The Life of Captain Marvel

Before we get to the meat of this review, I want to give you a little background. This was my first real introduction to Captain Marvel. I haven't seen the movie yet and the only other comic I read with her in it was A-Force - but that was an ensemble. And after looking at the cover, she wasn't either of my two favorites. Anyway I wanted you guys to know that this doesn't come from a place of purism, but a place of enjoyment. (Or lack thereof.)

Also, I wasn't intending to buy this comic. I was actually looking for a Deadpool one and the store I was in had two and I didn't know which one I wanted. So I bought this, which was the only Captain Marvel comic they had instead. (I probably would have been better off with either of the Deadpool comics...)

Finally, there are going to be one unavoidable spoiler-ish comparison between this Captain Marvel comic and DC's recent Wonder Woman movie with Gal Gadot.

I didn't like this story. It was more a boring slice of life for the first three plus volumes than an actual superhero story. I was expecting an origin story. Not oh, by the way, Captain Marvel's dead dad was an abuser, beat her, she still suffers from trauma because of this, and I'm pretty sure that's what causes her panic attacks. Oh, but it's all okay because he was just doing it to protect her from the truth. ... Sure. (Just admit it, he was an abusive drunk.)

What dropped the rating from two stars - because, even with my problems with that, I still like Carol as a character, and it's nice to see a strong woman superhero - was just like Diana Prince's new reboot, she's not really human. Honestly, it ticks me off. I love the idea that we have these strong lady superheroes out there fighting just like the guys - but instead of them doing it by their own moral character, their brains or even because of an accident, we get the big reveal that it's all genetics. If Carol Danvers hadn't been Car-Ell of the Kree empire, she'd have no powers. If Diana Prince hadn't been created from a god, she wouldn't be as powerful as she is and definately wouldn't have been able to save the day. I don't know if this is the way Captain Marvel is always depicted, but I dislike it.

It just ticks me off. (Also, this book doesn't depict a ‘win' in the fight department and, in fact, was such a ‘loss' that it was depressing.) About the only thing I liked was the brief instances of Carol and Tony friendship. I don't know if this is the backstory the movie will use, but let's just say I'm a lot less excited for it than I was.