How does Carol Danvers settle back into normal life after being put on trial by Marvel’s Magic Council? Prepare for a crossover with the X-Men, that’s how. Marvel has been having the X-Men crossover with just about every other franchise the last year and that will be continuing in 2023 with Captain Marvel and X-Men having a crossover event. We know Carol has ties to the X-Men with her past connection with Rogue. Now it looks like the ties will be something Marvel finally goes back to tapping into with the upcoming Captain Marvel and X-Men crossover. To prepare for that Captain Marvel and the X-Men are working together to save Rogue from the Brood seeking revenge on everyone. Let’s find out how this goes with Captain Marvel #44.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Kelly Thompson
Artist: Sergio Davila
Inker: Sean Parsons
Colorist: Arif Prianto
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
SYNOPSIS
With the Brood-Rogue rampaging Captain Marvel and the X-Men have no other option than to release her into space so she can be resurrected by The Five as Rogue again.
Afterward Captain Marvel and Gambit rally the rest of the X-Men, Spider-Woman, and Hazmat to continue their mission by getting Binary back from the Brood.
The team head to Ceia II where the Brood are hiding out. A big brawl breaks out immediately with the Brood.
Suddenly Captain Marvel, Spider-Woman, Hazmat, and the X-Men find themselves at a Shi’ar Gala where Rogue is surprisingly waiting for them.
This all turns out to be an illusion as the Brood have captured Captain Marvel, Spider-Woman, Hazmat, and the X-Men put them in their labs. End of issue.
REVIEW
It’s crazy to think but it is incredibly refreshing seeing Captain Marvel going back to having superhero adventures in space. It’s been one of the elements that have been missing from Carol Danvers’ Captain Marvel as we largely see her on Earth either as a solo hero or with the Avengers. Even in the confines of a space jet for the first half, there is just a different tone to what is going on.
A big thing about getting this story over was the pacing. Captain Marvel #44 is paced well so we go from our heroes dealing with what to do about Brood-Rogue to the impact of the Brood’s capture of everyone. Kelly Thompson strikes a good balance so we don’t spend too much time on one particular moment. At the same time, the important moments are given enough time to let it set in for the characters and reader to get the weight of what occurred.
The way Brood-Rogue has to be dealt with is a showcase of that. A Brood having the power of Rogue is shown as too dangerous for anyone to take on. Even with heavy hitters like Captain Marvel, this is too much to handle, especially in the enclosed setting of everyone fighting in a small jet in the middle of space. Thompson and Sergio Davila built the stakes well that the only thing Captain Marvel and X-Men could do is kill Brood-Rogue and message The Five to put Rogue through the resurrection process. Now that is a bit of a cop-out to use the deus-ex-machina of the resurrection protocol but that is something part of the X-Men continuity that we’ve seen the X-Men use since Jonathan Hickman introduced the plot device.
While the plot device was used Thompson and Davila made sure that the reader did not lose sight of how heavy of a decision this was. The decision to hit Gambit hard was a great way to show that even knowing Rogue will be resurrected it does not remove the guilt of having to make the decision to kill his wife to save her. Gambit turning his sorrow into motivation for not just taking on the Brood but saving Binary was a cool character moment.
It was also good to see that Thompson used what had to be done with Brood-Rogue to give Captain Marvel and Spider-Woman a moment. We don’t often see the whole Secret Invasion story brought back up but having gone through being kidnapped and robbed of their identity by an alien race it’s understandable that Jessica Drew would be a bit shaken by this. Carol identifying this in her friend was a good way to show how deep their best friendship goes as she is there to help lift Jessica up.
The swerve once we get to the fight with the Brood was jarring but once you got to the ending where you see all the heroes have actually been captured worked well. There is an immediate wonder if we missed something but that all plays into what the Brood are known to do to people. Though I do wish we would’ve gotten a bit more of the fight than just one page. It did seem to be a choice more out of how many more pages were left than keeping the flow of the story going. That said, it does make you wonder what is the endgame of what the Brood are planning is all about.
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FINAL THOUGHTS
Captain Marvel #44 moves at a solid pace to keep the reader engaged. Tough decisions are made that are handled well with how Captain Marvel and X-Men react to them. Hopefully, the next issue opens up more on what the Brood are truly after in their latest plot.
Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10