Captain Marvel, Vol. 2: Down Paperback – June 4, 2013

I reviewed  Captain Marvel, Vol. 1: In Pursuit of Flight  and loved it, giving it five stars, and my highest recommendation. It is unfortunate I can't say the same for this volume. Let me be clear; Captain Marvel is still a great series with a dynamic, engaging main character, and a wonderful story. The problems lie elsewhere.Dexter Soy is the artist for issues 7-8 and while I never felt his style was the best fit the series, it works. The potential problem comes in issues 9-12 when Filipe Andrade takes over for Soy. Andrade has a love it or hate it style; there is no in between. To be fair, his style marvelously captures the kinetic feel of this series, and the conflicts are beautifully drawn. It is the quieter moments that are an issue. Andrade, in my personal opinion, does not draw faces well, at all. I do not like his style, but I don't feel it is fair for my personal preference to affect the score. I still enjoy the story, and that is all that matters.The bigger reason I withheld a star from this product is because of how cheap is feels. This is the first trade paperback I have purchased that feels so thin. The cover almost has the same feel as the pages. The quality is clearly inferior to the previous volume, to the point that I may stop buying books online, at first, so that I can see if, they too, are made this cheaply. If they are, I can't justify purchasing them. This gripe has nothing to do with the series, and everything to do with marvel cutting costs.The story of this volume revolves around Carol's health, and an enemy from her past. It is very engaging, and as always, Carol Danvers has one of the most organic personalities of any character I have read for quite some time. Every action, reaction, and conversation perfectly captures 'her', and nothing she says or does ever feels out of character; a feat few series ever accomplish. The supporting characters in Captain Marvel shine as well. Spider Woman and Monica Rambeau, a little known character, have never been this fully realized and I truly hope the rest of the marvel universe take a page from the incomparable Kelly Sue DeConnick, and write them this way from now on. It is wonderful to see a series filled with female heroes that never come off as 'female heroes' but just heroes. The only other series that comes close to this right now is  Journey Into Mystery Featuring Sif - Volume 1: Stronger Than Monsters (Marvel Now) At the end of the day, Mrs. DeConnick knocks this volume out of the park, though you may or may not love the art. The quality of the paper the book is made out of is, in my opinion, of lesser quality, but I would still have bought it had I known before hand, just because I love the character and the world Mrs. DeConnick has created so much. If you loved the first volume, you should already have this one. See if the art is to your taste, and if you're alright with the physical feel of the book, I highly recommend Captain Marvel, Vol 2.

I was blown away by the writing in the first volume of the new Captain Marvel for Marvel Now. DeConnick has really remade the superheroine into something truly special. And, the redesign was excellent. The full body uniform, retractable cowl and less supermodel-y hair was a nice change-up that gives her a more serious edge. This second volume is a strong continuation of the series.The first half of the book is a standalone adventure with Captain Marvel and another superheroine I wasn’t familiar with, Monica. And it featured the same art I was so impressed by in volume one. The story has great action sequences and Carol’s sense of humor is on display, much to my enjoyment. Where the book faltered a bit (for me) is in the second half where we learn Captain Marvel can no longer fly. I’m not a fan of superpowered characters suddenly losing powers in order to contrive a plotline. And, it didn’t help that the artist changed at the same time. And it was a DRASTIC change. The two styles couldn’t be further apart. The new style reminds me of Ignacio Noe, whose art I have liked but which I don’t think is a good fit for Captain Marvel or the story being told. But, it may grow on me. That said, the ending teased the return of a villain integral to Carol’s past that has a lot of potential and which is expected to crossover with the Avengers series. And, DeConnick has earned some trust with her stellar writing up to this point.Overall, though I’m hesitant about where the storyline may go, I’m still very impressed with Captain Marvel and will definitely continue the series. Highly recommended!

Collects Captain Marvel, issues 7-12:This volume continues to introduce more members of her cast. In the early parts of the book, she works with a former Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau, and a guy named Frank. Frank, a man Carol has a past with, is set up to be a future love interest for Carol. I continue to like her friendship with Spider-Woman. Captain Marvel gets a personal assistant in this volume, which I think is a funny idea. Carol is a superhero, and she needs to keep her appointments straight, so she gets a Pepper Potts-like girl, named Wendy, to help her out with scheduling and other tasks.Spoiler: Carol is having a health issue, brain-related, so she can’t use her powers to fly anymore. Otherwise, something bad might happen.The art in this volume starts off good, but gets bizarre in the middle of the book. The overall story from issue to issue within this volume is very, very forgettable. I read the early part of this volume in October, and read the rest today (in January), and I barely remembered a thing that happened from my previous reading. I had to scan back through and refresh my memory. Just the fact that I was able to put this down in October with no urge to pick it up again until today (just so I could finally finish it once and for all) speaks volumes of its quality.Spoilers: The big reveal at the end is that Yon-Rogg is the big bad behind Carol’s current struggles. The problem with this reveal is that I have no idea who this guy is, so it had no emotional impact on me. I can’t blame the writer for this, it is just my lack of familiarity with the character.

Captain Marvel has been an on and off again character in the Marvel universe for as long as I can remember. A solid character, with great powers and some really great personality. But she has always seemed to have rotten luck, as writers have removed her powers, personality, and turned her into a different character. Deconnick has brought Carol Danvers back to her roots, and returned a mainstay of the Avengers to the printed format with a dynamic intensity that I haven't seen in comic books in years.Thanks for writing such a great story. I look forward to getting the next collection.

Things keep getting in Carol's way. Robots, a headache and old enemies. Just a normal day for her and Danvers cat Chewie.

Volume 2 of this wonderful new series is as impressive as the first. The scripting and characterisation is amongst the strongest you will see anywhere in comics today.The concerns over Carol's illness are well developed and her reaction to the challenges she faces are beautifully realised. The cast of characters are really well defined and it is great to see peripheral female super-characters popping in and out.Perhaps my only criticism is the artwork on the latter issues, which is good, but compares poorly to the first two issues. That having been said, this wonderful book still warrants a full five star rating.

Probably the strongest collection of Ms Marvel/Captain Marvel. Well written with great art. The story feeds into the crossover with avengers assemble - the enemy within. Here's hoping it does not get cancelled.

Awesome

I give the five stars for the story, the story and the story. Kelly Sue DeConnick does an amazing job of bringing Carol Danvers to life and of throwing things at Captain Marvel that she can't just punch. The artwork is unfortunately not always to my taste, though it's not as lazy as in the third volume (Avengers Assemble: The Enemy Within) where they went as far as just copying a panel. So if you go by the motto that a comic needs to have either an extraordinary story and decent artwork or amazing artwork and a decent story, Captain Marvel is firmly in the first category.

Band 1 war gut und Band 2 ist besser. KSD hat es geschafft sich zu steigern. Die Zeichnungen mögen nicht jeden Geschmack treffen jedoch sind sie einzigartig und nichts was man normalerweise bei den "Big Two" sehen würde. Die Farben sind wie gewohnt großartig, denn Jordie Bellaire weiß, was sie tut.