By Steve Morris
Carol Danvers has never fully clicked as a solo hero, which is strange because in most ways she seems designed to be the star in the spotlight. A blonde-haired, plane-flying, all-American girl, she’s got a simple powerset which makes her visually interesting and still realistic enough to be relatable. Her most recent solo series lasted an impressive 50 issues, but ranged in quality, and struggled to provide much in the way of memorable or defining characteristics. That’s the reason why Kelly Sue DeConnick’s new, revamped take on the character decides to find two big hooks and stick to them. Unfortunately, this approach doesn’t work, and Carol’s personality sinks almost immediately. The book follows.
It’s a shame, because there are things to like about the issue. Dexter Soy’s art is very similar to Crayton Crain in style and use of page breakdowns, but adds a lot more light and clarity to the story. His use of colour and shade are excellent here, and gives the book a unique tone and style which isn’t seen anywhere else in the Marvel universe. DeConnick gives him a range of different things to play around with too, including a short fight scene, some space flight, and a heroic pose or two. He does seem to have a little too much interest in drawing Captain Marvel’s arse, but I suppose that won’t hurt the readership too much.
The problem is that DeConnick’s two hooks for Carol Danvers aren’t particularly compelling. For all Marvel’s talk about how this is a book featuring a strong female hero, Carol doesn’t get much of a showcase here. Most of the dialogue is concerned with emphasising that she is a woman, and she lives in a man’s world, and men are men, and women are women, and that’s different, and we can never change the status quo. The story is so obsessed with defining Carol as “not a man” that is doesn’t do much to define her as a woman. She’s held down by gender, with a particularly weak internal narrative and no promising plots to steer her into. DeConnick wants her lead to be impressive for being a strong woman, but doesn’t do anything but bog her down in leaden ideas about feminism and gender roles.
I can provide an example. The very first fight Captain Marvel gets into is against Crusher Creel, the Absorbing Man. Who JUST WILL NOT STOP with misogynistic jokes. He’s a constant torrent of abuse, and puts Carol Danvers on a constant offensive. Unlike her old friend Peter Parker, Danvers is immediately on the reactive, rather than the proactive. And hey, how come Crusher Creel is a misogynistic character now? Of all the villains who might be demeaning towards women, why did they choose the one who dates Titania? It’s an early example of the defensive attitudes towards Captain Marvel which tank her personality almost immediately in the issue. She can’t come across as her own person, because she’s busy being the ideal for everyone else to judge themselves by.
The second hook is that Carol is a space pilot, which is an EXCELLENT hook. It works for Green Lantern (and sort of for Batwoman), and ties a wave of patriotism into the character which gives her a boost above any of Marvel’s other female heroes. She is military, and sh
Besides, expect Marvel to relaunch it in 6 months with the MARVEL NOW! re….vamp.
“And hey, how come Crusher Creel is a misogynistic character now? Of all the villains who might be demeaning towards women, why did they choose the one who dates Titania?”
Last I checked, a lot of misogynists have girlfriends (or wives for that matter). That’s hardly a criteria.
“Last I checked, a lot of misogynists have girlfriends (or wives for that matter). That’s hardly a criteria.”
Good thing he wasn’t talking about some generic, nameless girlfriend, then, but about the character Titania.
What if you came into this story not knowing ANYTHING about Carol Danvers, would the story have been better considering all it did tell you, at least superficially, about her?
I appreciate your review, your expectations may be a little skewed by your knowledge of and expectations for this character. The book may come off differently to a reader who has no idea who Danvers/Marvel is, say, one of those new readers that we’re always getting down on DC and Marvel for not catering to.
Carol, please lose that gawd-awful sash…
I was all set to buy this book – and then Marvel insisted on double shipping it. To me, that’s overkill. Especially on a low tier book like this. So I’d rather send them a message by not supporting it at all.
Is it just me, or does the magazine’s “Captain Marvel” logo look like they took one word from each of two other logos? (Too busy to go look it up.) Or was it just pasted together sloppily? The “thickness” of the letters doesn’t match. Was the old logo like that?
“I was all set to buy this book – and then Marvel insisted on double shipping it. To me, that’s overkill. Especially on a low tier book like this. So I’d rather send them a message by not supporting it at all.”
I don’t understand.
Oh, and the coloring. That’s off-the-chart bad, too.
Wow, that Dexter Soy art is some of the worst I’ve seen in a Marvel comic in quite some time. The art alone will sink this book.
Saw the preview at CBR, thought the art was hideous and not helped by being swamped in motion blur, the ugliest and most pointless computer effect yet devised for comics.
@blacaucasian Because Marvel has developed this nasty habit of selling you two issues per month for some of their titles. For some people that’s OK but for those who budget their comics expenses it can get quite expensive.
@Scratchie Looks like the old logo:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XcFdwH4T64I/TK27U3GczNI/AAAAAAAADiE/TonzRd3hCcg/s1600/Captain+Marvel3.jpg
Looks like it, but isn’t *quite* the same. Interesting to see that sort of thing.
@Ron, thanks for posting that. It looks like it’s definitely *based* on that logo, but it’s not actually the same thing. The actual font in the word “Captain” is different (the letters look “bolder” in the old logo), and the thickness of the 3d-effect is visibly different in both words compared to the old logo.
The word “Captain” is “thinner” than the word “Marvel” in the old logo, but the fact that they’re both “thinner” in the new logo, (and the difference in the outline of the font) makes it look “off” in the new logo (to my eyes, anyway).
Why is Cap green and monstery? And what’s with the thigh-bag deal-y?
>>>>Most of the dialogue is concerned with emphasising that she is a woman, and she lives in a man’s world, and men are men, and women are women, and that’s different, and we can never change the status quo… She’s held down by gender, with a particularly weak internal narrative and no promising plots to steer her into…. but doesn’t do anything but bog her down in leaden ideas about feminism and gender roles.>>>
Well, isn’t that normal for feminists? I mean, it sounds like a typical reaction to a ‘brokeback pose’ cover here at the Beat!!
I think the interior art is good, it’s that cover which is just awful. Ugly ugly ugly.