“The Last Of The Marvels” story arc has been a summary of what has and has not worked in Kelly Thompson’s run on Captain Marvel. On what has worked thus far is the character development around Carol Danvers and her supporting cast. But on the other end of the spectrum is that Vox Supreme continue to be a stale villain that lacks any intrigue when developing the other half of “The Last Of The Marvels” story arc. Let see how the penultimate chapter of “The Last Of The Marvels” sets the stage for the finale with Captain Marvel #35.
Writer: Kelly Thompson
Artist: Sergio Davila
Inker: Sean Parsons
Colorist: Jesus Aburtov
Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: Captain Marvel’s energy clone knocks out Vox Supreme while Phyla-Vell defeats Mar-Vell. Phyla-Vell breaks Captain Marvel free of Vox Supreme control suit. Captain Marvel, Phyla-Vell, and Binary then work together to break Spider-Woman, Spectrum, Hazmat, War Machine, Marvel Boy, and Genis-Vell free from Vox Supreme’s control in one go.
After catching up Genis-Vell up on recent events Captain Marvel’s energy clone fully takes on the form she had during her Binary days.
Vox Supreme returns with an army of people they are controlling with power suits. Captain Marvel leads Phyla-Vell, Binary, Spider-Woman, Spectrum, Hazmat, War Machine, Marvel Boy, and Genis-Vell to take on Vox Supreme’s forces. When Vox Supreme’s army numbers becomes overwhelming the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy show up to provide back-up. End of issue.
The Good: Captain Marvel #35 is all about setting the stage for what is going to happen in the final chapter of “The Last Of The Marvels” story arc. There isn’t any sort of big development around the plot created by Vox Supreme to be the ultimate power in the Marvel Universe. This issue is completely focused on getting Captain Marvel’s side of the conflict ready for whatever happens next.
That is really where Captain Marvel #35 works so well. Tapping more into the legacy of Captain Marvel by bringing in other characters like Phyla-Vell and Genis-Vell helps the franchise stand on its own more so it is just not an Avengers series. Exploring the dynamics within the Captain Marvel family is something that needed to happen much sooner and I’m glad the Kelly Thompson placed a spotlight on that.
In particular, writing Carol Danvers and Phyla-Vell to work together so seamlessly was handled well. The chemistry between the characters was already there so we didn’t need a long history lesson of their relationship. The story told itself with how Phyla-Vell went about saving Captain Marvel and then while they were working together to save the other heroes under Vox Supreme’s control.
Captain Marvel and Phyla-Vell breaking out their allies also worked to establish that at least on our heroes side they understand that they can’t let Vox Supreme continue to gain power. They had to use the time they got from Phyla-Vell and Binary defeating Mar-Vell and Vox Supreme to save everyone before the actual final battle with Vox Supreme. This opened the opportunity to show Carol’s dynamic with various other characters in her supporting cast.
The development with Captain Marvel’s Binary energy form becoming sentient was unexpected but adds another layer to Carol’s own legacy. Officially having Binary become her own character as she adopted the old costume Carol wore during her time in their role was a good way to establish Binary as her own character. There is enough potential shown in Captain Marvel #35 that Thompson could have Binary as a supporting or sidekick-type character for Carol moving forward.
Sergio Davila artwork was at its best in this issue as there was plenty of action and dynamic pages to draw throughout Captain Marvel #35. The action all got across the different powers and skills of all the heroes that were helping Captain Marvel out. The presentation of Binary help get over how it became a character rather than just another power Carol Danvers has.
The Bad: Vox Supreme continues to be a terrible villain and not in a good way. The character is just boring and the only reason Thompson gives to make Vox Supreme a threat is the overwhelming number of people under their control. There is nothing about his intelligence, powers, or anything else than having mindless soldiers that makes him a threat. Because of that it makes even the appearance of Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy only happen so that Captain Marvel and Vox Supreme can have a one-on-one fight. There is absolutely no other reason to see Vox Supreme as a threat, adding to how boring the villain has been since being created.
Overall: Captain Marvel #35 does fix the problems with Vox Supreme being a boring villain but at least the strength of “The Last Of The Marvels” continues to lift the story up. That strength coming from how Carol Danvers and her cast are dealing with what Vox Supreme has done. This issue focusing on the Captain Marvel and her allies made this the strongest chapter of this story arc since the first chapter.
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