Captain Marvel #1

Carol Danvers is taking on a new role and mission in the All-New, All-Different Marvel universe. Throughout some of the new titles, we've seen Carol as part of a new incarnation of Alpha Flight. The Canadian superteam has a new stomping ground. They are now Earth's first line of defense aginast alien attacks. Carol has taken the job of overseeing the team and space station they operate out of.

Shaking up the status quo for characters or teams is always fascinating. We get to sit back and watch as the creative team takes them on a new path. Carol being out in space isn't a new direction but having Alpha Flight as her supporting cast in a new role is exciting. It's no secret that past Alpha Flight series haven't faired too well. It's always great to see them turn up again. Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters do a great job capturing the essence of the team in the brief look we get of them.

Even though we've seen some glimpses of Carol since she's taken on this new position, this issue shows us on her first day. There had been some minor confusion as to what exactly she was doing with Alpha Flight in space, but I just chalked it up to the mysterious 8-month gap after the events of Secret WarsCarol has signed up for a two-year stint but it's made clear she can easily fly back down to Earth whenever she wants. What will be interesting is how this series might tie into her role in THE ULTIMATES and A-FORCE along with her numerous other guest appearances.. There are some other questions left unanswered here, but that obviously gives us more reason to come back for more.

The art by Kris Anka and colors by Matthew Wilson is pretty tight. We see various characters from the Marvel universe and they look great. I was especially thrilled to see a certain green-haired lady who I wondered if she'd have a role here. The environments and interactions just feel natural. This may be the first issue but it feels like the creative team has been working on these characters and places for years.

The new CAPTAIN MARVEL series is off to a great start. Fazekas and Butters have given us a great setting with a bunch of interesting characters. It'll be interesting to see where this series takes them and there's plenty for the creators and characters to explore. I'm intrigued by the direction and we have great art and colors. Carol may be taking on a new role, but we'll have to see how that works out for her. We have a nice mix of action and character interactions. There's a lot to love in this book. I'm looking forward to the next issue.

Loved this first issue, it's like the SWORD ongoing I always wanted. Sad that Cap doesn't use the mask anymore though.

I was genuinely worried that this would not be as good as it could be, but damn if it didn't live up to the hype. Glad to see that this writer is acknowledging that Carol can be more than someone emulating the aspiring fad of female protagonists basically being anywhere between "hyper manic pixie dream girls" and "quirky, goofy, girl power" girls.

This was a good start. Didn't much care for the "twist" ending, but it wasn't exactly bad.

So they basically combined Alpha Flight and SWORD and made Carol the leader.

Works for me!

Pleasbegoodpleasebegood!

Just reading this review has me hyped. One of the biggest issues I had with the KSD run was a lack of.. impact to the stories. There is like a 6-issue run where she is chasing her cat around space... with bookends of throw-away stories. I liked the KSD run, but its about time Carol became a "Super-hero" doing Super-heroic things.

SWORD did not get the love it deserved.

DeConnick nailed Carol as a person but lacked in developing her as Captain Marvel and giving her the action Carol always seeks out as a hero.

I haven't picked up this new issue yet but I'm really looking forward to it and hope it's good.

I don't like Anka's art, there is no variety in body types for characters the men are super ripped ( I mean Puck looks like he was drawn in the 90's) and the woman are all built the same. It's just weird to me that a book that shows masculine body types in such an over the top manner voids itself of feminine body types for one that come off very androgynous.

Other then that the story was pretty good.

Yeah it had tons of potential

@jonny_anonymous: agreed, I'm a big fan of Abigail Brand as well, I didn't like her in Astonishing X-Men or Spider-Woman but she's been great in everything else.

I'm really hesitant to get this. I was a fan of Carol way back but she was ruined for me during civil war and now with civil war 2 set to cast her as the main fascist of the storyline (against super fascist Tony Stark no less, now apparently reformed) I have no desire to revive my affection only to see Carol beat up more mothers in front of daughters and throw people in an other worldly jail for life of what ever the equivalent will be in the story. Now matter how good this is Carol is going to get the Bendis treatment and I'm just not sure I'm up to seeing that happen.

Great first issue. Loving Ankas art here and Im glad that we got away from generic super-model looking women for once. Carol is ripped in this and love it.

A pretty promising start and looking better than what I have seen from the previous runs.

Puck is so hot.

@mark_stephen: Dont let Bendis ruin things for you, just ignore anything he does to characters you like, as its not like its happening in the actual solo story, just in his events, and if its anything like the old civil war (where everyone was so OOC) it wont even be brought up again later on. This issue was really good by the way.

I really loved this issue, it had a good mix of action as well as Carol taking on the new role as the head of Alpha Flight, really looking forward to where this goes. My only worry is that when the Captain Marvel movie comes out, they just make her lose her spot at AF to make it mirror the movie, I'd like this to be long lasting.

Tempting, really tempting, but marvel has burned me too many times I think. In this title Carol will be the hero, in the Bendis title she'll be the fascist and be beating up people she'll be fighting alongside in her own title. If I buy this I'll just see good relationships develop only to see her stab people in the back like she did last time. I'd like to read them as you read them but I just don't read comics that way. Old style continuity is how I read, back when the Ms. Marvel I read in Marvel Team Up with Spider-Man had an encounter with the Super Skull that carried over into her own comic. You could generally feel safe that the same character would be in both titles. Not now, especially not with big events. And really ignoring Bendis is like ignoring the check engine light on your car: sooner or later it will come back to haunt you.

So, errr... What happened with the Ultimates thing?

Cap Marvel could be the worst superhero in Marvel. Haven't read a single good story arc or comic of her. This was a terrible start as well.

Glad to see Alpha Flight in a comic again, hope they are put to good use.

I read over it for Alpha Flight. I love Anka's art but I don't really care for how he draws aurora in this.

I just wonder how long they have before someone kills them again.

@mark_stephen: Well Bendis is writing Civil War 2: Civil Boogaloo....i predict many deaths

@mark_stephen: Very very true. For some reason he is in charge of all things continuity whether they are good or not. Mostly not. The entire X-men universe is set up around his status quo now for no reason at all.

I was curious enough to search the net for other reviews, generally positive but the one on Bleeding cool focused on the mixed shower room. This led me to wonder, the reason given for Carol's suit change was that her last suit was too revealing with 'hooker boots' according to KSD (Same type of boots that Supergirl wears in the tv show now, no one has called out her on that, but that's another thread), so why was that wrong and it's ok for her to undress and shower in a mixed locker room?

@mark_stephen:Honestly I think it has to do with the way Anka draws the scene the only character sexualized in it as well as the whole book is Puck and frankly with how Anka draws every female character in the book his version of Puck's hyper masculinity is out of place and looks silly.

It's a minor point I know, almost petty, but I remember when I objected to the reason for the costume change I was roundly called and old-timer by some of the other fans. Still it seems contradictory for them to change costumes for modesty sake (at least in part) and then show a mixed shower scene, especially when you consider that they had the new Ant-Man spy on Carol in the shower as a way to show case how edgy his character was, in this new set up he can see her any time he wants.

Much as I try to find a way to like marvel and what they do with this character I haven't found one yet. I know they are giving her a big push but that usually means that if she falters in popularity even in the slightest she'll be gone like the Fantastic Four. I think I'll sell my old Ms. Marvel's on ebay and just make a clean break before Bendis really ruins her.

It does not matter if they make the costume to look modest for any character, we will always get hyper sexualized cosplay anyways haha, Why they gave her a full flight suit but lose the mask is beyond me. Its space. wear a mask. that is my only issue with the.... issue. ..

other than that im very happy to see alpha flight being used as support for this series. I hope it will be a continued trend.

I think that's a movie influence. Spider-Man, Captain America... both of them and their masks torn off or took them off themselves in the movies.

WOW. I appreciate your comments. I never read KSD's run simply because that was my view of the series from afar, but having never read it myself I typically refrained from judging it that way. Reading your comments have confirmed my suspicions and eased my curiosity as to if I was missing anything. I want to support Captain Marvel but I don't think the KSD run would have been agreeable to my personal tastes. I believe I'll give this new series a chance though since it appears she will be doing "Super Heroic things". If I don't like it I can always try A-Force and I'm already reading The Ultimates.

Before I buy this issue can somebody answer a few questions for me?

Has SWORD been replaced by Alpha Flight?

And which members of Alpha Flight are part of this "All New All Different" team?

How does Abigail Brand fit in?

Alpha Flight now seems to pretty much be S.W.O.R.D. Brand is basically in her old position except that Carol is in charge (by choice... makes more sense after reading issues #1). Looks to be most of Alpha Flight (Sasquatch, PUCK, Snowbird, etc).

Its a pretty solid first issue. Looks like Carol is going to play a significant role in the All new All Different and this ties in nicely with Ultimates.

I know it's more of an editorial mandate than a reflection on the writer of this issue, but if you had asked me a few months ago what I would expect from the next appearance of characters like Puck, Sasquatch, and Aurora, it would NOT be getting into dogfights in spaceships. I mean, here's a guy who turns into a giant Hulk-level furry monster, let's put him in a cockpit and let him show off his aerial combat skills? It's just kind of weird, like the sort of thing you'd see in an old toy line that was designed around cars so all the heroes and villains have cars.

That said, if next issue the Alphas get into a starfighter skirmish with Stilt-Man, Sandman, and oh let's say Doctor Octopus, all in their own little spaceships, I'm in.

@thevaliant: Thanks for the reply. I appreciate it. I'll buy this issue up next time I go shopping.