Review: Captain Marvel #31 (Lgy #165)

Whilst the UK and most of the world are under real life holiday restrictions, Carol Danvers and Rhodey get to fly off into the sunset, at least temporarily as this “break” issue serves as a semi prequel to the next big arc for the good Captain.

Despite the ill-timed non sequitur, the book looks to re-establish the Carol and Rhodey relationship with the promise of a blue bikini. Of course things don’t always go to plan as Carol’s half sister, Lauri needs Carol’s help and with Rhodey in tow, the trio set off to open a whole new can of sludge?

Kelly Thompson is one of the few writers that I feel could write a genuine “heroes on holiday” story and I would read it as eagerly as I would a punch fest. Thompson’s humour is set to fun as she looks at the problem of a hero not have a face mask, before taking the book back to Throneworld II for some interstellar shenanigans. Thompson’s dialogue and situational observations are spot on, from the loss of a sun hat, to Rhodey armouring up on a plane with questions of how he got his War Machine armour through security and how come nobody saw him there? Lauri still enjoys a kind of fish out of water charm when on earth which is fun, though after a while I think could become annoying.

The art is provided by Takeshi Miyazawa who you may have seen on the Runaways comic. For me the art here has curious mix of elements; there are times when faces lack detail, other times there are over the top stylings akin to manga. Even body poses and clothes become a tad inconsistent, with Carol in her swimming smock on the plane(?) looking a tad pregnant. Carol’s face goes from square jawed to round in the space of a couple of panel. It’s all a tad odd in places. I would like to say things improve with the action scenes in the book, but unfortunately, the chaos only manages to deliver more inconsistencies. Still, Rhodey was right, the blue bikini is worth waiting for, though the Ol’ Timer in me wonders if a dark blue one pice would have been more appropriate! Colors are provided by Ian Herring who delivers the usual house style which can kind of blur the pencil lines. VC’s Clayton Cowles, maybe looking for gig whilst the Batman Catwoman book sis further delayed, drops a font that is easy to read, having fun with odd speech patterns in the final third of the book.

Despite the art snafu’s, this book is highly readable, which kind of proves my view that you read a well written book with art you may not enjoy, but not the other way around. You would have to go someway to have art that would detract from Thompson’s excellent ideas, plots and dialogue. Captain Marvel is one of the most consistently good books from Marvel Comics, full of energy, humour as Thompson successfully manages to create genuine threats for one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel universe.

Writing – 5 Stars

Art – 3 Stars

Colors – 4 Stars

Overall – 4 Stars

Written by; Kelly Thompson
Art by; Takeshi Miyazawa
Colors by; Ian Herring
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