Ahead of her next cinematic outing, Carol Danvers is back with a new —and ominous— series in Captain Marvel #1.
After Kelly Thompson’s impressively long run with the character, encompassing fifty issues over nearly five years, Captain Marvel #1 sees the debut of new ongoing writer Alyssa Wong at the helm. Carol’s status quo hasn’t changed much since the Thompson era, but she does have a nifty updated look (courtesy of Jen Bartel) and several new figures she’ll need to contend with — and one of them is not a friend.
When Carol gets caught up in a scheme of thievery that involves the Nega-Bands, she’s forced to work with Yuna Yang, a young burglar who specializes in magical objects. This isn’t a fun little team-up, though, because a shadowy villain known as the Omen wants those Nega-Bands, and she’s not above corrupting Genis-Vell —one of Carol’s many predecessors to the Captain Marvel name— to get them. Since the Omen seems to have a special connection to the Negative Zone, where Carol currently finds herself trapped thanks to the Bands, fixing the problem will likely be a bit difficult…
On a cynical level, it’s easy to compare Captain Marvel’s first story arc to that of the aforementioned The Marvels, which seemingly incorporates a similar plot of swapping places via magic sparkly bracelets, but I do think Wong deserves some credit for introducing a few new elements —Yuna and the Omen— into the mix so that she can build something original out of what was (possibly) a mandated tie-in. For those who remain wary of “MCU synergy” in comics, though, this may be enough to put them off reading this, but I’m interested to see where Wong takes it. Giving Carol a new sidekick —one who isn’t Kamala Khan— may be another factor that turns people off, but I like the idea of her becoming a Wolverine-esque figure with no shortage of young female proteges to mentor. Kamala, though young, is quite established in her own right by now, so there’s no harm in introducing someone new to the scene here.
I also quite like Jan Bazaldua’s art in this issue, which almost gives something of a manga-esque quality that lends itself really well to Captain Marvel, who is probably Marvel’s closest thing to Goku from that franchise. There’s also lots of dark-light contrast in the art that makes for a dynamic reading experience, aided by Bryan Valenza’s colors. If you’re a fan of the character and want to get excited for her next big MCU appearance, then Captain Marvel #1 is definitely worth a look.
Captain Marvel #1
4.99
Credits
- Writer: Alyssa Wong
- Artist: Jan Bazaldua
- Color Artist: Bryan Valenza
- Letterer: VC's Ariana Maher
- Cover Artists: Stephen Segovia & Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Credits (cont)
- Editor: Sarah Brunstad
- Publisher: Marvel Entertainment
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