The Captain is back on duty, but with an all new look and an all new creative team and direction as writers Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters and artist Kris Anka take the reigns on “Captain Marvel”.
Read on below for our full spoiler free review of the first issue of the new series.
Written by Michele Fazekas & Tara Butters
Illustrated by Kris Anka
Face front, true believers! The Captain has made her return and oh, how mighty it is. It’s a bold new frontier for Carol Danvers as she soars to new heights in her greatest mission yet—leader of the all-new Alpha Flight space program. Yup, Alpha Flight. As earth’s first line of defense, Carol and her team aim to protect the planet from extraterrestrial threats. But can Carol be a soldier and a diplomat? Especially when an unknown enemy emerges that Carol can’t quite punch.
Despite wanting to keep at least a modicum of objectivity here, I’m finding it hard to open this review without talking about my relationship with the character of Carol Danvers. Calling myself a fan is something of an understatement, as this may attest. If you were to trace back the events that lead me to writing here, for Multiversity, I often cite the announcement of Carol becoming Captain Marvel as an inciting incident that changed the course of my life forever. Kelly Sue DeConnick’s tenure as writer of “Captain Marvel” is an incredibly important part of my life and so it’s with that prior experience that I come to this new “Captain Marvel” #1 written by Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters and illustrated by Kris Anka.
To say that “Captain Marvel” #1 impressed me is also a major understatement. After the hell of Secret Warriors, I was almost convinced there was nothing for me in the Marvel Universe. There was no spark left. Lo and behold, it’s “Captain Marvel” that once again draws me back in as Fazekas, Butters and Anka have breathed all new life into the character. This issue is an all new fresh start, taking the character in a fresh direction that feels perfectly in-keeping with the character we knew and loved prior to “Secret Wars” while being a perfect jumping on point for new readers. Think of it this way: if the previous volume of “Captain Marvel” was Star Trek: Next Generation, sending Carol out into fringe space to make contact on behalf of Earth, then this volume is Deep Space Nine with Carol taking over as head of a space station in orbit over Earth to protect it from intergalactic threats.
This is a pretty interesting change to the character’s mythos as it feels like a solid middle ground between her first stint as Captain Marvel that was almost entirely Earth-bound and the second volume that was almost entirely set in space. Here, Fazekas and Butters keeps the cosmic element front and centre while keeping the character closer to Earth. They’ve also put Captain Marvel in a position of authority with a reorganised Alpha Flight serving under her which makes for some really fun inter-character banter throughout the issue. Somewhat sadly, this issue really only gives Puck any focus, but the fact that Alpha Flight are there at all gives the series the potential to go to some very interesting places.
On top of all that is the interactions between Carol and Abigail Brand throughout the issue which brings a spark of life to the book. It’s not all fun and games aboard the Alpha Flight Station and Fazekas and Butters do a good job of introducing readers to Carol’s new position in a way that feels fun without sacrificing any drama or conflict. It’s a lot to cram into one issue and many seasoned comic writers might struggle to balance all the elements, but Fazekas and Butters shine as a writing team with their first issue and take the character to new heights with a lot of promise.
Of course it helps that they brought in the big guns as backup. Kris Anka provides the artwork for the issue alongside colour artist Matthew Wilson and the issue is simply jaw-dropping. This might be the best work of Kris Anka’s career to date. Right from the off he shows off his chops with an exciting and stunning action setpiece that highlights the strengths of the character and introduces her as a powerful centrepiece to the series. His crisp, clean artstyle is perfectly suited to the space station environment as his linework creates a stark, futuristic environment while Matthew Wilson uses the white panelling of the station’s interiors to make the vibrant colours of the character pop right off the page.
Continued belowThe highlight of Kris Anka’s work on this issue are the characters. Each of them feel unique, fully realised and full of personality right from the off. Even characters who only get minor parts in this issue like Aurora and Sasquatch (sidenote: what’s Snowbird or Guardian or Northstar up to these days?) feel like they should be scene-stealers for characters unfamiliar with them thanks to the way Anka highlights their unique designs and it’s a delight as someone who’s a fan of the characters to see them get their due diligence from such a talented artist.
All in all, this is a stellar debut from a creative team who aren’t afraid to step into some really large boots and make their mark on such an iconic character. If anyone ever thought that Carol Danvers’ stint as Captain Marvel was a fluke then this issue puts the final nail in that coffin as Michele Fazekas, Tara Butters, Kris Anka and Matthew Wilson take the character to all new places and with all new characters. This first issue is fun, exciting, dramatic and full of heart in a way that does the previous volumes proud and proves why Captain Marvel is such an engaging and exciting character.
Final Verdict: 9.2 – This is a must read first issue. For everyone. Yes, including you.
