Carol Appreciation: Captain Marvel roundtable

This is the fifth (and final) post in our series of Carol Appreciation posts. Also check out Megan Byrd’s review of Captain Marvel #1, Valtyr’s ode to Ultimate Carol,  Garrideb’s look at Carol and female friendship, and Damalur’s Love Letter to Carol.

So I was chatting about the debut issue of Captain Marvel on Twitter, and then suddenly I was setting up a roundtable discussion. It’s kind of mysterious, really. On Saturday, Skalja (FuckYeahSpiderWife), MeganB (ComicBookCandy), Liz, Valtyr, Alisdair, Cohen (Reign In Hell), and I got together and hashed out what we liked, loved and didn’t love, about Cap #1.

First question! Did you get everything you were hoping for from this first issue?

Cohen: As a reboot issue, I feel like there’s a certain obligation to set the tone of the book in a way that’s accessible to new readers (which I am). I don’t really feel like I know much about what Captain Marvel is going to be like from having read this issue. I found this on wikipedia: “DeConnick stated at 2012 WonderCon that the series will reflect on what the legend of Captain Marvel means to Danvers, what she will do with it and what the rest of the Marvel Universe thinks of her new role” I think that sort of encapsulates the problem with this issue–it felt like a story about Captain Marvel, ostensibly, but there wasn’t much about the previous Captain Marvel and there also wasn’t a lot about Carol. It was more about what other people thought about Carol vis-a-vis taking on the role, in a really nebulous way. It seemed without focus.

Valtyr: I didn’t come in with a lot of expectations, but I was pretty pleased. I thought it was a nice overview of Carol; she fights, she flies, she has superhero friends and civilian friends. She’s comfortable enough with her powers to heat coffee. When she was young, her hero was one of the Mercury 13. She’s got concerns about living up to her predecessors – both Captain Marvel and Helen Cobb. And I thought it was an interesting detail when she thought about what she’d lost – the risk. The ability to compete. I thought it was a pretty good overview of the character – and I thought we did get a look at her, and what she felt/thought.

Alisdair: It’s nominally a #1 issue, even if it is a relaunch. So what I wanted was a book that set up who this character is, what they do and establishes their thing. What makes this character and this book different to other books, and why should I care?
What I took from this is that Carol Danvers is a pilot and a superhero. She clearly has a history, and one that seems to be relatively normal. She can hold her own with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes ™ with Iron Man name dropped and Captain America and Spider-man featuring. She’s built up as somebody, which was different from v.2 when she had to do that for herself. She appeared in this book as a fully formed, self confident superhero, which was a bridge from the end of v.2 where she had accepted herself and her limitations. There’s also a bit of progression where Crusher Creel recognises her, rather than Scorpion and the Stilt Man not knowing who she is. There’s clear character and career progression, without taking the character somewhere bizarre, but I’m still not entirely sure on what Her Thing is for the book.

I also wanted Carol hitting somebody in the face with a car. Still hoping.

Liz: I thought this was a great first issue. I had no idea who the old lady friend she was hanging out with was, but I thought OK, for an opening issue? I’m OK with having some things explained in the second issue. Though, I did have to wonder why Carol was hanging out in just a T-shirt and undies in her 60-year-old friend’s house? (Tangent: what is up with that anyways? I always see when two women have sleep overs in pop culture that they are dressed in just T-shirt and undies. Is this a regular occurrence that I am not aware of? I mean I usually wear shorts, T-shirt, etc. when I’m sleeping over at my girlfriend’s houses but… ANYWAYS) I liked the partnership she had with Cap and that he treated her like an equal and said, “Yes, Ma’am!” That was great. There were some confusing parts, and I think it had a LOT to do with the art. I will save my comments for the art for a later question, but all in all, as a new reader to the Ms. Marvel/Capt. Marvel mythos and Carol, I thought this was a really good issue and I am totally on board for No. 2.

MeganB: This first issue did everything that I don’t like to read in a first issue. It was a LOT of set up, seemed confused as to who the book was for. If they were hoping to bring in new readers, it was too much “catch up” but for older fans it was nothing new I guess? I consider myself a new fan since I did not read her previous ongoing series, and honestly I was disappointed. I have high standards for first issues since there are about a million books coming out right now that are doing what they do so well, if a creator / company wants my money they’ve gotta knock it out of the park on the first try. I know we’ve stayed away from talking about the art, but that was a big problem for me. If it had been better, I may have forgiven the obligatory “set up” feel for the first issue. As I said in my review, I did enjoy the characterization of Carol. That was the real strong point here, but everything else form the art to the events in the book felt muddled. Less is more, and in this case it feels like they made three first issues and crammed all of the concepts together.

Skalja: Kelly Sue DeConnick is my favorite new(ly high profile) writer working at the Big Two, and I’ve always liked Carol Danvers, so I’ve been looking forward to this title for months — especially since the launch of Captain Marvel is an opportunity to support a title starring a solo heroine written by a female author, which doesn’t happen too often. So I was pretty hyped up from the start — and while I enjoyed the issue a lot, it did feel like a little less than the sum of its parts.

The opening fight scene was decent, with great back-and-forth between the Caps — though as far as token misogynist super villains, Crusher Creel (who’s always struck me as having a fairly equal partnership in crime with his wife Titania) strikes me as an odd choice. The quieter moments with Captain America, Spidey and Carol’s older friend (presumably a returning character? I picked up by inference that she was from Carol’s magazine editor days, but I’m not sure I would have gotten that if I didn’t know about that part of her history) worked well to establish who Carol is and how she relates to other people. The space scenes were just gorgeous, and I love that DeConnick draws a line between the real life technology of aviation and Carol’s superpowers — and that, as a fighter jock at heart, Carol’s powers are something of a mixed blessing.

But the story as a whole seemed directionless. All the scenes were just a little too dragged out, and there was no dramatic tension, since the main question of the issue — will Carol take on the Captain Marvel mantle? — is already answered by the title. If I were a casual reader with zero investment in Carol, I’m sure I would have enjoyed this issue but I doubt I’d have felt compelled to pick up the next. As someone who does have an investment in Carol, this opening leaves me pleased but also worried for the future of the title already.

MeganP: I’ll echo a lot of what you guys have said. There was a lot of good in this issue, but also clear problems. Story order was a big one. This issue starts with a bang and then drifts into a muted, semi-affirmational ending. You don’t go from a fight scene to a very interior conversation, to a funeral. It’s ineffective story-telling. This issue needed a second and maybe even third tentpole–those two conversations with her mentors don’t have enough emotional weight to carry it. Nor did the flight to space/funeral sequence. In comics, you’re always looking for the page turn–how do you keep your reader going through the next panel, next page, next issue? Neither the art nor the writing seemed to have that in mind. Just a lack of forward movement and lack of direction.

As a Carol superfan who’s read just about everything she’s been in, this issue was easy enough for me to parse, but it’s clear from your reactions that it didn’t quite work out as an introduction to the character–it was perhaps more effective as a REintroduction. That said, I did appreciate the small touches. Learning that Carol’s body temperature increases ambient room temperature. Learning that Carol can jumpstart a coffee maker–perfect in character moment.

THE ARRRRRT. Did you read this issue on paper or digital? Did you read both? Did that affect your reading of it? Let’s talk art, guys. The good the bad and the ugly.

Cohen: I read this digitally, and that probably was to the art’s benefit. Let me preface my reaction by saying I don’t really have an eye for art. I tend to read comics for story, and if the art’s good I see it as a bonus. That said I feel like the art was fine in the opening fight scene, or during any kinetic scene (sparring with Spider-man, flying to space, etc). It felt strange, tonally, when people were just standing around. I think it would have really been served by being allowed to breathe a little during those kinetic scenes, which was difficult because of the awkward and unnecessary narration. The flight to space could have had some good weight to it if it wasn’t having to fight the running commentary on how IMPORTANT IT WAS THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT IT HAS EMOTIONAL RESONANCE THERE ARE CONNECTIONS. This was bad during the flight scene, but it was even worse during the bar flashback: that ugly, aggressively down-home “hand-written” boxless lettering was hard to read and didn’t communicate anything that wasn’t discernible from the conversations the characters were having. I guess what I’m trying to say is I actually liked the art during the action scenes and wished it wasn’t fighting for air with redundant narration.

One more thing. I just have to point this panel out.

There isn’t a single thing that isn’t wrong with this panel. The writing is redundant, and spells out something that’s already being telegraphed pretty hard by the dialogue. It’s very on-the-nose that it looks like it was written in after the fact. Like, “oh, gosh, I need to make sure this was clear, let me just add this.”I felt like it was hand-written to convey “Hey, this is a memory. Also, it is very down-home and emotional.”

Valtyr: I didn’t dislike the art in general (although the faces need work, both lines and colours) but I’m not sure how well the dark, weighty style suits the tone. I thought the funeral scene worked well, and space looked nice, and I liked the larger panels, like Cap hurling his shield. And I really liked Carol’s proportions. She’s solid, and I like that in my flying bricks. (Although there were some awkward ass shots.) Maybe it’s just that I associate Carol with brightness and clarity in art – I’ll have to see if I get used to it. It’s certainly an out of the way style, and I think there is a bit of a kneejerk negative reaction going on. The final two pages were lovely – the panel with the ashes flying is just stunning. I think it’ll grow on me, and I suspect the artist will improve, as he’s new.

I disagree about the hand-written text – I liked that effect, and the overlay provided a nice continuity between apartment and funeral scene. I think they’re trying new things, and I like to see that, and it worked well for me. (Though the text could have been easier to read, yeah.) And I also felt Helen’s perspective did add things – sure, it’s on the nose, but Helen Cobb was one of the Mercury 13. She should have been a spacewoman, and I liked that not only Carol thought of her as a hero, but Helen looked back and saw someone like her, who’d face a lot of the same challenges. It’s easy to say it’s on the nose, but the Mercury 13 moved heaven and earth to try and get a chance, and the deck was continually re-stacked against them, and they were denied the stars because they were women. So yeah, it worked for me.

Alisdair: If we’re talking about the art purely for art’s sake, it’s a bit mixed. There are a lot of panels that are muddy, which would work if the idea is to have Carol stand out as a vibrant character against the rest of the world. But, when her costume is predominantly navy, with just red and gold flashes, that’s a bit difficult. The faces worked for me, though some parts of them are don’t have enough space to work and to emote. The Absorbing Man’s MOON POWER panel is a highlight for marrying the art and the text. I get that Kelly Sue DeConnick had to rewrite that scene after seeing just how METAL Dexter Soy had made the scene and the art couldn’t carry the light and breezy scene that she had first written. Last word on faces, and Hi there, Andrew Garfield.

On the whole, it felt dynamic enough. The close bits were close, the big bits were big. There’s a variety of layouts and panel styles, that this comic feels like it’s trying to do something. I doubt that there’s a superhero book on the shelves that looks like it, and a clear visual identity is something that V.2 lacked. The thing is, this doesn’t look like a superhero book. It looks like it’s a suspenseful thriller, or a horror book. The visual tone and the story don’t really match up.

Liz: Oh man… the ARRRRRT. It was jarring to open the book — which has such a bright and fun cover — to see that art. I just didn’t feel like it jived with the tone of the book. I was expecting something brighter, clearer, a completely different tone. The art sort of evoked Lee Bermejo (just… not as good) for me, which I thought was a really odd tone and too dark. The colours were muddy as were the bodies and faces. I felt like I had to read this really slowly to figure out what was going on with the art and whether the story and the art were actually matching up. I really wasn’t a fan of Dexter Soy’s work on THIS Having said that, the end pages where Carol is out in space were fantastic. I really liked the handwritten text with that and how her helmet came on. The final page was GORGEOUS. But the rest of the art was really too dark and muddy for the tone. It was jarring, definitely.

MeganB: Plenty of people have talked specifics on the art, so I’ll talk a little bit about the editorial side. I did not care for the artwork, but more than that, I am disappointed that Marvel picked such an inexperienced artist for this title. It kind of goes back to the mainstream publishers not having faith in their own heroines to carry a title, and in a self-fulfilling move they pick an artist with approximately 0 followers to what, make it stand out on the shelves? How about quality? That usually moves books. You have Terry and Rachel Dodson do the art for the character’s first appearance as Captain Marvel – and you do that in Avenging Spider-Man? A baffling move to say the least. And to think, this is the artist that DeConnick and Marvel editors gushed about in panels saying “he’s the first artist we’ve ever hired on the spot” (citation needed). I think the choice of artist was based purely on the fact that he probably has a quick turnaround / ability to do three things at once makes it cheaper. Another artist that pencils / inks / colors his own work is Adi Granov (he did the variant cover for this book). But he takes three months to complete an issue, and it looks breathtaking when it is finished. But considering they’ve already put Captain Marvel on the twice monthly schedule (as indicated by future solicitations) they need quick and frequent artist changes. Dexter Soy is already off after three issues, then Emma Rios comes in. For a lot of readers, that’s just going to be a jumping off point; it may also be a jumping on point for those that don’t like the current art. Either way it isn’t creating a sense of stability / continuity for a new book, which is what you need to build an artist, not creative musical chairs.

Skalja: When the first preview pages of Soy’s art were released a few months ago I thought they looked dreadful. I don’t know whether it’s because my eyes have adjusted or my expectations were lowered, but I was pleasantly surprised. Carol looks wonderfully strong and imposing, particularly when flying through space (check out that page 14 splash!). I appreciated that the conversation scenes had more going on visually than repeated panels of talking heads, and while the facial expressions and body language could use more development I see a lot of promise there. I mean, considering there are artists who’ve been working in comics for years and yet still draw people like awkwardly posed mannequins made out of taffy…

(Sidebar re: the Andrew Garfield thing, which I’ve seen several people comment on in various places. I’ve long held that Garfield looks like he came straight out of a Steve Ditko Spider-Man issue — well, maybe after a visit to the hair salon, because Ditko never drew hair like that — so I didn’t even notice the resemblance. I just thought Soy drew Peter very on model. But I guess he could’ve been photo referencing!)

Even as a non-artist, though, I thought Soy’s lack of experience does show. There are a lot of proportion and perspective problems — I’ve pointed out page 14 as a great image of Carol flying; page 13 has another, but there the clumsy foreshortening looks all the worse in comparison. I’m also not a fan of the yellowish coloring throughout.

My biggest issue with Soy’s art has nothing to do with his skills, though — like some of you have said already, his style just doesn’t seem to mesh with the tone of the book or DeConnick’s take on the character. I agree with Megan B above, that the Dodsons in Avenging Spider-Man seemed like a much better fit. I also found myself thinking of Ryan Stegman; a few months ago I commented to a friend, after reading the first issue of Scarlet Spider, that Stegman’s art was beautiful but struck me as too clean and bright for what was a fairly gritty story about a troubled character struggling — and not always succeeding — to overcome his darker impulses. Here, it’s the opposite, and if Stegman and Soy weren’t moving on to other projects already I’d suggest they should trade places.

MeganP: I don’t hate the art. It’s pretty and there’s definitely loads of potential, but I don’t think it was the right fit for the book. An ongoing may have been too much for Soy to take on at this point in his career. If I’m remembering correctly, Soy is a digital painter, and doesn’t have a deep background in sequential art. That lack of experience is glaring. It’s encouraging though, that Kelly Sue knows that there are problems with this first arc–in interviews she’s said as much, and pointed to both overwriting and misunderstanding Soy’s style, as contributing to the gaps in visual storytelling.

A couple of things jumped out at me. Real comics pet peeves: disappearing pupils (WHY?), too-perfect digitally rendered objects, like Carol’s glass of water. He doesn’t seem to have painted everything in the book, and inconsistencies in technique are obvious to readers, even if they can’t quite identify the nature of the problem. Soy is no Adi Granov–although he works digitally, it doesn’t have the crispness or artificiality that Granov’s work does. Ultra-straight lines and digital crispness thus stands out even more.

Overall, I was disappointed in the art, but… it wasn’t Sana Takeda on Ms. Marvel v.2 (which I’m still not over). I’m happy about the coming artist changeup, and I wish Soy the best.

For you those of you who read all the advance coverage, how does Carol in this issue compare to the Carol who Kelly Sue built up? And if you didn’t read the coverage, what sense did you get of her character? Who is this Carol?

Cohen: I didn’t read any of the advance coverage, and I was totally unfamiliar with Carol, Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, all of it. I knew Rogue got her strength and flight from Ms. Marvel, but that was the entire scope of my knowledge. That said, I feel like after reading this first issue I have a working sense of Carol. Let’s begin with the surface stuff. She’s strong and tactically adept—showing her outstripping and out-planning Cap on the fly was a good way to demonstrate that, if a little forced. I’ve never been a fan of someone giving a paragraph-long description of what they’re doing in a fight while they’re doing it, but it wasn’t too bad here. Using the shield to tempt Absorbing Man and the cape to incapacitate him shows a capability to use her surroundings rather than pure might—interesting, since I got the sense she could have just clobbered Absorbing Man if she wanted to cut to the chase. But she pursued it tactically—the more difficult route—which plays into my next impression of Carol.

Carol is someone who relishes pushing herself, and as such being gifted with fantastic powers is a curse. Taking on the Captain Marvel role seems like an attempt overcome her lack of limitations; it’s a challenge she can’t conquer by fighting it. This gives her a chance to, like Helen, succeed in an arena in which she will have to struggle. Being “Ms. Marvel” is easy, because she’s the only one. Being “Captain Marvel,” on the other hand, is something someone else has already done. It’s a bar to live up to, to judge herself against, and to eventually surpass.

This is, I think, why the writing in this issue is a little weak. The heavy-handed spelling-out in the narration makes the thematic undercurrents a lot less effective. I feel like they could have been teased out a little more subtly through action and dialogue over a few issues. Instead, they’re front-loaded into a heap of narration in nearly every panel after the initial fight scene. Carol is taking on a mantle, as her conversation with Cap reveals. Then show her flying to space, with no narration. Then have the flashbacks, then the funeral/second space flight. The idea that Carol is simultaneously trying to honor her heroes and surpass them would have been apparent enough..

Valtyr: I don’t really read interviews. She’s secure in her place on the Avengers, she banters easily with Captain America, and they have a mutual respect and ease. She takes the time and care to visit a sick friend, make coffee, go out for groceries. She loves to fly fast, to enter orbit, to burn off heat in the atmosphere – but she’s also conscious that she lost things. Risk, the ability to compete – and to me, combined with Helen’s words about being a little removed, suggests maybe Carol’s feeling a little bit set aside from humanity. (Her powers are of course alien in origin, altering her genetic structure, so she’s arguably not human.) But her dreams and ambitions are connected firmly back to human ambitions in the form of Helen Cobb, and eventually she brings Helen out to space. I think it’s a nice look at her nature – as a superhero with civilians, an alien among humans, a human in space, a woman in a primarily male environment. Carol isn’t quite a natural fit anywhere, but she makes it work, builds connections, forms a space for herself. As Cap says, she’s more than earned her place. I like her a lot.

Alisdair: I don’t have the same passion for pilots that Kelly Sue DeConnick does. From her interviews, she’s made it clear that her connection to the book is from Carol’s time as a pilot. I came on to Ms. Marvel at v.2 where that wasn’t developed as much, and in v.1 she is put forward more as an editor, while she’s been introduced in Captain Marvel v.1 as a Security Chief. It feels a bit like DeConnick is pushing something that is part of the character, but elevating it to be much more than it has been. So, we’re approaching the character from different places, and I don’t care a lot about where DeConnick is coming from. It does feel like a bit of a departure from the previous character history, if not the characterisation. She is at least self assured and confident and has got past her issues of self belief. I like that she’s “graduated” to belonging and feeling like she belongs in the elite. The big question is, “Now that she’s here, what does this Carol want to do?” I can’t see much of an answer so far in what direction the book might take.

MeganB: I didn’t read an exhaustive amount of press from DeConnick, but I did attend several panels at C2E2 where she and Marvel editors discussed the book. One thing that is for sure, she is definitely passionate about the character and is dedicated to doing her justice. She’s very much aware of the void this book is filling since there are no other ongoing titles currently at Marvel being headlined by a female character, and again maybe that put the pressure on to do too much at once. Telling a good, compelling story should be priority number one, not living up the (unfair) mantle put upon the title. DeConnick and Captain Marvel have a lot to prove, and in a way she kind of becomes a bit of the Mary Sue here (not entirely of course, she’s more dimensional than that). When she talks about not living up to her expectations, not being entirely proud of her accomplishments, Carol could be talking directly to the audience. Why has she failed to resonate with a larger audience after so long? Why hasn’t she taken the Captain Marvel title after so long? Instead of questioning why, just show us a strong, well written character and the questions will answer themselves without needing to ask them. I’m hoping that’s where the book will go, and that DeConnick’s passion will take it there without the expectations put upon the book / character getting in the way.

Skalja: Well, I don’t know if I read all the advance coverage — I didn’t know that DeConnick’s already talked about the growing pains of writing this first arc/learning to work with Soy, or that Soy is that new to sequential art (and now that I know that I’m very impressed with the strengths he’s showing already). But yeah, I did read a lot of the interviews, and I would say that the Carol I envisioned after reading them is the one I got this issue — less fleshed out, of course, because Kelly Sue has to take the time to show us in the story what she can just out and out tell us in interviews!

Kelly Sue’s one sentence pitch was, “Crackerjack pilot races to prove her dead daddy wrong.” I expect the dead daddy part will come into play sooner or later, but meanwhile, I definitely get the sense of Carol as a pilot — more than that, someone who *identifies* as an air force pilot, not just professionally but culturally — with a strong need to prove herself again and again, even as many of the people she likes and respects think she has nothing to prove. I’m a Carol fan but not a Carol expert (I’ve mostly read her in Ms. Marvel vol II and in Mighty/New Avengers), so I can’t say how well this meshes with her history, but it’s a take on the character I find engaging and I’m looking forward to seeing where Kelly Sue takes it.

MeganP: My Carol is always going to be, first and foremost, a storyteller. I fell in like with her the first time she appeared on X-Men the Animated Series, but I really, truly fell in love when I discovered Claremont’s Carol. I mean, obviously part of this is because I’m a writer, but I think there’s something special there–a girl who wasn’t treated as the equal of her brothers, was told she wasn’t going to college, and just… wrote her own ticket. To me, Carol started out as this little girl with big dreams, but was at every turn denied the very possibility of achieving them. A key part of Carol is that she’s writing her own story. Also man, I just really want to see the return of SF writer Carol. Come on, Kelly!

That said, I’m on board with Top Gun Carol. While this first issue was overwritten and a bit shaky (as we’ve detailed above!), I do think that Kelly is giving us exactly what she said she would. What’s left is just working out the details of how she’s going to get that story on the page. It’s a bit of a Carol type story, really. This is Kelly Sue’s Best of the Best arc, where she’s figuring out just how to do this comics writing thing, and how to be as good at it as she can. Settle for nothing less!

Ok, last question! Will you continue reading? What do you want/need from the next issue? 

Cohen: I’ll absolutely continue reading. I’m hoping that the next issue or two will open up into something a little less inwardly-focused. I’ve always been a fan of characterization-by-doing, and I hope to see some of Carol’s principles play out a little more organically than a narration during a flight to space. Oh, and I hope no one says “broads” again. I think sexism is going to have to be an undercurrent, obviously, but good gracious that felt forced. And I realize that’s tough but still, jeez.

Valtyr: I’m going to keep picking this up. I hope in the next issue, we’ll have more of a compelling story – I liked this issue, but I’m going to need a plot to keep me interested. More of Carol in space would be nice, too! From the NEXT box, it looks like we’re getting more about Helen Cobb, and I assume we’ll see her and Carol fly together. Apparently Monica Rambeau will also be showing up, which is nice – she and Carol are both powerhouses of the MU, but I don’t recall seeing them together much – I’ll like to hear her input on the Captain Marvel mantle. But yeah, all this is engaging me fine, but I want more to happen, and Carol to use her brains and power to fight evil/crime/exploding stars.

MeganB: I like to give a book 2-3 issues to get a feel for it, so I’ll be picking up the next one. But boy has my pull list gotten large. If I don’t keep reading it’s because there are a lot of excellent books coming out, and I can’t afford to read books that I only have lukewarm feelings for. The double shipping is also a problem for me, economically, and artistically. I like consistency within a story arc, and I’m hoping they’ll pick complimentary artists as the book continues. If the story does not find its momentum soon, this may be a trade wait for me.

Alisdair: I’m going to continue because I want there to be a Carol Danvers book, I bought New Avengers v.2 because she was in it (then I stopped buying it because she was in it as background). I am going to buy and read Captain Marvel. What I’m hoping for is less of the pilot stuff (not going to happen) and for an ongoing storyline to develop. I don’t really want to read a collection of character pieces and ruminations on Carol’s past. Kelly Sue DeConnick has said that she’s got some “identity” stuff coming soon, which is Carol vs. Carol and I’m gagging to see the return of Other Carol from Reed’s run, where we can contrast how she has developed compared to Our Carol. There are lots of threads left hanging from Reed’s run, like Arana (appearing) and Headcase (probably not). I want to see her hit something with a Buick. Or one of those little trucks that they use to get planes into position on runways. There’s your pilot connection. I’d like to see something of Carol and maybe a visit from the new Kree empire, following on from Hickman’s FF run. Also, no more Peter Parker please.

Skalja: In my answer to the first question I mentioned being nervous whether this is the kind of opener that will pull in new readers and keep them there. But as for me? Definitely. This wasn’t a perfect first issue by any means, but I’m really into Kelly Sue’s take on the character and I’m looking forward to seeing where she takes us this first arc. As for the specifics, I’m assuming we’ll learn more about her relationship with Helen Cobb, and her father, but I’m particularly looking forward to the appearances of Monica Rambeau, former bearer of the Captain Marvel title, and Anya Corazon, current Spider-Girl and Carol’s former protege. As a big fan of Peter Parker in general and Carol-and-Peter specifically, I hope to see him crop up once in a while so we can get more of them being their contrasting-but-oddly-complementary selves. But mostly I just want Carol being awesome, and that I’m sure we’ll get in spades.

MeganP: I’m going to keep buying Captain Marvel. Not just because I’ve already amassed a truly embarrassing collection of Carol comics, but because I’m genuinely interested in Kelly Sue’s take on the character. Even when it doesn’t match my expectations, her passion for the character is clear, and that kind of passion keeps me interested. Like Alisdair, I want to see more of Other Carol and the Kree Empire. I’d also like to see the return of some her supporting characters from Ms. Marvel v2.0, like Arana and Lighting Storm. I’m also hoping to see more of Peter Parker, because he and Carol are weirdly (unromantically) perfect for each other–at least in terms of bringing out the best in each other. Carol and Peter make a great team, is what I’m saying, and I want more. What I don’t want to see is a rehash of stories past. I don’t want to see the Marcus storyline revisited. I don’t want Carol to fall off the wagon. I don’t want any more of Carol the self-doubting superhero, and I’m incredibly glad to see that Kelly Sue, for one, doesn’t seem to want any more that of that either.

So that’s it for our Carol Danvers Roundtable, guys. Thanks so much everyone, for participating and having such interesting things to say. (Seriously tho).

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Mai Pucik

Mai Pucik

Mai was born in Michigan and grew up in Switzerland, though she did pop back Stateside to get a BA in English from Swarthmore College and briefly experiment with library science. When not obsessing over comics minutiae or spamming Tumblr with Doctor Who gif sets, she's probably cross-stitching.

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