Classic Review: Marvel Masterworks- Captain Marvel Vol. 6
Quick Summary
Pros: The volume opens with a fantastic story arc that works on multiple angles. The volume closes with a beautiful final chapter that serves as a perfect conclusion to this series. The artwork is consistently positive at nearly every point throughout the volume.
Cons: Some of the independent stories here are just average.
Overall: This is one of two volumes every Captain Marvel fan should read. It starts out with an epic space odyssey, moves to a few individual tales, and concludes with an emotional send-off. The stories contained here are almost all entertaining and they are backed up by artwork that makes them even better. Plus, the book’s conclusion is a critical piece of this character’s history and legacy. Anyone who cares about Captain Marvel should read this volume.
Story
Marvel Masterworks: Captain Marvel Vol. 6 is an incredible collection of stories that brings an amazing conclusion to this series. The volume starts out with one of the most entertaining space odysseys of Captain Marvel’s career, a journey fraught with action and suspense. Then, the quality dips for a bit as independent stories replace larger narratives. However, the collection goes on to redeem this dip in quality by concluding with “The Death of Captain Marvel”. This final story is an emotional journey that works as a perfect sendoff to this series and this hero. Overall, this is easily one of the best collections of Captain Marvel stories out there and is a must read for any fan of this character.
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Captain Marvel Vol. 6 starts out with the most instantly enjoyable story arc since Jim Starlin’s run on the character back in Captain Marvel Vol. 3 (Review). This story, written by Doug Moench, has Captain Marvel join forces with a reluctant Drax the Destroyer in order to stop Thanos’s posthumous evil plans. It is an epic saga stretching across multiple chapters that places the duo in a variety of exciting situations. There are points, especially near the saga’s conclusion, where I was genuinely concerned about the fate of the heroes, since it appeared there was no way they would survive their predicament. However, this only served to make their ultimate victory and the weeks of peace that followed more satisfying.
Though this arc is highly enjoyable, it is not without flaw. There are portions of this narrative that are downright ridiculous, especially from a modern perspective. At one point, Captain Marvel and Drax decide to take a break from their immediately pressing mission and have a sip of wine from a complete stranger, which knocks them out and jump starts the next chapter of the story. At another point, one of Captain Marvel’s enemies decides to betray her boss and join him because Captain Marvel is “attractive” and her boss is “not attractive”. Luckily, these more ridiculous pieces of the narrative are brief and do not have a large impact on the read.
Once this story arc concludes, Captain Marvel Vol. 6 takes a turn for the mediocre. It tells a series of short Captain Marvel adventures that are almost entirely divorced from the larger narrative and character development that had taken place previously. None of the adventures are necessarily bad, but they are so average that they end up being completely forgettable.
However, Captain Marvel Vol. 6 ramps back up in quality once more as it enters its final arc, The Death of Captain Marvel. This story, written by Jim Starlin, is a final sendoff to the character this Marvel Masterworks series has focused on for the past five volumes, comprising nearly two decades of material. In many ways, it is a retrospective look on the unique and varied life of Captain Marvel. It summarizes his most important adventures and shows the deep impact he has had on the Marvel Universe. It also provides a touching conclusion to the romance he began in this volume and the friendships he has maintained throughout his heroic career.
It is also worth talking about how expertly Captain Marvel’s death is handled. This is a character that has fought incredibly powerful enemies and has faced death in the dark depths of the cosmos. However, instead of meeting his end in battle, he is struck down by something as mundane and tragically human as cancer. The situation is a commentary on the fragility of life and a reminder that, no matter how great a person is, no mortal can conquer death. It is a humbling approach to the situation that couldn’t have been written any better than it is written here.
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Art
The artwork in Captain Marvel Vol. 6 reflects the high quality of the storytelling. The majority of the collection features the return of penciler Pat Broderick and has him team up with inker Bruce Patterson, newcomer to the series. This proves to be an effective artistic combination, as it noticeably improves on the work put out by Pat Broderick in the previous volume. The art in this portion of the book is bold and dramatic, capturing the intensity of the battles taking place. It is also well laid out in a way that helps tell the story in the most exciting way possible. The only exception to these pleasant visuals occurs in a chapter inked by Gene Day, where Day’s heavier lines distort Broderick’s otherwise pleasing pencils.
After this story arc concludes, a couple of other artists take over for a few independent chapters. Steve Ditko’s work on one chapter perfectly captures the bizarre nature of the storytelling. Meanwhile, Frank Miller’s work on another chapter is able to bring some intense cosmic creativity to the forefront.
Finally, Captain Marvel Vol. 6 closes with a chapter from Jim Starlin. This is an emotionally charged chapter with art that reflects these emotions. The chaotic structures and smaller panels from Starlin’s earlier work on Captain Marvel are replaced by larger and more traditional panels that effectively convey the emotions present on characters’ faces. It is also a fitting sendoff to have Captain Marvel’s final chapter drawn by the artist who had the most significant impact on the character.
Continuity
Marvel Masterworks: Captain Marvel Vol. 6 continues the story from Marvel Masterworks: Captain Marvel Vol. 5 (Review).
Captain Marvel’s story ends here and does not continue in a specific comic.
This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:
- Over the course of this volume, nearly every chapter in Captain Marvel’s life is mentioned at some point in time. These references stretch from Marvel Masterworks: Captain Marvel Vol. 1 (Review) to Marvel Masterworks: Captain Marvel Vol. 5 (Review). ComicBookWire’s reviews on this series can be found here.
- In Marvel Spotlight #3, Rick Jones mentions something the Kree Supreme Intelligence said to them in Avengers #97, part of the “Kree-Skrull War” (Review) (Reading Order).