Post by goldenfist on Oct 10, 2007 17:26:38 GMT -5
It's like Behind the Music but better. A guide to two key (Secret Invasion) players in the Marvel Universe.
October 8, 2007 - Remember all those Behind the Music specials VH1 used to show before their network was taken over by C-List celebrities like Flava Flav and Hulk Hogan? So do we, and today we're applying that same formula to two of our favorite Marvel heroes. Everyone loves a good biography with its ups and downs, high points and low points, and that one magic moment where everything starts to turn around for the hapless character in question while upbeat music plays in the background. The Marvels, that is - Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel - have all that in spades. But why one guide for two characters, you ask? Well, at first we thought they were married or something. What do we know? We're too busy thinking up new ways to trash One More Day.
Much like our Reader's Guides and Event Guides, this guide is meant to help new readers get a grasp on two characters who will have a major influence on the Marvel Universe in the coming months. Condensing 30-40 years' worth of history into a few pages is no small feat. To help us, we've asked a group of Marvel writers and editors including Brian Reed, Steve Wacker, and Tom Brevoort for their thoughts on these two characters. You'll see their quotes peppered throughout this guide. Look for even more in the coming days as we publish the full interviews.
A Marvel is Born
Surprising though it may seem, Marvel's Captain Marvel wasn't the first character in comics to bear the name. The honor belongs to the Fawcett Comics Captain Marvel, who was first seen in 1940. This character lasted for some 13 years until a lawsuit from rival publisher DC Comics forced Fawcett to shelve Captain Marvel. Eventually DC purchased the rights to the characters and began folding them into their own universe. The Big Red Cheese had found a new home with the likes of Superman and The Flash.
Unfortunately for DC, an opportunistic Marvel Comics managed to snag the Captain Marvel copyright for their own. In the two decades of the Fawcett/DC character's hibernation, Marvel began publishing their own Captain Marvel series. Thanks to the magic of copyright law, DC has been forced to title all their Captain Marvel comics Shazam! ever since.
So who is this rascally up-and-comer? To answer that, one has to journey away from Earth and into the depths of space. Captain Marvel was born Mar-Vell of the Kree Empire. The Kree are one of the more influential races in the Marvel Universe, holding large amounts of space and waging a millenia-long war against their rivals the Skrulls. The Kree race generally resembles that of Earth's humans, though they have a more advanced physiology and many have blue skin. Because of his pink skin tone, Captain Mar-Vell of the Kree Imperial Militia was sent to Cape Canaveral Florida to infiltrate the American military base there and study the human race.
As is so often the case with comic book characters, Mar-Vell was inadvertently dragged into the life of a superhero. First came the secret identity. Mar-Vell posed as the recently deceased Dr. Walter Lawson in order to continue working at the facility. Then came the costume. Mar-Vell suited up in his Kree military uniform to battle a rogue Kree Sentry robot. The crowd of spectators was mightily impressed with Mar-Vell's prowess, mistakenly calling him Captain Marvel. The name stuck.
The Early Years of a Marvel
With no particularly creative powers or complicated back story, Captain Marvel's early years were fairly inauspicious. Aside from his superior strength, the self-proclaimed defender of Earth possessed a limited ability to fly and a Uni-Beam blaster, both examples of Kree technology. As sales of his series flagged, writers like Gil Kane attempted to introduce more science fiction elements. Mar-Vell gained the ability to absorb solar radiation and channel it in various ways, not unlike Superman. He was also granted the Kree Nega-Bands, which granted him a great deal of strength and the ability to travel through space. The final part of the equation came when Mar-Vell was imbued with "cosmic awareness." Essentially, this awareness grants the user the foresight of every event that has happened, is happening, and will happen across the universe. Not too shabby.
In another attempt to help readers relate to this alien superhero, Marvel enlisted the help of eternal everyman Rick Jones. Jones, formerly sidekick of sorts to both Hulk and Captain America, became bonded to the spirit of Captain Marvel. When Jones slammed his own pair of Nega-Bands together, he traded places with the powerful warrior. While one resided on Earth, the other was trapped in the barren Negative Zone. In a sense, this relationship was not unlike that of the Fawcett/DC Captain Marvel, where young Billy Batson would transform into his powerful alter ego by shouting the phrase "Shazam!"
It was also around this point that Ms. Marvel, or rather, Carol Danvers, made her first appearance. Danvers hailed from a strong military background. When her strict father refused to allow her to enter college, Danvers retaliated by entering the air force. Brian Reed says of Danvers: "Carol is a woman who wants to be the best she can be, and I think that's something we can all identify with. But she's also a rather broken person personality-wise, always charging into situations without thinking them all the way through." Her journey eventually brought her to Cape Canaveral and into direct contact with one Dr. William Lawson. Even as Danvers was charged with hunting down and capturing Captain Marvel, she developed a deep friendship with Lawson. Eventually the two fell in love.
Mar-Vell's former commander and newfound nemesis Yon-Rogg was quick to exploit this relationship. Upon returning from the Negative Zone, Mar-Vell discovered that Carol had been kidnapped by Yon-Rogg. The two warriors fought a duel to the death. In a last-ditch attempt to destroy his enemy, Yon-Rogg killed himself in aa massive explosion. Rather than taking Mar-Vell and Carol with him, the explosion caused the DNA of the two lovers to merge. Carol now possessed many of Captain Marvel's powers, including super-strength and his tactical training. She soon followed him into the superhero life, giving birth to Ms. Marvel.
Twice as Marvelous
Both Marvels began to play a greater role in the Marvel Universe. Captain Marvel played a central role in the Kree-Skrull War storyline, which saw the age-old battle between galactic superpowers spill over onto Earth. The Kree Supreme Intelligence attempted to use Jone's psychic potential to harness the Destiny Force and end the war in one fell swoop. Mar-Vell was able to save his friend by imbuing him with a small amount of his life force. The war had left Earth, and Mar-Vell resumed his heroic duties. With the help of groups such as the Avengers and Defenders, Captain Marvel fought such fearsome foes as Thanos and the Lunatic Legion. He even fell in love with a woman named Elysius and set up a second home on the moon of Titan.
For her part, Ms. Marvel became an full-fledged Avenger in her own right. In addition to her powers derived from Mar-Vell, she came to grips with her mysterious and sometimes volatile "seventh sense." Further exposure to Kree technology granted her the ability to fly and instantly change into her Ms. Marvel uniform. In addition, Ms. Marvel became a sort of superheroine figurehead for the 70's feminist movement. She became a writer, even serving as the editor for J. Jonah Jameson's magazine Woman.
Unfortunately, Ms Marvel didn't develop a reputation as one of Marvel's most unlucky females for nothing. Her troubles started when a demonic being from the alternate dimension of Limbo took an interest in her. This being, Marcus, fell in love with Carol. He chose to forcibly impregnate her and transfer his essence into her womb. When Carol's baby was born, she was more than a little surprised to see that it grew to maturity within a rapid span of time. The newly reborn Marcus (wit a little help from mind control) convinced Carol to return his love. Several writers, including Chris Claremont, were none too happy with this turn of events. As part of his landmark Avengers Annual #10, Claremont returned an angry Carol to her former teammates. Unsurprisingly, she wasn't pleased that they would allow her to run away with her own son without so much as a questioning glance.
The annual also showcased a defining element of Carol's life, one that should be familiar to fans of the 90's X-Men cartoon. Ms. Marvel clashed with the mutant Rogue, then a member of Mystique's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. In the course of the battle, Rogue used her mutant power to permanently absorb Carol's powers and memories. Carol was thrown from the top of Golden Gate Bridge. Luckily, Spider-Woman proved more adept at catching falling women than Spider-Man. Thanks to a little psychic assistance from Professor Xavier Carol survived, but she had lost all emotional connection to her old friends and comrades. Despondent and powerless, she left the Avengers.
A Death in the (Marvel) Family
Things began to take a turn for the worse in Captain Marvel's life as well. A previous encounter with the villain Nitro proved to have dire consequences for Mar-Vell's health. During the fight, he was knocked unconscious by a canister of nerve gas. Though he quickly recovered, the gas infected his alien physiology with the very human disease known as cancer. Despite the best efforts of Earth's greatest minds, Mar-Vell slowly succumbed to his disease. He spent his last moments surrounded by old friends on Titan. At the very end, he followed Death and her admirer Thanos into the sunset. Tom Breevort said of Mar-Vell's death "I think the reason the Death of Captain Marvel worked as well as it did, and really held up over the years, was that it was a very human, very relatable story that hadn't been touched upon in comics before then. Mar-Vell died in bed, in a very ordinary way. Plus, he was the last of the Stan-created characters, so his death felt like a big thing." Mar-Vell had passed on, but one of Earth's heroes was conspicuously absent.
Having no where else to go, Carol stayed with the X-Men. Shortly after she was captured by the alien Brood. Being fascinated with her unique human/Kree hybrid DNA, they performed many experiments on Carol. These experiments unleashed her full potential. Now with cosmic-level powers, Carol began calling herself Binary. She continued to hang around the X-Mansion until Xavier admitted that he had allowed Rogue to join the team. The fact that Rogue was suffering under the duress of a lifetime of Carol's memories meant nothing to her. Furious that her enemy was living under the same roof, Carol fled and joined the interstellar pirates known as the Starjammers.
The void of space allowed Carol to come to grips with the own void that was her life. She formed close friendships with her new allies, particularly the swordsman Raza. She even helped restore Empress Lilandra to the throne. Things were finally beginning to look up for the beleaguered fighter, but a new problem began to thwart Carol - boredom. New threats to the Shi'Ar Empire were no longer enough to fill the void. When Earth's sun was threatened, Carol jumped at the chance to help her old comrade Quasar. They succeeded, but Carol's Binary powers were drained in the process. This time, Carol chose to lean on the Avengers for support and rebuild broken friendships.
Normally this would be the point where the upbeat music starts. Unfortunately, Carol wasn't quite done falling. While she served for a while as an Avenger under the new codename Warbird, her rapidly-depleting powers and increasing problem with alcoholism made her a poor choice of teammate. Carol's drinking problem became so bad that she was forced to leave the team. She fled to Seattle and tried her hand at writing again. However, her career as Warbird proved more disastrous than ever. Only after an intervention by Iron Man, himself a recovering alcoholic, was Carol able to acknowledge her life's problems. Slowly, she was able to pick of the pieces of her superhero career and start anew.
You can cue the upbeat music now.
Modern Marvels
Carol had clawed her way from rock bottom, but she had a ways yet to climb. Her inspiration came in the form of the House of M. In this alternate reality created by former Avenger Scarlet Witch, mutants ruled the world and Ms. Marvel was known as the greatest superhero of them all. Naturally, reality was restored (minus a few million mutants), and Carol found herself once more nothing more than a washed-up Avenger. This wasn't to last. Carol wanted to be"the best of the best." The first step? Hire a public relations firm, of course. The rejuvinated Ms. Marvel turned down membership in the New Avengers, instead focusing on her solo career and reputation. However, when war began to brew Carol found her perfect way to the top.
The Superhuman Registration Act had just been passed, and Carol became one of the figureheads of the pro-registration movement. Together with Wonder Man, Arachne (formerly Spider-Woman II), and her new trainee Arana, Ms. Marvel became responsible for hunting down and arresting heroes who resisted the Registration Act. She succeeded at this job, perhaps a little too well. When Arana was badly injured in combat, the young hero's grandfather took out a restraining order against Carol. And when it became apparent that Arachne was aiding and abetting a superhuman fugitive, Ms. Marvel turned in her friend and ally to the authorities. Reed says, "She's a pragmatist to the extreme, willing to sacrifice friends if it appears to be for the greater good." This trait would show itself again when Carol attempted to lure Spider-Woman and the other underground Avengers into a trap. Still, Carol's career had hit the fast track, and it wasn't long before Tony Stark asked her to serve as leader of the Mighty Avengers. She had ostensibly become "the best of the best."
As for Captain Marvel, even cancer wasn't enough to keep to keep him out of the spotlight forever. As the superhuman Civil War heated up, Tony Stark, Reed Richards, and Hank Pym developed a high-security prison in the Negative Zone. Much to their surprise, they found a very much alive Mar-Vell floating in the wastelands. This Mar-Vell had no knowledge of his own death, and it became apparent he had been somehow pulled through time to the present. Unfortunately, the cancer had already begun to develop in Mar-Vell's cells, and each man realized it would only be a matter of time before Captain Marvel perished for a second time.
Unsure of what to do next, Mar-Vell agreed to serve as warden for the Negative Zone prison. Unfortunately, fate would not allow Captain Marvel to stay hidden for long. Tensions, both internal and external, caused the prison to collapse. Mar-Vell relunctantly joined the fray. Iron Man's forces soon won the day, but Mar-Vell was nowhere to be found.
A Marvelous Future?
So what does the future hold for this duo? Reed, writer of the solo Ms. Marvel series, says "What we've seen in the last two years is that a group of writers (including myself) that remember Carol from our childhoods have decided she's a character that could be more than she has been, and we're going to polish her up and use her. The side-effect of that is that she's everywhere now, and people who might never have encountered her in the past are discovering her." In the past two years since House of M, Carol has become one of the premier heroes of the Marvel Universe. Expect her story to continue in both the monthly pages of Ms. Marvel and the semi-annual pages of Mighty Avengers.
As for the good Captain, his exploits will be continued in a new mini-series also written by Reed. He comments, "Mar-Vell has gone missing. We know he's in France, but why and what he's doing there are a mystery at first. The miniseries itself helps to bridge the gap between the Initiative-era and the Secret Invasion since, as you can imagine, putting a bunch of Skrulls on Earth at the same time as one of their greatest enemies returns can cause a bit of trouble." As for whether Mar-Vell's exploits will continue in future series, or even if he survives past the end of this mini-series, only time will tell.
Reed also ackonwledges that the two Marvels will meet once more in his series. "Ms. Marvel's powers are all based on Captain Marvel's since their DNA was mingled during an explosion. She would not exist without him, and she knows that. When Mar-Vell died, Carol was Binary and was out galivanting about the galaxy, so she didn't get the chance to say goodbye. That's something I touch on in Captain Marvel #2."
The Marvel Family Tree
So you think you're all caught up for these upcoming stories? Slow down there, partner. No Captain Marvel retrospective would be complete without a mention of the other half dozen characters to bear the name. As Tom Breevort says, "Each reader no doubt has his or her own favorites, and they've each served their own stories well over the years, but I don't think any of them have proven to be all that significant over the long haul." None may have surpassed the original, but their stories are well worth reading just the same.
Genis-Vell - Perhaps the most well known Captain Marvel successor, Genis-Vell was the artificially created son of Elysius and a cloned sample of Mar-Vell's DNA. Genis-Vell was the star of multiple ongoing series, most notably Peter David's Captain Marvel Vol. 4. Despite his cult popularity, the Peter David series was canceled and Genis-Vell eventually met with an untimely and unfortunate end in the pages of Thunderbolts.
Phyla-Vell - Phyla-Vell was essentially created as a byproduct of her insane brother Genis' insane machinations. She is also an artificially created child of Elysius and Mar-Vell (he's pretty busy for a dead guy). Phyla-Vell played a major role in the original Annihilation storyline, and is now the star of her own mini-series leading into Annihilation Conquest.
Hulking - A member of the Young Avengers, Hulking actually has nothing to do with Hulk. Instead, he happens to be the only legitimately-grown offspring of Captain Marvel, as he is the product of a tryst between Mar-Vell and Princess Anelle of the Skrull Empire. Interestingly, that makes him an important figure for both races and a possible catalyst for a new Kree/Skrull War. Reed says, "There's a Young Avengers limited series launching in January that I'm part of. My issue is all about Teddy and Mar-Vell meeting for the first time."
Marvel Boy - Noh-Varr is a pink-skinned Kree warrior from an alternate universe first seen in the pages of Grant Morrison's Marvel Boy mini-series. He has since appeared in the pages of both Civil War: Runaways & Young Avengers and New Avengers: Illuminati. In the latter it becomes clear that Noh-Varr has an important, though undisclosed, role to play in the coming future.
Monica Rambeau - Also known as Photon, this woman was a popular member of the Avengers in the 1980's and leader of Nextwave more recently. Other than the codename, she has nothing to do with the original Captain Marvel. Don't make fun of her, though, or she might kick-splode you.
Pluskommander Geheneris Halason Mahr Vehl - The who in the what now? This is the full phonetic name of Ultimate Captain Marvel, who was first seen in the pages of Ultimate Secret. This version of Captain Marvel was instrumental in defending Earth from Gah Lak Tus, but hasn't been seen much since. He's already become quite friendly with S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Carol Danvers, who has yet to gain any sort of superhuman powers.
So what does everyone think about the life and times of Captain
& Ms.Marvel.
October 8, 2007 - Remember all those Behind the Music specials VH1 used to show before their network was taken over by C-List celebrities like Flava Flav and Hulk Hogan? So do we, and today we're applying that same formula to two of our favorite Marvel heroes. Everyone loves a good biography with its ups and downs, high points and low points, and that one magic moment where everything starts to turn around for the hapless character in question while upbeat music plays in the background. The Marvels, that is - Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel - have all that in spades. But why one guide for two characters, you ask? Well, at first we thought they were married or something. What do we know? We're too busy thinking up new ways to trash One More Day.
Much like our Reader's Guides and Event Guides, this guide is meant to help new readers get a grasp on two characters who will have a major influence on the Marvel Universe in the coming months. Condensing 30-40 years' worth of history into a few pages is no small feat. To help us, we've asked a group of Marvel writers and editors including Brian Reed, Steve Wacker, and Tom Brevoort for their thoughts on these two characters. You'll see their quotes peppered throughout this guide. Look for even more in the coming days as we publish the full interviews.
A Marvel is Born
Surprising though it may seem, Marvel's Captain Marvel wasn't the first character in comics to bear the name. The honor belongs to the Fawcett Comics Captain Marvel, who was first seen in 1940. This character lasted for some 13 years until a lawsuit from rival publisher DC Comics forced Fawcett to shelve Captain Marvel. Eventually DC purchased the rights to the characters and began folding them into their own universe. The Big Red Cheese had found a new home with the likes of Superman and The Flash.
Unfortunately for DC, an opportunistic Marvel Comics managed to snag the Captain Marvel copyright for their own. In the two decades of the Fawcett/DC character's hibernation, Marvel began publishing their own Captain Marvel series. Thanks to the magic of copyright law, DC has been forced to title all their Captain Marvel comics Shazam! ever since.
So who is this rascally up-and-comer? To answer that, one has to journey away from Earth and into the depths of space. Captain Marvel was born Mar-Vell of the Kree Empire. The Kree are one of the more influential races in the Marvel Universe, holding large amounts of space and waging a millenia-long war against their rivals the Skrulls. The Kree race generally resembles that of Earth's humans, though they have a more advanced physiology and many have blue skin. Because of his pink skin tone, Captain Mar-Vell of the Kree Imperial Militia was sent to Cape Canaveral Florida to infiltrate the American military base there and study the human race.
As is so often the case with comic book characters, Mar-Vell was inadvertently dragged into the life of a superhero. First came the secret identity. Mar-Vell posed as the recently deceased Dr. Walter Lawson in order to continue working at the facility. Then came the costume. Mar-Vell suited up in his Kree military uniform to battle a rogue Kree Sentry robot. The crowd of spectators was mightily impressed with Mar-Vell's prowess, mistakenly calling him Captain Marvel. The name stuck.
The Early Years of a Marvel
With no particularly creative powers or complicated back story, Captain Marvel's early years were fairly inauspicious. Aside from his superior strength, the self-proclaimed defender of Earth possessed a limited ability to fly and a Uni-Beam blaster, both examples of Kree technology. As sales of his series flagged, writers like Gil Kane attempted to introduce more science fiction elements. Mar-Vell gained the ability to absorb solar radiation and channel it in various ways, not unlike Superman. He was also granted the Kree Nega-Bands, which granted him a great deal of strength and the ability to travel through space. The final part of the equation came when Mar-Vell was imbued with "cosmic awareness." Essentially, this awareness grants the user the foresight of every event that has happened, is happening, and will happen across the universe. Not too shabby.
In another attempt to help readers relate to this alien superhero, Marvel enlisted the help of eternal everyman Rick Jones. Jones, formerly sidekick of sorts to both Hulk and Captain America, became bonded to the spirit of Captain Marvel. When Jones slammed his own pair of Nega-Bands together, he traded places with the powerful warrior. While one resided on Earth, the other was trapped in the barren Negative Zone. In a sense, this relationship was not unlike that of the Fawcett/DC Captain Marvel, where young Billy Batson would transform into his powerful alter ego by shouting the phrase "Shazam!"
It was also around this point that Ms. Marvel, or rather, Carol Danvers, made her first appearance. Danvers hailed from a strong military background. When her strict father refused to allow her to enter college, Danvers retaliated by entering the air force. Brian Reed says of Danvers: "Carol is a woman who wants to be the best she can be, and I think that's something we can all identify with. But she's also a rather broken person personality-wise, always charging into situations without thinking them all the way through." Her journey eventually brought her to Cape Canaveral and into direct contact with one Dr. William Lawson. Even as Danvers was charged with hunting down and capturing Captain Marvel, she developed a deep friendship with Lawson. Eventually the two fell in love.
Mar-Vell's former commander and newfound nemesis Yon-Rogg was quick to exploit this relationship. Upon returning from the Negative Zone, Mar-Vell discovered that Carol had been kidnapped by Yon-Rogg. The two warriors fought a duel to the death. In a last-ditch attempt to destroy his enemy, Yon-Rogg killed himself in aa massive explosion. Rather than taking Mar-Vell and Carol with him, the explosion caused the DNA of the two lovers to merge. Carol now possessed many of Captain Marvel's powers, including super-strength and his tactical training. She soon followed him into the superhero life, giving birth to Ms. Marvel.
Twice as Marvelous
Both Marvels began to play a greater role in the Marvel Universe. Captain Marvel played a central role in the Kree-Skrull War storyline, which saw the age-old battle between galactic superpowers spill over onto Earth. The Kree Supreme Intelligence attempted to use Jone's psychic potential to harness the Destiny Force and end the war in one fell swoop. Mar-Vell was able to save his friend by imbuing him with a small amount of his life force. The war had left Earth, and Mar-Vell resumed his heroic duties. With the help of groups such as the Avengers and Defenders, Captain Marvel fought such fearsome foes as Thanos and the Lunatic Legion. He even fell in love with a woman named Elysius and set up a second home on the moon of Titan.
For her part, Ms. Marvel became an full-fledged Avenger in her own right. In addition to her powers derived from Mar-Vell, she came to grips with her mysterious and sometimes volatile "seventh sense." Further exposure to Kree technology granted her the ability to fly and instantly change into her Ms. Marvel uniform. In addition, Ms. Marvel became a sort of superheroine figurehead for the 70's feminist movement. She became a writer, even serving as the editor for J. Jonah Jameson's magazine Woman.
Unfortunately, Ms Marvel didn't develop a reputation as one of Marvel's most unlucky females for nothing. Her troubles started when a demonic being from the alternate dimension of Limbo took an interest in her. This being, Marcus, fell in love with Carol. He chose to forcibly impregnate her and transfer his essence into her womb. When Carol's baby was born, she was more than a little surprised to see that it grew to maturity within a rapid span of time. The newly reborn Marcus (wit a little help from mind control) convinced Carol to return his love. Several writers, including Chris Claremont, were none too happy with this turn of events. As part of his landmark Avengers Annual #10, Claremont returned an angry Carol to her former teammates. Unsurprisingly, she wasn't pleased that they would allow her to run away with her own son without so much as a questioning glance.
The annual also showcased a defining element of Carol's life, one that should be familiar to fans of the 90's X-Men cartoon. Ms. Marvel clashed with the mutant Rogue, then a member of Mystique's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. In the course of the battle, Rogue used her mutant power to permanently absorb Carol's powers and memories. Carol was thrown from the top of Golden Gate Bridge. Luckily, Spider-Woman proved more adept at catching falling women than Spider-Man. Thanks to a little psychic assistance from Professor Xavier Carol survived, but she had lost all emotional connection to her old friends and comrades. Despondent and powerless, she left the Avengers.
A Death in the (Marvel) Family
Things began to take a turn for the worse in Captain Marvel's life as well. A previous encounter with the villain Nitro proved to have dire consequences for Mar-Vell's health. During the fight, he was knocked unconscious by a canister of nerve gas. Though he quickly recovered, the gas infected his alien physiology with the very human disease known as cancer. Despite the best efforts of Earth's greatest minds, Mar-Vell slowly succumbed to his disease. He spent his last moments surrounded by old friends on Titan. At the very end, he followed Death and her admirer Thanos into the sunset. Tom Breevort said of Mar-Vell's death "I think the reason the Death of Captain Marvel worked as well as it did, and really held up over the years, was that it was a very human, very relatable story that hadn't been touched upon in comics before then. Mar-Vell died in bed, in a very ordinary way. Plus, he was the last of the Stan-created characters, so his death felt like a big thing." Mar-Vell had passed on, but one of Earth's heroes was conspicuously absent.
Having no where else to go, Carol stayed with the X-Men. Shortly after she was captured by the alien Brood. Being fascinated with her unique human/Kree hybrid DNA, they performed many experiments on Carol. These experiments unleashed her full potential. Now with cosmic-level powers, Carol began calling herself Binary. She continued to hang around the X-Mansion until Xavier admitted that he had allowed Rogue to join the team. The fact that Rogue was suffering under the duress of a lifetime of Carol's memories meant nothing to her. Furious that her enemy was living under the same roof, Carol fled and joined the interstellar pirates known as the Starjammers.
The void of space allowed Carol to come to grips with the own void that was her life. She formed close friendships with her new allies, particularly the swordsman Raza. She even helped restore Empress Lilandra to the throne. Things were finally beginning to look up for the beleaguered fighter, but a new problem began to thwart Carol - boredom. New threats to the Shi'Ar Empire were no longer enough to fill the void. When Earth's sun was threatened, Carol jumped at the chance to help her old comrade Quasar. They succeeded, but Carol's Binary powers were drained in the process. This time, Carol chose to lean on the Avengers for support and rebuild broken friendships.
Normally this would be the point where the upbeat music starts. Unfortunately, Carol wasn't quite done falling. While she served for a while as an Avenger under the new codename Warbird, her rapidly-depleting powers and increasing problem with alcoholism made her a poor choice of teammate. Carol's drinking problem became so bad that she was forced to leave the team. She fled to Seattle and tried her hand at writing again. However, her career as Warbird proved more disastrous than ever. Only after an intervention by Iron Man, himself a recovering alcoholic, was Carol able to acknowledge her life's problems. Slowly, she was able to pick of the pieces of her superhero career and start anew.
You can cue the upbeat music now.
Modern Marvels
Carol had clawed her way from rock bottom, but she had a ways yet to climb. Her inspiration came in the form of the House of M. In this alternate reality created by former Avenger Scarlet Witch, mutants ruled the world and Ms. Marvel was known as the greatest superhero of them all. Naturally, reality was restored (minus a few million mutants), and Carol found herself once more nothing more than a washed-up Avenger. This wasn't to last. Carol wanted to be"the best of the best." The first step? Hire a public relations firm, of course. The rejuvinated Ms. Marvel turned down membership in the New Avengers, instead focusing on her solo career and reputation. However, when war began to brew Carol found her perfect way to the top.
The Superhuman Registration Act had just been passed, and Carol became one of the figureheads of the pro-registration movement. Together with Wonder Man, Arachne (formerly Spider-Woman II), and her new trainee Arana, Ms. Marvel became responsible for hunting down and arresting heroes who resisted the Registration Act. She succeeded at this job, perhaps a little too well. When Arana was badly injured in combat, the young hero's grandfather took out a restraining order against Carol. And when it became apparent that Arachne was aiding and abetting a superhuman fugitive, Ms. Marvel turned in her friend and ally to the authorities. Reed says, "She's a pragmatist to the extreme, willing to sacrifice friends if it appears to be for the greater good." This trait would show itself again when Carol attempted to lure Spider-Woman and the other underground Avengers into a trap. Still, Carol's career had hit the fast track, and it wasn't long before Tony Stark asked her to serve as leader of the Mighty Avengers. She had ostensibly become "the best of the best."
As for Captain Marvel, even cancer wasn't enough to keep to keep him out of the spotlight forever. As the superhuman Civil War heated up, Tony Stark, Reed Richards, and Hank Pym developed a high-security prison in the Negative Zone. Much to their surprise, they found a very much alive Mar-Vell floating in the wastelands. This Mar-Vell had no knowledge of his own death, and it became apparent he had been somehow pulled through time to the present. Unfortunately, the cancer had already begun to develop in Mar-Vell's cells, and each man realized it would only be a matter of time before Captain Marvel perished for a second time.
Unsure of what to do next, Mar-Vell agreed to serve as warden for the Negative Zone prison. Unfortunately, fate would not allow Captain Marvel to stay hidden for long. Tensions, both internal and external, caused the prison to collapse. Mar-Vell relunctantly joined the fray. Iron Man's forces soon won the day, but Mar-Vell was nowhere to be found.
A Marvelous Future?
So what does the future hold for this duo? Reed, writer of the solo Ms. Marvel series, says "What we've seen in the last two years is that a group of writers (including myself) that remember Carol from our childhoods have decided she's a character that could be more than she has been, and we're going to polish her up and use her. The side-effect of that is that she's everywhere now, and people who might never have encountered her in the past are discovering her." In the past two years since House of M, Carol has become one of the premier heroes of the Marvel Universe. Expect her story to continue in both the monthly pages of Ms. Marvel and the semi-annual pages of Mighty Avengers.
As for the good Captain, his exploits will be continued in a new mini-series also written by Reed. He comments, "Mar-Vell has gone missing. We know he's in France, but why and what he's doing there are a mystery at first. The miniseries itself helps to bridge the gap between the Initiative-era and the Secret Invasion since, as you can imagine, putting a bunch of Skrulls on Earth at the same time as one of their greatest enemies returns can cause a bit of trouble." As for whether Mar-Vell's exploits will continue in future series, or even if he survives past the end of this mini-series, only time will tell.
Reed also ackonwledges that the two Marvels will meet once more in his series. "Ms. Marvel's powers are all based on Captain Marvel's since their DNA was mingled during an explosion. She would not exist without him, and she knows that. When Mar-Vell died, Carol was Binary and was out galivanting about the galaxy, so she didn't get the chance to say goodbye. That's something I touch on in Captain Marvel #2."
The Marvel Family Tree
So you think you're all caught up for these upcoming stories? Slow down there, partner. No Captain Marvel retrospective would be complete without a mention of the other half dozen characters to bear the name. As Tom Breevort says, "Each reader no doubt has his or her own favorites, and they've each served their own stories well over the years, but I don't think any of them have proven to be all that significant over the long haul." None may have surpassed the original, but their stories are well worth reading just the same.
Genis-Vell - Perhaps the most well known Captain Marvel successor, Genis-Vell was the artificially created son of Elysius and a cloned sample of Mar-Vell's DNA. Genis-Vell was the star of multiple ongoing series, most notably Peter David's Captain Marvel Vol. 4. Despite his cult popularity, the Peter David series was canceled and Genis-Vell eventually met with an untimely and unfortunate end in the pages of Thunderbolts.
Phyla-Vell - Phyla-Vell was essentially created as a byproduct of her insane brother Genis' insane machinations. She is also an artificially created child of Elysius and Mar-Vell (he's pretty busy for a dead guy). Phyla-Vell played a major role in the original Annihilation storyline, and is now the star of her own mini-series leading into Annihilation Conquest.
Hulking - A member of the Young Avengers, Hulking actually has nothing to do with Hulk. Instead, he happens to be the only legitimately-grown offspring of Captain Marvel, as he is the product of a tryst between Mar-Vell and Princess Anelle of the Skrull Empire. Interestingly, that makes him an important figure for both races and a possible catalyst for a new Kree/Skrull War. Reed says, "There's a Young Avengers limited series launching in January that I'm part of. My issue is all about Teddy and Mar-Vell meeting for the first time."
Marvel Boy - Noh-Varr is a pink-skinned Kree warrior from an alternate universe first seen in the pages of Grant Morrison's Marvel Boy mini-series. He has since appeared in the pages of both Civil War: Runaways & Young Avengers and New Avengers: Illuminati. In the latter it becomes clear that Noh-Varr has an important, though undisclosed, role to play in the coming future.
Monica Rambeau - Also known as Photon, this woman was a popular member of the Avengers in the 1980's and leader of Nextwave more recently. Other than the codename, she has nothing to do with the original Captain Marvel. Don't make fun of her, though, or she might kick-splode you.
Pluskommander Geheneris Halason Mahr Vehl - The who in the what now? This is the full phonetic name of Ultimate Captain Marvel, who was first seen in the pages of Ultimate Secret. This version of Captain Marvel was instrumental in defending Earth from Gah Lak Tus, but hasn't been seen much since. He's already become quite friendly with S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Carol Danvers, who has yet to gain any sort of superhuman powers.
So what does everyone think about the life and times of Captain
& Ms.Marvel.