Avengers/X-Men and Captain Marvel - Reviews

Captain Marvel #1
Written by Kelly Sue DeConnick
Art by Dexter Soy

This is the week that Marvel releases Captain Marvel #1 upon the world, in a book that is looking to redefine Carol Danvers and her role in the Marvel Universe. After Marvel cancelled every book they had with a female lead, it's nice to see them trying to remedy that with this one and the recent announcement of a Red She-Hulk book.

So how's the book? Read more after the jump as well as a review of  Avengers vs. X-Men #8 and a bonus review!

The issue opens with Carol and Captain America going head to head with The Absorbing Man.  There's a lot of smack from A-man about Carol being a girl and taking the lead in this fight. After some quirky banter between Cap and Ms. Marvel, they finish the fight off and have a heart to heart at the Avengers tower. One entertaining sparring match with Spider-Man later and Carol is off into space to deal with her inner monologue. The rest of the book dips into Carol's personal life as she prepares to deal with the future and taking the mantle of Captain Marvel.

My only prior experience with Kelly Sue DeConnick is last week's Avenging Spider-Man(surprise! I review it right down below!) and so far, I am enjoying her stuff. The dialogue is snappy and she writes Carol as a strong, former military member. Confident and introspective at the same time, Carol is just as layered as ever and is a great choice to headline Marvel's female pantheon. There's no reason she shouldn't be their "Wonder Woman." I'm sure as time goes on, the book will deal with the deep history she already has and her relation to others in the Marvel U.

Dexter Soy's pencils were probably gorgeous, but I'm really bothered by the choice of colors in this book. I like my superhero stuff vibrant and popping out at you. This pallet is very muddied and almost borders on ugly. It's disappointing after the awesome Ed McGuinness cover. I've never seen any of Soy's previous work(that I can think of off the top of my head) but I'm not against it. It's just a flavor that took me some getting used to. Halfway through the book, I didn't even care anymore because I was wrapped up in the story.

This is a good, solid start to this series and I'm looking forward to it. It's one of the first Marvel books I've picked up in a long time and I can't wait to see what else is in store for Carol.

Avengers vs. X-Men #8
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Adam Kubert

Picking right up where the last issue left off, AvX starts off with Namor laying wast to Wakanda.

EDIT:  I've actually had this post pending all week. I've had a lot of things come up to take my time away from it, so here's the long and short of it.

AvX8 was good, but not a must buy. If you want the whole run, then duh. Buy it.

 Last week's Avenging Spider-Man #9 was pretty good as well. It was our first taste of the re-vamped Carol Danvers and I really enjoy the pairing of her and Spidey. Good read and I'm looking forward to the next one.