Conflicts, Musings, and Marvelous Insights: The Life of Captain Marvel #1

The following is my review of The Life of Captain Marvel #1, which was posted on PopMatters.com.

No character becomes iconic without going through a process. Sometimes, it happens unexpectedly. It's hard to imagine that Stan Lee knew Spider-Man's when he first introduced him in the pages of Amazing Fantasy #15. Most heroes only gain that status through a combination of luck, appeal, and growth. In the case of Carol Danvers, these factors aren't always present. In fact, throughout her history, she makes due with limited opportunities. In a world that contains the likes of Spider-Man, Captain America, and Wolverine, that's understandable.

Then, Kelly Sue DeConnick comes along and takes Carol Danvers to new heights with her run on Captain Marvel in 2012. After years as a supporting character stuck in niche roles, Carol finally establishes herself as someone worthy of being in the upper levels of Marvel's pantheon of icons. By shedding her former title and embracing that of Captain Marvel, she becomes someone who can hold her own in landscape crowded with notable names. That ascension isn't always smooth and even stalls somewhat due to the events of Civil War II, but it brings out the complexities of a character that finally has a chance to realize her full potential.

With an elevated role and an upcoming movie starting Brie Larson on the way, there's a greater sense of urgency for Marvel to maximize the appeal of Captain Marvel. Margaret Stohl, who has been doing most of the heavy lifting on Carol's story after DeConnick's departure, has an opportunity to add new layers to Captain Marvel's ongoing growth through The Life of Captain Marvel #1. It's not so much a re-telling of Carol's origins as it is an expansion.

It's a new bridge between the present and the past of a character whose story isn't as well-known as the Peter Parkers and Steve Rogers of the world. That gives Stohl an opportunity to build on the non-alien portion of Carol's story and she really runs with it. There aren't any epic space battles, Hydra agents, or Hulk-like monsters. Most of the story takes place in Harpswell, Maine. It's not the Kree home world, but just being there ends up hitting Carol harder than a fleet of Kree warships.

She doesn't go there for the sake of nostalgia, though. What prompts this homecoming is actually something more personal. It has nothing to do with a high school bully or a childhood crush. It has everything to do with it being Father's Day, which makes Carol relieve some very unpleasant memories. However, these are not the kinds of daddy issues that make for one too many John Hughes movies. It serves as the basis for one of the biggest upheavals in Carol Danvers' life and it doesn't even involve aliens.

It's a stark contrast to the standard narrative surrounding Carol since she took the mantle of Captain Marvel. Part of embracing that title means flying higher and looking forward, something Carol rarely hesitates to do when there are aliens and Hydra soldiers to punch. She's a tough, driven woman who just happens to have the kind of power and grit to go farther than most people imagine. The idea of her still being anchored by unresolved issues in the past seems antithetical to the arc she's been on for the past several years. However, that's exactly what her character needs.

That's not just because she has a movie coming out in March 2019. Carol eagerness to lead the charge into a fight makes her one of Marvel's most prominent superheroes, as well as an inspiration and a leader. It also rarely puts her in a position to confront old scars, of which she has a few. For years, the most notable issue she deals with was alcoholism. Stohl doesn't try to revisit that. Instead, she establishes a new issue that links the past and the present.

That past is largely driven by her father and his not-so-heroic temper. The present deals in the consequences he left in his wake, the most painful of which is felt by Carol's brother, Joe Junior. What happens to him as he reconnects with Carol puts her in a situation where she can't just fight her way out it like Captain Marvel. She can't just fly away, either. She has to stick around in this place that brings up so many unpleasant memories. For someone who works with the likes of Tony Stark, Hulk, and skilled sorcerers, that's saying something.

As a result, Stohl provides some overdue, but welcome insight into Carol Danvers. Her experiences with her family and her reaction to the tragedies that unfold do more to humanize her. It's not just that she interacts with her family and espouses her love of donuts. She willingly opens old wounds and reveals that, for all her power and bravado, she still struggles to cope. It provides a new context for who she is as a person rather than an accomplished superhero. The fact she is so annoyed by Harpswell using her history there to promote tourism reveals that there's a disconnect between Carol Danvers and Captain Marvel.

It's a struggle that affects Peter Parker every other day as Spider-Man. It's also a struggle that Kamala Khan, Carol's biggest fan, is just starting to learn as Ms. Marvel. Carol may give the impression that she's beyond those issues of less experienced heroes, but The Life of Captain Marvel #1 shows that's not the case. It also hints that there are other complications she doesn't know about that may deepen those wounds. There's even a hint that aliens are involved, which is in keeping with Carol's tendency to attract other worldly trouble.

It also provides another potential link between the present and the past. It even promises to expand on the issues with her father, which is critical if he's going to be more than just a generic abuser with the depth of a Hydra foot soldier. The potential for major revelations, as well as space battles mixed with personal upheaval, is certainly there. The details are somewhat vague, almost to an excessive degree. However, it does more than enough to set up a more nuanced battle for Carol that can't be blown up or attributed to alcoholism.

There are some narratives that work in any time or place in a character's development. Sometimes, though, having it unfold at a certain time within a certain context makes it even more effective. The Life of Captain Marvel #1 gets the timing, the context, and everything in between just right for Carol Danvers. It feels like one of those defining stories that needs to be told before a character can be elevated to the same level of a Captain America or Iron Man. Carol is already ascending and with Brie Larson set to bring her to life in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it's safe to say she's almost there.

Final Score: 9 out of 10

Timely Traditions: Cable #1

The following is my review of Cable #1, which was posted on PopMatters.com.

When it comes to time travel, there aren't many superheroes these days that can do it without making fans roll their eyes. As a concept, time travel is overdone, burned out, and utterly devoid of shock value. The days of "Back To The Future" and the lovable eccentricities of Doc Brown are long gone. Stories that involve time travel are about as inane as a stories that involve Superman telling kids to eat their vegetables.

However, there is still one character who can build their story around time travel and make it work. It's not Doc Brown either. It's Cable. He's part Terminator, part Marty McFly, and part Rocky Balboa. He's also friends with Deadpool and willingly works with him on a regular basis. That alone is a testament to his grit and determination.

With a major role in the next Deadpool movie, as well as the star power of Josh Brolin, the time traveling mutant has a lot going for him. With Cable #1, another title in Marvel's ongoing RessurXion effort, James Robinson and Carlos Pacheco try to put Cable on the same wave that Deadpool rode to a wave of popularity. He may never inspire as many Funko figures or cos-play costumes, but he still has so many factors going for him.

The story in Cable #1 takes the core of his character and runs with it. There's no elaborate exposition. There's no major build-up to the plot. It just puts Cable in the middle of a time travel plot and lets him do his thing. Anyone who knows anything about Cable won't be too surprised. They won't be disappointed either. There's time travel, there's big guns, and there's large-scale violence both on and off-panel. By every measure, this is a typical Tuesday for Cable.

In terms of getting back to the core of a particular character, Cable #1 checks the necessary boxes. It doesn't check every box, but it checks the ones that are most important to the core of Cable's character. Robinson doesn't try to reinvent Cable or twist his story in some elaborate way. He sticks to the basics of time travel and big guns, which are the meat and potatoes of every great Cable story.

In terms of the contents of that story, it itself doesn't try to be too iconic. It has Cable doing some time-hopping to find someone who has been sharing futuristic weapons with people and time periods that haven't even mastered indoor plumbing. Anyone who deals with Marvel's twisted timeline is right to be concerned about that sort of thing. Given the absence of the Fantastic Four and the ineptitude of those such as Hank McCoy, Cable is the only one qualified to handle this issue. The substance is there. It's only the portion size that's lacking.

The core concept is there in Cable #1. There's someone screwing with the timeline by giving high-tech guns and swords to cowboys and samurai. That makes for plenty of gun-fights and gratuitous violence, as only Cable can inspire, but there's little context to the story. There's no real clue as to who Cable is after. The only detail revealed is that they think giving people who still see bathing as a luxury is a good idea. Beyond that, there's little else to go on.

That doesn't make Cable's battles any less entertaining. Compared to the plots of a typical Terminator movie, Cable #1 is refreshingly straightforward. There's just too little drama and too little setup to intrigue those who aren't already fans of Cable's time-hopping narratives. Robinson doesn't try to push the envelope and that's understandable. At a time when many other X-men characters are returning to their roots in wake of Inhumans vs. X-men, his efforts in Cable #1 fit the larger narrative. It just doesn't try to push it any further.

For those who don't know much about Cable or his convoluted backstory, complete with clones and techno-organic viruses, they won't see anything too overwhelming. They won't see anything too shocking either. They'll just see a character that specializes in traveling through time, shooting big guns, and getting into big fights. That alone has plenty of entertainment value. However, in a world that still has Deadpool and multiple Wolverine knock-offs, that only goes so far.

There aren't many details of the story in Cable #1 that are clear from the beginning or even the end, for that matter. That's not to say the story is messy or convoluted, though. It is the beginning of a larger story. The ending teases a much larger conflict at hand, one that will require more time travel and more big guns.

That has plenty of appeal to long-time Cable fans, but new readers won't find anything that they can't find in other comics that deal with big guns and gratuitous violence. Given the number of characters that rely on big guns and gratuitous violence, Cable #1 doesn't do much to set itself apart. However, there is still something to be said about a story that can involve cowboys and samurais in the same story.

In the end, the greatest success of Cable #1 is how sticks to the basics and doesn't complicate the narrative. In any story that involves time travel, that in and of itself is an accomplishment. Robinson maintains the core of Cable's character and Pacheco's art ensures that it's visually appealing. The story has the necessary foundation on which to build upon Cable's story. There's nothing in that story that precludes a narrative that becomes an iconic moment in his history. It's a long way towards achieving that level of quality, but it's on the right path.

With a promising future in Deadpool 2, courtesy of Josh Brolin, Cable is one of those characters whose profile is on the rise. Cable #1 puts him at the front of the batting order and shows off the potential of what he can bring to the table. With big guns, a bad attitude, and a blatant disregard for time paradoxes, he has all the tools he needs to be a major player for the X-men. At a time when Hugh Jackman has retired and Deadpool is the new adamantium standard, the timing couldn't be better.

Final Score: 6 out of 10