Captain Marvel #42: Only Judy Can Judge Me

After the events of last issue, where Carol was on trial for her very life due to the actions she took to stop Ove from destroying her present, using the Enchantress’s help against her own alt universal son, Carol was being held captive by a Magical tribunal, headed up by Agatha Harkness, with the Scarlet Witch as counsel on Carol’s behalf. Meanwhile her Binary identity had gained sentience thanks to the events of the Last of the Marvels  arc, and became a hero on her own, with Jessica Drew, Spider-Woman, as her mentor. And with that little tidbit, it brings us up to where we are now. 

After most of Kelly’s arcs, she usually gives Carol a breather issue, but with the entire earth dealing with a war between the mutants and Eternals, while being judged by a reborn Celestial, Carol has no other choice but to help save the world, as she and her sister, Lori-Ell, the new Accuser of the Kree/Skrull empire, stand in judgment.  Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, Chewy, Carol’s alien cat, also faces judgment by the same being. Judging Lori is an apparition of her mother, while Carol’s facing Mar-Vell, and Chewy’s being judged by a Celestial sized Carol. With all this judgment going on, you’d think there’d be an issue chock full of angst. Which there is, but it’s also full of Thompson’s signature humor, which has helped this become my favorite take on Carol since her promotion to Captain Marvel. 

Thompson could have gone so many ways, but she decided to use Chewy as the POV for the readers, and it couldn’t have worked out better. The entire world’s about to be destroyed, so let’s see how this alien cat goes about its business, not giving af at how the Celestial wants to judge him, he’s going to do what he does, and we get treated to some fun, and touching moments along the way. I’m so happy we were able to get this, because for the most part, the inconsequential stories that have been tied into this have been pretty much forgettable, but by the way Kelly made me smile here, it’s definitely going in my bank of best tie-ins this year. 

Joining Kelly is comics veteran, Andrea Di Vito, made famous by being the artist in the original Annihilation event from 2006-07. After his run on Nova, written by the no longer tandem writers, Abnett and Lanning, I sorta lost track of him, and his career, so imagine my surprise to see he would be providing art for this issue. His work here is killer. Carol looks amazing, and the rest of the cast just exudes personality. Especially Chewy. I’m so glad we got to see Di Vito stretch his legs here. Good stuff for everyone.