Review; Captain Marvel #42 (Lgy #176)

If I have said it once, I have said it a million times; Captain Marvel, written by Kelly Thompson, is the best, most consistent book that Marvel publish bar none. Of course thats before the seemingly unending A.X.E event casts its judgemental eye over Carol Danvers.

Like many in the Marvel Universe, Carol and her sister Lauri-Ell (is she worth it?) have been assigned progenitor’s to judge them. Of course, things are never quite that simple, as there is another super-powered individual in Carol’s life that must face judgement; Chewie the feline looking Flerkin! How will one of the mightiest heroes, with a tendency to punch things, her half sister and a Flerkin that thinks, like a cat, with its stomach fare?

Kelly Thompson’s writing takes another humours detour, which is to be expected when it comes to the differences between the main characters. There is a huge seque away from Carol and Lauri-Ell with Chewie being the focus. If, like me, you own a Flerkin…sorry, a cat you know exactly what sort of mishaps and misadventures they can get up to. They can also be fiercely loyal. and loving. Thompson utilises well-observed situational humour and emotion to show just how important Chewie is to Carol’s life. The dialogue works well, the debate about Thanos being fun, as are the boxes of information complete with pithy comments.

The only thing that can stop this book being 5 Stars every month is the art. This is certainly not the case here as Andrea Di Vito knocks it out of the park from the get go. I love the facial contortions of the opening page and the spread page that sets up Chewie’s adventures. There is an an elbow angle that did catch my eye, though this is the only snafu of on otherwise stellar performance. There is even plenty of emotion on show from a number of different perspectives. Nolan Woodard’s colors are on point, matching the required standard for a Marvel book. VC’s Clayton Cowles provides his usual high standard of excellence on letters, though not well enough to make a cover credit.

I am not a huge fan of the A.X.E event, having read a couple of issues from the main arc (don’t get me started about the resurrection of Steve Rogers) and a number of tie-in books. This issue is on par with the Amazing Spider-Man issue, though without the pathos that goes hand-in-hand with Peter Parker. Instead, Thompson manages to keep Carol on her toes through the continued us of her supporting cast, be they sister, friend or even cat / Flerkin.

Writing – 5 Stars

Art – 5 Stars

Colors – 5 Stars

Overall – 5 Stars

Written by; Kelly Thompson
Art by; Andrea Di Vitto
Colors by; Nolan Woodard
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