Captain Marvel (Marvel NOW!) #1 by Kelly Sue DeConnick & David López

Maybe this book just suffers in comparison with the very excellent Ms Marvel that I’d also recently finished reading, but as a space opera, I felt it only really took off (if you’ll pardon the horrible pun) in the last two issues. Everything before that was mildly interesting but not compelling, though Rocket Raccoon’s reaction to Captain Marvel’s cat was hilarious. I totally dig her relationship with Rhodey, too. I’d like for that to be in the movie, tho the age difference between Brie Larson and Don Cheadle gives me pause. Enough with Hollywood pairing young women with dudes old enough to be their dads. I’m not against it in every instance, so if the movie writers come up with a compelling reason for it to happen, then I’m all for it. But let’s face it, in most movies, such pairings are just some old guy’s wish fulfillment, and it’s gross and creepy.

But I digress. I think another reason I was underwhelmed by this book is that I’ve never really cared about Carol Danvers, and find it weird that she’s considered Marvel’s biggest superheroine. I grew up on the X-Men, and while I was familiar with the rest of the Marvel Universe, Binary (as she was then known. God, I’m old) was not that big a deal. Granted, I cared more about Rogue’s side of the story, plus Danvers always felt overpowered. Anyway, it seems that she got more solo work after I stopped reading monthlies in the 2000s, but I still find her kind of uninteresting in comparison with other characters, and this trade paperback did little to change my mind. A worthy read, but not really my thing.