Amora Faces the Woe of the Mind-Swap Plot in Captain Marvel No. 7
By Alex Widen
The Main Cast Are Missed!
Many of the flaws within this tale could be more to do with editorial than with Thompson. It is bizarre that senior editors who, in theory, try to make Marvel comics flow as one cohesive universe every month, made sure to have two comics running with the same gimmick plot. Both this and Marvel Team-Up had a mind-swap plot within the same 2-3 month span. At the very least, Thompson realized that even with all of her skill, stretching such a plot beyond two issues wouldn’t work.
Image by Marvel Comics
The other potential editorial blemish is more to do with the guest stars. If the premise needed Captain Marvel to team up with some fellow superheroes — and swap minds with one — Thompson had already established a few within the title itself. Spider-Woman is Carol’s BFF, and Hazmat is her new young protege (following in the steps of Arana and Ms. Marvel). James Rhodes is her boyfriend, and while he’s currently “retired” as War Machine, that’ll end sooner rather than later. Doing a mind swap plot with one of Carol’s established cast — or at least having one or two of them present — could have made the story flow better with the overall run.
Image by Marvel Comics
However, since this is a tie-in with War Of The Realms, the guest stars may have been mandated, or limited. After all, Carol is fighting the Norse hordes alongside the Avengers in the main books, and this is supposed to be a piece of that. That said, there should have been some flexibility with that. Hazmat or especially Jessica Drew could have filled a similar role that Natasha did. Regardless, the general plot hits all of the expected tropes, with Strange and Carol learning more about each other and their own hubris through the ordeal.
Image by Marvel Comics