Captain Marvel #50: I will remember you. Will you remember me?

We have come to the end of an era for Carol Danvers, as we say goodbye to the writer who has shepherded the Captain and her world over the last four years, in a run that has given us some of the most exciting stories in the 50 years that Carol has been a part of the Marvel Universe. We’ve seen some of Carol’s biggest ups and downs during this run, giving Carol a role that’s made her a bigger presence amongst the rest of the Marvel Universe. Kelly’s joined by artists Javier Pina, and Captain Marvel alum, David Lopez to say her tender goodbyes, so let’s get to saying ours as well. 

Okay, so we try to do our reviews in the third person, but Carol, not only as Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, Binary, or Warbird, has been an intrinsic part of my development as a comic fan over the last 30 years. Growing up as the youngest grandchild on my mother’s side, I was given an incredible dowry of comics from my older cousins that dated back to the early to mid ’70s, a decade before my own birth, and it was this immersion of the early Bronze Age that helped shape me into the fan I am today. One of those books was Carol’s, Ms. Marvel. 

Ms. Marvel was a very special book at the time it was being published. It was Marvel’s first-ever solo book for a female lead, but it was also one of the books that made me follow who the writer was, and that was Chris Claremont. Everyone knows Chris from his 17-year run on Uncanny X-Men, and the rest of the Mutant universe, but Chris’s resume runs the gamut of the Marvel Universe. He’s worked on Ms. Marvel, Doctor Strange, Man-Thing, Iron Fist, Spider-Woman, and Spider-Man in Marvel Team-Up, but it was Avengers Annual 10 that’s a very big standout to me. Back in 1980, Marvel decided to have Ms. Marvel raped, and forced to carry Marcus Immortus, gave birth to him, and then left the Avengers, madly in love with her rapist, and that was it. This didn’t sit right with the fans, or Chris. He was angry, as were all of Carol’s fans. This was a betrayal of who the character was, and Chris was given the opportunity to correct, or at least attempt to give her back her agency. 

That story took something from Carol that’s been an issue since, and that’s her agency. Chris made Carol Binary, and gave her a new direction, and put her on a new journey, it still put her out of the picture for a very long time. I appreciate what Kurt Busiek did with his run on the Avengers, and bringing her back helped her gain a whole new fanbase, but it wasn’t until House of M, and the Brian Reed Ms. Marvel solo did they actually put some effort into making Carol a household name. This became the moment where they wanted to make Carol their Wonder Woman equivalent, trying to put her on that pedestal where Cap, Iron Man, and Thor had stood for so long. Long gone were the days when Carol was just a footnote in someone else’s story, but was here to forge her own. 

The Reed title would run for 50 issues, considering this was the era of ending and relaunching a title a few months later, that was a very big milestone. Especially considering the state of female-led books from Marvel at this time was something to tout. After the end of her solo series, Marvel was about to shake their universe up as they were heading to AvX, that’d culminate with pitting the Avengers against the X-Men, causing a rift that would last up until the current day. Sure, they’re no longer at each other’s throats, but it’s a tense stalemate that’s still not quite ended, between the fans as well as the players themselves. As the series wound down, Marvel was making big plans for Carol, one that has also caused a rift among fans, and that’s changing Carol’s moniker from Ms. Marvel and Captain Marvel, as well as changing her costume. 

Yes, the costume. Designed by legendary comic artist Dave Cockrum, Carol rocked the legendary black bathing suit with a lightning bolt down the center, with thigh-high leather boots, a sash, and a mask, for a costume that’d be tweaked over the last decade, but it’s a suit that pays homage not only to her namesake, the original Captain Marvel, but also to her time as a pilot, but also as an Avenger, and it works. Sure, older fans continue to complain, but for the foreseeable future. At this point, I don’t see her regressing to the black bikini look, so the argument will probably never end. 

As Carol fully embraced the identity, as well as her new role in Marvel, Kelly Sue DeConnick would be tapped to help her transition from who she was to who she was now. This new direction would put her fans at a sort of crossroads. Some enjoyed the new look and attitude, affectionately calling themselves the Carol Corps, to those who didn’t like it. Kelly Sue had some really great stuff there, it was just too bad that it didn’t catch on as they’d have liked. After two series by DeConnick, Marvel would bounce from creative team to creative team, unsure of who she is, or what role she’d fulfill, leading up to making Carol a fascist, for lack of a better term, to be the face of the movement in Civil War II. It wasn’t a good look, and would be one of those nagging plot points, as well as horrible mischaracterizations of the character that I’ve seen. Then enters Kelly Thompson. 

Kelly got her start as a staff writer for comic website CBR, and from there would crowdfund her own novel, start to pick up jobs from various publishers, and even work on the Carol Corps mini from Marvel was a part of the Secret Wars storyline. Marvel was gearing up for Carol’s big screen debut, brought Kelly on, and teamed her up with rising star artist Carmen Carnero, and what these two had was magic. A lot of fans deride Kelly’s first arc, but not me. Kelly brought in a classic, yet oft-forgotten villain, Nuclear Man, aka Mahkizmo. An unabashed misogynist, who abducted a bunch of super-powered women, and tried to subjugate them to assert his dominance. He was a walking stereotype of toxic masculinity, and it set off a bunch of alarms from some men who felt as if she were referencing them and then began to belittle her, criticizing her abilities, as a way to assuage their bruised egos. Even then, Kelly took little note of those who were expressing their dissatisfaction with the run with Kelly herself. 

This wouldn’t be Kelly’s first time dealing with the toxic masculinity that’s pervasive cancer that’s infecting the comics fandom. Over the years Kelly would navigate through the negativity and put it into her work. Building a stable network for Carol to bounce off, including adding Hazmat from Avengers Academy, but it was Jessica Drew, and how Kelly developed their relationship that made me a fan of Kelly. These aren’t just two fictional characters, these are well-rounded, powerful women, who genuinely love each other. It has to be one of the best-written relationships that I’ve ever read. 

She took this negatively and poured it into her work, making Carol who full of passion, conviction, and loyalty, would bring these things to the forefront of her character. Kelly’s Carol struck a chord with me. She was here, unapologetic, with an unwavering sense of what’s right and wrong, and would do anything she has to protect those she cares about most. This was the Carol I knew. This is who she was always meant to be. Kelly understands this, and it shined through with each new issue. Sure, there were some missteps, like allowing her to pick up Mjolnir because she absorbed energy from Thor, but the payoffs more than made up for that. 

If I have any complaints, it’s the fact that I’m not sure Kelly was ready to leave yet. It feels like she’s got so much more to say when it comes to Carol and her world. Whether that’s following up on what she wants to do with Ove, and the Enchantress, Binary, Vox Supreme, Star, and so on. Regardless, Kelly nails this ending of an era for me, because she genuinely loves and respects who Carol is, who her closest friends and allies are, and Carol’s fans. She makes sure that she’s giving Carol the respect that she’s earned over the last half century, and giving her a clean slate for the next creative team to do what they will, but having a strong foundation to walk on.