You don’t see nearly as many successful legacy characters in Marvel as you do in DC, but Captain Marvel (and Ms. Marvel) makes for one of Marvel’s strongest progressions through time. You have sevearl separate core characters that have occupied a “Marvel” title over time, and to make matters even more complicated, DC of course has their own Captain Marvel and Marvel Family! [Read more…] about Captain Marvel / Ms. Marvel Reading Order
Captain Marvel
The Complicated Redemption Arcs of Carol Danvers vs. Rogue
Content Warning: There is no way to talk about Carol Danvers and Anna Marie LeBeau without discussing The Marcus Story from Avengers #200, which involved gaslighting and rape. You can read Carol Strickland’s famous essay on the issue here, information on the relationship between Carol and Rogue here, and the long-term effects of all of these things here.
Of all of Marvel’s many long-suffering heroes, Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel) and Anna Marie LeBeau (Rogue) are two that have undergone decades of growing pains to get to where they’re at today. Carol survived a troubled home life, a disastrous military career, amnesia, rape, having her powers and memories stolen from her, years in deep space battling the Brood… the list goes on. Meanwhile, Rogue hospitalized and ultimately killed the first person she kissed, fled a troubled home to be raised by a supervillain power couple before fleeing to the Xavier Institute to gain control over her wildly traumatic powerset. They share one event in common: the same issue where Carol was attacked, Rogue was the one doing the attacking, and both of their lives changed forever.
It might go without saying that these are two characters that would have been better off if they had never met, but as it stands, their first encounter gave us one of the most complicated stories of redemption vs. revenge in mainstream superhero comics: Captain Marvel vs. Rogue.
Collects: AVENGERS ANNUAL #10; UNCANNY X-MEN (1981) #158, #171 and #269; MS. MARVEL (2006) #9-10; X-MEN LEGACY (2008) #269-270; CAPTAIN MARVEL (2019) #4-5 and material from MARVEL SUPER-HEROES (1990) #11 [Read more…] about The Complicated Redemption Arcs of Carol Danvers vs. Rogue
Shazam! Review – Sparklefingers Rides Again
It feels regressive, and frankly boring, to talk about the degree of “fun” in a comic book movie. For me, any movie reviewer honing in on the fact that Shazam feels light, positive, and joyously heroic, is just more of the lazy baseline assumptions that the world is fatigued of “serious” superhero movies.
Taking a step back, though, it is mildly interesting to note the overall darkness at the heart of comic book movies. DC’s Synder-verse has gotten the most attention of course, but it doesn’t take too much analysis of Avengers: Infinity War to assert that a film ending in unmitigated tragedy isn’t a particularly happy-go-lucky affair. [Read more…] about Shazam! Review – Sparklefingers Rides Again
The Best of Shazam – Essential DC Captain Marvel Comics!
Shazam! The Big Red Cheese! Billy Batson! And Captain Marvel!
However you know him, the DC powerhouse is one of the longest running heroes in the superhero genre, with worthy reads from 1940 to today.
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Captain Marvel Movie Review! Cosmic Continuity Catch-up!
The post Avengers: Infinity War landscape is a challenging one. In the moment, neither Ant-Man & the Wasp nor Captain Marvel can truly exist outside the shadow of Thanos, the Infinity Gauntlet, and the lingering questions of how these movies can provide a way forward for Avengers: Endgame. This will likely matter less for posterity, but right now, with Endgame looming, it’s genuinely difficult to enter the MCU and not at least wonder. Taking time for standalone story feels like a luxury this shared universe doesn’t have.
Admittedly, these are the impossible standards I consider for Captain Marvel’s role in this remarkably deep Marvel Cinematic Universe. Tell a good story, introduce a new hero, and develop Marvel cosmic features that can tie in to Endgame. Captain Marvel strikes this balance effectively – substantially more so than Ant-Man & The Wasp – telling a strong new hero origin story that sets the stage for Carol Danver’s role in the MCU recovery. [Read more…] about Captain Marvel Movie Review! Cosmic Continuity Catch-up!