Review: Captain Marvel #14
The third chapter of “The Last Avenger” sees Captain Marvel in two distinct lights; there is the powerhouse who seems capable of taking anybody down, at least so far, and there is the strategist trying her hardest to get out of the tight jam that is almost as skin tight as her new suit!
Carol has a bit of respite to take care of. Hiding in Singularity, she gets to bring Thor and Tony into the scheme, of sorts. Carol has been tasked to bring the heads of the Avengers to Vox Supreme. Yes, that’s right, we are in crazy Kree territory again. Whilst Carol tries to get out from under the cosh, the motives of Vox are equally teased. As with the previous issues in the story line there is a fight to witness; the surprise is that it’s Black Panther rather than the cover gracing She-Hulk who sees most of the action.
Kelly Thompson’s writing in this story line has been excellent. There is an easy to read style, that belabours the effort in creating it. Sure, there is that pesky “must be funny” Marvel style in play, but here it doesn’t seems forced, indicating the friendship that this team of Avengers has. Thompson even takes time to laugh at the superhero genre with Carol’s awful attempt to tease the big plan out of Vox. I am intrigued as to the scope of Vox’s plan, I do have a couple of theories in play, so I am looking forward to finding out if I am right.
As good as Thompson is, it is probably Lee Garbett and Tamra Bonvillain who are the stand out creators. Starting with Garbett; his Carol is smart, sexy and utterly confident. This is evident in nearly every panel, whether it be the conversational pieces in Singularity or the more obvious fight scenes, where there is an almost cinematic energy to proceedings. Of course figure work is one thing; facial elements also need to work and here, if I were being super critical, would say there is a slight drop in quality. All the character’s faces work well, with the possible exception of Tony who seems to have the same smirk in a number of panels. The line work could be seen as a tad heavy in places, but I think that may have more to do with the fantastic colors from Bonvillain and the need to have the character stand off from them. Bonvillain’s colors are as cinematic as the pencils. The fight between T’Challa and Carol, with the energy blast and its impacts, or lack of, is one of the best pieces if colouring I have seen in a while; a huge compliment when you consider both the number of high quality colourists in the industry and the fact that coloring over the last ten to twenty years has been the biggest improvement in comics. Letterer, VC’s Clayton Cowles is on top form, as you would no doubt expect. Finally a quick word on the covers from Mark Brooks; I loved issue 12 (currently my phone’s wallpaper), issue 13 was Ok, but issue 14 feels a little of the beat. Captain Marvel seems to posses quite a manly upper torso, though her long legs are evident. In addition, She-Hulk is hardly in the book, though I do understand that this may have more to do with editorial than with Brooks himself.
It has been said before that Captain Marvel lives in the good graces of Marvel needing a premier female superhero. After all, how else can you explain the myriad attempts of having her lead a series? In Thompson, Carol has a writer that obviously loves the character and whilst loving a character is different to having a successful book, in this instance I think that Thompson, along with Garbett, have finally hit the right balance.
Writing – 5 Stars
Art – 5 Stars
Colors – 5 Stars
Overall – 5 Stars
Written by; Kelly Thompson
Art by; Lee Garbett
Colors by; Tamra Bonvillain
Cover by; Mark Brooks
Published by; Marvel Worldwide
Author Profile
- 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
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