Captain Marvel

Today's drawing features the former Ms. Marvel... Captain Marvel!



Ms./Captain Marvel has been a favourite of mine since she arrived on the scene in the 70's, and I was a kid. I always felt that Marvel Comics under-utilized this character. She could have been their Wonder Woman, so to speak... not in terms of powers or who she is, but what she means to the company at large.

Carol Danvers first appeared in Captain Marvel in the late 1960's. At the time, Captain Marvel was Captain Mar-Vell of the alien Kree, and he wanted to protect Earth from his war-like race. Carol, the head of security at NASA, got caught up with the Captain and events that surrounded him. She was exposed to some alien doo-hickey, and gained super powers. In the mid-1970's, she debuted as Ms. Marvel in her own title. It ran for about 22 issues. Carol had changed jobs, having moved to New York to write and edit for a news magazine. She tough, liberated, compassionate, and for the first couple issues of her comic... fought crime in a belly shirt! Werq it, gurl! She was a member of the Avengers, and fought alongside the Defenders and Spider-Man.

Sadly, in 1980... Avengers Annual #10 changed all that. Carol was attacked by a new villain - the mutant menace Rogue! (Yes! That Rogue! She reformed and joined the X-Men.) Rogue stole Carol's powers and memories. The Avengers took Carol to Professor Xavier, who was able to restore most of her memories, but not her connection to them. She hung out with the X-Men briefly, gained some new powers, and went off with the space-faring Starjammers as Binary. Many, many years later (late 1990's/2000) she returned to Earth and rejoined the Avengers as Warbird. She seemed to have regained her connection to her memories, but sadly picked up a drinking problem. She overcame her problems and worked with the Avengers off-and-on. She got another solo book, which lasted about 20 issues.

Now, she has taken on the mantle of Captain Marvel, along with a new costume. I am glad to see Carol as a continuing part of the Marvel Universe, and look forward to many years of her adventures!

I have given all this history off the top of my head, which is why I did not give issue numbers, and might be off on some dates. Sorry about that. If you are new to Captain Marvel, I hope that this has piqued your interest, and that you will seek out her adventures!

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