Posted in: Comics, Marvel Comics | Tagged: a-force, alpha flight, avengers, bean, black widow, captain marvel, Carol Danvers, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, groot, Margaret Stohl, Marvel Comics, michele bandini, puck, rocket raccoon, sasquatch, sci-fi, star-lord, superheroes, wendy kawasaki
Captain Marvel #127 Review: It Has a Carrot Groot in it
The Widower (inverted Black Widow), Captain Marvel, and her Zeta Flight (Alpha Flight) crew learn that they need to steal their loot from Lord Starkill (Star-Lord) and his Ravagers (Guardians of the Galaxy). This somehow will lead Carol to saving Bean, but this topsy-turvy galaxy may have some more surprises for Captain Marvel.
The last issue had me a little confused about the premise, but Captain Marvel #127 makes it clearer that this inverse reality really is supposed to be an "in a Mirror, Darkly" scenario. It's more nuanced version of that premise; these versions of the heroes aren't simply evil bastards. There is more to it than that. There is humor and camaraderie between them.
Starkill is a pretty clever version of the Star-Lord. Peter Quill could very easily be a completely unbearable character if written wrong, and Starkill pushes the character just enough so that you want to punch him constantly.
Zeta Flight is charming in an inept space pirate crew way. The chatty Sasquatch, punk rock Wendy, and timid Puck are all pretty great.
Towards the end, Captain Marvel loses it with how ludicrous everything is when Starkill claims to be her arch nemesis. In fairness, that wouldn't even be a fight. Carol would kick Peter's ass pretty handily. Oddly enough, that's not exactly what happens.
That does bring me to my one qualm with Margaret Stohl's tenure on Captain Marvel. I want to see Carol kick some people's asses every once in a while, and show off her power. That doesn't happen often enough in this series.
The humor is starting to get a little hit-or-miss too. It gets a little too cute sometimes.
Michele Bandini's artwork continues to be quite good. The Ravagers/evil Guardians of the Galaxy all have pretty clever designs which play on the original characters well. Widower has a cool costume too, and Captain Marvel gets some sweet new duds in for this mission too. The faces can get a little bad at times (look above), but those moments are in the minority. Erick Arciniega's color work continues to be bright and appealing too.
"Dark Origins" takes a more entertaining turn with Captain Marvel #127. It plays with its premise better, the plot makes itself clearer, and the art continues to rock. This one gets a recommendation. Check it out.