We open with the action already underway, which is kind of unusual for this series. Mar-Vell is battling a giant scaly blue monster; after two pages of this, we learn this is a session of "psycho-combat" which Mar-Vell is being subjected to aboard the Helion at the hands of Una. Apparently this is a standard Kree training technique. Yon-Rogg shows up to demand Una "raise the intensity factor up to 180". Una cautions Yon-Rogg that this level could produce deadly heart seizures and neuro-shock, but Yon-Rogg makes it a direct order, forcing Una to obey him. Despite this, Mar-Vell defeats the monster with one uni-beam blast to the forehead; being a giant monster, I guess it had the Goliath weakness.
Una is pleased by Mar-Vell's survival while Yon-Rogg continues to stew. Yon-Rogg orders Mar-Vell to return to Earth and take up his 'Lawson' identity again. Mar-Vell is all too aware that Yon-Rogg has been placing more pressure on him to "make me break at some critical moment!" Just as Mar-Vell leaves, Yon-Rogg is informed by the crew that their ship the Helion is losing orbital speed and they have to land to make repairs. They go to land near the Cape and, as luck would have it, Carol Danvers witnesses the ship's descent, then almost runs down 'Lawson' with her car. The Helion adjusts its aura of negativism to become invisible again; although Carol feels the wind of the ship's landing, 'Lawson' suggests she's "forgetting Florida's three major industries... oranges, tourists and... hurricanes!"
The Helion finally gets a fourth named crew member as chief-tech Zyro makes repairs to the ship's ionic compressor; they're able to restore full power and return to orbit within minutes, just as Carol was about to find the invisible ship. The next day, 'Lawson' is at the Cape with Dr. Norman Lundquist, a "Nobel Prize physicist" who has designed a giant laser by reflecting solar energy with a giant mirror; they're going to fire it at Saturn ('cause why not?). Mar-Vell fears this weapon -- which is called Solam -- could prove to be a "universal menace", but when he expresses his fears to Dr. Lundquist, the physicist angrily tells 'Lawson' not to question him. Just to continue the dogpile on Mar-Vell, Yon-Rogg chooses that moment to inflict some pain on Mar-Vell using his wrist monitor (a trick Yon-Rogg hasn't pulled since the first story).
Dr. Lundquist tells General Bridges and Carol Danvers how 'Lawson' tried to convince him to call off the test. Carol (now dressed in a skintight blue jumpsuit which makes her look like Sharon Carter) remarks, "It doesn't surprise me at all, sir!" She brings up 'Lawson's' behaviour the previous evening, but 'Lawson' makes Carol sound irrational by bringing up the 'UFO' she claims to have seen.
Solam is activated and a massive amount of solar energy is absorbed into the laser, but the photonic energy overloads the cannon, destroying it; from the debris comes a humanoid figure created by the test, called Solam! Boy, when Mar-Vell expressed concerns about the cannon, I didn't think he figured on it creating giant monsters. But sure enough, like last issue he makes reference to other threats the Kree have faced: "We Kree first battled such solar energy beings in Star System 127-B!" 'Lawson' races off to don his battle-suit and return as Captain Marvel. Using his uni-beam, Mar-Vell can quickly cause Solam's photonic energy to diminish by firing quickly. Unfortunately, Yon-Rogg decides to interfere again, deciding he is "Forced to remind Captain Mar-Vell of the limitations of his assignment!" The wrist monitor paralyzes Mar-Vell while Solam rampages out of the Cape, growing in size and power.
Revived, Mar-Vell tells General Bridges to bombard Solam with more energy until it has been overfed. Mar-Vell quickly repairs and modifies Lundquist's cannon and unleashes solar energy, causing Solam to expand until it finally bursts apart. Once again Captain Marvel is declared a hero, but he still worries about whether he should be saving the Earth when it might be his job to conquer it. For what is already the third time in this series, Yon-Rogg sends a message to Ronan the Accuser telling him what Mar-Vell has done. This is starting to get tiresome, so hopefully this will be the last time Yon-Rogg bothers his superiors. Meanwhile, the Fantastic Four character Quasimodo is looking for a nice powerful computer and has just sensed that the Cape has one of the world's largest...
Thoughts: I'm getting very impatient with the Yon-Rogg character; his schemes are never subtle - he tries to help Mar-Vell's enemies, he sabotages his own equipment, he runs to tell Mommy Ronan what a bad boy Mar-Vell is... this needs to either come to a head (preferrably by Mar-Vell exiting Yon-Rogg's influence) or else Yon-Rogg needs to find different ways to complicate Mar-Vell's life; like, considering Mar-Vell depends on the Helion's support, why not smother him with bureaucracy?
Don Heck does okay in this story - he drew plenty of giant monster stories for Marvel Comics in the late 50s & early 60s and that's basically what this is - a reskinned giant monster tale.
I'm not quite sure about how Drake is handling Carol Danvers, particularly as Mar-Vell is incredibly dismissive about her, but I do at least appreciate that so far no one has written her as a love interest. I am wondering why Carol is going to one day want to name herself after Marv, but she remains a fairly satisfying supporting character
Next: Quasimodo, the hunchbacked computer! Yes, we're back to visits from Fantastic Four characters.
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