Book Review: The Life of Captain Marvel by M. Stohl et al.

The Life of Captain Marvel written by Margaret Stohl with art by Carlos Pacheco, Rafael Fonteriz, Marcio Menyz, and Marguerite Sauvage

Carol Danvers (a.k.a. Captain Marvel) has some anger issues and heads back home to small-town Maine to deal with it. She had an abusive father who is long since dead. Her mom and her brother still live in Harpswell Sound. Bringing up family ghosts only causes more problems for Carol, her mom, and her brother. Physical, psychological, and extra-terrestrial problems may be more than Carol is ready to deal with when it comes to her family.

The main story leads naturally into some backstory for Danvers. The writer adds a bit to her origin that is logical but also (for me) disappointing. Carol's angry/angsty characterization takes a lot of the fun out of her, almost as if she's someone very different from the Carol Danvers of all the other stories. Going in that direct is one way to tell a new story but I was not appreciative.

Not recommended.

Book Review: The Mighty Captain Marvel Vol. 3 by M. Stohl et al.

The Mighty Captain Marvel Volume 3: Dark Origins written by Margaret Stohl and art by Michele Bandini

Captain Marvel searches for her lost Kree friend Bean only to get sucked into an alternate universe. This new universe is your standard mirror-universe. Here, Captain Marvel is the most wanted outlaw in the galaxy (with the Guardians of the Galaxy running a close second). She has to pretend to be bad and figure out the interpersonal dynamics of everyone's mirror-self in order to get back, let alone find Bean.

The story was a bit too "paint by numbers" for me. I've read and seen lots of mirror-universe stories and this is totally standard stuff. Changing Groot into Root (he's a giant walking carrot instead of a tree) was funny, but that was the rare shining moment in a lot of dullness.

Not recommended.