Nuclear Man gets an atomic beatdown in Captain Marvel No. 5
By Alex Widen
Further, Higher, Faster, More!
Fans of Avengers Academy should be pleased that Hazmat is stepping up. While not nearly as forgotten as other members of her class from that run (such as Striker, Veil, or Finesse), she got pretty close after she was run into the ground during Avengers Arena and Avengers Undercover. It is good to see Hazmat rise above her many tragedies and take on a bit of a “jaded beyond her years” persona. New blood always does fictional universes good, and it will be good to see her develop.
Image by Marvel Comics
The artwork by Carmen Carnero and colors by Tamra Bonvillain remain as stellar as in previous issues. It is staggering that Carnero isn’t a bigger superhero artist than she is, because she brings the perfect mixture of “realistic proportions” with over the top action and staging. Her redesign of Nuclear Man is great, and her take on the new and burlier She-Hulk is also impressive. Jen’s not a monster, but she’s not a green super model anymore, either. Considering the terrible misconception that Danvers is “stiff,” Carnero always brings out more emotion from the scripts.
Image by Marvel Comics
Next. It's Danvers vs. Rogue in No. 4!. dark
At this stage in the game, it may be worth mentioning the fate of Kelly Thompson’s other books. Despite her vivid imagination, her amazing dialogue and her progressive storytelling, her runs at Marvel haven’t been rewarded with high sales yet. Her longest run so far remains Hawkeye, which lasted 16 issues. WCA and A-Force were done after 10, and the odds are doubtful Mr. & Mrs. X will see a 13th. While sales for Captain Marvel have fallen about 75% from the debut issue, it is encouraging that every issue of the run has seen reprints — even if in triple digits. That suggests that the sales have legs to them, and Thompson will be able to have enough time to showcase how high she can take Captain Marvel, alongside all of the readers out there!