Stohl, Margaret

AVERAGE REVIEW SCORE:

2 out of 5

(1 book)

The Life Of Captain Marvel

(Art by Carlos Pacheco, Rafael Fonteriz, Marcio Menyz, Federico Blee, Marguerite Sauvage and Erica D'Urso)

When she begins suffering anxiety attacks in the heat of battle, Carol Danvers decides to return to her hometown to try to resolve the emotional traumas of her childhood but instead uncovers a secret which changes everything she thought she knew.

I will say straight off, and firmly, that there is nothing wrong with the way this story is written.  It's solidly put together, has appropriate dialogue and is complemented by some very good artwork.

However, despite all that, I heavily resent the fact that this particular story WAS written at all.  It's one of those dreadful stories which totally retcons the background of a familiar character for no better reason than some soulless marketing executive thought it would be a good way to sell a new book.  The events in this story basically mean that Carol's journey to become one of Marvel's leading heroes across the decades of her appearances in the comics is basically meaningless.  All the early stuff about her friendship with Mar-Vell, all the stuff about how she got his powers transferred to her, her struggles with her identity (Ms Marvel, Warbird, Binary, Captain Marvel) have now been retconned because it turns out she was born to be a superhero all along.  It's so incredibly stupid and robs Carol of the agency that the character has literally fought for throughout her time as a hero.  (If, like me, you're a Doctor Who fan, then this is the Marvel equivalent of the Timeless Child 'revelation').

Honestly, just don't buy this.  You'll only encourage media executive to keep churning out these god-awful 'secret origin' stories which no-one wants and which only damage the characters themselves.

2 out of 5

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Marvel Comics (here)