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Essential Captain Marvel #1
Essential Captain Marvel, Vol. 1
He made a big Return during Civil War, but how'd he get here in the first place? Watch the wonders of Mar-Vell right from the start in stories reprinted for the first time in more than 25 years! Earth's newest protector faces such forgotten furies as Mandroid, Man-Slayer, and the Metazoid - along with the Super-Skrull, Ronan the Accuser, and more of the deadliest dynamos from three galaxies! Plus: the start of his lifelong bond, molecular and otherwise, with professional sidekick Rick Jones! But where there's Rick, can a jade-skinned giant be far behind? Also guest-starring Iron Man and Namor the Sub-Mariner - and introducing Carol Danvers, later known as Ms. Marvel! Collects Marvel Super-Heroes #12-13 and Captain Marvel #1-21
528 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1970
3 people are currently reading
96 people want to read
About the author
Stan Lee
7,563 books2,347 followersStan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber) was an American writer, editor, creator of comic book superheroes, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.
With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
March 11, 2019
Due to the announcement of a projected 2018 movie based on the recent Carol Danvers version of Captain Marvel, I wanted to study up on the original hero of whom I had almost no knowledge.
The original Captain Marvel was a Kree war hero, Captain Mar-Vell, who came to Earth to assess whether or not humans were a threat to the Kree Empire. (The Kree played a small part in the recent Guardians of the Galaxy film, from which Ronan the Accuser went rogue.) Mar-Vell took on the persona of a deceased robotics scientist, Walter Lawson, and worked at a rocket launch facility as his Earth cover. Carol Danvers was the base security officer, who functioned as a kind of Lois Lane figure, constantly suspicious of both Lawson and Mar-Vell. Mar-Vell's handler on board an orbiting Kree ship, Yon-Rogg, hated Mar-Vell, as they both loved the same Kree woman, Una. Much of this volume contained Yon-Rogg's attempts to manipulate him into being killed so that Yon-Rogg would appear to be a hero and win the affections of Una. After a severe loss to Yon-Rogg and being treated as a pawn by Ronan, Mar-Vell is eventually given a fresh superhero costume and new powers by the Kree Supreme Intelligence. Almost immediately, Mar-Vell is physically joined with Rick Jones; only one of them could function at a time. The story culminates in a battle focusing on a Kree machine called the Psyche-Magnitron that results in Carol Danvers being caught in the explosion of the machine. As a result, Danvers is given Mar-Vell's powers. The volume ends with Mar-Vell attempting to seek the help of Bruce Banner to separate himself from Rick Jones.
This was some crazy fun and good background on a character I'd only heard about a few times. The extended storyline was pretty compelling; it changed suddenly in #17 and then ended abruptly in #18 . The joining of Rick Jones was random and seemed to be a way to keep Mar-Vell on Earth. Carol Danvers doesn't develop any powers in this volume; her first official appearance as Ms. Marvel is in her own title in 1977, and then she later becomes the new Captain Marvel in another self-named title in 2012. This was classic Silver Age, with full paragraphs being said by both hero and villain in a single panel of fighting, and probably the most made up science I've ever read. Pretty decent overall.
The original Captain Marvel was a Kree war hero, Captain Mar-Vell, who came to Earth to assess whether or not humans were a threat to the Kree Empire. (The Kree played a small part in the recent Guardians of the Galaxy film, from which Ronan the Accuser went rogue.) Mar-Vell took on the persona of a deceased robotics scientist, Walter Lawson, and worked at a rocket launch facility as his Earth cover. Carol Danvers was the base security officer, who functioned as a kind of Lois Lane figure, constantly suspicious of both Lawson and Mar-Vell. Mar-Vell's handler on board an orbiting Kree ship, Yon-Rogg, hated Mar-Vell, as they both loved the same Kree woman, Una. Much of this volume contained Yon-Rogg's attempts to manipulate him into being killed so that Yon-Rogg would appear to be a hero and win the affections of Una. After a severe loss to Yon-Rogg and being treated as a pawn by Ronan, Mar-Vell is eventually given a fresh superhero costume and new powers by the Kree Supreme Intelligence. Almost immediately, Mar-Vell is physically joined with Rick Jones; only one of them could function at a time. The story culminates in a battle focusing on a Kree machine called the Psyche-Magnitron that results in Carol Danvers being caught in the explosion of the machine. As a result, Danvers is given Mar-Vell's powers. The volume ends with Mar-Vell attempting to seek the help of Bruce Banner to separate himself from Rick Jones.
This was some crazy fun and good background on a character I'd only heard about a few times. The extended storyline was pretty compelling; it changed suddenly in #17 and then ended abruptly in #18 . The joining of Rick Jones was random and seemed to be a way to keep Mar-Vell on Earth. Carol Danvers doesn't develop any powers in this volume; her first official appearance as Ms. Marvel is in her own title in 1977, and then she later becomes the new Captain Marvel in another self-named title in 2012. This was classic Silver Age, with full paragraphs being said by both hero and villain in a single panel of fighting, and probably the most made up science I've ever read. Pretty decent overall.
July 1, 2008
In 1967, Marvel introduced their Captain Marvel, preventing DC using the name when they re-introduced the classic character in the 1970s (DC titled their series Shazam!). The Marvel version, a Kree anti-hero, initially bears little resemblance to his name forbearer. After a series of complicated and inane events, Captain Marvel eventually finds himself trapped in the dimensional wasteland, the Negative Zone, and can only escape when changing places with the teenager Rick Jones. Later under the stewardship of Jim Starlin, Captain Marvel achieved a cult status. Sadly, this collection reprints stories prior to Starlin's run and offers only a handful of good stories.
December 13, 2015
An example of a great character idea, and not exactly knowing what to do with him.
The best stuff is early on. A little surprising, because even though Marvel was getting really good in the late '60s, you don't expect a book edited by Stan Lee to be that hip and with it.
But they give you pretty clever mystery to start with. Captain Mar-Vell of the Kree empire (see what they did there? His alien name is almost the name of the book and the publishing company? Pretty sneaky, Stan. Pretty sneaky) comes to Earth.
At first, you don't know if he's even a fan of the humans, and his mission opens the possibility of killing everyone on planet Earth. And he has a girlfriend on his alien ship, and falls in love with Carol Danvers on Earth at the same time (later to become Ms. Marvel and a number of other weird superhero names).
It actually didn't let you know what the nature of the book was, and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND these issues.
But once he becomes squarely an Earth hero (SPOILER ALERT, but really, they were going to let him kill all the readers in Marveldom?), it kind of sputters around. He flies back and forth from Earth to the Kree home world, and it got too big and arbitrary for its own good.
So they did a "re-imagining of sorts". Captain Marvel gets punished for betraying the planet Zo that gave him his powers, but Zo was actually a Kree traitor in disguise...(I wish they had used a mainstay bad guy for that storyline, it makes the reader expect a big power is behind the ploy, but it's only spaceman Kree #2)
Anyway, there's even more convolution and Captain Marvel is trapped in the Negative Zone (I could explain its existence, but it would almost make less sense. It's like where Anti-matter lives, Mr. Fantastic found it blah blah blah).
So naturally, Rick Jones, who quit hanging out with Hulk, The Avengers, and Captain America, finds some wristbands, slap it together, and Captain Marvel gets to live on Earth for three hours, RIck Jones goes Negative for three hours.
The complete insanity of all of this pseudo science aside, the duo gets a little tiresome. Rick Jones is trying very slowly to get his music career (in a superhero book, no less) going, to little or no avail. And if a bad guy shows up, wrist slap. It gets quite tedious.
I wish they could've trusted Captain Marvel to fight on his own and not with this weird body switch thing. But since there are some gems of fighting and stuff in here, and he's a good idea, a grudging, 5/5.
The best stuff is early on. A little surprising, because even though Marvel was getting really good in the late '60s, you don't expect a book edited by Stan Lee to be that hip and with it.
But they give you pretty clever mystery to start with. Captain Mar-Vell of the Kree empire (see what they did there? His alien name is almost the name of the book and the publishing company? Pretty sneaky, Stan. Pretty sneaky) comes to Earth.
At first, you don't know if he's even a fan of the humans, and his mission opens the possibility of killing everyone on planet Earth. And he has a girlfriend on his alien ship, and falls in love with Carol Danvers on Earth at the same time (later to become Ms. Marvel and a number of other weird superhero names).
It actually didn't let you know what the nature of the book was, and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND these issues.
But once he becomes squarely an Earth hero (SPOILER ALERT, but really, they were going to let him kill all the readers in Marveldom?), it kind of sputters around. He flies back and forth from Earth to the Kree home world, and it got too big and arbitrary for its own good.
So they did a "re-imagining of sorts". Captain Marvel gets punished for betraying the planet Zo that gave him his powers, but Zo was actually a Kree traitor in disguise...(I wish they had used a mainstay bad guy for that storyline, it makes the reader expect a big power is behind the ploy, but it's only spaceman Kree #2)
Anyway, there's even more convolution and Captain Marvel is trapped in the Negative Zone (I could explain its existence, but it would almost make less sense. It's like where Anti-matter lives, Mr. Fantastic found it blah blah blah).
So naturally, Rick Jones, who quit hanging out with Hulk, The Avengers, and Captain America, finds some wristbands, slap it together, and Captain Marvel gets to live on Earth for three hours, RIck Jones goes Negative for three hours.
The complete insanity of all of this pseudo science aside, the duo gets a little tiresome. Rick Jones is trying very slowly to get his music career (in a superhero book, no less) going, to little or no avail. And if a bad guy shows up, wrist slap. It gets quite tedious.
I wish they could've trusted Captain Marvel to fight on his own and not with this weird body switch thing. But since there are some gems of fighting and stuff in here, and he's a good idea, a grudging, 5/5.
April 30, 2020
Most of these stories were always a curiosity to me. His original appearances were WAY out of my price range as a kid & even the few, rare reprints were not inexpensive. The transition from the original green & white suit, the banishment to the Negative Zone, the Yonn-Rogg-Una-Mar-Vell love triangle? All alluded to, but always a mystery to me, until now. Also, Carol Danvers who would go on to have her own book was introduced here. Things make MUCH greater sense & I REALLY look forward to revisiting the Starlin years, which is where I came in. I also found myself smiling at the "Not Brand Ecch" excerpt at the end. Again, it would not have made any sense to me as a kid, but it was now amusing with all of the background filled in. On to Vol. 2!
September 30, 2017
So, there is a couple of pretty good stories in here, as well as a couple of really bad ones, (while most are just pretty average) but I was absolutely fascinated watching the various writers struggle to figure out what they wanted to do with this character. It's kind of a mess, but I couldn't take my eyes off it.
August 3, 2017
I found most of this book to be unreadable. Gene Colon's artwork, as always, was great but when he was replaced, things got pretty bad. Things improved 3/4 of the way through, when Gil Kane re-booted the look and Roy Thomas re-started the character.
February 9, 2019
Empieza un poco aburrido. De hecho, después de tres números lo dejé... pero me daba curiosidad ver cómo conseguía sus poderes Carol Danvers en el cómic original y volví.
Después se va animando algo la cosa cuando ven que la serie va a ser cancelada (después del número final de esta colección hay una pausa de dos años hasta el siguiente) y cambian al equipo creativo y la historia, que al principio es siempre: hay un androide super poderoso manejado en la distancia por un ser maligno, tengo que acabar con él usando mi rayo láser y sin que nadie descubra mi doble identidad. También me cansa mucho ese típico triángulo amoroso en el que hay una pareja y luego un señor que piensa que si deshace la pareja va a heredar mágicamente a la señora que acaba de hacer viuda. 🤷🏻♀️
Pero a medida que avanza se centran más en los celos profesionales que en esa supuesta asignación automática de futuras viudas y aparecen gente como Iron Man o Hulk que a mí personalmente me gustan más que el androide/monstruo de la semana. También se meten con temas un poco distintos, aunque sea muy de refilón como el Holocausto o las protestas pacifistas de los estudiantes.
Y en los últimos números pasa una cosa que no sé si es un homenaje a Shazam (el Capitán Marvel de DC que tuvo que cambiar de nombre) o qué demonios es pero me hizo gracia porque me pareció un intento loco de cambiar el tono de la serie. Y es que con este volumen me pasa lo contrario que con el de The Death of Captain Marvel que al tratar de forma tan intensa todo al final parecía ridículo hasta lo importante. Pero en este creo que lo que más me gusta es esa intensidad exagerada, que te hace más gracia que los chistes.
Y hablando de chistes, al final hay un número de una serie de Marvel que no conocía, "Not Brand Echh", y que se supone que es una parodia de sus comics (básicamente son los nombres cambiados y alguna aparición de personajes de otros sitios). No me hizo especialmente gracia, pero como curiosidad está bien.
Después se va animando algo la cosa cuando ven que la serie va a ser cancelada (después del número final de esta colección hay una pausa de dos años hasta el siguiente) y cambian al equipo creativo y la historia, que al principio es siempre: hay un androide super poderoso manejado en la distancia por un ser maligno, tengo que acabar con él usando mi rayo láser y sin que nadie descubra mi doble identidad. También me cansa mucho ese típico triángulo amoroso en el que hay una pareja y luego un señor que piensa que si deshace la pareja va a heredar mágicamente a la señora que acaba de hacer viuda. 🤷🏻♀️
Pero a medida que avanza se centran más en los celos profesionales que en esa supuesta asignación automática de futuras viudas y aparecen gente como Iron Man o Hulk que a mí personalmente me gustan más que el androide/monstruo de la semana. También se meten con temas un poco distintos, aunque sea muy de refilón como el Holocausto o las protestas pacifistas de los estudiantes.
Y en los últimos números pasa una cosa que no sé si es un homenaje a Shazam (el Capitán Marvel de DC que tuvo que cambiar de nombre) o qué demonios es pero me hizo gracia porque me pareció un intento loco de cambiar el tono de la serie. Y es que con este volumen me pasa lo contrario que con el de The Death of Captain Marvel que al tratar de forma tan intensa todo al final parecía ridículo hasta lo importante. Pero en este creo que lo que más me gusta es esa intensidad exagerada, que te hace más gracia que los chistes.
Y hablando de chistes, al final hay un número de una serie de Marvel que no conocía, "Not Brand Echh", y que se supone que es una parodia de sus comics (básicamente son los nombres cambiados y alguna aparición de personajes de otros sitios). No me hizo especialmente gracia, pero como curiosidad está bien.
May 15, 2017
Captain Mar-Vell was originally an alien military officer of the Kree assigned to spy on Earth who finds himself having feelings for Earth people.
Introduced in Marvel Super-Heroes #12 by Stan Lee and Gene Colan, the Captain went through a variety of writers, artists and situations in the first 15 issues of his title. Most of the time, he’s in conflict with his superior, Yon-Rogg, who assigns Mar-Vell to tasks he hopes will kill him. This is because Yon-Rogg is in love with Una, Mar-Vell’s girlfriend serving on the same ship. Meanwhile, on Earth, Mar-Vell, who is going by the secret identity of Dr. Walter Lawson, is drawn into a love triangle with Carol Danvers, who works on the rocket base he’s investigating. With Captain Marvel (as the earthlings come to call Mar-Vell when he’s in his Kree uniform), Carol and Walter, it’s a love triangle; adding Una and Yon-Rogg makes it a fairly complicated love pentagon. Along the way, Captain Marvel’s mission and powers seem to undergo some type of change every few issues.
Writer Archie Goodwin attempted to make sense of all that had gone before in issue 16, clearing the decks for Roy Thomas and Gil Kane to revamp the series with Oct. 1969′s issue #17. This issue found Captain Marvel sharing atoms with former Hulk and Captain America sidekick Rick Jones — only one could exist in the regular universe at any one time, with the other being exiled to the Negative Zone. This was reminiscent in some ways of the Fawcett Captain Marvel, in which the young Billy Batson gave way to an adult Captain Marvel, only Thomas’ version gave the whole thing a very Marvel Comics twist. The new costume was a definite improvement, but the new series only lasted through issue #21 before going on hiatus.
More at NewsOK: http://newsok.com/article/3793904
Introduced in Marvel Super-Heroes #12 by Stan Lee and Gene Colan, the Captain went through a variety of writers, artists and situations in the first 15 issues of his title. Most of the time, he’s in conflict with his superior, Yon-Rogg, who assigns Mar-Vell to tasks he hopes will kill him. This is because Yon-Rogg is in love with Una, Mar-Vell’s girlfriend serving on the same ship. Meanwhile, on Earth, Mar-Vell, who is going by the secret identity of Dr. Walter Lawson, is drawn into a love triangle with Carol Danvers, who works on the rocket base he’s investigating. With Captain Marvel (as the earthlings come to call Mar-Vell when he’s in his Kree uniform), Carol and Walter, it’s a love triangle; adding Una and Yon-Rogg makes it a fairly complicated love pentagon. Along the way, Captain Marvel’s mission and powers seem to undergo some type of change every few issues.
Writer Archie Goodwin attempted to make sense of all that had gone before in issue 16, clearing the decks for Roy Thomas and Gil Kane to revamp the series with Oct. 1969′s issue #17. This issue found Captain Marvel sharing atoms with former Hulk and Captain America sidekick Rick Jones — only one could exist in the regular universe at any one time, with the other being exiled to the Negative Zone. This was reminiscent in some ways of the Fawcett Captain Marvel, in which the young Billy Batson gave way to an adult Captain Marvel, only Thomas’ version gave the whole thing a very Marvel Comics twist. The new costume was a definite improvement, but the new series only lasted through issue #21 before going on hiatus.
More at NewsOK: http://newsok.com/article/3793904
September 28, 2019
I actually really like these, even if there are some internal inconsistencies in terms of characters or situations, but it's still a fun read.
October 13, 2014
There's power to longevity and retelling of heroic origin tales and that illustrated better nowhere else than in the case of Mar-vell of the Kree, a character who Marvel killed off and never brought back in his original form back in the 1980s. To many comic fans and certainly to the general public, Mar-vell is rather obscure which is why I'm so thankful for this very enjoyable collection which features the original Captain Marvel story from Marvel Superheroes #12-13 along with Issues 1-21 of Captain Marvel and a parody reprint of Not Brand Echs.
This Captain Marvel shouldn't be confused with the Fawcett/DC character formerly known as Captain Marvel now known as Shazam. Marvel created the character after Fawcett had gone bankrupt and they wanted to use the name.
Mar-vell was a spy for the Kree Empire sent to monitor the Earth and to report back to the Kree without getting involved. At the same time, the commander of the Kree ship, Yon-Rogg is jealous of Mar-vell's rising star and seeks to bring him down. As part of his mission, Captain Marvel has to intercede on Earth and is proclaimed a hero. In some ways, he was the opposite of Spider-man who was mistrusted despite good intentions while Mar-vell could doom the Earth. Adding to this tension is that Mar-vell really does sympathize with the people of Earth and is a hero and this brings him into direct conflict with himself and the Kree.
The story follows along this same line through Issue 10. Some of the best highlights here are Mar-vell's battle against Super Skrull (Issues 2 and 3) and Namor in Issue 4. The Namor Issue is particularly ironic as Mar-vell has been ordered to allow the detonation of a device that could inflict great harm on the Earth while Namor is trying to stop it, with Namor being seen as a villain to humanity and Mar-vell as the hero.
Arnold Drake of Doom Patrol fame (took over from Roy Thomas) with Issue 5 and the stories were fun but very much character and plot arc driven through Issue 12. The big change happens when the Kree finally order Mar-vell's execution. It's stayed in Issue 11 when Mar-vell isn't executed due to a random attack that leads to death of his beloved Uma, and he encounters the alien entity Zo who gives him a new power set. This story arc continues with some impressive but odd comic art from the period from artist Dick Ayers, Frank Springer, and Tom Sutton. With Gary Friedrich doing the writing chores for Issues 13-15 and Archie Goodwin writing Issue 16 which ends with Mar-vell in his most recognizable form and then banished to the Negative Zone.
Issue 17 saw the return of of original series writer Roy Thomas along with Gil Kane as artist as the new status quo of Rick Jones having a bracelet that he could slam together to call forth Captain Marvel from the Negative zone while Jones changed place with him. In some ways, this was an improvement on the original Fawcett Marvel concept and it certainly was a great turn for Rick Jones a character.
The Not Brand Echs comic at the back was nice for its rarity, though it wasn't quite my cup of tea. I also appreciated the original artwork reprinted at the back.
Overall, a lot of hands were involved in these comics: Four Different writers, Six different artists but the results are great. Mar-vell is a fascinating character and a great concept that's well-executed. The book also introduces Carol Danvers. While she bears resemblance to the modern Danvers, she's certainly ahead of her time. Overall, while this book isn't essential reading for comic fans. It certainly is recommended.
This Captain Marvel shouldn't be confused with the Fawcett/DC character formerly known as Captain Marvel now known as Shazam. Marvel created the character after Fawcett had gone bankrupt and they wanted to use the name.
Mar-vell was a spy for the Kree Empire sent to monitor the Earth and to report back to the Kree without getting involved. At the same time, the commander of the Kree ship, Yon-Rogg is jealous of Mar-vell's rising star and seeks to bring him down. As part of his mission, Captain Marvel has to intercede on Earth and is proclaimed a hero. In some ways, he was the opposite of Spider-man who was mistrusted despite good intentions while Mar-vell could doom the Earth. Adding to this tension is that Mar-vell really does sympathize with the people of Earth and is a hero and this brings him into direct conflict with himself and the Kree.
The story follows along this same line through Issue 10. Some of the best highlights here are Mar-vell's battle against Super Skrull (Issues 2 and 3) and Namor in Issue 4. The Namor Issue is particularly ironic as Mar-vell has been ordered to allow the detonation of a device that could inflict great harm on the Earth while Namor is trying to stop it, with Namor being seen as a villain to humanity and Mar-vell as the hero.
Arnold Drake of Doom Patrol fame (took over from Roy Thomas) with Issue 5 and the stories were fun but very much character and plot arc driven through Issue 12. The big change happens when the Kree finally order Mar-vell's execution. It's stayed in Issue 11 when Mar-vell isn't executed due to a random attack that leads to death of his beloved Uma, and he encounters the alien entity Zo who gives him a new power set. This story arc continues with some impressive but odd comic art from the period from artist Dick Ayers, Frank Springer, and Tom Sutton. With Gary Friedrich doing the writing chores for Issues 13-15 and Archie Goodwin writing Issue 16 which ends with Mar-vell in his most recognizable form and then banished to the Negative Zone.
Issue 17 saw the return of of original series writer Roy Thomas along with Gil Kane as artist as the new status quo of Rick Jones having a bracelet that he could slam together to call forth Captain Marvel from the Negative zone while Jones changed place with him. In some ways, this was an improvement on the original Fawcett Marvel concept and it certainly was a great turn for Rick Jones a character.
The Not Brand Echs comic at the back was nice for its rarity, though it wasn't quite my cup of tea. I also appreciated the original artwork reprinted at the back.
Overall, a lot of hands were involved in these comics: Four Different writers, Six different artists but the results are great. Mar-vell is a fascinating character and a great concept that's well-executed. The book also introduces Carol Danvers. While she bears resemblance to the modern Danvers, she's certainly ahead of her time. Overall, while this book isn't essential reading for comic fans. It certainly is recommended.
September 21, 2016
The late '60s adventures of Captain Mar-Vell of the Kree starts out a bit slow and stuck in fairly typical superheroes, except for the novelty of the hero being an advanced scout for a militaristic, imperialist alien society who is caught between trying to fulfill his mission on Earth while also playing superhero while also dealing with intrigue from his commanding officer, who is doing his best to get Mar-Vell killed. For the most part, it's standard Marvel Comics Silver Age soap opera superheroes, until...
(HERE THERE BE SPOILERS)
...About halfway through the collection, the story suddenly becomes cosmic, psychedelic, and weird, and I fell madly in love with it. That storyline resolves and the comic switches again as Captain Marvel gets a new creative team (Roy Thomas, Gil Kane, and Dan Adkins), a new uniform (the red-and-blue outfit he's more known for), new powers, and immediately gets trapped in the void of the Negative Zone and becomes bonded to Marvel's perpetual sidekick, Rick Jones. I can't explain why, but I love Thomas' writing, especially the dialogue of stiff "squares" like Captain Marvel and his archenemy, Yon-Rogg, and of "hip teens" like Rick Jones. His writing is cheesy as hell, and yet I adore it. What started off as kind of bland became tremendously fun, trippy superheroics.
(HERE THERE BE SPOILERS)
...About halfway through the collection, the story suddenly becomes cosmic, psychedelic, and weird, and I fell madly in love with it. That storyline resolves and the comic switches again as Captain Marvel gets a new creative team (Roy Thomas, Gil Kane, and Dan Adkins), a new uniform (the red-and-blue outfit he's more known for), new powers, and immediately gets trapped in the void of the Negative Zone and becomes bonded to Marvel's perpetual sidekick, Rick Jones. I can't explain why, but I love Thomas' writing, especially the dialogue of stiff "squares" like Captain Marvel and his archenemy, Yon-Rogg, and of "hip teens" like Rick Jones. His writing is cheesy as hell, and yet I adore it. What started off as kind of bland became tremendously fun, trippy superheroics.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 29, 2016
From issue 1 to 17 we get to meet a lot of interesting characters and get to know them, such as Carol Danver, the future ms. Marvel, Ronan the Accuser and more. But the plot is very repetitive and in each issue, Captain Marvel fights against the villain of the day. I have to mention issue 19 "The Mad Master of the Murder Maze!" seems like a nice wink to Burrhus Frederic Skinner's experiments on rats, although I am not sure that this is intentional. After issue 19 Captain Marvel shares a body with Rick Jones, your average annoying teenager who doesn't know what he wants to do with his life. It becomes a shared comic book rather than Captain Marvel as the lead. It seems that most readers liked this change, but some complained about the disappearance of pervious characters and I agree, it seems like an abrupt change. However, there is an improvement in the villain department as they last more than one issue, and actually have some personality and back story and the plot seems more continuous, but still lacking.
August 16, 2009
Reprints Marvel Super-Heroes #12-13, Captain Marvel #1-21, and Not Brand Echh #9. Captain Mar-Vell comes to Earth as a Kree spy and ends up helping protect Earth. Captain Marvel starts out strong, kind of falls out for a while, and then works to get back on track. The first part of the book is interesting and even tense at some points while Captain Mar-Vell tries to maintain his loyalties to the Kree, to Earth, and hide his secret identity. It begins to grow old however and a radical changing storyline in the middle of the book seems rushed as a means to save the title. The last half of the book with Rick Jones feels like it was just created to make a stronger tie to the Captain Marvel name by having Rick Jones as a Billy Batson type character that Marvel devised then realized they were stuck with.
October 8, 2014
This is a great collection for those who can groove to the 60s Marvel style—hyperbolic, melodramatic, action-packed, and fun ,fun, fun!
Though part of me will always resent Marvel (the company) from stealing the Captain Marvel monicker out from under Fawcett (and later DC), I've always equally loved Marvel's cosmic heroes. The rip-off is especially glaring when the character is retooled in a bonded form with teenage sidekick extraordinaire Rick Jones.
But don't let that quibble get in the way. This tome features some great art from Gene Colan and Gil Kane, as well as some reproduced pencils of Colan's.
The stories are pretty standard stuff for the period, but they lay a solid foundation for the future, when Jim Starlin in particular would take the character to truly classic heights.
Though part of me will always resent Marvel (the company) from stealing the Captain Marvel monicker out from under Fawcett (and later DC), I've always equally loved Marvel's cosmic heroes. The rip-off is especially glaring when the character is retooled in a bonded form with teenage sidekick extraordinaire Rick Jones.
But don't let that quibble get in the way. This tome features some great art from Gene Colan and Gil Kane, as well as some reproduced pencils of Colan's.
The stories are pretty standard stuff for the period, but they lay a solid foundation for the future, when Jim Starlin in particular would take the character to truly classic heights.
March 7, 2012
As is usual with most comics from the 1960s, this first volume was a whole lot of silly. When it ends the books is JUST barely getting into the cosmic arc, but the writing is only a little above awful. One of my favorite scenes is where Captain Marvel makes the mistake of signing a hotel guest book as "C. Marvel". Uh, so long to the secret identity, you idiot! The books gets a lot better when Gil Kane takes over the art, but even when he's paired with the usually reliable Roy Thomas there just isn't a lot to rave about.
August 30, 2014
Carol Danvers is my favorite character, so I was reading this mostly to get a complete history of her's. It was what's to be expected from marvel this old: a little cheesy, a lot of sexism, and way to wordy. But in spite of all of that it was pretty fun.
The tone of the story changed about half way through the book. It went from being about an alien anti-hero to being more of a normal earth bound secret identity story. It was fun stuff, and worth the read for people interested in Marvel history.
The tone of the story changed about half way through the book. It went from being about an alien anti-hero to being more of a normal earth bound secret identity story. It was fun stuff, and worth the read for people interested in Marvel history.
March 18, 2019
I had forgotten about how this character and title started out with the 60's super-hero soap opera format. From the first panels, this is a romance comic veiled in a sci-fi hero coat. This goes on for quite awhile until we get a new look, new powers and a bonding with Rick Jones (in a not so subtle nudge to the Fawcett/DC Captain Marvel for whom the character was created just to keep the copyright from the original). I have never read the follow w up volume so I hope it gets better.
November 14, 2010
Ok, so the art was awesome. I mean, 1960's art with dynamic poses and strorytelling are just great. Is the story that engrossing? Well, let's call it good and not always predictable. The best part about this collection though has to be the inclusion of not only a spoof of the comic itself, but original pencils and sketches in the back of Captain Mar-Vell. Nice touch.
July 27, 2016
This was an incredibly mixed bag, which is probably not helped by the inconsistency in the creative teams throughout the book. There's an interesting core idea here of an alien warrior sent to be an infiltrator and sabateur, who ends up wanting to be a superhero - but it's so trapped in Silver Age tropes about what a superhero book ought to be that it never realizes its potential.
September 16, 2009
Great art in just about every part of the run of this series, and some brilliant flashes of greatness from a few of the writers. Of the dozen or more Essential volumes I have read, this was my favorite and the one with the steadiest quality. Great soap opera sci-fi, with a super hero tinge.
October 29, 2013
THIS WAS MY FAVORITE HERO TO DRAW IN THE 1980s. I HAVE EVERY COMIC, 1st PRINT, AND THE HARDCOVERS TOO. I RECOMMEND THIS.
July 20, 2017
The origins of Captain Marvel with him coming to earth on a secret mission and becoming more powered up after he becomes a fugitive from Kree and earth. In the end he becomes entangled with Rick Jones and captive in the Negative Zone.
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