Captain Marvel #5 Review

Writer: Kelly Thompson / Artists: Carmen Carnero, Tamra Bonvillain, Amanda Conner, Paul Mounts / Marvel End of the arc — and what an ending it is! As you’d expect, everything works out pretty okay for our Captain. Comics are seldom about the destination, though: they’re about the journey. This journey in particular tells us something about Carol, but also about Thompson and the rest of the crew that I love to see. The team up between Carol and her not-a-friend Rogue started in Issue #4 with all the animosity you’d expect. Issue #5 is full of punching and attitude, as the rest of the stranded women on Roosevelt Island unite to prove that teamwork doesn’t have to rely on superpowers. This all gets wrapped up with a bow and a kiss, just like any good comic should. Thought You’d Never Ask

The fact that Captain Marvel and Rogue team up to beat the living neutrons out of Nuclear Man isn’t that surprising, or even really that interesting. He is outmatched by either of them individually, let alone together. What’s interesting about it is the subtext of what Thompson is doing. She takes an adversarial relationship between two women — a relationship steeped in the mentality of “there can be only one girl in the club house” — and makes it into one of cooperation. She allows both characters to accept their faults and grow from their past traumas in order to move forward as adults. They don’t have to be friends, but Carol and Rogue can respect each other now. This all felt fundamental…