Advance Review: Captain Marvel #30 (Lgy 164)

Despite whatever event nonsense is happening in the Avengers corner of the Marvel Universe, there are a host of books that month in month out are always pretty much bang on point.. For me, Black Cat is one, Spider-Woman is on it’s way; but Captain Marvel is the cream of the crop, with sassy intelligent writing full of options and ramifications for the lead character and her cast.

Danvers is in a bit of a pickle. Determined to become a magic user, she has help he Enchantress steal a magic dohicky. Now faced with a choice to take a magic potion and change herself permanently but to do so she has to trust the Enchantress, which didn’t quite work out well last time. Quite the dilemma when you also consider that Carol’s motives, whilst pure, actually involves an unknowing Enchantress helping against her own future son!

Kelly Thompson has been with Carol for quite a while now. It would be easy for complacency to set in. Yet Thompson doesn’t rest on her laurels. Instead, under Thompsons watch, we have seen a Carol make logical decision for her and her friends, motives have been challenged and even sacrifices have been made. For a character that is all powerful, Thompson ensures that Carol is put through the wringer time after time. With the recent CarolJess ships a tad quieter than before, Thompson bring Rhodey back in to the fold, though there has to be a “we were on a break” moment down the line. The snappy banter is a prerequisite for Marvel and Thompson is the Queen of that particular castle for sure. The book is also quite wordy, which gives the reader a feeling that they have something substantial for the buck.

The art, this time around, is provided by Jacopo Camagni, an Italian artist who shares his manga influences throughout the book., be it the facial elements like small pointy noses or boobs that would make Power Girl jealous! To b e honest I don’t mind the influences for the main, though I do wish that faces were more consistent. The action scenes in the final act of the book are a tad frantic and there is a less of background details. Regardless, Camagni manages the pace of the separate confrontations well. Colors are supplied by Espen Grundetjern who get tot have fun with the differing environments. I will say that is seems that Marvel are going for a house style when it come to colouring their books. VC’s Clayton Cowles continues to aim for the title of the worlds busiest letterer, delivers yet another perfect font for the book. There are a few covers to choose from; as always its buyers choice, though for me you can’t go wrong with the “A” cover from Marco Checchetto featuring the various versions of Carol.

There is a second story, in which Jamie McKelvie writes and draws a catch-up between Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel. It’s an interesting little sidebar, giving both characters a chance to deal with the problems of expectations.

Despite the legacy counts, this issue sees the longest run of the Carol’s comic book career. Through all the changes, be titular, costume, the addition of Alpha Flight, you have to admire the persistence of Marvel to stick with the character, though truth be told, I feel that Kelly Thompson deserves all the recognition for maintain Carol;’s ongoing presence in the Marvel Universe and in your local comic book shops.

Writing – 5 Stars
Art – 4.5 Stars
Colors – 5 Stars

Overall – 4.5 Stars

Written by; Kelly Thompson & Jamie McKelvie
Art by; Jacopo Camagni & Jamie McKelvie
Colors by; Espen Grundetjern
Letters by; VC’s Clayton Cowles
Published by; Marvel Worldwide Inc.

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network