Space-Born Super Hero Part 41: The End.

Here are my parting thoughts on the series I've been running on this blog called 'Space-Born Super Hero'. The recent Captain Marvel motion picture prompted me to think about the character of Captain Mar-Vell, and in particular how out-of-focus his adventures prior to the arrival of Jim Starlin were. By the time Starlin drew Captain Marvel #25, Captain Marvel had been a Marvel super hero for about six years. What went on during those six years?

Now, my own exposure to Mar-Vell's earlier adventures was somewhat limited - although I wrote for The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, I never needed to delve into the character often. Heck, I'm not sure if I even had to do a write-up on the Kree. I suppose blogging about the early Captain Marvel stories interested me because it was an avenue of Marvel Comics I hadn't delved into before, likely the only 1960s super hero stuff I hadn't read from start to finish.

At the same time, I knew of the book's reputation. I knew many in fandom at the time despised the series because he had 'robbed' the moniker 'Captain Marvel' from the defunct Fawcett hero. I have some fascination with terrible comic books, as my Bitter Fruit series targeting the Shadow will attest. However, I also enjoy defying conventional wisdom. Perhaps the comics weren't that bad? So... what did I find?

Not as advertised.

Perhaps the strangest discovery I made was that the picture I had in my head of Captain Marvel's personality was all wrong. I'd based my ideas on Jim Starlin's stories (which I first read in The Life of Captain Marvel) and I had the impression that Mar-Vell came to Earth as an invader but had the heart of a hero, causing him to take a stand against the Kree. I knew he had loved Una and lost her to one of his enemies. I had this image of a noble but tragic hero who gives up everything from his upbringing to save Earth.

But... that's not really what happened. Mar-Vell is frustratingly obtuse about his motives throughout the early parts of the series. There is a sense that he's a dedicated soldier who refuses to betray his uniform, but at the same time is ordered to take hostile actions against humanity. However, he would find loopholes to avoid having to take a stand for his principles, such as in Captain Marvel #7 where he tricked Yon-Rogg into thinking he killed a town of people with a plague (they were all robots).

Instead, Mar-Vell lacks agency; Yon-Rogg despises Mar-Vell from the start and wants him dead (although strangely, not so much because of Una, which is what I thought his motivation was; he only really claims that was his motivation after Una dies). The Kree are shown as paranoid war-mongers who have it in for Mar-Vell and will execute him the moment he shows signs of disloyalty. In the end, what causes Mar-Vell to leave the military? He destroys the Organization after being told to form an alliance with them. Like, seriously, Mar-Vell is given the death sentence because he killed humans.

Once Mar-Vell is forced out of the military, he's motivated by revenge, not any affection for Earth or anyone else. His nobility is still lacking; even after bonding with Rick Jones, where Mar-Vell is frequently cast in the role of Rick's conscience, he mostly pops out of the Negative Zone to help save Rick from a problem he's gotten himself into. Again, where's the agency? What does Mar-Vell want for himself? Why does he do the things he does?

Such a limited sphere.

Part of what makes Captain Marvel so boxed-in and easy to avoid is that almost no one introduced in the pages of Captain Marvel goes on to bigger and better things. You've got Mar-Vell and his two iconic costumes; you've got him bonded to Rick Jones via the Negative Zone; you've got supporting character Carol Danvers... that's it. He is part of the Kree-Skrull War, but it goes on entirely in the pages of the Avengers, where the character with the most impact on the plot is the Vision. None of Mar-Vell's brand-new foes such as the Metazoid, Solam or the Organization went on to greater things. Heck, outside of Lou-Ann Savannah, almost no one in the first 24 issues has any bearing on Jim Starlin's run.

And there's Zo.

Yeah, Zo. So, Zo was terrible, but not quite as terrible as I'd been led to think. The idea of Mar-Vell having a cosmic benefactor is one which Starlin came back to with his character Eon. Zo, however, is just way too much of a non-character. Eon's purpose is clear from the start - he's a champion of life and needs Mar-Vell to help defeat Thanos, so gives him the power he needs. Zo doesn't explain what he wants or why Mar-Vell is the person to help him get it and grants him odd powers which Mar-Vell barely ever thinks to employ. Gary Friedrich added some minor interest to the character by bringing in trippy hippie visuals, but Zo's presence continued to highlight the problems with the series - which again and again, come down to Mar-Vell possessing a poorly-defined character motivation.

Was it all terrible?

No, certainly not. Gil Kane's issues were absolutely lovely and Mar-Vell appearances in the Avengers were all classic stories I quite enjoyed. I found much of Don Heck's art lacking, but he pulled off some very nice art in Captain Marvel#16.

There was promise, certainly. That's what I felt in the last few issues of Captain Marvel. Gerry Conway's story in Captain Marvel #22 started off well enough, but I felt Marv Wolfman whiffed it on the second half; the same thing happened with Captain Marvel #24, which had some nice art by Wayne Boring and great character designs, but became a little muddled when Wolfman had to write an ending to the story.

The nadir, I'm sorry to say, were the Arnold Drake issues. I commend him for trying to create new adversaries for Mar-Vell, particularly the Aakon. I also think his idea that Mar-Vell's other identity - Dr. Walter Lawson - was actually a villain was a fascinating idea, yet he barely glanced on it, other than using it as a means to get the world's worst robotic assassin into comics. I'm torn between which of his stories was the worst; was it the rushed and poorly-scripted Captain Marvel #10? Or was it Captain Marvel #11, where they muffed up Una's death, drew the wrong villains and introduced Zo? Wait, I take it back, #11 was definitely the worst.

I'm glad I know more about this little cul-de-sac of the Marvel Universe. And now to move on and never think of it again...

Space-Born Super Hero Part 15: Captain Marvel #12

Last time in my look back on the series Captain Marvel, Mar-Vell's lover Una was killed and he was flung into exile in outer space, then pledged himself to the mysterious entity Zo, who granted Mar-Vell new super powers in order to get revenge on Yon-Rogg. So how is the series going to function going forward? Let's see with Captain Marvel #12 and the story "The Moment of -- the Man-Slayer!" by Arnold Drake and Dick Ayers (inks by Syd Shores).

This is the end of an era as it is Arnold Drake's final issue of Captain Marvel. Appropriately, Dick Ayers takes us back to the start as the opening splash page is a visual reference to Mar-Vell's pose on the cover of issue #1. We have a recap of Mar-Vell receiving his new powers; the first thing he does with his teleportation power is to visit Una on the asteroid where he left her body. He then monitors Yon-Rogg on the Helion, knowing he could appear at any moment and kill him. "But where would be the profit in that? Swift destruction is far too sweet a fate for you, Colonel!" Mar-Vell's dialogue has been extremely bloodthirsty since last issue; perhaps Una's death made him snap. Mar-Vell wants Yon-Rogg to suffer before he kills him. Our hero!

This decided, Mar-Vell decides to return to the hotel room where he was living as Walter Lawson - but as it requires mental concentration he slips up and instead appears in Cuba; on his second attempt, he reappears in the hotel and returns to his room. Which I guess is still rented to him, even though he's been off-Earth for more than three months. He seems to think that stealing a rocket from the Cape (last issue) "probably put the base out of business for a while! So his absence won't be significant!" He has obviously forgotten that Carol Danvers has been convinced 'Lawson' is a shifty character from the start. But checking a newspaper, Mar-Vell sees a rocket test is being conducted that very day and... look, why does Mar-Vell care about his Lawson identity? If his only motivation right now is to kill Yon-Rogg, then why is he picking up this fake identity which he only adopted so that he could help Yon-Rogg plan Earth's invasion?

At the Cape, General Bridges has given orders: shoot Captain Marvel on sight. Carol Danvers is naturally "disappointed" in this decision but is more concerned about Lawson's disappearance. General Bridges says something he should've said several issues ago: "You've got enough on the mysterious doctor to make your move! Do it!" Thus, Carol orders Captain Marvel be arrested when he appears. We turn now to the Black Widow in a top secret lab in the Caribbean... which is strange, as at this time she's an Avengers cast member who has never appeared in Captain Marvel previously. This makes her the series' second super hero guest star (after the Sub-Mariner). S.H.I.E.L.D. has sent the Black Widow to investigate something... it seems somebody has created a "bio-plastic" android, the red Man-Slayer.

We return to the Cape as 'Lawson' arrives, only to be arrested by the guards. However, then the Man-Slayer appears; like other robots in this series, Man-Slayer is a chatty Cathy: "I am a Man-Slayer! A being of bio-chemical and electronic perfection! Without emotion or feeble human motivations! I have but one function--to destroy men!" Needing to escape the guards, Mar-Vell uses his new power to create illusions and manifests a group of college peacenik protestors. When the guards turn their attention to the protestors (why aren't the guards already distracted by the attack of the Man-Slayer? why does Mar-Vell need two diversions?) 'Lawson' slips away to don his battle-suit. The Man-Slayer fights his way through the guards and heads towards the rocket so it can be destroyed.

Back in the Caribbean, the Black Widow draws a gun to threaten the unseen person manipulating the Man-Slayer, but more bio-plastic robots appear to menace her. "Stop where you are, my silly-putty pals--if you don't want me to puncture my initials through you!" Man, when Arnold Drake tries to channel Stan Lee it comes out like a word salad. The androids overwhelm the Black Widow while in the Cape, Captain Marvel battles Man-Slayer. Mar-Vell tries using his illusion powers on the robot but naturally they don't work on its robotic mind. The Man-Slayer thinks itself superior because of its "brute strength" but Captain Marvel channels his "searing, unending emotion of revenge!" Yeah, unending except for that he already passed up one attempt to confront Yon-Rogg. Just then, the Black Widow throws a micro-bomb which was concealed beneath her thumbnail; the bomb shuts off the Man-Slayer's energy transmitter, so the unseen manipulator uses a nerve gun to stun the Black Widow. The villain decides to use her as "live bait". For whom, you might well ask?

Anyway, the fight with Man-Slayer is over (off-panel) and Mar-Vell has resumed being 'Lawson' (off-panel) but realizes with everyone on the Cape against both of his identities it's time to move on; Mar-Vell teleports away in full sight of the Cape's guards. Is this the end of the Walter Lawson identity?

Thoughts: And so we bid Arnold Drake & Dick Ayers farewell; so far, Captain Marvel has gone through three writers. Arnold Drake spent the most time with the character and developed the first original villains for the series, but he mostly played with the characters and concepts which Stan Lee & Roy Thomas introduced - and his villains were not particularly memorable, with the Organization standing out as a terribly executed threat. In his final two issues, Drake seemed to be reinventing the book entirely - new powers, new status quo, killing off Una, getting away from the Cape. Maybe if he had been given more time he could have rewritten the concept into something which excited him. The sense I got from Drake's stories is that he wasn't terribly enthused by any of what he'd been handled; he was capable of better than what he gave to Captain Marvel. Dick Ayers did fine - it certainly didn't hurt to have Syd Shores on inks.

The use of the Black Widow in this story seems awfully random - Captain Marvel has mostly been left in its own corner of the Marvel Universe. Considering the original premise had a potential alien invader posing as a super hero, it would have been great to have him interact with Marvel heroes early on - someone he could be contrasted against. Even then, although the Black Widow is in this story, she and Captain Marvel share no scenes; she's mainly a device to defeat the villain.

I'm hoping that with Arnold Drake gone, the series might see some improvement - at the same time, I know the next few issues are primarily transitional. Well, bring it on...

Next: It's 1969; obviously if you need a new creative team on a Marvel title, you bring in Gary Friedrich & Frank Springer! Let's check out their first story with Captain Marvel #14.

Space-Born Super Hero Part 14: Captain Marvel #11

Today I'm looking back at Captain Marvel #11 (1969) as I continue my perusal of the pre-Starlin Captain Marvel stories. This particular issue is something of a landmark: It is the beginning of the story which comics fandom of the 1960s despised more than any other. I know I complained a lot about the lousy story in issue #10... but now we're into the material which caused fandom to turn against Captain Marvel. To this day, this material is routinely denounced by any fan old enough to remember its original release.

The story is called "Rebirth!" and is again scripted by Arnold Drake, but Don Heck has been replaced by Dick Ayers (inks by Vince Colletta). Actually, I think Ayers did some uncredited work on the previous issue. However, we haven't seen the last of Mr. Heck just yet. The tale resumes with Mar-Vell standing in front of the firing squad who are about to carry out his execution, when suddenly a beam of energy strikes the four riflemen and disintegrates them. And the answer is... the Aakon! They're back, launching an attack on the Kree... no, wait a minute... Captain Marvel is convinced he's fighting the Aakon, but Dick Ayers has drawn the Organization. The people whom Mar-Vell wiped out last issue. These guys are clearly humans, not the yellow-skinned Aakon. Wow, we're only on page 2 and the story is already crumbling apart.

Fortunately, the disintigrated soldiers left their rifles behind, so Mar-Vell grabs a pair and lays down some dual-wield fire on the 'Aakon'. As Mar-Vell slaughters his enemies he engages in an internal monologue about the necessity of violence which is meant to mimic one of Stan Lee's Silver Surfer meditations. Aboard the Helion, Yon-Rogg realizes he'll have to engage the Aakon in battle even though it means saving Mar-Vell's life. The Helion drops about a dozen armed Kree soldiers on Earth but a wild shot hits Una. Who fired that shot? We'll never know. Mar-Vell naturally blames Yon-Rogg and, apparently reunited with his uni-beam between panels, he fires it (uh, calling it his u-beam for some reason) to destroy Yon-Rogg's sidearm (which Yon-Rogg wasn't even holding in the previous panel). "I blast your weapon with my U-beam so that--I may claim your life with my--bare hands! Your pain is my joy! Your dread, my delight! And your ruin shall be my release!" Since when does Mar-Vell talk like this? And shouldn't he save his aggression for the Aakon who have been trying to kill him?

At one point Yon-Rogg fires what seems to be a uni-beam on his own right wrist, but then Mar-Vell warns him not to "retrieve" his weapon. What, the weapon Mar-Vell destroyed earlier? All through their fight Mar-Vell engages on bombastic, overwritten speeches. Just then, Una moans in pain and Mar-Vell realizes she's still alive - he could try to save her. Abandoning his fight with Yon-Rogg, he grabs Una and flies away. Yon-Rogg orders his men to shoot Mar-Vell down (I guess the 'Aakon' were defeated off-panel?) and offers 10,000 "kredits" for the one who shoots him down. Kree money is called "kredits"? Man, why didn't that factoid catch on? Do the Kree "kremate" their pet "kreatures"?

There's nowhere on Earth where Mar-Vell could go, so he decides to leave the planet by rocket. Wait, what? What about Dr. Lawson's lab? Wouldn't that be a pretty good place to hide out and perhaps access some medical technology to save Una's life? Or maybe Quasimodo's underground city? Well, this is the plot... Mar-Vell steals a rocket which is about to be launched from the Cape. And it seems this unmanned rocket which was being sent to the moon has an internal life support system and medical equipment which he uses to stabilize Una. The script doesn't attempt to address any of this. General Bridges and Carol Danvers watch the rocket launch with Mar-Vell aboard and decide Captain Marvel is now a traitor! (I mean, not that Captain Marvel was a citizen of the USA or an agent of the Cape, but whatever)

Una dies aboard the rocket without regaining consciousness. Mar-Vell weeps for her. "You are gone, Una! But you will not lie in anonymity! I will carve for you a shrine such as no fallen love has ever known! Through all space and time--your beauty and honor will live on!" And so he places her on a slab atop an asteroid near Mars. Since Mar-Vell will one day be buried in Titan, it's interesting that both he and Una are laid to rest in the Solar System. Mar-Vell notes the "near-vacuum of space" will preserve her body (uh, not sure of the science on that) and muses on "The complete exquisite love that once was ours! Camelot alone could match its majesty--and nothing equal its permanence!" So, at some point Mar-Vell learned about Camelot.

Yon-Rogg pursues Mar-Vell aboard the Helion and catches the rocket with a magnetic ray. Dragging the rocket on a veritable leash "at five times the speed of light", Yon-Rogg spins the rocket around then hurls him through space, sending Mar-Vell into exile. The next thing you know, 63 days have passed aboard the rocket and has only enough to survive 90 days more (that unmanned rocket had quite the life support system!). Mar-Vell finds himself remembering his parents; for the first time ever, we get an idea of his pre-military life as he recalls his parents died in experiments "in surpassing the speed of light". But surely his father couldn't have invented faster-than-light travel for the Kree, considering Sentry#459 had been on Earth for hundreds of years.

In the void of space, Mar-Vell sees weird creatures appear before him; you'd think they're hallucinations, but no, they warn Mar-Vell "do not cross the Forbidden Belt!" Mar-Vell ignores them and, on his 112th day, passes through a giant cloud and discovers a planet hidden inside. As he begins descent, a beam of energy emerges from the surface and catches the rocket, drawing it gently to the surface. Exiting the rocket, Mar-Vell finds nothing but "vaporous loam". Starving, "half mad" and heartsick over Una's death, Mar-Vell collapses on the surface, expecting to die.

When Mar-Vell awakens, he's surrounded by beautiful women in robes who are bringing him drinks. Mar-Vell may have awakened at a frat party. One of the women asks Mar-Vell if he wonders why he's recovered so quickly from his collapse or at his good fortune in finding the planet. Mar-Vell is having none of that: "I put no special significance upon the accidents of life!" However, the woman retorts that "even great Kree science--is unable to fathom more than half the truth of our universe!" The women lead Mar-Vell to a pair of golden doors and tell him behind the doors "lies all wisdom--and all life" then they vanish.

The doors open and Mar-Vell finds himself before a golden tower; amazingly, the tower speaks to him, identifying itself as "Zo" ("Oz" backwards). Zo tells him he was brought to this planet "by infinite wisdom and planning!" Mar-Vell takes a few leaps ahead and assumes Zo is responsible for everything that happened to him, so wonders why Una and other had to die. "You can not expect to understand the ways of Zo--yet!" Zo answers. To this, Mar-Vell calls Zo "you who claim all knowledge--and control over every being and event" even though Zo has made so such claim as yet. Mar-Vell tells Zo he no longer has a purpose in the universe and so is of no use to Zo. However, Zo notes Mar-Vell has a great motivation left: revenge. Mar-Vell agrees that he'd serve Zo in exchange for the power to destroy Yon-Rogg. Even though Zo hasn't asked Mar-Vell to serve him yet. Gah. And considering Mar-Vell could have killed Yon-Rogg earlier I don't think he actually needs more power. Still, there is that wrist monitor on Mar-Vell's left wrist which has given Yon-Rogg control over him in the past, so Zo demonstrates his "omniscience" by granting Mar-Vell the power to destroy the monitor.

Mar-Vell believes "no living being has the power to smash Daxilium--the strongest alloy known to Kree science! And the wrist monitor is pure Daxilium!" But simply by willing it, Mar-Vell shatters the monitor. Zo also takes away his uni-beam, claiming he has "no furhter need of it". Sure enough, Mar-Vell tests himself and finds he now possesses great cosmic powers: he can teleport himself faster than light, has even greater superhuman strength and he can cast illusions. Zo tells Mar-Vell to use this power to destroy Yon-Rogg, but afterward he must serve Zo. Mar-Vell agrees to this bargain.

Thoughts: So, this is a lousy comic. From Dick Ayers drawing the wrong villains to the disjointed conversation between Mar-Vell & Zo, it's becoming clearer that the problems with this book were not due to Don Heck but, more than anyone else, are the fault of Arnold Drake. I can't tell if he was hacking these stories out or if he was simply sloppy, but this series is crumbling apart.

Here we have the death of Una; her fatal injury should be a dramatic moment, but the book fumbles in its depiction. Una wasn't the first Marvel love interest to be killed (that would be Lady Dorma in the pages of Sub-Mariner), but Una does bring to mind Gail Simone's "women in refrigerators" axiom. Una only ever existed as a supplement to Mar-Vell's character; now that Drake has no further need of her, she's dead.

I suppose the good part of this issue is that we're finally done with scenes of Yon-Rogg trying to cause Mar-Vell's death or bring him to Ronan on drummed-up charges. Yon-Rogg is now officially Mar-Vell's nemesis - but at the same time, Mar-Vell has just been given such an outrageous power boost that one imagines he could end the whole thing by page 2 of the next issue.

It's interesting that in his run on Captain Marvel, Jim Starlin would also grant Mar-Vell a cosmic patron, in his case through the character Eon. However, Eon's purposes weren't introduced as a fumbling mystery - Eon needed a champion to battle Thanos and chose Mar-Vell. Zo, on the other hand, is a talking tower whose motivations are an utter mystery.

What is this book about? What was this book ever about? Mar-Vell was supposed to be an alien invader posing as an Earthman. One would think he'd gain an affection for Earth which would cause him to disobey his superiors; perhaps when his true purpose on Earth is revealed he'd be hated both by humanity and the Kree. And yet, the series seemed to take these things for granted - there was never a moment where Mar-Vell bonded with humanity. His angst was a late development and mostly out-of-focus. Instead, the conflict between Mar-Vell's role as a hero and his mission for the Kree was depicted through Mar-Vell fighting super-villains and Yon-Rogg making lame attempts to kill him.

What about Carol Danvers? General Bridges? Or heck, Chester the cabbie and Jeremy the hotel clerk? Uh... it wasn't exactly a rich supporting cast, was it? And what about Mar-Vell's days of posing as Dr. Lawson? It was never done well, but are we finished with that? How is Mar-Vell becoming a servant of Zo an interesting new status quo for this series?

Next: What the heck is Captain Marvel's new status quo? Maybe we'll find out in Captain Marvel #12!

Space-Born Super Hero Part 13: Captain Marvel #10

My dig into the background of Captain Marvel has brought me to issue #10 (1969) and the story "Die, Traitor!" by Arnold Drake and Don Heck (inks by Vince Colletta). We open with Captain Mar-Vell about to be executed by a Kree firing squad! (it's noteworthy that the Kree soldiers are garbed in orange & red versions of the battle-suit uniform - initially only Yon-Rogg and Mar-Vell wore these outfits, but since issue #8 they've become more common). Una looks upon the impending execution in alarm - and then the story jumps back to the conclusion of last isuse to explain how we arrived at this point.

Just after the defeat of Cyberex, Captain Marvel and Carol kiss, upsetting Una; Yon-Rogg keeps prodding her about this, intending to turn Mar-Vell's only shipside ally against him. And it's into this environment Mar-Vell enters the Helion to replace his battle-suit, which was torn up by Cyberex. What, you don't remember that? Well, it's true, Don Heck didn't draw the uniform as being damaged last issue, but it's damaged now, so... who are you gonna believe? You or your lying eyes?

Yon-Rogg invites Mar-Vell to a hyper-radio conference call with Ronan the Accuser (who is once again being depicted as a pink Kree). Ronan is very interested in the Organization (he's the only one). Mar-Vell had reported on them after his brief encounter in issue #8 and he believes "this group possesses power equal to a good-sized nation!" Would that be an Earth nation or a Kree nation? Anyway, Ronan thinks the Organization could be useful allies: "Such a group, acting to betray the major powers governing Earth, might prove a useful tool!" Well, this should be an interesting mission for Mar-Vell; he's impersonating Walter Lawson, who we've learned was an agent of the Organization. Can he keep up the pretense of being Lawson in order to infiltrate a criminal cartel? Will pretending to be a member of the Organization further tarnish Lawson's reputation with Carol? Am I imagining scenarios which Arnold Drake won't bother addressing?

Una is cooled towards Mar-Vell, chastening him by saying, "If it's a wink and a smile that you seek, Captain--perhaps you would do better to find them in your Earth woman!" So, Una has basically two modes: weepy, anguished declarations of her undying love and her jilted, catty personality. I first knew of Una from Jim Starlin's stories, where she loomed as this figure from Mar-Vell's past, his great lost love... but revisiting these stories, Una was a very negligible character at best.

Anyway, we look in on the Organization's base for the first time, which is some kind of advanced technology-strewn nightmare as only Don Heck could envision it. The leader, Number One (ugh), complains about his agents who failed in battle against Captain Marvel. The penalty for failure is... death! Hey, wait a minute... both of the agents from issue #8 are already dead; they drove over a cliff. They're gonna kill 'em a second time? Number One tests out another of Dr. Lawson's inventions: the Eon Ray, which causes things to age rapidly. He turns the device on one of the men and ages him into a pile of dust within seconds. Number One now thinks Dr. Lawson is a traitor and demands his death (but, uh, seems to have forgotten about killing the other agent who failed him; oh, whatever).

Carol Danvers picks up 'Walter Lawson" in her car to take him out to dinner so they can "finally get acquainted". Er, I realize that Captain Marvel didn't tell Carol everything about Lawson's involvement with the Organization, but at this time shouldn't there be enough big questions circulating around Lawson that she'd demand his security clearance be revoked while a thorough investigation is completed? But even though Carol was just recently kidnapped from Lawson's hotel room then brought to Lawson's secret robot-building lab, she acts as though she's just vaguely curious about Lawson's background. She does think to ask him who sent that giant robot which captured her, to which 'Lawson' tries to change the subject by pointing out a warbler perched in a nearby tree. Suddenly, a car carrying two members of the Organization pulls up and points the Eon Ray at them. 'Lawson' grabs Carol and jumps out of the car; the Eon Ray causes Carol's car to instantly fall apart with rust. At the same time, the ray strikes the warbler in the tree and turns it into a pterodactyl. WHAT?!?

So Carol then trips over... nothing. The ground is level yet somehow she leans back violently and hits her head against a tree. From the introduction of the pterodactyl, it seems like each panel is trying to one-up the previous for sheer inexplicable nonsense. This trend continues as 'Lawson' tears off his clothes to switch into his Captain Marvel battle-suit. In the first panel, he's in civvies as the pterodactyl swoops at him; in the following, he's fully garbed in the battle-suit and dodging the pterodactyl's attack. Wow, this is weak panel-to-panel continuity and the script does nothing to try and tidy it up. While Mar-Vell fights the pterodactyl, the Organization agents observe: "I don't get it! How could a ray that speeds up the aging process, produce that prehistoric throwback?" Great question! But neither the scripter nor the artist seem to have any clue. Apparently the Organization were stupid enough to miss seeing 'Lawson' change into Captain Marvel, but not so feeble-minded that they aren't right at hand to kidnap the unconscious Carol to use as bait for Lawson.

Mar-Vell kills the pterodactyl by snapping its neck, but commends the creature for fighting "gallantly". I have no idea how a prehistoric creature could be considered "gallant". Mar-Vell finds a note the Organization agents left behind telling him to come to their base at Consolidated Instruments, Inc.; if Lawson isn't there in 12 hours, Carol will be killed. In the very next panel, Captain Marvel is being led, blindfolded, to meet Number One in his headquarters. Captain Marvel proceeds to follow his instructions from Ronan and suggests an alliance between himself and the Organization. Carol is shocked at this betrayal ("You are now an honorary member of the Judas Iscariot Marching Society!" is a very weak attempt by Drake to write like Stan Lee), but Mar-Vell slips a knockout gas bomb into her hand so she can escape (I guess Mar-Vell carries knockout bombs now?). Number One tells Mar-Vell he sent one of his men to kill Walter Lawson (what? the robot and another agent?) and his first assignment for Mar-Vell is to kill Lawson. Mar-Vell agrees, but when Carol breaks out of her cell, Mar-Vell admits he aided her. Number One quickly speeds away on a rising platform, boasting that it is made of "a metal alloy developed to overcome missile reentry heat!" I have no idea why that detail should be important when you'd think Mar-Vell's jet-belt would permit him to catch Number One within seconds.

Anyway, the Organization men surround Mar-Vell and fight him ineffectually until Number One returns brandishing the Eon-Ray. He fires the beam at Mar-Vell, slowly aging him to about 90 years old, but the decripit Mar-Vell still manages to grab the Eon-Ray, shamble away and figure out how to reverse the ray, returning to his normal age. Mar-Vell turns the Eon-Ray upon the Organization, causing Number One and all his flunkies to age rapidly; the ray also causes the building to age until the whole place collapses; Captain Marvel grabs Carol and flies away safely. Also, Carol now knows the Organization was behind Cyberex; I guess she learned that off-panel?

Of course, Yon-Rogg has been monitoring all of this and, once again, runs off to tell on Mar-Vell. When Ronan hears Mar-Vell destroyed the Organization, instead of pinning a medal on him he tells Yon-Rogg to have Mar-Vell executed. Ronan's judgement seems suspect to me; killing off the Organization was the most commendable act Mar-Vell has performed thus far. Many of Yon-Rogg's subordinates are uneasy about executing Mar-Vell and none more so than Una; Una gets off the ship... uh... somehow? She's not wearing a helmet, yet seems okay in outer space. In fact, she gets all the way from the Helion in orbit to the Earth below before Yon-Rogg's subordinates catch up and stun her with an energy blast. When Una wakes up, she finds Mar-Vell's execution is being held about 10 feet away from where she was sleeping. And so we end the issue where we began: with Mar-Vell facing the firing squad.

Thoughts: Wow. I found this to be the worst issue of Captain Marvel so far, yet I'm still not at the stories which fandom called the worst.

What is wrong with the series at this point? Repeatedly I have a feeling that the creative team was not gelling - that Don Heck either didn't understand what Arnold Drake wanted depicted in the stories, or either one or both of them didn't care.

I don't feel comfortable blaming Drake or Heck - so I'll blame both. Heck seems to have been cutting a lot of corners to get the issues done. He was often very sketchy about defining backgrounds in his stories, and it's especially bad here - there's seldom a sense of setting in his Captain Marvel, just a jumble of empty voids with occasional machines or trees creeping around the edges. For his part, Arnold Drake wasn't trying to make the storytelling clearer; he too seems to have been rushing through the stories, just scripting the easiest path to the end of each page.

Well, that's unlucky part #13 done! How much worse can it get?

Next: Mar-Vell is on trial! Una is jealous! Yon-Rogg is scheming! Carol Danvers is curious and ineffectual! I'm just assuming...

Space-Born Super Hero Part 12: Captain Marvel #9

Today I'm looking back at Captain Marvel #9 (1968), the second half of the epic Aakon/Organization saga! I mean, depending on how you define "epic" or "saga". This story is titled "Between Hammer and Anvil" by Arnold Drake and Don Heck (inks by Vince Colletta). We open with the Aakon suddenly on Earth and attacking Captain Marvel; straight to the action then. It seems the explosion which resulted on the Aakon ship killed the ship's commander and now the rest of the crew are out for revenge. The battle draws the attention of the police, which Mar-Vell doesn't want, lest it compromise his mission (not that fighting Kree foes like Sentry#459 or the Super-Skrull seemed to imperil the mission). Anyway, Mar-Vell drops a smoke grenade (I guess he carries those?) and slips away to his hotel to resume the identity of Walter Lawson.

But at the hotel -- uh, oh! -- Carol Danvers has arrived, telling clerk Jeremy Logan that she's Lawson's assistant and needs into his room; when that doesn't work, she bribes Logan for $10. As she rummages through the apartment, suddenly a giant eye appears at the window; nope, it isn't King Kong, but thank you for recognizing the homage. It's that giant robot the real Lawson created and it smashes its hand into the room and snares Carol, carrying her off to use as bait to find Lawson. Which is a weird tactic for this robot, considering he's supposed to be able to track his quarry. And, I hate to bring it up, but how good is your assassin as maintaining cover when he stands three stories high? Anyway, Chester the taxi driver drops 'Lawson' off at the hotel just in time to meet the police, who are investigating Carol's capture.

The robot brings Carol back to Lawson's laboratory; no idea why the robot needs bait rather than, say, staking out Lawson's hotel room or the lab. Carol thinks, "Captain Marvel, if you've got ESP powers in addition to everything else... I sure hope you hear me calling!" Which is an interesting note - why would a supporting cast member be aware of all the hero's powers? Captain Marvel goes looking for Carol while the Aakon pursue him; Yon-Rogg, monitoring from the Helion, decides to help the Aakon by beaming a radio signal to Mar-Vell, knowing the Aakon will be able to pick it up. This radio message is on Mar-Vell's wrist monitor, which in previous stories would paralyze him; this time it just causes him pain. The Aakon give chase.

The robot -suddenly calling himself 'Cyberex'- greets Captain Marvel as he bursts into the lab, but Cyberex is merely disappointed that Lawson hasn't taken the bait. As the two fight, Mar-Vell tells Carol to run, but she refuses, determined not to abandon him: "If you die here... I must, too!" In the midst of all this, the Aakon arrive; this causes confusion as the Aakon accidentally engage Cyberex in battle, thinking it to be a Kree robot (he's not entirely non-Sentry like, to be sure). It's amazing that Cyberex goes from "unnamed robot" to giving himself titles like "Cyberex-- Lord of Automatons!" within a few pages. The Aakon briefly overpower Cyberex then pursue Captain Marvel and Carol.

Captain Marvel brings Carol to a cave near Lawson's laboratory to conceal her. Once Carol is hidden, Mar-Vell heads back out to fight the Aakon. The Aakon are riding on one-man skiffs and firing their rifles at him; a few of the blasts hit Mar-Vell and stun him unconscious. The Aakon gloat over his body; they wouldn't be so pleased with themselves if they knew how often Mar-Vell loses fights in this series. Anyway, one of the Aakon picks Mar-Vell's pocket and finds a text written in Kree: code Z-19. "The Imperial war code of the Kree! Half-a-hundred years have we sought this key to their destruction! And now---it is ours! With it, their greatest secret will become ours!" So, this has not been set up very well... what's Z-19? Why is it on Mar-Vell's person? Like, this is the first time we've seen him go into battle carrying classified military secrets on his person. Considering the cylinder which contains his costume has a nuclear bomb deterrant, you'd think his personal security would be better.

However, Cyberex has self-repaired yet again; it has somehow detected the presence of Walter Lawson (even though that's not who Mar-Vell is--he's just impersonating Lawson) and has decided the Aakon must be Lawson's allies; ergo, it must kill the Aakon. I'm starting to think Cyberex isn't the perfect assassin Lawson envisioned. The Aakon decide they should simply leave with Code Z-19, but Cyberex fires fatal energy beams at the lot of them as they flee; the Aakon are all dead. Mar-Vell returns to the fight and again destroys Cyberex with his uni-beam, but this time smashes the self-repair system so Cyberex will remain down. Then Mar-Vell retrieves 'Code Z-19' which turns out to be Lawson's personal address book; he wrote the code in Kree scrawl on the cover to fool the Aakon and knew the scent of Lawson would draw Cyberex in. So... apparently his plan was to lose the fight against the Aakon so they'd take the address book, then have Cyberex kill them. How did he figure on the Aakon just knocking him out rather than killing him? Anyway, Yon-Rogg and Una watch all of this and Una remains heartbroken to see Carol's interest in the Captain.

Thoughts: The series is developing problems. After a few promising moments last issue, this time we get back to the same contrived plots as before - Yon-Rogg doing anything to help the bad guy of the month in defiance of his orders. This is such a tiresome idea and I had hope that when he fought the Aakon last issue it was a sign Drake was taking the character in a new direction. Considering the Aakon nearly killed him last issue, it would have been more interesting to see Yon-Rogg trying to help Mar-Vell for a change; perhaps Yon-Rogg's "help" would in some way backfire or endanger humans whom Mar-Vell wouuld have to save, but Yon-Rogg plotting Mar-Vell's death and calling Ronan to judge him is so, so, tired.

The Mar-Vell/Una/Carol love triangle continues to exist, though there's not much to it; Una has been such an insignificant background character that it's hard to feel for her and Carol was better served as merely respecting Mar-Vell.

Mar-Vell's plot to defeat the Aakon and Cyberex is dumb, but kind of typical of lame 1960s comics. Not The Shadow-level stupid, but definitely inferior to what Kirby or Ditko were thinking up. I would appreciate it if Mar-Vell would defeat his enemies by some clever application of his powers or knowledge instead of pulling a previously-unseen item or unintroduced factoid during the climax.

Next: But anyway, now that Cyberex is dealt with, what about the Organization? ...Oh, you had to ask...

Space-Born Super Hero Part 11: Captain Marvel #8

We're on to Captain Marvel #8, which has a striking cover by Gene Colan. The story is "And Fear Shall Follow!" and is once again by Arnold Drake and Don Heck (inks by Vince Colletta). We open in outer space and a starship piloted by the Aakon, a yellow-skinned race of aliens who are enemies of the Kree. They have an unusual way of speaking without pronouns, ie: "Must oppose, supreme sir!" or "Still get not a response from engine three!" It's an effort to develop something a little different than the usual loudmouth scheming super-villains which most Marvel aliens are (looking at you, Yon-Rogg). The Aakon vessel has been drawn to Earth because they've detected a Kree presence nearby.

Yon-Rogg realizes the Aakon are nearby and prepares a boarding party. Mar-Vell is concerned that they might expose their presence to Earth by engaging in this fight, but Yon-Rogg will not be stopped; for the first time in this series, Yon-Rogg is going into battle! He even puts his helmet on, which is a first for him. Squabbling all the way, the two officers led the Kree boarding party into the Aakon ship and Mar-Vell captures the Aakon commander. When the Aakon ask to discuss terms of surrender, Yon-Rogg refuses and instead asks his men for nuclear weapons. When refused, Yon-Rogg exclaims: "Hala!" the first time we've heard that Kree word. Just then, the Aakon shoot Yon-Rogg and Mar-Vell exclaims "Great Pama!" another important term in Kree lore making its first appearance. Mar-Vell abandons his captive and instead retrieves the fallen Yon-Rogg and orders their forces back to the Helion. Una is put to work on the injured Yon-Rogg. Once Yon-Rogg is stable, Mar-Vell returns to Earth, leaving an officer named Tir-Zarr in command of the Helion. Wait, what about the Aakon?

Uh, anyway, Mar-Vell flies to Walter Lawson's home, which turns out to be a massive futuristic-looking mansion carved in the side of a mountain. Mar-Vell wonders how Lawson came by this wealth. Within the mansion he discovers the mold for an immense robot which Lawson built. Mar-Vell recognizes the devices as rivaling "anything at a Kree multi-versity!" While Mar-Vell examines the computer cards for clues, two men with guns and wearing uniforms with helmets come breaking into the mansion. It seems they helped fund Lawson's experiments on behalf of their group the Organization and its leader Number One. The robot Lawson built was supposed to be a tool for assassinations. Captain Marvel eavesdrops on the two men but they discover him and escape, despite having nothing more sophisticated than rifles and grenades; then they drive over a cliff in their panic and die. Yep, these are some pretty fearsome enemies for the Captain.

Captain Marvel goes to Carol Danvers to tell her what he found in Lawson's laboratory; he did, of course, agree to help Carol in the previous issue. Carol reacts: "I don't know who or what you are--but I do know that I need your help--desperately!" She kisses Mar-Vell and requests he call her 'Carol'. Of course, Una sees this while monitoring Mar-Vell from the Helion; Yon-Rogg, now revived, gloats at Una's discomfort. Later, 'Lawson' takes the computer cards into the Cape's comptuer and determines the robot's test run was to find and kill Lawson himself. Oops; that means 'Lawson' is being stalked by the robot. Funny that this robot has been on the loose for so many months without achieving an assassination. Following Lawson's scent, it catches 'Lawson' near the Cape while he's getting a taxi ride from Chester (no idea why Lawson's scent would guide the robot to Mar-Vell). 'Lawson' escapes the robot and dons his Kree battle-suit. Mar-Vell wrecks the robot with his uni-beam, but the robot's self-repair system immediately goes to work...

Thoughts: There's good and bad in this issue; it's great to see Yon-Rogg actually enter combat and behave like a leader, while his injury also gives Una an opportunity to act as a medic. The Aakon are also an interesting villain for the Kree, one original to Captain Marvel, unlike the Skrulls who were principally Fantastic Four villains.

The downside is the introduction of our first big recurring villains: the Organization. In the 1960s, Stan Lee helped develop villain teams like Hydra, AIM and the Secret Empire; now, thrill to... the Organization? And their leader... Number One? Of all the secret villain groups of Marvel's 1960s, they've got to be the lamest.

We also have Carol and Mar-vell's first kiss, which is quite a development; I preferred her as a non-romantic interest, but at least it's giving Una something to do... uh, although she's not doing anything more than cry and feel jealous.

Next: The Aakon and the robot return! ...So do the Organization, dang it.

Space-Born Super Hero Part 10: Captain Marvel #7

I've reached Captain Marvel #7 and the story "Die, Town, Die!" which is somewhat eclectic; once again the creators are Arnold Drake and Don Heck (with inks by John Tartaglione). Once again, Mar-Vell has been brought before Ronan the Accuser to determine if he's loyal. This is getting monotonous, and only makes the Kree villains look ineffectual for failing to achieve anything. Mar-Vell is made to sit within a pain-inducing "truth-chair" while Yon-Rogg complains about Mar-Vell rescuing the humans from Solam (last issue). Ronan observes the truth-chair "can judge only the validity of his answeres---which is useless unless we put the most telling questions!" As Yon-Rogg's accusations are achieving nothing, Ronan takes over the interrogation (it should be noted that Ronan is coloured solid blue in his first panel here, but later is solid green; technically, this is the first time he's been depicted with blue skin).

Mar-Vell notes his mission is to observe the humans, which wouldn't have possible if he'd allowed Solam to destroy them all. After Ronan's questions are done, he finds the truth-chair's "veracitometer" points to "the 5% zone of indecision!" To resolve the question of Mar-Vell's loyalty, Ronan orders him to release a vial of virus Z-3 on Earth. He's kind enough to let Mar-Vell choose "any" community, which will serve in Mar-Vell's favour. It seems Virus Z-3 almost eliminated the Kree population centuries ago. This entire interrogation was performed by Ronan in-person; with the judgement rendered, he uses a beta-ray (no relation to Adam Strange's zeta-ray) to transmit Mar-Vell and Yon-Rogg back to their ship, the Helion. One wonders why the Kree need starships for recon missions when they can send their soldiers across several star systems within seconds.

Mar-Vell explains his new problem to Una. Una is certain Mar-Vell could never unleash the virus, but has nothing to offer in terms of aiding him. Having just failed to deal permanently with Mar-Vell, Yon-Rogg decides to fail somewhere else: Carol Danvers is investigating the site where the Helion briefly touched down on Earth (last issue) so he fires a blast of "almost invisible" cosmic energy at her. However, Mar-Vell returns to Earth in time to deflect the blast with his uni-beam. Carol is pleased to see Mar-Vell and tells him she's concerned about 'Walter Lawson' and wonders if his super powers could reveal anything to her about the mystery man. Yon-Rogg finally makes something of his failure by calling Una over to observe Mar-Vell and Carol's conversation. Their transmission feed doesn't include audio, but based on the imagery and Yon-Rogg's inneundo, Una begins to think Mar-Vell is attracted to Carol. It's taken some time, but the book's first love triangle is officially on!

Meanwhile we turn our attention to a cavern beneath Manhattan where the living computer Quasimodo (originally built by the Mad Thinker) has realized that the Cape's computer is the most powerful computer on Earth; as he gains strength from computer energy, it's just what Quasimodo needs. Check out this rant:

"Men loudly denounce the enslavement of men! But the creation of machine slaves is repayed with vast fortunes and---the Edisons and Diesels--men who invent new electronic lackeys and mechanical serfs---are honored and respected above all others! For, to me, the machine is a mindless, soulless thing! Then... through me... let them see that the machine does think and feel and even talk---through my own relayed voice! And let them know that the slave machines have found a new master---one who shall make them the rulers and men the servants!"

Yes, Quasimodo is planning a revolution! But for now we turn back to the hotel where Mar-Vell lives as 'Lawson' and Jeremy Logan is finally back on duty as clerk, having lost his memories about the cylinder he discovered in 'Lawson's' room. Mar-Vell uses a cell transmuter in his room to tranform his fingerprints into a match for the real Walter Lawson - so Carol, for all her complaints about 'Lawson' didn't bother to fingerprint him before now? Quasimodo invades the Cape and it seems he can now command machines to obey him, such as making a rifle float in the air and shoot at a guard. That, uh, seems unlikely. It's one thing for Quasimodo to control other computers, but just any machine? And make it hover in the air? It's a bit too juvenile. Quasimodo easily conquers the Cape and demands General Bridges bring him to the source of their computer power. Bridges replies the Cape uses a network and that anyway, "No such thing as computer energy exists!" Quasimodo retorts: "Then see how I attract and consume this non-existant force!"

Captain Marvel responds to the attack on the Cape and engages Quasimodo in battle. Quasimodo beats Mar-Vell and departs, but Mar-Vell catches up to him in an artifical town which Quasimodo built and filled with robots designed to look like 19th century humans. Mar-Vell realizes this is the answer to his problem; he smashes Quasimodo's main computer to deactivate the robots while at the same time releasing Virus Z-3. To Yon-Rogg's eyes, it appears as though Mar-Vell unleashed the virus against a town of humans and killed them. Yon-Rogg is disappointed with the outcome but must accept Mar-Vell's victory; Una, however, is growing increasingly distraught by the idea that Mar-Vell is in love with another woman...

Thoughts: I kind of adore Quasimodo, I can't quite explain it. I mean, he's a hunchbacked robot. It's a very simple design, yet memorable. He's also a significant Jack Kirby villain, but not one who has been over-used. I put him to work in my book Dark Reign Files for Marvel and found I liked writing in his voice.

Arnold Drake seems to have been having a good time too - a few of Quasimodo's lines are funny. Drake didn't have the same mastery of snappy banter that Stan Lee did, but he did okay here. Don Heck holds up pretty well too - he sometimes skipped corners in crafting action-heavy super hero comics, but this holds together all right; it's not an outstanding comic book, but it gets the job done.

Next: Meet the Kree's greatest enemies! ...No, not them. The other ones.

Space-Born Super Hero Part 9: Captain Marvel #6

Welcome back to my examination of the pre-Starlin adventures of Captain Marvel! I'm up to Captain Marvel #6 and the story "In the Path of Solam!" by Arnold Drake & Don Heck (John Tartaglione inking). Last issue featured the series' first original villain, the Metazoid! This time the cover promises us a giant monster!

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.