CAPTAIN MARVEL #10

Review by: Josh Elliott

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Story by Kelly Sue DeConnick
Art by Filipe Andrade
Colors by Jordie Bellaire
Cover by Joe Quinones

Size: 0 pages
Price: 2.99

Beautiful cover. Beautiful interior. Heartbreaking story.

Kelly Sue DeConnick’s Captain Marvel #10 twists the knife at all the right moments as longtime pilot and plucky superhero Carol Danvers tries to cope with a brain lesion diagnosis that demands she stay grounded. The diagnosis is no secret to Carol’s friends – or her enemies – meaning she quickly discovers that the Captain Marvel job doesn’t include sick days.

DeConnick deftly mixes humour, despair and defiance to offer a deeply human reaction to a terrifying medical diagnosis. Carol desperately wants her Kree/human physiology to make her diagnosis invalid, and she ardently wants her body to prove everyone wrong, but she’s already starting to fray at the edges, both physically and mentally.

We’ve seen the “superhero loses superpowers” story before, most notably with Spider-Man and Superman, but what makes Captain Marvel’s situation special is that she’ll die if she does the one thing she loves most. Like a writer gone blind, a musician gone deaf or an athlete put in a wheelchair, it’s heartbreaking to see Carol’s wings clipped.

Speaking of wings, Captain Marvel #10 is noteworthy for introducing the first real villain we’ve seen in DeConnick’s run: the feathered Shi’ar Deathbird. Deathbird – along with Captain America and the rest of the world – has heard about Carol’s diagnosis, and is eager to put her altitude restriction to the test.

Artist Filipe Andrade returns for the second issue to deliver yet another beautiful, heavily stylistic take on Captain Marvel. His Carol Danvers looks a little knock-kneed at times, but if you’ve bought in to the art style – and it may be a struggle for some – then a skinny superhero is part of the package. Andrade’s lines are flowing and energetic, and that style is particularly evident in how he draws Carol’s long, billowing blonde hair.

Mad props also go out to Joe Quinones, who turns in a marvelous – yes, marvelous – cover that captures the pain and longing of our grounded heroine.

Captain Marvel #10 is equal parts humour and heartbreak, but fantastic throughout.

Story: 5 - Excellent
Art: 4 - Very Good

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