Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps #4 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

I've been dreading this issue, since it represents Kelly Sue DeConnick's last Captain Marvel story.  As she notes in her letter at the end of the issue, DeConnick launched "Captain Marvel" in 2012.  I really think that it's fair to say that she's responsible for Marvel's commitment to improved diversity as a result of the success of the series and its successor.  It may be a bold statement, but I think that it's an accurate one.

It's hard to remember that it wasn't clear that we'd be where we are now just three years ago.  But, reading some of my posts from that time, a lot of focus was definitely put on the fact that Carol was Marvel's only series featuring a solo female character.  No "Ms. Marvel," or "Silk," or "Spider-Gwen," or "Spider-Woman," or "Thor."  It was just Carol.

Needless to say, it was a high-risk/high-reward endeavor.  If DeConnick failed to grab people with the story that she was telling, then it easily would've been seen as a referendum on diversity in comics.  Women can't sell comics!  Don't push us outside our comfort zone ever again!  I don't understand the trolls that feel threatened by the concept of diversity, but some of them seriously, seriously are.

Thankfully, they were disappointed.  DeConnick's Carol combined strength with vulnerability and resolve with humanity.  DeConnick also assembled around her just about the best supporting cast in the history of comics.  She created a dedicated (ahem, really dedicated) following, and Marvel realized that maybe, just maybe, it could sell comics that featured characters that weren't just straight white guys.

I really do think that DeConnick and her collaborators did that.  They opened that door, and I wanted to take this time to thank her for that.  Thanks, Kelly Sue, for giving us Carol and everyone that comes after her.  Trail, blazed.

(In terms of this actual issue, it's OK.  It doesn't really resolve anything, per se, since we don't see what Carol sees when she and the Banshees enter space.  But, it does underline the importance of Carol's supporting cast, as it's Helen and Kit that allow Carol to get past the Thors and into space in the first place.  Is it a little overly convenient, that they both have this sudden change of heart?  Yes.  Am I willing to buy it for DeConnick's last issue writing Carol?  Yes.)

** (two of five stars)

Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps #3 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

This series isn't exactly the most enthralling of the "Secret Wars" tie-in series, but the authors manage to inject something like a shot in the arm here.  (Sorta.)

First, this issue opens up some questions that I've had for a while about the physics of Battleworld, if you will.  In "Secret Wars" #5, we learned that only Dr. Strange had an energy signature unique to him; all other energy on Battleworld is the same energy that Doom produces.  However, last issue, we learned that Carol isn't "from Doom."  I mention it here because it goes to the fact that I'm still not entirely sure what we're going to learn when/if Carol and the Banshees make it into the sky.  It seems like they can't discover that Carol is from beyond Battleworld, because everyone other than Dr. Strange if from Battleworld.  Sure, they were pulled from other realities, but the Foundation made it extremely clear in "Secret Wars" #5 that they all somehow became "of Doom" in the process.  If Carol isn't "of Doom," then isn't no one "of Doom?"

Putting aside my anal-retentive inquiry into Battleworld physics, we at least get some action here.  Helen's decision to try to make a break for it last issue results in the entire Squadron having to flee Hala lest someone confiscate their souped-up jets.  The Baroness is forced to call in Doom as Carol and company (including Rhodey) take up refuge on a small island somewhere within the domain.  However, you can't hide from the Thors and they appear here to address the situation.

As I've said with other tie-in series, the most exciting part about "Secret Wars" so far is that the authors have a license not to tell a happy ending.  It's entirely possible that the Thors could wipe out Carol and the squadron and we'll never learn about her powers.  Wouldn't that be a helluva ending?

** (two of five stars)

Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps #2 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

I don't have too much to report about this issue.  Carol's squad upgrades all their planes to enable them to travel into space, so that they can try to discover why Carol has her powers.  (We learn that the tale that they've been told is that Doom chose her as a child to have said powers, but the squadron's doctor confirms that they don't bear the hallmarks of Doom's magic.)  Carol also has a chat with Rhodey (the guy that she saved from the alleged Ultron ship last issue).  He tells her that he's from Limbo, and that he and his crew left after they grew disillusioned with Doom for letting them live literally adjacent to Hell.  However, we still haven't learned why Carol's superiors ordered her to destroy the ship, though my guess is that it has to do with the rule that you don't cross borders in Battleworld.  I guess we'll see.  At least we got some explanation for how Carol allegedly got her powers, since it was clear that it couldn't involve the Kree in a reality where Battleworld is the only planet in the universe.

** (two of five stars)

Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps #1 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

This issue is difficult to follow, for a number of reasons.

First, it's at least the third version of Carol that we've seen in this event.  We've got the Carol from "A-Force" and the Carol that was on Reed's ship in "Secret Wars."  I had to go to Wikipedia to confirm that Hala Field is indeed separate from Arcadia, the domain of "A-Force."  At any rate, it's a lot of Carols.

Second, the plot loses integrity the more you think about it.  I'll try to summarize it here the best that I can.  Kit is Hala Field's representative on the Thor Corps, and she runs into Carol after the Corps takes out an invading squadron from the neighboring Hydra Empire.  Kit off-handedly remarks that Doom made each Thor's hammer from a star in the sky, and this comment startles Carol, since she's never seen a star in the sky.  Carol consults with one of the members of her squadron, Bee, since she's the resident nerd.  It appears that Bee openly questions Doom's assertion that nothing but "the Void" exists beyond the edge of the sky and skipped exercises that day in an attempt to gather proof.  (She swiped a scanner and discovered that the team's ships are capable of going farther than the sky allegedly goes.)  She also apparently thinks that Carol comes from the beyond the edge of the sky.  Later, Carol and her squadron are sent to destroy an incoming ship of rogue Ultrons, but Carol spots a human on the ship.  Her suspicions already primed, she decides to save him after her Corps destroys the ship.  She returns with him to the barracks and asks her teammates to help her reach the other end of the sky, motivated by her horror that the other people on the ship died because she didn't questions orders.  

Unusually for DeConnick, I felt like this story not only flowed poorly but suffered from a number of logic gaps.  First, it seems odd to me that Kit's comment would provoke such a response in Carol.  Kit repeats the hammer story as if it's fairly common knowledge on Battleworld, not some sort of top-secret revelation that will unravel Doom's web of lies.  If it's not common knowledge, then Kit should express some anxiety over revealing that secret to Carol, given the liberal definition of blasphemy that exists on Battleworld.  Second, it took me two readings to realize that the Thor Corps' attack on the alleged squadron from the Hydra Empire and the Carol Corps' attack on the allegedly rogue Ultrons were connected.  I get that it's supposed to be a mystery why the Powers That Be need to create elaborate ruses to destroy whatever group it is that's trying to infiltrate Hala Field.  But, Carol and her Corps are presented as so lobotomized that it's hard to figure out why they would even need to bother developing a cover story.  The answer appears to be that Carol seems shaken by the high casualty rates.  But, as a soldier, she does have some sort of responsibility to follow orders.  Why lie to her in the first place?  Third, I'm not sure why Bee thinks that Carol comes from the same place as the light in the sky.  Doesn't everyone come from there?  If Doom has everyone believing that Battleworld is the only thing that exists in the universe, then it's not like Carol's origin story involving Kree would be accepted.  After all, the Baroness herself says that Carol's a gift from Doom.  If Bee thinks that Carol come from that light, then doesn't that mean that everyone would come from it?

I could continue but I'll stop there.  DeConnick could still go somewhere with this story, so I'll hold out hope.  But, I will say that I found this story to be the first one that felt obviously forced to connect to "Secret Wars."  The other stories have had fairly natural hooks, but this one felt like DeConnick really struggled to find some sort of way to connect "Captain Marvel" to the larger story.

** (two of five stars)