Captain Marvel #22 Review and Discussion10/15/2020 Excerpt: "I can see where this issue fits perfectly into the story of Carol Danvers. Post-Kelly Sue-era, Captain Marvel really got back up and running for me, personally, with Margaret Stohl’s Life of Captain Marvel in 2017. The mini-series reworked Carol’s origins, taking away the necessity of a man being involved, and giving her entire power-set more legitimacy. This Thompson run started immediately after that, taking the news or her half-Kree origin and giving it the same ugly spotlight our modern society realistically, and unfortunately, would have done. Thompson has taken Carol in an empowering arc since then, giving her relatable villains, heart-warming friendships, and having her deal with true Super-Hero problems like personhood separate from her heroism, dealing with the idea of failure on many levels, and where to draw the line of right and wrong." CONTINUE READING for details on the events of Captain Marvel #22, and more thoughtful discussion! Spoilers will be included! Kelly Thompson continues to impress me with her ongoing run of Captain Marvel. Now that we're this far in to her story of Carol Danvers, I'm starting to see the Big Picture that's making up this era for the legendary superhero. I wrote last year about some of the changes Carol went through to get her here, and you can read about that here if you're interested. After this issue, and the story really starting to click for me as a whole, I have no doubt an update to that article is well due.
This issue brings in a new team for art, by Lee Garbett and colors by Tamra Bonvillain. Their teamwork makes me think of the Carmen Carnero art at the beginning of the series, in the best way possible. Garbett’s confident line work draws beautiful figures and persuasive movement, with Bonvillain’s colors adding the perfect amount of detail and clarity to every panel. I noticed more than anything else the phenomenal way this team draws Carol’s hair, making it look thick, mobile, and the most satisfying of golf-tone combos. This issue starts with Carol and Rhodey, in upstate New York. They're both dressed in their "work outfits," but are clearly coming off a date. They're able to have a sweet, romantic moment before meeting with Jessica Drew's Spider-Woman and Jennifer Takenda's Hazmat. Together, the foursome were recently the Kree Accuser team, splitting the power enormous among the group. We learned that Carol has called them all out to help her find something odd from her scans, before she and Rhodey go on vacation together. They're all well overdue for a vacation, but this one will be particularly special, as it will celebrate Carol being reinstated into the Air Force! She was removed from service in the early issues of Thompson's Captain Marvel run, after the government learned of her half-Kree heritage. But when the team arrives at the sight of the signal, what they find seems to be an alien ship of some kind, high above them in the tree branches. Carol goes up to investigate closer, which is when things start to go sideways, and she starts to realize she won't be going on that vacation. The machine/ship somehow puts out tentacles to attack Carol and her friends, sending the Captain thirty-something years into the future. The future she lands in is the same from Captain Marvel: The End, by Thompson and artist Carmen Carnero. Carol arrives a year after the older version of herself had in The End, who then saved Earth by reigniting the sun with her powers, sacrificing herself in the process. This was a throwback to when Carol was Binary, and the 1990's Operation: Galactic Storm storyline, where she helped reignite the sun with Quasar. It's a pretty good issue, coming from Quasar #34, and adding homage to her time as Binary was an extremely fitting end for Carol's time as a hero. When she arrives in the future, Carol is immediately introduced to Sora, daughter of Kwannon and Forge, and Gerry Drew, son of Jessica. Gerry was a baby when she saw him last, and seeing this lumbering figure before her, Carol is convinced of where—or rather when—she is. Gerry had met the old Carol in The End a year ago, as did Emma Frost, who we learn is unable to change out of her diamond form, for as-yet undisclosed reasons. There is also Fantomex 5, presumably the fifth iteration of the original, and Rhodey, a woman claiming to be Carol’s James Rhodes’ daughter, with a woman who wasn’t Carol. She says both her parents died in some second war, long ago. The wave of emotion that comes off Carol when she learns that this future daughter of the man she loves isn't her child is intense, and Thompson writes her sudden, deep sadness superbly. Later in the issue, we see Rhodes use her powers to phase through an attacking enemy. The only character I can think of who has the ability to phase like that is Kate Pryde of the X-Men. Coincidentally, Kate is also one of the heroes confirmed later on to have fallen in battle, further making me think James and Kate got it on in this reality. This particular reveal, of Rhodes not being Carol's daughter, makes me think maybe this might be another reality, and not just a future where Carol and Rhodey split for some unknown reason. It also brings up the question of self-fulfilling prophecy, another possibility of this future. In The End, we're given the explanation that Carol was on the other side of the universe when Earth fell, and came back to ruins. She assumed no one survived, and went on to live her life in space. With the additional information here, we know that Rhodey had to have had his daughter while he and Carol knew one another, not during her absence. If this is an alternate reality future, she could trigger it by going back and ending things with Rhodey in advance. The other option would be to not let this future play out. As Carol digests the news, Sora psychically sends a message to Katie Barton, daughter of Hawkeye, that Carol is back. The group is soon after under siege by crazed monsters, flying, crawling, and scraping their way into the fray. The team works well together, clearly having had a lot of practice in fighting as a group. Katie Barton starts sharp-shooting attackers from a distance, but the monsters are still too much. Calling for the others to drop to the ground, Carol blasts off two enormous energy waves, leaving her friends unharmed and without enemies left to fight. It isn’t until this battle is her that she notices the looming memorial to “The Lost,” including James Rhodes, Thor, and Kate Pryde in the carved stone list. The somber moment is interrupted by an aging Jessica Drew, who embraces her friend warmly before taking Carol back to her living space. Jess reports to her time-displaced friend that while her older self saved the world and allowed the surviving heroes to find more human survivors, people have been mysteriously disappearing. The only clue, aside from the name Ove, was the attack from the monsters just that day. Joining the conversation, Emma Frost confirms the monsters were demons from Limbo, which she says could only mean that Illyana Rasputin is either being held by Ove, or is Ove herself. Emma comes in with one of the most well-worded descriptions of Magik I’ve her read: “We’re talking about someone who at one time controlled Limbo like a god while also running around on Earth having a relatively normal Super Hero life.” She follows up with, “The scope of her power is incalculable.” I mean. Wow. Talk about spot-on. Before the conversation can get any further Rhodes interrupts, saying to come quick. In an open area of their fortress, Luke Cage stands alone. He tells the people standing by that he comes with a message to Captain Marvel from Ove. Luke arriving with a message gives us the idea that he's is working with Ove, but also makes me think that Luke may be one of the missing people Jess was talking about. It's been made clear a majority of the world's heroes perished in whatever chaos caused the detritus around them, but Luke Cage's rock-hard skin would have saved him a lot of damage. And, we know from Captain Marvel: The End that Luke and Jessica Jones' daughter, Dani, also survived, but we didn't have any information on her parents. Seeing Luke alive and well, and not having seen Dani in this issue, only drives the idea that she was among those taken by Ove. We know from Marvel marketing that Namor is Ove's father, and it’s Enchantress across from the Sub Mariner on the Adi Granov variant my comic shop gave me, which makes me think she is the mother. That would make a good amount of sense, especially in terms of their age and history of wishy-washy loyalties, and would maybe also explain how Ove got the jump on someone like Magik. I’m an outspokenly massive fan out Illyana Rasputin, so seeing her even mentioned in Captain Marvel is exciting! And this is over thirty years into the future, so who knows what 'Yana will be like now! She’s known for her brash personality and difficult to reign-in dark side, called Darkchilde, but I like to think Thompson and her team aren’t going to further abuse a woman who’s already had such a difficult life. I can see where this issue fits perfectly into the story of Carol Danvers. Post-Kelly Sue-era, Captain Marvel really got back up and running for me, personally, with Margaret Stohl’s Life of Captain Marvel in 2017. The mini-series reworked Carol’s origins, taking away the necessity of a man being involved, and giving her entire power-set more legitimacy. This Thompson run started immediately after that, taking the news or her half-Kree origin and giving it the same ugly spotlight our modern society realistically, and unfortunately, would have done. Thompson has taken Carol in an empowering arc since then, giving her realistic villains, heart-warming friendships, and having her deal with true Super-Hero problems like personhood separate from heroism, dealing with the idea of failure on many levels, and where to draw the line of right and wrong. The recent addition of a Kree sister only builds off her Kree heritage, solidifying it, and giving Carol an even more broad expanse of ties across the universe. Now, being taken back into the Air Force, Carol has faced her worst day, fought through it, an come out on top. As we move forward with this plot arc of Captain Marvel, I truly look forward to meeting more characters from this future time, and learning what happened to make everyone turn out the way that they did. Issue #23 comes out November 4th, bringing in the second segment of this plot arc. There will be a third, and likely a fourth, but January comics haven't been solicited yet.
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