Captain Marvel 3 review

The last issue ended with Tic, a young alien “warrior”, stealing Captain Marvel’s ship. Captain Marvel flew out of the Guardians of the Galaxy’s ship to chase after Tic with her own power, declaring “nobody steals my cat”. This issue picks up immediately after, with Tic attacking the Guardians’ ship while dropping in and out of hyperdrive speed.

Being the tough superhero who doesn’t let fear hold her back, Carol Danvers performs the craziest fight move I’ve seen this year by intentionally getting hit by her own spaceship. That alone made this the most enjoyable comic I read this week. Using the tech in her helmet, she takes control of the ship and re-enters. The rest of the comic is mostly plot exposition with Tic explaining how her entire race is in trouble, and then Captain Marvel heading to Tic’s new homeworld to find out exactly how bad the trouble is. And that leads to my only real complaint about this issue’s writing – far as I can tell, the name of Tic’s race is never specified.

The story ties itself to the Infinity aftermath, with Tic’s race along with many others relocated to Torfa after their home planets were destroyed by the builders. But you don’t have to read Infinity to understand anything since everything you need to know is explained, and I wouldn’t recommend Infinity to anyone. Back on track, the exposition is balanced out with Kelly Sue DeConnick’s consistent expertise with dialogue writing, several great jokes, and a closing page that adds so much impact to the story. It also directly skewers an all too common superhero trope, where a hero swoops in and almost immediately solves all the plot problems.

The art by David Lopez is also great. It’s a mostly simple look, but there’s a lot of detail on characters. Groot in particular is covered in tiny branches on his head and shoulders, and a lot of effort is put into drawing hairlines. Facial expressions are also well drawn. When Tic cries from Carol’s berating, she looks equally sad and terrified. When Carol receives a less than polite greeting on Torfa, she appears so angry it’s almost scary. Most of all, there’s a lot of attention given to the last page and the large room filled with hospital beds, medical equipment and a stunned Carol dropping the flowers she was just carrying. The only weakness the art has is that the colours sometimes blend together inside the spaceships, but that’s a very minor complaint.

This is easily the best comic I read this week. Not only is it entertaining, but it’s also smart. The story is far from the typical superhero plot by exploring how the hero shouldn’t always know what’s best for those in need. Without wasting time, it puts almost everyone’s motives into question and provides no clean solution to the problem. If this issue is any indication, this should be a great storyline. There’s a reason why Captain Marvel has amassed such a dedicated fan following since DeConnick started writing her, and anyone who reads Marvel comics should give this title a chance.