The Ever Annoying Iron Man And an Avengers Academy Cameo!
It turns out that Carol has been putting off a meeting with Tony Stark ever since she decided not to room in space anymore. Ever the industrialist and business man, Stark is concerned about the public opinion of the Avengers in general, and Carol in particular. While her being away to tend to her family (and a retroactively generated Kree mother) made Danvers look “human,” he is concerned that her time in space has alienated her with the common civilian on the street.
Image by Marvel Comics
Danvers, for her part, finds Tony’s poll testing to be irritating at best, and probably hypocritical at worst. It wasn’t long ago when each of them were engaging in Civil War II, after all. Regardless, Tony has two favors to ask of his Avengers comrade. The first is agreeing to a media interview. The other is to mentor one of the young super-humans left over from the defunct Avengers Academy. It is none other than Jennifer Takeda, also known as the radioactive Hazmat!
Image by Marvel Comics
For the record, Avengers Academy to this day remains an underrated gem. Launched by Christos Gage and Mike McKone in 2010, it ran for 39 issues and included some annuals, one-shots and a crossover with Amazing Spider-Man. It centered on a squad of B-List Avengers taking a group of teenagers that Norman Osborn tried to make into villains and teach them to be heroes. Aside for Reptil — an immigrant from Marvel Super Hero Squad — all were original creations. Yet after 2013, they’ve rarely appeared since, unless it is to serve as canon fodder for “shock value” tales.
Image by Marvel Comics
Men Call Him War Machine, and Carol Calls Him Often!
This was the case of Hazmat. Much of Jennifer’s development in Academy was getting used to the idea that her radioactive powers made her harmful to others, even those she wanted to touch. She eventually formed a romantic bond with her fellow student Mettle, whose metal skin was immune to her powers. Unfortunately, Mettle was killed off at the start of Avengers Arena, and Hazmat hasn’t done much since that grindhouse mini-series (and its sequel, Avengers Undercover) ended.
Image by Marvel Comics
To Tony’s credit, Carol Danvers has some experience mentoring heroines. During the first Civil War in 2006, she mentored Anya Corazon (then known as Arana) to the point of her being an unofficial sidekick. Danvers would later look after Kamala Khan, a super-fan who eventually got her own metamorphic powers and assumed her Ms. Marvel mantle once Carol became the captain. Her efforts with Kamala were more mixed. Hazmat remains traumatized, in denial, and antisocial.
Image by Marvel Comics
Yet Carol’s visit to Stark Unlimited isn’t without its perks. She runs into James Rhodes — usually known as War Machine. The pair had been dating steadily, until his death at the hands of Thanos provided much of the spark between Carol and Tony that fueled Civil War II. As usual, death for a superhero proved temporary, especially for a guy like Rhodes — who at times has been a cyborg and a host for alien armor. While Carol saw his death-and-resurrection as an omen to let their relationship fade, Rhodey has the exact opposite opinion!
Image by Marvel Comics
Macho, Macho Man…
Although Carol isn’t eager to rekindle her relationship with Rhodey on her first day back, she hardly fights him on an invitation for lunch, either. It quickly results in a fun catching up session where they discuss his possible code-name now that he’s piloting a tank for Iron Man. But as usual, Danvers’ life is full of interruptions. The first is from Ripley Ryan, a journalist from Ms. magazine tasked with interviewing Danvers. Her timing is off, thanks to Tony Stark.
Image by Marvel Comics
The second interruption is more standard for Carol — a super villain. This time it’s Mahkizmo the Nuclear Man, a radiation empowered misogynist from a parallel dimension’s 23rd century. Usually an enemy of the Fantastic Four and Thundra, he’s stormed into town with a new wardrobe and a desire to battle Carol just because. She quickly dons her Captain Marvel costume and literally stomps him into the ground! The question is, was the fight really that easy, or was it a ruse?
Image by Marvel Comics
As the rest of the Avengers assemble, it proves to be the latter. Mahkizmo was just playing possum hoping for more opponents to arrive. Yet when Danvers proves resistant to his willpower-sapping ray (as well as his naked sexism), Mahkizmo decides to flee to avoid embarrassment. When he kidnaps Ripley as a war trophy, Carol selflessly flies into the portal to Mahkizmo’s dimension without a second thought. Without either Rhodey or the Avengers, can Carol prevail in a hostile alternate dimension? Or is that dimension the in for a rude awakening at her hands?
Image by Marvel Comics
Challenge — Accepted!
Although she co-writes Uncanny X-Men alongside two other writers, this may be Kelly Thompson’s biggest Marvel title as a solo writer. The upcoming feature film will mean that her first arc of this will likely be hitting shelves around when that movie will be hitting home video. Thompson also has the difficult task of relaunching a character who may be a vital figure within the fictional universe, but within the real one has struggled to string along strong sales for long.
Image by Marvel Comics
Kelly Thompson has handled Captain Marvel before, although never in this format. She co-wrote the Battleworld mini-series Carol Danvers & the Carol Corps in 2015 alongside Kelly Sue DeConnick. And Carol was on the founding team of heroines in A-Force, with the caveat that Thompson took over from original writer G. Willow Wilson in that series’ second issue. Therefore, this is the first time that Thompson is handling Danvers alone, and leading a relaunch no less!
Image by Marvel Comics
As Thompson makes clear in her editorial page in the back, this is a gig she is taking seriously. It could very well be a defining run for her tenure as a Marvel exclusive talent, and she knows it. Yet the pressure doesn’t appear to effect her trademark style. Her trademark sassy banter between characters is intact, whether it is between Carol and Jessica at the start, the verbal duel between Tony and Carol in the middle, or even the scenes between James and Hazmat towards the finale.
Image by Marvel Comics
Danvers Is the Spotlight Marvel Heroine for 2019!
Thompson does a terrific job of summing up who Carol is with a quick bit of exposition and then settling into a “day in her life” look at her return to city-based heroics. She gives Danvers a traditional sense of confidence and stoicism, yet also a hint of a sense of humor. And much as she typically does in her titles, she quickly assembles a supporting cast around Danvers. This is crucial. Drew is her best friend, Rhodey is her “sort of” boyfriend, Tony is her annoying middle manager, and Hazmat is a youthful ward. While it is a problem that all of them are other superheroes — who currently lack their own series — that is a dilemma which could be fixed a little through Ripley.
Image by Marvel Comics
Yet as high as Thompson soars, some of her stuff could appear repetitive to readers who know her well. Much as she has with the opening arcs of Hawkeye and West Coast Avengers, the opening villain of this series is a walking symbol of toxic masculinity. The biggest difference is while Hawkeye did it with a new villain and WCA did it by giving MODOK a makeover, Mahkizmo has symbolized that since Fantastic Four No. 151, circa 1974. And while his redesign and the final page are exciting, it also may drift a little too close being “inspired” by Mad Max: Fury Road.
Image by Marvel Comics
On the other hand, toxic masculinity is today what Communism was in the Silver Age — a genuine threat which serves as the focal point for imagination within comic books. It is difficult to go a week without seeing a perpetrator engage in this sort of philosophy in the news, from a mass shooter to a jilted lover who attacks a current or former beau. That said, this along with a plot that takes place in a parallel universe could clash with the angle of Carol reconnecting with the world around her. Anything can happen in another universe — they’re safe from consequences.
Image by Marvel Comics
Higher, Further, Faster, More!
The artwork by Carmen Carnero (X-Men: Red, X-Factor, DC Comics Bombshells) is nothing short of marvelous. The opening sequence appears tailor-made to show off Carnero’s talents, and she doesn’t disappoint. Not even Spider-Woman’s new costume is a challenge for her, and few can make a random monster look so menacing! Mahkizmo’s design at least looks less dated than his traditional one did, and the down to earth scenes pop just as much as the action sequences!
Image by Marvel Comics
Next. See How Kamala Khan Doing as Ms. Marvel in No. 36!. dark
Although Thompson may rely on some of her usual narrative tropes once or twice too often, those tropes are always entertaining and executed well. The most important aspect of a debut issue is how well the central lead is handled. And Thompson displays both respect and understanding for Carol Danvers. This is amazing considering her fondness for Rogue, who historically was Danvers’ foe. This issue captures the awe and majesty of Carol, while also showcasing her as a genuine person with her own irritations, foibles, and quirks. Plus, Hazmat could really use the exposure. For this reason among others, Captain Marvel is a relaunch to watch which kicks off the year right!