Captain Marvel #1

By Kelly Sue DeConnick, David Lopez & Lee Loughridge

Captain Marvel is one of the multiple Marvel series that is oddly re-launching, with the same creative team – when a .NOW issue would have sufficed, even if this title ended a few months before the All New Marvel Now! Reboot. Like next week’s Daredevil then, it serves as a jumping on point for new readers and an opportunity for Marvel to jack up the price from $2.99 to $3.99 – which seems completely unnecessary for a book like this.

However, as a jumping on point, this book does what it’s supposed to do – introduce Carol Danvers to a new group of Marvel readers who have not been able to read the previous comic due to exploring their world too late, and appeal to old fans at the same time. DeConnick introduces Carol Danvers as a character following a teasing glimpse into the future, meaning that the vast majority of this issue is about fleshing out Captain Marvel as a character rather than establishing an ongoing plot (with only hints dropped) and teases for where things are headed in the future. There’s an amusing Star Wars reference early on and that proves right from the outset that Captain Marvel hasn’t fallen into the trap of becoming too dark, as DeConnick stays clear from dragging Carol Danvers into a grim and gritty reboot.

Opening with some solid action, the book manages to introduce the cast of regular characters for new readers without much trouble. There are brief appearances from the Iron Patriot (in time for the launch of his ongoing solo series) and even Iron Man, and more. So there’s plenty for Marvel fans to love here – whether you’re familiar with the character or just starting out.

David Lopez brings some solid artwork to the table here – with some several stunning panels, with the artwork towards the end looking great indeed. With colours provided by veteran Lee Loughridge – that are as awesome as ever, Captain Marvel is well and truly in safe hands artistic wise, and it’ll be very interesting indeed to see how things develop over the course of future issues, and based on what is on display here, it’ll certainly keep readers coming back for more – especially as most of the upcoming covers look visually amazing.

This could be a great, bold new direction for Marvel and another great new addition to their cosmic line of superhero comics. We’ve already got Guardians of the Galaxy, Nova and the upcoming Cyclops title (which is kind of an X-Men/Cosmic hybrid) and hopefully Captain Marvel will make an excellent addition to that lineup.  Kelly Sue DeConnick is certainly making a good case for this so far – and hopefully things can only get better from here.