FIGHTER. SOLDIER. HERO. PILOT. LEADER. WARRIOR. ICON. CAPTAIN
Marvel Comics Presents : Captain Marvel #1
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This is the first issue of the newly retconned origin story. For those of you who didn’t read Life of Captain Marvel by Margaret Stohl (check out my issue #4 breakdown), they have adjusted Carol Danvers’ biological history a smidge. She is now born of a human father and a Kree warrior mother. Her powers story had begun with a device explosion that infused her DNA with Kree DNA from Mar-Vell. Now the device only awakened her already hybrid human-Kree DNA. HUGE. Ok. So after that earthquake news everything is the same, right?
Always get up.
We open up with Carol and Jessica Drew (AKA Spider-Woman) battling a seemingly large sea monster in Lower Manhattan. Captain lays a huge shot into the monster’s face. “Boy, I missed that left hook” SW said to Carol. As best friends, they sure have missed a lot of time together between space protecting and all. They have a nice best friend moment and back to the kick-ass-ery. Captain Marvel takes Spider-Woman up and drops her on the monsters head. She immediately venom blasts the monster in the eye(s). Jessica gets him high, Carol goes low right into his tentacles and up.
They go up and down into the water. Carol saves Jessica before she goes in with the monster. Before they can formulate the final push to defeat the monster, it grabs a little girl and her little dog, and pulls them into the water. Carol’s all like “Oh hell no.” Captain Marvel flies right into the gullet of the monster and they submerge into the Hudson River. Then right out of a scene in Alien, BoOm right out of the back of the monsters skull with a blood and goo spray goes Carol, the little girl, and her dog. Covered in goop and blood, Carol returns the daughter and dog to the mother.
Iron Man shows up. Well, his suits do. They come to take the sea monster back to Stark Unlimited to study it. He reminds Carol of their meeting that she’s blown off for two weeks. At the meeting Tony is telling Carol that he’s set up an interview for her and it’s not an option. The public doesn’t trust her, even though she’s spent the last few years running orbital defense, because they couldn’t see her heroics on the news and TV. She’s powerful and they know it. They want to spin that into something they can use in a positive light.
But Tony ultimately needs something from Carol. He’s got a teen, Jennifer Takeda AKA Hazmat, that has come to him for tech advice. She needs a containment suit to control her powers. He thinks she has real potential…she just hates Tony Stark. So of course, naturally, Carol loves her already. She takes the job. Hazmat questions why Carol would want to do that. Mostly it’s they’re mutual annoyance with Tony.
Want to see awkward? James Rhodes appears. Both Carol and Rhodey are mumbling barely coherent sentences about how they were ‘going to get in touch’ with each other. Takeda is a way too awkward third wheel. After she leaves, the two settle in and agree to go on a walk and get lunch. Rhodey is piloting a new Stark assault tank after literately dying in his War Machine suit. He’s gun shy about being in the suit again.
As the conversation is seemingly going a little in the romantic direction, each panel has them closer to each other. Boom. The reporter Tony set up. Wonk wonk wonk. Rhodey suggests walking and talking. They step out side and BBBOOMM Captain Marvel takes one to the chest and ends up in the side of a skyscraper. Oh no! It’s NUCLEAR MAN!
No? Me either.
Rhodie tells the reporter that he thinks the Fantastic Four called him Mahkizmo. Rhodey calls in for help to Tony while Carol takes on Nuclear Man.
NM is a big dude. Carol only comes up to his mid chest. Yet she kicks his ass. Naturally. Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor show up, late. The captains have a moment about Steve being glad she’s back full-time. As Thor is loading up Nuclear Man to take to wherever bad guys go now, Nuclear Man gets up! KA-BBBOOOOM! Handclap Fallout! Everyone goes everywhere! Windows shatter!
Did I mention Nuclear Man is a male-chauvinist pig? Man this dude is a douche. While everyone else is incapacitated by a ‘will-weakening ray’ Carol gets to him but he slings her off. He opens a portal. He tells her she’s been more of an adversary than he expected and calls her ‘Marvel Lady’. He takes his battle spoils and leaves. Oh no! His battle spoil is Ripley, the reporter! Carol doesn’t think twice and flies into the portal. No help and more importantly no idea what’s on the other side.
Rhodey, still with no gear, can do nothing to help. The portal is closing! Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America make their way and KAWSZZAAA! They are thrown to the side. Carol made that look easy, but that was just the will she had to make sure Ripley wasn’t on her own. What a hero. Last page shows an other worldly ragtag group and Carol is the leader.
What a hell of a start. What a hero. What a woman.
8/10
Beta Ray Greg is the Comic Critic for SoBros Network, the ‘Fangtastic 5K 2018 Mr. Irrelevant.’ The man has the single most impressive spreadsheet in existence that is used to document his historic collection. He’s a big time Spider-Verse guy. Follow on Twitter: @BetaRayGreg.
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