Review: Captain Marvel Earth’s Mightiest Hero Vol. 3
Quick Summary
Pros: The main story is interesting and introduces a fun change in pace. Captain Marvel and the people around her are funnier than ever, leading to a number of humorous situations.
Cons: The narrative here feels less meaningful than previous volumes.
Overall: This is a volume packed with action and humor. It details Captain Marvel as she takes her adventures to space, giving readers a unique peek at the cosmic side of Marvel. It also has a charming cast of characters that bring comedy to many of the book’s encounters. The only problem is that the stories told here do not feel as deep as before. This book is perfect for anyone who wants to read about a humorous superhero’s compelling adventures in space.
Story
The third volume of the Captain Marvel Earth’s Mightiest Hero series introduces changes in tone and location to Captain Marvel’s adventures. In this volume, writer Kelly Sue DeConnick takes Captain Marvel out of New York City and rockets her into the far reaches of space. Her adventures out there contain the same level of charm and fun as they always did and even add a little additional humor to the mix. However, the stories told here are not quite as meaningful or emotional as stories from the previous volumes. Despite this problem, this is still a great volume overall and one that most fans are likely to enjoy.
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Captain Marvel Vol. 3 starts out by propelling Captain Marvel into space, where the majority of the collection’s action takes place. This allows DeConnick to explore the cosmic side of the Marvel Universe through one of its more interesting characters. Captain Marvel’s adventures through space see her interact with alien species, engage in starship battles, and negotiate complex matters of planetary politics. These adventures are very different than what has previously been seen through this series, making for a refreshing change of pace.
This volume also has a more distinct focus on humor than the previous volumes. Captain Marvel’s one-liners are better, and jokes from secondary characters come around more often. There are also plenty of situations that more easily lend themselves to humor, such as Rocket’s insistence that Carol’s cat is actually a rare alien species. All of this makes for a fun and lighthearted reading experience.
Unfortunately, this change in tone coincides with a general weakening of the comic’s more meaningful aspects. The stories told here are not nearly as deep as the stories in previous volumes. Some moments come close, like Carol’s newfound friendship with Tig, but these moments are not quite as common as before.
In addition, the deep problems created by Carol’s memory loss are almost ignored here. Her memory loss is only briefly addressed and her quest to rediscover herself occasionally feels forgotten. Her new relationship with War Machine also completely contradicts the sentiment expressed near the end of the previous volume. The memory loss aspect of Carol’s character progression was an interesting element that will, hopefully, be addressed more significantly in future volumes.
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Art
The tone change in Captain Marvel Vol. 3 also extends into the volume’s approach to artwork. Both David López and Marcio Takara take a more lighthearted and stylized approach to Captain Marvel’s adventures. This works well with the volume’s focus on humor and allows it to accommodate some of the more outlandish moments. There are only a few moments where characters look weird and these weird moments are typically limited to strange facial expressions. Otherwise, both artists’ work looks good in general and does a successful job in providing a visual complement to the story.
Continuity
Captain Marvel: Earth’s Mightiest Hero Vol. 3 technically starts a new Captain Marvel comic series. However, this series directly continues the story from Captain Marvel: Earth’s Mightiest Hero Vol. 2 (Review).
The story here continues in Captain Marvel: Earth’s Mightiest Hero Vol. 4.
This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:
- The origin behind Carol Danvers’ powers is referenced here. This origin was originally told in Captain Marvel #18, which is collected in Captain Marvel Masterworks Vol. 2.
- Numerous aspects about the Builders’ attack on the universe are referenced. The background behind these attacks is detailed in Infinity (Review).
- Lila Cheney’s first comic appearance is referenced here. This appearance took place in New Mutants Annual #1, now collected in New Mutants Classic Vol. 3.