Marvel’s recently announced plans to release a Captain Marvel movie, sparked a new interest in a character I knew nothing about beyond the fact that I always associated Captain Marvel with its male incarnations. Cue me being super excited to learn the new Captain Marvel is a woman, Carol Danvers, previously known as Ms Marvel.
Title: Captain Marvel, Vol. 1: Higher, Further, Faster, More
Author: Kelly Sue DeConnick and David López
Genre: Superhero, Comics
Publisher: Marvel
Publication Date: October 2014
Hardcover: 136 pages
Hero! Pilot! Avenger! Captain Marvel, Earth’s Mightiest Hero with an attitude to match, is back and launching headfirst into an all-new ongoing adventure! As Captain Marvel, a.k.a. Carol Danvers, comes to a crossroads with a new life and new romance, she makes a dramatic decision that will alter the course of her life – and the entire Marvel Universe – in the months to come. But as Carol takes on a mission to return an alien girl to her homeworld, she lands in the middle of an uprising against the Galactic Alliance! Investigating the forced resettlement of Rocket Girl’s people, Carol discovers that she has a history with the man behind the plot. But when the bad guy tries to blackmail Carol and turn the Avengers against her, it’s payback time! Guest-starring the Guardians of the Galaxy!
Stand alone or series: Collects issues 1-6 of Captain Marvel
How did I get this book: Bought
Format (e- or p-): Print
Review:
Marvel’s recently announced plans to release a Captain Marvel movie, sparked a new interest in a character I knew nothing about beyond the fact that I always associated Captain Marvel with its male incarnations. Cue me being super excited to learn the new Captain Marvel is a woman, Carol Danvers, previously known as Ms Marvel.
Captain Marvel Volume 1: Higher, Further, Faster, More collects issues 1-6 of this Captain Marvel reboot written by Kelly Sue DeConnick and illustrated by David López.
Pause for an aside: colour me perplexed to find out that this is a reboot of a reboot and both are by the same author? There are two other volumes featuring Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel from a few years ago but now, this new volume is not volume 3 but volume 1. Ok, so NEW new adventures.
Oh, comics, you confuse and amaze me.
Higher, Further, Faster, More follows Carol Danvers – the new Captain Marvel – as she tries to forge a new path and identity for herself, in space.
Carol Danvers has it all: super-awesome-powers, a job as a member of the Avengers, and dating The Iron Patriot is no shabby thing either. But she is restless and when the opportunity presents itself for her to go into deep space on a mission to help a young refugee return to her homeworld, she takes it. This journey lands her in the middle of an ongoing struggle between the Galactic Alliance and the refugees of a forced resettlement.
In addition to finding Carol’s journey engaging, I appreciated very much the treatment given to the particular social-political storyline. Yes, Captain Marvel is the big superhero who will grandiosely and awesomely stand alone against a whole fleet of battleships to defend a planet (because she can, that’s how powerful she is) but the story cleverly circumvents a problematic White Savior Complex storyline because the people down there are doing their own thing, fighting their own fight, finding their own way out of their problems with a plan that combines diplomacy and dramatic shenanigans starring All The Awesome Ladies.
With a cool cameo by the Guardians of the Galaxy, interesting secondary characters – including a lesbian engineer who introduces herself as “goddess” – and a main character with oodles of charisma, empathy and wit, this volume was pretty cool and pinpoints the start of my rekindled interest in comics. You can expect more reviews soon.
I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to a character – and a new author – I knew very little about.
Favourite Panels / Parts:
Additional Thoughts:
1) Like I said, reading this sparked a binge reading/buying spree. I will be talking about the following comics soon:
– Rat Queens
– Ms Marvel volumes 1 and 2
– Red Sonja volumes 1 and 2
– Thor (the new one)
– Pretty Deadly
– She-Hulk
– Young Avengers – Sidekicks
– Hawkeye
Do you have any other recommendations?
2) For more comics, I talked about Captain Marvel with Renay in the Fangirl Happy Hour podcast, episode 3
Rating: 8 – Excellent
Buy the Book:
(click on the links to purchase)
Ebook available for kindle US
10 Comments
Juan Pazos
April 7, 2015 at 8:03 amA few recommendations in comics, with female protagonists or creators (mainly the former I’m afraid) that I remember fondly.
Batgirl Year One (kind of a general introduction to the character, fun and exquisitely drawn) by Chuck Dixon and Marcos Martín. It can be found here. The volume includes Robin Year One that I haven’t read, but it’s the available edition.
Gotham Central vol. 1 by Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka and Michael Lark. This includes the arc “Half a Life” which is a classic in LGBTQ representation (I`m not going into details to avoid spoilers).
Both of these are DC Comics but not too heavy on in-universe continuity, thankfully.
Jaime Hernandez’s Maggie the Mechanic and The Girl from H.O.P.P.E.R.S., to begin with. Again, LGBTQ as main characters, punk rock and, this time, no superheroics. These are the first couple of volumes of Hernandez’s work, and I cannot recommend them enough. His brother Beto is a great storyteller too, his Palomar stories are excellent too. The first couple of Beto’s volumes are called Human Diastrophism and Heartbreak Soup.
Lindsay
April 7, 2015 at 9:26 amI think you guys would really like The Wicked and the Divine. The first collection is out, and the second should be out this summer.
Blurb: “Every ninety years, twelve gods incarnate as humans. They are loved. They are hated. In two years, they are dead…. Welcome to The Wicked + The Divine, where gods are the ultimate pop stars and pop stars are the ultimate gods. But remember: just because you’re immortal, doesn’t mean you’re going to live forever.”
Anonymous
April 7, 2015 at 9:52 amRecommendations ^^ –
Saga (although I have not read the newest collected volume yet and shit seems to happen to the family),
Digger (by Ursula Vernon, it won the Hugo),
Castle Waiting (by Linda Medley, it’s reinterpreted but not retold Grimm fairy tales and a lot about the background people in fairy tales at that),
and maybe you really ought to get into some of the awesome manga out there ^^:
Emma – impeccably researched and drawn Victorian maid love story (Kaoru Mori) or maybe even more to your taste by the same author: A Bride’s Story (however it’s not finished publishing yet).
Sayunkoku Monogatari (manga based on a light novel series): how a Chinese-based fantasy heroine manages to become a public servant for the government and decide that she wants to do that and not be a trophy wife for anyone (and eventually everyone around her accepts that, because she is awesome and straightforward and kind and intelligent).
Estara Swanberg
April 7, 2015 at 10:15 amhuh, usually my info is filled out already ^^ – that anonymous was me *points to comment above hers*
Sabrina
April 7, 2015 at 10:36 amPretty Deadly, Ms. Marvel and Rat Queens are all awesome! I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on them.
I would recommend Lumberjanes! It’s great – written by women (if I remember correctly) and celebrating friendship between women and there are queer characters and it’s just so much fun.
Amanda
April 7, 2015 at 12:01 pmIt seems everyone beat me to the punch for recs! I’m so excited for you because you are basically where I was a year ago, and I’m a total comic junkie now. And it all started with Ms. Marvel and Captain Marvel!
I’d also recommend the current Batgirl run (starts with #35), Gotham Academy, Sex Criminals and The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl!
Diana
April 7, 2015 at 12:07 pmGotham Academy! The first trade is coming out soon-ish, and it’s just a really fun, different look at Gotham. The central relationship so far is a friendship between two girls (Olive! Maps!) and the art is GORGEOUS. If you like Ms. Marvel, I highly recommend that.
The current Black Widow run has also been excellent, with amazing Phil Noto art and the exploration of who Nat is. It’s basically everything we should be getting on a big screen with a Black Widow movie.
And an older comic that I loved and miss is Manhunter. It stars Kate Spencer, a chain-smoking prosecutor who takes the law into her own hands when a supervillain escapes custody and starts killing again. The first volume is Street Justice, and I don’t think it’s out of print, so it’s possible to order it.
CeeV
April 7, 2015 at 12:58 pmPause for an aside: colour me perplexed to find out that this is a reboot of a reboot and both are by the same author?
Not quite. Captain Marvel vol. 1: In Pursuit of Flight is a relaunch rather than a reboot. This article explores the differences between the two, but the most important difference is that a relaunch maintains existing continuity and a reboot doesn’t. And Captain Marvel vol. 1: Higher, Further, Faster, More is neither a reboot nor a relaunch, but rather a renumbering. It’s part of the same series as DeConnick’s earlier Captain Marvel issues; the renumbering just signals that either of the volume ones would be a really good jumping on place for a new reader.
Do you have any other recommendations?
Yes! Loki: Agent of Asgard by Al Ewing is my favorite current comic: fun and clever and just twisty enough to be interesting without crossing the line into so twisty it’s annoying.
Lazarus by Greg Rucka is a dystopia with an enhanced woman protagonist learning unsettling things about her family and the world around her.
Saga by Brian K. Vaughan (and with incredible art by Fiona Staples) is an enjoyably over-the-top soap opera that nonetheless explores some quite serious issues.
Avengers Assemble ended last year (unfortunately), but I highly recommend Avengers Assemble: Science Bros by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Avengers Assemble: The Forgeries of Jealousy by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Warren Ellis. (Avengers Assemble: The Enemy Within by DeConnick is also really good, but it’s a crossover sequel to her Captain Marvel: In Pursuit of Flight and Captain Marvel: Down and doesn’t work well as a standalone, unlike the other two volumes I recommend.)
Black Widow: The Name of the Rose by Marjorie Liu is my definitive Black Widow book. Again, it’s clever and just the right amount of twisty, and Natasha’s characterization is perfection.
Gem
April 7, 2015 at 6:30 pmI’m on the same boat as you Ana! I just started getting into comics again after hearing all the good stuff that’s out there and making comics more accessible for girls/women. Everyone pretty much recommended stuff I was going to, but if you do read Thor and like it (which you will because she is awesome!) might as well read Angela: Asgard’s Assassin. It got a lot of talk due to it having the first major trans character in Marvel, but it definitely stands on its own. I loved the issue where she’s kicking it with the Guardians of the Galaxy. Fun times.
Sabrina
April 9, 2015 at 11:40 amI also forgot to mention Bitch Planet. Also by Kelly Sue DeConnick and just amazing. The story line is great and at the end of each issue there is an essay by a feminist.