I have no idea what was going on in this comic.
Last issue, Captain Marvel flew into space in order to sever her mental connection to Kree super villain Yon-Rogg. On the recap page this issue, we’re informed that she has subsequently lost her emotional connection to the past, so she is sort of a blank slate… which is a bit deja vu for this character, who was once wiped clean by the formerly-villainous Rogue of the X-Men. Now suddenly, she’s thrown into the ‘Infinity’ crossover and is commanding a team of Avengers against that crossover’s baddies The Builders.
Joined by Hawkeye, who wears sunglasses while piloting a starship through black space, they embark on the Battle of the Corridor, where Carol faces a dilemma when her former best friend Spider-Woman becomes endangered in combat… and Carol doesn’t know how to handle it.
After more epic space combat, Carol seems lost… but well, the cover reveals what really happens.
On the letters page, editor Sana Amanat brings up the fact that this issue was forced to fit the ‘Infinity’ event, which resulted in the somewhat disjointed storyline. But even so, I have a beef with the fact that I needed the recap page to inform me that Carol’s memories had been wiped. That should have been explicitly illustrated in the actual comic book! I went back and flipped through the last issue and even the last issue of ‘Avengers Assemble’ to see what I’d missed and there was nothing there. So that was annoying.
Beyond that, I’m going to do that thing that nerds do when these events pop up and just complain about a series we read that is suddenly forced to fit within a story of a miniseries that we have not read. Honestly, I don’t even read ‘Avengers’ anymore so I didn’t even know who a lot of these characters were. Was that The Falcon with that giant pterodactyl head?
The art wasn’t my favorite either, unfortunately, even though there is some nice body language and facial expressions, including a sad-looking Spider-Woman, who is upset about the state of her former-bestie. The art really is not bad, but I just didn’t find it attractive.
So, while the writing is solid, the fact that it had to be tailored around another event really disappointed me and the fact that a major development in the life of the lead character was glossed over via recap page really burns me. The art wasn’t bad, but just wasn’t to my liking. So in all, it was kind of a disappointing issue.
CAPTAIN MARVEL #15
Written by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Jen Van Meter
Pencils by Patrick Olliffe
Cover by Joe Quinones