Captain Marvel #6 Review and *SPOILERS* - Marvel Mondays

A Little Late to the Game

Written By: Ruth Fletcher Gage, Christos Gage 

Art By: Kris Anka, Matt Wilson
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: June 29, 2016
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Review by: Dan Mayhoff

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

*Due to this being a Civil War II Tie-In, there will be SPOILERS for Civil War II #1 in this review*

For those of you unaware, this comic was originally solicited to come out about three weeks ago, but thanks to delays (or whatever else) the comic came out this past week. Frankly, it’s fairly obvious that this was an issue slated to come out near the beginning of the Civil War II storyline as it deals more with the issues presented in Civil War II #1 rather than where we are now in the line-wide crossover. For those who’ve read Civil War II #1, you will be familiar with how the comic basically has two parts. The first part takes place prior to the events of the Free Comic Book Day issue and the second part takes place afterwards. This comic takes place between that first part and prior to the events of the Free Comic Book Day issue (I know, it’s a pain for me to keep track too). Without further ado, lets jump into Captain Marvel #6.

The comic begins with Captain Marvel making repairs to the Alpha Flight Space Station and making remarks about how she never wanted to be “The Boss” but she also never wanted to just do the housework. Ironically, now she is “The Boss” now AND she does the housework. (Repairing a space station is “housework” now.) She then returns inside to find the crew has thrown a 6-month anniversary party for her becoming the leader of Alpha Flight. The party is mainly an excuse for the crew to have some relaxation but they did bring Captain Marvel a present. They invited Colonel James Rhodes (a.k.a. War Machine) to the station, since he and Captain Marvel are in a relationship (Those who have read Civil War II #1 know why this takes place before the Free Comic Book Day issue). Carol and James immediately bail on the party to go off on their own and after a few hours they discuss their relationship before Carol is called away by the Board.

Captain Marvel then stands in front of the board and gets criticized for her handling of the recent Satori Incident. Alpha Flight was able to hold off the attack but only succeeded at the last possible minute. Considering the fact that the world was able to hold off an Extinction-Level threat that appeared out of thin air (First part of Civil War #1), they are wondering why the Satori Incident caused them so much trouble. Captain Marvel explains that it was due to the fact that the Inhumans were able to come up with some information that led to them being prepared for the incident but there is some debate as to how to use that method in the future. Just imagine the Senate scenes from the Star Wars prequels and that’s this scene.

Later, Captain Marvel is informed by a representative of the Kree Empire that the criminal known as Dr. Minerva has been located on Earth and that she plans on releasing a biological weapon. Alpha Flight jumps into action immediately and fights with Minerva for a while. Captain Marvel remarks on the fact that Minerva has become stronger and faster since their last meeting and soon Minerva gets away, but not without first revealing that she has already released the weapon a few hours ago. Captain Marvel flies toward the weapon and begins to see some of the effects take hold on the citizens of the area as they turn into some sort of crab people before dying. Captain Marvel is able to destroy the weapon before it hurts anyone else but the damage has already been done. It is in this moment that Captain Marvel decides that she must meet with the Inhumans and use Ulysses’ powers to prevent this from happening again.

That’s all for this issue of Captain Marvel and honestly, it’s a bit of a disappointment. This issue would have done a lot better if it was released when it was originally supposed to, but ultimately it still would have fallen a little flat. In the first issue of Civil War II, we have already seen the consequences of Captain Marvel choosing to use Ulysses’ powers and despite those consequences she decides that it is still the right thing to do. I want to see a story about Captain Marvel dealing with those consequences and struggling with her choice to move forward. When we already know the details and specifics of how this story will end, there’s very little to surprise us or get us anxious. It’s like knowing the ending of Fight Club before you’ve even watched it. (Granted, Fight Club is still a good movie even if you do know the ending). Instead we got repairs, a party, a board meeting, and a few panels of fighting for this issue. When Captain Marvel is one of the leaders of this big Civil War II event, you would expect more from her comic. The art is hard for me to pin down. Some panels and images are on par with any artist and others aren’t. It’s like reading a comic with two different artists, but there’s only one.

Bits and Pieces:

This issue of Captain Marvel left a lot to be desired. Perhaps if someone was just reading this comic and not paying attention to the crossover, it would have been better. However, considering Captain Marvel is one of the biggest parts of the crossover, I would be surprised if readers of this book weren’t keeping tabs on Civil War II. There’s just not a lot that happens in the issue and feels more like a set up for a story we already know.

5.0/10