Captain Marvel #2 Review - Mobile Edition

Marvel Comics
Captain Marvel #2 Review
By Andy Frisk
August 21, 2012 - 20:32

Marvel Comics
Writer(s): Kelly Sue DeConnick
Penciller(s): Dexter Soy
Inker(s): Dexter Soy
Colourist(s): Ed McGuinness, Dexter Vines, Javier Rodriguez
Letterer(s): VC's Joe Caramagna
$2.99 US

Still affected by death of her late fighter pilot friend and idol Helen Cobb and Helen's cancer stricken roomate's plight, Carol Danvers attempts to match Helen's record elevation flight in her T6 Texan plane. She meets with mixed success, but something goes strangely wrong and Carol time travels back to World War II, where she meets the "Women's Air Service Pilots Banshee Squad--Class of 1943!" who rescue her from some Japanese soldiers. Carol doesn't want to use her powers as she'll potentially screw up the timestream and create an unwanted butterfly effect. She knows enough about timestream protocol from her time with The Avengers, but she's no where near an expert on it. When she and her new allies are faced with a strange technologically advanced enemy though, Carol decides, "Let's rewrite some history, shall we?" and cuts loose.

Kelly Sue DeConnick (who will be soon resurrecting Ghost at Dark Horse comics-something I am very highly anticipating), continues Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel's solo adventures in Captain Marvel #2 by putting her up against a situation that she (for the most part) won't necessarily be able to blast or punch her way out of. Finally, Carol has a writer on her side that just might elevate her beyond Green Lantern clone status (c'mon you gotta see the similarities here-Air Force fighter pilot-gifted with superpowers from an alien world-it's pretty obvious). This Danvers is no Hal Jordan clone though, even if the similarities remain. She is much more in control of her demons and her past. She's also much more mature than the current New 52's Jordan (at least as he's portrayed in the pages of Justice League).

You can also forget the whole Spice Girls recent London Games Closing Ceremony reunion. DeConnick introduces her readers to some real "girl power," when she debuts the Women's Air Service Pilots Banshee Squad. While they might be a bit of a contrived group of all women soldiers (who unfortunately engage in some stereotypical pig tail, cleavage and midriff baring cliches), they look like they will make a solid compliment to Davers/Marvel that hopefully won't get left in the past...literally and figuratively.

Series artist Dexter Soy's art is quite good, but I'm still not convinced that it fits the theme and tone of the book. It's a little darker in tone than the book feels, and his ability to draw distinguishing female characters isn't that strong. He nails Carol's new outfit perfectly, but other than that, with the exception of hair styles, they all appear to be the same age, build, and height. Maybe I'm being too harsh here. At first I envisioned this book having the artistic style of an Amanda Conners type book (like the late great Supergirl), and maybe Soy's choice on the book is meant to fly in the face of that, admittedly obvious, notion. Ed McGuinness' "Rosie the Riveter" pose cover is much more the style that I'd like to see from the interior art of Captain Marvel though.

Overall, it's awesome to see Marvel Comics finally and seriously try to produce an ongoing comic book about a female Marvel U superhero that doesn't rely on selling her appeal through a barely there outfit or a focus on her breast size. While Azzarello's Wonder Woman is currently reigning as the best developed, written, and drawn mainstream female superhero book (and character) right now, Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers, and DeConnick definitely have the potential to rise to those heights eventually.

Rating: 8/10