The World Needs More Heroines

Captain Marvel #1

The much-anticipated new series starring the former Ms. Marvel, Carol Danvers. She has a shorter haircut and a new costume that’s more similar to Marvel’s classic Captain Marvel character. After she and Captain America stop a rampage by the Absorbing Man, Cap persuades her that it’s time for her to take up the name Captain Marvel as a tribute to the original. After that, she spars with Spider-Man, takes a short flight into orbit, visits her old friend Tracy Burke, who is now apparently fighting cancer, and reminisces about her hero, Helen Cobb, a pioneering pilot.

Verdict: Thumbs up. A fairly low-key beginning for the new series — nice to see that every new comic doesn’t have to start with a giant cosmic crossover. We get some action, some downtime, some great character moments. Kelly Sue DeConnick writes a great issue here. The big surprise is Dexter Soy’s art — if you expected traditional comic art like what’s on the cover, Soy’s work isn’t what you thought you’d see. He’s more of a painter, and on first glance, his work looks a bit muddy. But you get adjusted fast, and Soy really shines when it comes to faces. It really is pretty beautiful stuff. Hope you’re going to give this one a try.

Batwoman #11

Sune has shapeshifted into a completely different person, Maro, with plans to kill Batwoman and take over the Medusa organization. Maro manages to escape with a bunch of kidnapped children, leaving Batwoman and Cameron Chase to escape from Killer Croc and Maria, the Weeping Woman. Meanwhile, it’s looking like Bette Kane may never wake back up, and the doctors are making plans to take her off life support. Is there anything Jacob Kane can do to save her?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Mainly, to be honest, for Jacob Kane and his niece Bette. The Batwoman stuff is fine, but it’s mostly slugfest stuff. Jacob and Bette have all the heart in this issue.

Wonder Woman #11

Hera has hired Apollo and Artemis, the gods of the sun and the moon, to abduct Zola, and only Wonder Woman, Hermes, and Lennox are available to stop them. And the good guys get absolutely stomped. With Lennox out of the picture and Zola in Hera’s fiendish clutches, can Diana and Hermes do anything to help?

Verdict: I think I’ll give it a thumbs up. It’s not a ton of fun to watch the heroes get effortlessly pulverized by the bad guys, but there’s some good character stuff in here, we get Hera scheming, we get our first looks at Artemis and Demeter, and we get more fun with Strife being a hilarious loon.

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