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 40: Avengers #108

By the Pama! At last, I'm at the last comic I'm going to review in this series. Avengers #108 (1973) is Captain Marvel's last appearance prior to Jim Starlin's arrival in Captain Marvel #25. The story is "Check--and Mate!" by Steve Englehart, Don Heck, Dave Cockrum and Joe sinnott. The story follows on from what began in Avengers #106 with the Grim Reaper and Space Phantom having made an alliance with the hordes of Hydra. At this point in time, the Grim Reaper was motivated to fight the Avengers because he blamed them for the death of his brother, Wonder Man. Having learned the Vision's mind was based on that of Wonder Man's, the Reaper now concocts a scheme to plant Vision within Wonder Man's body, granting Vision the true humanity he's long desired. It's tempting to the Vision, but he mostly just plays along with the Reaper while the other Avengers do their thing.

The Avengers don't seem to do a particularly great job against the Space Phantom as Vision, Captain America, Iron Man, Black Panther, Hawkeye and the Scarlet Witch end up being captured and the Space Phantom heads to Avengers Mansion to tie up any loose ends by catching Jarvis and Rick Jones. However, Rick fights back against the Space Phantom and the villain decides to use his ability to assume other people's forms by claiming Rick Jones' body; however, at the very instant he does so, Rick vanishes and Captain Marvel appears! With Rick Jones cast into the Negative Zone, the Space Phantom can't perform his appearance-swapping trick and is cast into Limbo by the effects of his own powers. Afterward, Mar-Vell informs the Avengers that he and Rick had helped come up with this plan to aid the team, and the Scarlet Witch even threw her fight with the Space Phantom so that she could warn Rick. The threat is finished but the Scarlet Witch is still uptight about her missing brother, Quicksilver; Vision consoles her as their romance continues to bloom.

Thoughts: Captain Marvel appears for less than 2 pages, but as he and Rick had been brought in at the outset of this storyline, it doesn't feel cheap for him to turn up, and using the Rick/Mar-Vell body swap as a means to undo the Space Phantom's body swap powers is a neat idea -- kudos to Englehart for thinking of it.

And that's all there is in terms of plot recaps; let's sum this up.

Next: The finale! What exactly did I learn from this 40-part series? Let's find out!

Space-Born Super Hero Part 19: Captain Marvel #16

And now for something completely different.

As I said at the outset, Captain Marvel reached a period where fandom was deeply irritated by the series. Although it had struggled from the outset simply for its umbrage to call the hero 'Captain Marvel', the entire 'Zo' plotline had turned even fans against the book. For that reason, we are now at Captain Marvel #16 (1969), the conclusion of the 'Zo' story; but not at the hands of its instigator Arnold Drake or the noble efforts of Gary Friedrich: Archie Goodwin steps in here with his one-and-only issue of Captain Marvel in what is essentially meant to sweep the deck clear for the new creative team. On art chores is Don Heck, who had been absent since issue #10; this is his final issue of Captain Marvel and a suitable place for him to bid the series farewell. The story is called: "Behind the Mask of Zo!"

We resume with Captain Marvel in the clutches of the worshipers of Tam-Bor, who drag him before their idol. Tam-Bor's magnetic pull is so strong that Mar-Vell's captors can simply hurl him through the air to the idol, as the metal in Mar-Vell's battle-suit attracts him. Mar-Vell manages to alter his path using his jet-belt and aims himself to the base of Tam-Bor, where he notices a door. Stepping inside, Mar-Vell is alarmed: "Tam-Bor is no natural phenomenon gone berserk... nor an insidious alien plot! It is as though someone had mechanically reproduced Earth's magnetic north pole, increasing its strength a thousand fold! And, the construction is unmistakably Kree... of recent design!" The machinery inside the idol convinces Mar-Vell that someone among the Kree wants to destroy Kree-Lar. But for what purpose? Mar-vell's exploration is halted when Ronan teleports into the room (Ronan is once again blue-skinned and from now on, always will be). Ronan whips out his Universal Weapon and begins blasting Mar-Vell with cosmic energy, ignoring Mar-Vell's warning about the idol.

Mar-Vell tries to flee, but the Universal Weapon drains his jet-belt. Noticing the idol's generator nearby, Mar-Vell takes off his helmet and activates the self-destruct mechanism inside (wow, this is the second time Mar-Vell's had an explosive device on his person). The helmet explodes, destroying the generator and taking the idol of Tam-Bor with it. Does this mean Kree-Lar and the universe have been saved? Then why did Zo insist Kree-Lar had to be destroyed? Anyway, Ronan is uninjured by the explosion, while Mar-Vell is stunned.

Back on Earth, Carol Danvers awakens in a hospital. Delirious, she recalls Mar-Vell needing her help (the whole treason thing) and wanders from her hospital room, just missing FBI agents Jeff Colt and Ray Kinsolving (they're introduced like they expect to hang around; sorry fellas, this series isn't casting new recurring characters yet). Reporters outside the hospital try to question Carol about Captain Marvel, but someone offers to guide her from the crowd -- but Carol's new friend is Yon-Rogg, who drags her into an automobile.

Back on Kree-Lar, Mar-Vell revives in time to see Ronan about to kill hiim, when the Super-Sentry appears! Just like a regular Sentry only.. super. The Super-Sentry works directly for the Supreme Intelligence and informs Ronan he's been stripped of all authority. Mar-Vell has heard of the Super-Sentry, but thought the robot a mere myth: "An invincible master-version of our inter-galactic guardians... called upon by the Supreme Intelligence only when the very empire itself is threatened!" The Super-Sentry deflects Ronan's attacks, then picks up Mar-vell to ferry him to the Hall of Judgment.

The Hall of Judgment is on Hala, "headquarters planet of the galaxy-spanning Kree!" Mar-Vell also identifies the Kree's sun as 'Pama'. Both Hala and Pama appeared in dialogue a few issues before - good for Goodwin to make this part of the Kree lore. According to Mar-Vell, "few Kree ever actually behold" Hala, which is where the Supreme Intelligence resides. Of course, this idea would be ignored over the decades as writers would more commonly use Hala as the Kree's planet of choice rather than Kree-Lar. Anyway, in the Hall of Judgment the Super-Sentry sets Mar-Vell down before the Supreme Intelligence. And may I take a moment to say Don Heck is finally doing an awesome job with all the Kirby designs for the Kree? It's a pity this is his farewell (a more's the pity it took him this long to master the Kree visuals).

However, Mar-Vell is not the person being judged today - rather it's the Imperial Minister, whose name is finally given as Zarek. The Supreme Intelligence reveals Zarek was the one behind Zo all along. "You experienced only what Zarek desired that you experience!" the Supreme Intelligence explains. "The seemingly endless voyage through space that left you near madness was carefully calculated so you'd arrive incapable of suspecting... this was in reality a small world on the rim of the Kree galaxy!" It turns out Mar-Vell was inside a Kree multi-sensory illusion chamber during his entire confrontation with Zo back in issue #11 while Zarek and Ronan sat at the controls. In fact, Zarek and Ronan have been behind pretty much all of Mar-Vell's woes: they assigned Yon-Rogg as Mar-Vell's commander knowing that Yon-Rogg would prod Mar-Vell where they needed him. But why? Why did Zarek and Ronan betray the Supreme Intelligence?

"Because I was looking for a tool to topple an empire," Zarek explains. Zarek was the one who built Tam-Bor - a crisis he invented so that he and Ronan could eventually save the day and become public heroes. "I am a blue Kree!" Zarek explains, finally giving voice to the shifting colour choices of the Kree. "An original Kree... one of the few remaining native to Hala! We began the galactic empire... and, century after century, it has slowly been corrupted by endless worlds and impure races added to it... until today we who created the glory have almost been absorbed into extinction! Liberal policies of the Supreme Intelligene made this possible!" Yep, Zarek wants to Make Hala Great Again; although the Supreme Intelligence will eventually be considered little more than another super-villain to Marvel's writers, at this stage we see he's actually benevolent, while Zarek and Ronan are true authoritarian types. So too, this idea of the Kree's blue skin being bred out is an introduction to the various genetic troubles which will define Kree tales for decades come (this is one influential fill-in story!).

Zarek's full plan was to have Mar-Vell become a traitor, then get him close to Tam-Bor; Ronan would then kill Mar-Vell and destroy Tam-Bor, then claim Tam-Bor was Mar-Vell's scheme; the Supreme Intelligence's "lax policies" would be blamed for the Mar-Vell situation, giving Zarek and Ronan the chance to claim leadership of the Kree.

Ronan then breaks into the Hall of Judgment to rescue Zarek and Ronan leaves behind a negation sphere; while the Super-Sentry is concerned with the escaping villains, Mar-Vell hurls himself on the bomb to save the Supreme Intelligence. However, the bomb is automatically neutralized - but Mar-Vell's courage impresses the Supreme Intelligence. Zarek and Ronan are arrested but Yon-Rogg remains at large. The Supreme Intelligence intends to destroy Yon-Rogg with a hyperspace bolt, but Mar-Vell fears such a blast could destroy the Earth; although most of the Kree fleets are deployed against the Skrulls and Aakon, Mar-Vell believes Yon-Rogg can be dealt with by just one man: himself. Again impressed, the Supreme Intelligence grants Mar-Vell new powers and a new costume (his third set of powers, if you're keeping track). As Mar-Vell remains sympathetic to Earth he'll never rise above the rank of Captain - he will always remain 'Captain Marvel'. Mar-Vell flies away from Hala, still testing out his new powers - when suddenly he's drawn into the Negative Zone! End.

Thoughts: This issue should be a mess - a fill-in creative team wiping the slate clear. And yet, it works; Don Heck brought a vitality to these pages which was usually lacking in his earlier - a really redemptive turn by him. And Archie Goodwin wound up embellishing ideas about the Kree which would inspire virtually every Kree story going forward, which is no small accomplishment. Then too, Captain Marvel debuts the costume which he'll be most famous for wearing - it's better than you'd expect a fill-in story to be.

Mar-Vell's mission on Earth was so hazily established by Lee & Thomas that the revelations of Zarek & Ronan's plots actually work pretty well, despite being a retcon. And absolutely no one will miss Zo.

Next: Another new creative team! Another new direction! And can you say 'Rick Jones'? Yep, it's time for Captain Marvel #17!

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.

Space-Born Super Hero Part 8: Captain Marvel #5

My blogging series has reached Captain Marvel #5 and at this point, the series begins its second full creative team. Previously, Stan Lee had scripted the first story in Marvel Super-Heroes #12, but he didn't even stick around to finish the origin story. Now with Roy Thomas and Gene Colan gone after five stories together, we welcome Arnold Drake and Don Heck with "The Mark of the Metazoid". Arnold Drake is best-known for his DC Comics work, particularly for creating the Doom Patrol. He did very little writing for Marvel Comics, although he did create the original Guardians of the Galaxy while there. Artist Don Heck was one of the major Marvel talents of the 1960s, particularly for his long run on Iron Man and The Avengers. However, although Heck could tell a great story using the world outside his window, he sometimes struggled to get across the kind of big action which Jack Kirby popularized; consequently, poor Heck would be constantly derided by Marvel fandom and frequently called the "worst" of Marvel's 1960s creators. But let's see how it goes...

We open with a recap of the previous issue's battle between Captain Marvel and the Sub-Mariner as Yon-Rogg analyzes the battle for Ronan the Accuser. As you may recall, Mar-Vell basically threw that fight so that the bacteria weapon could be destroyed. Yon-Rogg is intelligent encough to recognize this and tries to charge Mar-Vell with cowardice and treason. Yon-Rogg asks Una to render her own verdict on Mar-Vell's behaviour on the grounds that she's the only other crewman on the Helion with both a name and a speaking part! Una naturally defends Mar-Vell passionately - which Yon-Rogg hopes will cause Ronan to reject her testimony. Having called Mar-Vell "Un-Kree", Yon-Rogg asks Ronan what his judgement is. Through the ship's viewscreen, Ronan admits Mar-Vell's actions give cause for concern but because Mar-Vell "brings here a record of loyalty and resolve" Ronan refrains from judgement, preferring to see what Mar-Vell's next actions may reveal of his character.

Mar-Vell brings up the case of Jeremy Logan, the hotel clerk who was put into a coma back in issue #2-3. Ronan declares the man must die, but Mar-Vell suggests killing him but draw undue attention - so suggests he employs the Mind Eraser instead. Ronan admits that was "well thought" and agrees with the plan, providing the device works. Mar-Vell departs the Helion and flies back to the Earth below, once again a loner among his own people as well as a loner among humans.

Meanwhile, a U-Boat (German submarine, that is) discharges the Metazoid upon the ocean floor. And who is the Metazoid? His origin is quickly recapped: a citizen of a communist nation who had been convicted of anti-state activities (not unlike Mar-Vell!), he was volunteered for an experiment to alter his body chemistry to "withstand the alien conditons on almost any planet!" This turned him into a hairy blue fellow with glowing eyes. His first mission: to kidnap Dr. Walter Lawson from the Cape. The Metazoid knows his superiors are evil but he follows their directives because "It makes it easier--easier to commit acts that I know are purest evil!"

At the Cape, Mar-Vell is facing yet another interrogation as 'Lawson' is finally subjected to a rigorous background check by Carol Danvers, as she's threatened since her first appearance. For starters, there weren't any photographs of Lawson in his personnel file (Mar-Vell destroyed the photos himself). Strange that the Cape didn't have any photos in their own files prior to his arrival. For the first time, we really get a sense of Carol's feminist streak as she loses her cool during the interrogation: "You scientists treat security officers as either snooping villains or comic clods! And, of course, a female s.o. is even more open to your amusing jibes! But I am not amused!" 'Lawson' reacts by accusing her of "professional conflicts" because "You're a woman--a lovely woman, in fact! And you've been given a very masculine role in life! Naturally, psychological conflicts must arise when a beautiful young woman is asked to play at policeman!" This seems a bit out-of-character for Mar-Vell, as you'd think an extraterrestrial wouldn't assume the same kind of stereotyped gender roles; also, since when is Mar-Vell into armchair psychology? Anyway, this does absolutely nothing to place him in Carol's good graces as she decides he's "too tricky to be real."

'Lawson' gets a ride with taxi driver Chester (from last issue) to visit Jeremy Logan. The Metazoid, whose body keeps altering itself depending on the environment, is close behind, latched on the roof of the taxi. When the taxi arrives at the hospital, the Metazoid continues to shadow 'Lawson'. Just as 'Lawson' is about to apply the Mind Eraser to Jeremy, the Metazoid bursts in to capture him; 'Lawson' reacts by jumping out the window. While the Metazoid wastes time threatening doctors, Mar-Vell returns wearing his battle-suit and ready for a fight! However, the Metazoid's constantly-changing body aids him again as his skin becomes sticky, ensnaring Mar-Vell's fists when they strike him. The uni-beam also proves ineffective. Mar-Vell grabs the Metazoid and flies out of the hospital and into the sky, intending to drop the Metazoid to his death, but the Metazoid again clings to his hands. The Metazoid realizes he could kill Captain Marvel at any time, but fears doing so would rob himself of his last spark of humanity.

Mar-Vell finally falls from the sky and is knocked out from the crash. The Metazoid leaves Mar-Vell alone, but Mar-vell finds an X-ray device and turns it on, bombarding the Metazoid with radiation. It seems Mar-Vell once fought "the Vintar of Galaxy-7" using a similar method. The X-Rays kill the Metazoid and Mar-Vell finally wipes Jeremy's memories. As Mar-Vell departs, his mission done, he wonders if being on Earth is robbing himself of his Kree identity; is he becoming a traitor, as Yon-Rogg claims?

Thoughts: A shaky start, but not an umpromising one. Mar-Vell being a bit chauvinist with Carol is an unfortunate moment, but there are other good developments - wiping Jeremy's memories of the Lawson-Captain Marvel connection seems to bring that plot to a conclusion. The Metazoid is an interesting idea, albeit one which Heck struggles to get across - the idea of a villain who can't control his own powers but instead adapts to any situation is a decent one and it is interesting that he was unwilling to kill Mar-Vell, yet Mar-Vell had no problem killing him - a good reminder that Mar-Vell is, from a certain perspective, one of the bad guys.

I am not a Don Heck hater, but I do think he's not in his element here - his art is kinda simple and isn't suited to big science fiction stuff - it comes across as stiff.

All told, this the first story which feels like a "native" Captain Marvel comic; no guest villains, no guest heroes, just Mar-Vell with his cast and a brand-new villain. It's a minor landmark, to be sure.

Next: Another new villain stalks Mar-Vell in Captain Marvel #6!