Advanced Review: Captain Marvel #1

I have loved Carol Danvers since before she had any superpowers.

I loved her as Mar-Vell’s confidant and NASA know-it-all. I loved her as the ”˜70s woman’s-age revolutionary Ms. Marvel (though I never cared for the name; now that second costume she is leaving –). I worried and ached as she was transformed into Binary and went to work over in the X-books. And I cheered her as an Avenger, no matter what she called herself.

Now, true to her own dreams in House of M, Carol has become a mighty superhero, representing no male gender-switch character but rather one in her own right. And who more than Carol deserves to carry on the legacy of the immortal and please-stay-dead Mar-Vell?

I must say scribe Kelly Sue Deconnick’s script fits Carol’s character to a tee as it takes off – boom! – right out of the gates. Carol is presented in the mold of a talented pilot with a bit of a daredevil streak as well as a person honed by discipline in the military style. She is confident and clearly one who has led an Avengers team and whose authority is unquestioned. Deconnick’s dialogue is crisp and snappy, faltering every once in a while but that is forgivable with what she is trying to do in one issue – and that is build and bolster a true hero!

I am sorry to say the art does not keep up with the script in strategic places. While there are places Dexter Soy shines – his version of the Absorbing Man, for one thing, and the opening energy of the Captains, America and Marvel, in Avenging action against Crusher Creel – but other areas are murky and muddy and drag down the action Deconnick’s script is trying to create.

It is plain from issue #1 that this is gonna be a fun mag and one to watch out for. If the team can overcome some of the stiffness and mire of the art and a few uncomfortable plotting faux pas, I believe Captain Marvel may achieve what both Marvel and DC have been trying to do for ages: present a genuinely successful and entertaining female-centric comic that does not star Wonder Woman.