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The Invincible Iron Man (1968) #55
The Life and Death of Captain Marvel
Collects The Life of Captain Marvel #1-5 and The Death of Captain Marvel (Marvel Graphic Novel #1).
The Life of Captain Marvel collects Iron Man (1968) #55, Captain Marvel (1968) #25-34, Marvel Feature (1971) #12 and material from Daredevil (1964) #105.
The Life of Captain Marvel collects Iron Man (1968) #55, Captain Marvel (1968) #25-34, Marvel Feature (1971) #12 and material from Daredevil (1964) #105.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 12, 1982
34 people are currently reading
474 people want to read
About the author
Jim Starlin
1,334 books443 followersJames P. "Jim" Starlin is an American comic book writer and artist. With a career dating back to the early 1970s, he is best known for "cosmic" tales and space opera; for revamping the Marvel Comics characters Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock; and for creating or co-creating the Marvel characters Thanos and Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu. Death and suicide are recurring themes in Starlin's work: Personifications of Death appeared in his Captain Marvel series and in a fill-in story for Ghost Rider; Warlock commits suicide by killing his future self; and suicide is a theme in a story he plotted and drew for The Rampaging Hulk magazine.
In the mid-1970s, Starlin contributed a cache of stories to the independently published science-fiction anthology Star Reach. Here he developed his ideas of God, death, and infinity, free of the restrictions of mainstream comics publishers' self-censorship arm, the Comics Code Authority. Starlin also drew "The Secret of Skull River", inked by frequent collaborator Al Milgrom, for Savage Tales #5 (July 1974).
When Marvel Comics wished to use the name of Captain Marvel for a new, different character,[citation needed] Starlin was given the rare opportunity to produce a one-shot story in which to kill off a main character. The Death of Captain Marvel became the first graphic novel published by the company itself. (
In the late 1980s, Starlin began working more for DC Comics, writing a number of Batman stories, including the four-issue miniseries Batman: The Cult (Aug.-Nov. 1988), and the storyline "Batman: A Death in the Family", in Batman #426-429 (Dec. 1988 – Jan. 1989), in which Jason Todd, the second of Batman's Robin sidekicks, was killed. The death was decided by fans, as DC Comics set up a hotline for readers to vote on as to whether or not Jason Todd should survive a potentially fatal situation. For DC he created Hardcore Station.
In the mid-1970s, Starlin contributed a cache of stories to the independently published science-fiction anthology Star Reach. Here he developed his ideas of God, death, and infinity, free of the restrictions of mainstream comics publishers' self-censorship arm, the Comics Code Authority. Starlin also drew "The Secret of Skull River", inked by frequent collaborator Al Milgrom, for Savage Tales #5 (July 1974).
When Marvel Comics wished to use the name of Captain Marvel for a new, different character,[citation needed] Starlin was given the rare opportunity to produce a one-shot story in which to kill off a main character. The Death of Captain Marvel became the first graphic novel published by the company itself. (
In the late 1980s, Starlin began working more for DC Comics, writing a number of Batman stories, including the four-issue miniseries Batman: The Cult (Aug.-Nov. 1988), and the storyline "Batman: A Death in the Family", in Batman #426-429 (Dec. 1988 – Jan. 1989), in which Jason Todd, the second of Batman's Robin sidekicks, was killed. The death was decided by fans, as DC Comics set up a hotline for readers to vote on as to whether or not Jason Todd should survive a potentially fatal situation. For DC he created Hardcore Station.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
March 27, 2024
The original Jim Starlin Thanos story is still one of the best.
Ostensibly this book is titled Captain Marvel, and he is the main protagonist, but we all know who the real star is: that iconic now cinematic villain of the ages. With the mad Titan's newfound fame, hopefully more people will read up on how it all started.
Back from a time when all dialogue in comics ended in exclamation points, there is so much energy in this early Starlin! Both the art and writing are among the best of that early 70s Marvel fun. So, the Kree warrior gets cosmic fast, trips with Eon, and the Avengers are there too.
Just before the Infinity Gems, back then Thanos used the Cosmic Cube. It's a very enjoyable read, especially if you choose to continue from the Warlock saga to the 90s Infinity Wars and even the current graphic novels.
Mar-Vell, you are missed but not forgotten, and the world thanks you for the beginnings of a cosmic mythology still impacting pop culture today...
Ostensibly this book is titled Captain Marvel, and he is the main protagonist, but we all know who the real star is: that iconic now cinematic villain of the ages. With the mad Titan's newfound fame, hopefully more people will read up on how it all started.
Back from a time when all dialogue in comics ended in exclamation points, there is so much energy in this early Starlin! Both the art and writing are among the best of that early 70s Marvel fun. So, the Kree warrior gets cosmic fast, trips with Eon, and the Avengers are there too.
Just before the Infinity Gems, back then Thanos used the Cosmic Cube. It's a very enjoyable read, especially if you choose to continue from the Warlock saga to the 90s Infinity Wars and even the current graphic novels.
Mar-Vell, you are missed but not forgotten, and the world thanks you for the beginnings of a cosmic mythology still impacting pop culture today...
December 22, 2021
Captain Marvel by Jim Starlin is a psychedelic cosmic ride through the world of Marvel Universe, and because I've always dismissed the character, all iterations of Captain Marvel, really, I'm surprised it was as good as it was, easily one of the best works by Jim Starlin, only behind Infinity Gauntlet for me, but then again, this whole run is pretty much a prototype for that saga, much like
Warlock by Jim Starlin: The Complete Collection
which follows the same formula of this collection, all comic book goodness by the father of the Marvel cosmic universe, highly recommended for fans of the Infinity saga... pick it up and prepare to be COSMICALLY AWARE!
May 26, 2017
Starlin's run on Captain Marvel is deservedly considered a classic. Many authors attempt cosmic storylines, the fate of the entire universe at stake, that sort of thing. Few manage to pull it off as well. It's tricky to get the tone right. Most writers--Roy Thomas' Kree/Skrull War, for instance--go bombastic. Everyone strains to their uttermost and sprinkles their speeches liberally with exclamation points. Starlin is, by comparison, almost restrained. It helps that he's the artist as well, so there's a better synthesis between words and visuals. The grandeur is already present in the art, so the writing can back off just a bit. (I don't mean to sound like I'm picking on Roy Thomas, by the way. The Kree/Skrull War story in Avengers is another classic tale. Between it and Captain Marvel, though, I think CM has aged better.) Captain Marvel battles Thanos, despite the latter's ascension to outright godhood. It just doesn't get any more cosmic than this.
One scene made me chuckle. Drax, the Destroyer has barged into the Avengers' mansion. They start to fight, thinking it's an attack. Things are, of course, soon set right, but what made me laugh was a throwaway line of dialogue, one character (I've forgotten who, and the book's already back at the library) calls Drax a "fils d'un chien-mere." Surprised that made it past editorial ...
This book also contains The Death of Captain Marvel, the very first Marvel Graphic Novel, back in the days when the industry was still figuring out just what the term "graphic novel" meant. I hadn't read it in a long, long time, and had forgotten how deeply affecting it can be. The title sums it up nicely. Captain Marvel dies. Of cancer. It's extremely well-written and moving.
This book is a shining example of how to do a trade paperback well. These stories originally ranged across three or four separate titles, but now the entire thing is complete under one cover so you can just sit down and read it without juggling a dozen different comic books. Recommended!
One scene made me chuckle. Drax, the Destroyer has barged into the Avengers' mansion. They start to fight, thinking it's an attack. Things are, of course, soon set right, but what made me laugh was a throwaway line of dialogue, one character (I've forgotten who, and the book's already back at the library) calls Drax a "fils d'un chien-mere." Surprised that made it past editorial ...
This book also contains The Death of Captain Marvel, the very first Marvel Graphic Novel, back in the days when the industry was still figuring out just what the term "graphic novel" meant. I hadn't read it in a long, long time, and had forgotten how deeply affecting it can be. The title sums it up nicely. Captain Marvel dies. Of cancer. It's extremely well-written and moving.
This book is a shining example of how to do a trade paperback well. These stories originally ranged across three or four separate titles, but now the entire thing is complete under one cover so you can just sit down and read it without juggling a dozen different comic books. Recommended!
July 23, 2023
Aunque varios de los números aquí recopilados son morralla, hay que reconocer que la combinación de la desmelenada historia cósmica de los Titanes, claramente inspirada en los Nuevos Dioses de Kirby, los floridos y ladrillescos diálogos operísticos declamados a voces (que, siendo justos, son autoría de Friedrich, Gerber y Englehart) y los señores de extraordinaria fisicidad asiria y tremebunda musculatura (a tal punto que parece que les hayan despellejado para sustituir su piel por unos coloridos uniformes) dándose salvajemente de ostias mientras dirimen elevadas cuestiones filosóficas, deviene en un kitsch extraño y fascinante, una fórmula que posteriormente Starlin perfeccionaría en la serie de Warlock, en mi opinión su obra cumbre de este período. Gráficamente Starlin emplea ya recursos de diseño de página que más tarde convertiría en manierismos pero que aquí resultan frescos y estimulantes, aunque en la mayor parte del tomo el acabado deje que desear, imagino que resultado de la evolución artística, el volumen de trabajo y un entintado que, salvo en un par de ocasiones, no es muy allá.
En este volumen también se incluye la legendaria novela gráfica donde Starlin narra la muerte del Capitán. Hacía muchos años que no la releía y la edad me ha aportado nuevas capas de significado que en su día no fui capaz de entender del todo, principalmente la irrupción de una de las cuestiones más básicas y reales de la condición humana en el mundo mítico y colorido del superhéroe; la aceptación de la muerte como parte fundamental de la vida y cómo la consciencia de nuestra mortalidad condiciona nuestra existencia. A este respecto las diez o doce últimas y magistrales páginas de la agonía de Mar-vell devienen en una cumbre de ese kitsch que mencionaba más arriba, vehiculando estas ideas de una forma única y tremendamente emotiva que sólo puede darse en los mejores artefactos de la cultura pop.
En este volumen también se incluye la legendaria novela gráfica donde Starlin narra la muerte del Capitán. Hacía muchos años que no la releía y la edad me ha aportado nuevas capas de significado que en su día no fui capaz de entender del todo, principalmente la irrupción de una de las cuestiones más básicas y reales de la condición humana en el mundo mítico y colorido del superhéroe; la aceptación de la muerte como parte fundamental de la vida y cómo la consciencia de nuestra mortalidad condiciona nuestra existencia. A este respecto las diez o doce últimas y magistrales páginas de la agonía de Mar-vell devienen en una cumbre de ese kitsch que mencionaba más arriba, vehiculando estas ideas de una forma única y tremendamente emotiva que sólo puede darse en los mejores artefactos de la cultura pop.
December 10, 2016
Some of the greatest, time-tested comics ever printed. I've read these a million times and I can read them a million more. Love these guys.
January 9, 2017
A obra de Jim Starlin sempre se caracterizou pela ponte que estabeleceu entre dois géneros, o comic de super-heróis e a FC space opera. Captain Marvel foi talvez a série marcante que projectou esta mistura inesperada, que o argumentista e ilustrador viria a explorar, mais livre de constrangimentos, em Dreadstar, Warlock, épocas à frente de Silver Surfer e mais recentemente na temporada inicial de Stormwatch na DC Comics.
Este volume reúne as histórias que, colectivamente, formam a saga de Marvel no combate a Thanos, o mais inquestionável vilão do universo Marvel. Distinguem-se pela capacidade de Starlin em ultrapassar os limites conceptuais dos comics. Com ele, os personagens são mais do que criaturas musculadas em constantes combates lineares. Culturas alienígenas, aventuras interplanetárias, frotas espaciais em combate, e especialmente um sentimento quase psicadélico do cosmos, de espanto pela sua vastidão e maravilhas que poderá encerrar. Mar-Vell, militar da espécie alienigena dos Kree, apaixona-se pela Terra e utiliza os seus poderes para a defender de ameaças cósmicas, das quais Thanos é a mais complexa. No seu lado mais simplista, estas são histórias elementares onde os heróis combatem contra as acções do vilão, com a linearidade dual que se espera do género, mas a sensação abrangente de algo maior, de sentimento cósmico, é constantemente introduzida por Starlin nas linhas narrativas. A saga encerra em nota triste, com a morte do personagem, evento à época inédito na linha editorial dos comics e explorado pela editora na sua primeira novela gráfica. Starlin mostra a morte de um super-herói fragilizado pelo cancro. Morte nos comics raramente é totalmente terminal, mas sublinhe-se que se o nome deste personagem tem sido utilizado por outros, o capitão Marvel original nunca foi ressuscitado em enredos convolutos que reescrevem décadas de histórias admiradas pelos fãs.
Este volume reúne as histórias que, colectivamente, formam a saga de Marvel no combate a Thanos, o mais inquestionável vilão do universo Marvel. Distinguem-se pela capacidade de Starlin em ultrapassar os limites conceptuais dos comics. Com ele, os personagens são mais do que criaturas musculadas em constantes combates lineares. Culturas alienígenas, aventuras interplanetárias, frotas espaciais em combate, e especialmente um sentimento quase psicadélico do cosmos, de espanto pela sua vastidão e maravilhas que poderá encerrar. Mar-Vell, militar da espécie alienigena dos Kree, apaixona-se pela Terra e utiliza os seus poderes para a defender de ameaças cósmicas, das quais Thanos é a mais complexa. No seu lado mais simplista, estas são histórias elementares onde os heróis combatem contra as acções do vilão, com a linearidade dual que se espera do género, mas a sensação abrangente de algo maior, de sentimento cósmico, é constantemente introduzida por Starlin nas linhas narrativas. A saga encerra em nota triste, com a morte do personagem, evento à época inédito na linha editorial dos comics e explorado pela editora na sua primeira novela gráfica. Starlin mostra a morte de um super-herói fragilizado pelo cancro. Morte nos comics raramente é totalmente terminal, mas sublinhe-se que se o nome deste personagem tem sido utilizado por outros, o capitão Marvel original nunca foi ressuscitado em enredos convolutos que reescrevem décadas de histórias admiradas pelos fãs.
June 30, 2022
Una recopilación de un clásico, que me ha sorprendido sobre todo por la escala y la grandiosidad operística en la que se mueve todo. Los diálogos, las posturas siempre mega forzadas para ser más dramáticas, los soliloquios... es un cómic de una época diferente, y se nota para todo. Pero en conjunto una experiencia satisfactoria, y el inesperado cierre de la misma está hecho con exquisito gusto.
No deja de ser café para los muy cafeteros, porque se requiere una cierta familiaridad y gusto por el universo Marvel para apreciar las historias, pero yo soy muy cafetero así que genial. Una magnífica obra clásica.
No deja de ser café para los muy cafeteros, porque se requiere una cierta familiaridad y gusto por el universo Marvel para apreciar las historias, pero yo soy muy cafetero así que genial. Una magnífica obra clásica.
December 14, 2023
This was a fun revisit. I was never a massive Captain Marvel fan, and I think I was just getting into comics around the time Starlin was doing his run on the series. I remember picking up an issue and kind of being lost, so I didn't really follow up on it.
Reading this now, I realized the issue I'd picked up was the final one. So, there's a fifty year old mystery solved.
I was in time for Starlin's incredible run on Warlock, however, and that still remains one of my favourite comic reading experiences ever. I even wrote a high school essay on that run (and got an A+ for it, too!), so, when I saw this collection in a bargain bin in a comic shop, I figured it was time to get my Starlin on again.
I'd read the Death of Captain Marvel when it first came out, but didn't catch a lot of the subtext, despite Starlin's excellent recap at the beginning of that graphic novel. But now, I got the full run, and I enjoyed it immensely.
Yes, it's very obvious that either Starlin was under the influence of some psychedelics as he wrote this series, or was at least acquainted with them, because there's times when it gets quite trippy. Then again, so did Warlock, so it wasn't unexpected. But I appreciated that Starlin was really doing a solid deep dive into not just the Mar-Vell character, but also Rick Jones, and a few other secondary characters.
And the Thanos storyline, while a touch drawn out, was epic and fun.
If I have any complaint about any of the pages of this entire saga, it's the extended, and rather gratuitous fight scene toward the end of the Death of Captain Marvel piece. It was unnecessary, and it messed with both the emotion and the pacing.
But, take out those four or five pages, and this is just a great run.
Reading this now, I realized the issue I'd picked up was the final one. So, there's a fifty year old mystery solved.
I was in time for Starlin's incredible run on Warlock, however, and that still remains one of my favourite comic reading experiences ever. I even wrote a high school essay on that run (and got an A+ for it, too!), so, when I saw this collection in a bargain bin in a comic shop, I figured it was time to get my Starlin on again.
I'd read the Death of Captain Marvel when it first came out, but didn't catch a lot of the subtext, despite Starlin's excellent recap at the beginning of that graphic novel. But now, I got the full run, and I enjoyed it immensely.
Yes, it's very obvious that either Starlin was under the influence of some psychedelics as he wrote this series, or was at least acquainted with them, because there's times when it gets quite trippy. Then again, so did Warlock, so it wasn't unexpected. But I appreciated that Starlin was really doing a solid deep dive into not just the Mar-Vell character, but also Rick Jones, and a few other secondary characters.
And the Thanos storyline, while a touch drawn out, was epic and fun.
If I have any complaint about any of the pages of this entire saga, it's the extended, and rather gratuitous fight scene toward the end of the Death of Captain Marvel piece. It was unnecessary, and it messed with both the emotion and the pacing.
But, take out those four or five pages, and this is just a great run.
June 19, 2017
A couple of weeks ago, Marvel had a fire sale on many of their Kindle / Comixology digital collections. I grabbed many of them (too many) and one of the first that I re-read was Captain Marvel by Jim Starlin: The Complete Collection. This retails now for $9.99, during the sale it was $4, but it's a great trip down memory lane regardless of the price. This could be called Thanos Volume 1, because it not only includes Captain Marvel #25-34 by Starlin and others, it also includes Iron Man 55 by Starlin and Mike Friedrich (first appearances of Thanos and Drax the Destroyer), Marvel Feature 12 (The Thing and Iron Man vs the Blood Brothers, working for Thanos), Moondragon's origin from Daredevil 105. The collection ends with the first and probably the best Marvel Graphic Novel ever, The Death of Captain Marvel. Plus covers and material from various reprints over the years.
Naturally reading the original comics is great, but let's face it, unless you've got them perfectly preserved they degrade over the years / decades. Reading these digital versions is a blast because the colors and details really pop. Take the cover to Captain Marvel 25 as an example - I doubt the copy I have in my longbox looks that good. I bought the original off a newsstand in 1973, knowing nothing about the character other than the Avengers held him in high regard. I did know a lot more about Rick Jones, having read about him in reprints where he was Captain America's sidekick.
The collection doesn't start with Captain Marvel. It begins with Iron Man 55, where Drax and Thanos enter the Marvel Universe for the first time. Starlin's artwork is a bit rough in this story and the first few CM issues. He doesn't write the dialogue for these stories, but he's clearly the plotter and designer of all these new characters. Starlin introduces so many great new characters in these stories, I suspect in hindsight it's incredulous that he developed them for Marvel. His debut issue of CM involves Mar-Vell facing a horde of enemies, which is really a test conducted by Super-Skrull to report back to Thanos on the Kree warrior's abilities.
Starlin's artwork is a bit rough in these first few issues. But he's improving with each one of them. I loved issue 26, where The Thing fights Captain Marvel. The fight is due to mistaken identity - Mar-Vell believes The Thing is really Super Skrull; The Thing can't explain the situation because his vocal cords have been silenced. Flimsier excuses have been used before! It's the beginning of a beautiful partnership between Starlin and The Thing.
Jim Starlin really ratchets up to the next level with Captain Marvel 31. This is the issue where he writes the full story for the first time, and he has Al Milgrom inking him for the first time. The cover is iconic and was used on slurpee cups and other stuff. Mar-Vell transformed from a Kree warrior to a the Protector of the Universe by becoming "Cosmically Aware". This was a very 1970s concept, like if you meditated enough or became one with nature you could improve things more than with just sheer violence. But it seems Starlin had a plan for this character from the start. In the early stories, Mar-Vell is a very capable warrior but a bit reckless and prone to mistakes. A very strange, almost Ditko-esque being named Eon helps Mar-Vell walk through his past mistakes and to transform into something new. And into someone with blond hair instead of silver, because the latter made him look too old!
See my full review, illustrated with images over on my blog: http://www.giantsizemarvel.com/2017/0...
Naturally reading the original comics is great, but let's face it, unless you've got them perfectly preserved they degrade over the years / decades. Reading these digital versions is a blast because the colors and details really pop. Take the cover to Captain Marvel 25 as an example - I doubt the copy I have in my longbox looks that good. I bought the original off a newsstand in 1973, knowing nothing about the character other than the Avengers held him in high regard. I did know a lot more about Rick Jones, having read about him in reprints where he was Captain America's sidekick.
The collection doesn't start with Captain Marvel. It begins with Iron Man 55, where Drax and Thanos enter the Marvel Universe for the first time. Starlin's artwork is a bit rough in this story and the first few CM issues. He doesn't write the dialogue for these stories, but he's clearly the plotter and designer of all these new characters. Starlin introduces so many great new characters in these stories, I suspect in hindsight it's incredulous that he developed them for Marvel. His debut issue of CM involves Mar-Vell facing a horde of enemies, which is really a test conducted by Super-Skrull to report back to Thanos on the Kree warrior's abilities.
Starlin's artwork is a bit rough in these first few issues. But he's improving with each one of them. I loved issue 26, where The Thing fights Captain Marvel. The fight is due to mistaken identity - Mar-Vell believes The Thing is really Super Skrull; The Thing can't explain the situation because his vocal cords have been silenced. Flimsier excuses have been used before! It's the beginning of a beautiful partnership between Starlin and The Thing.
Jim Starlin really ratchets up to the next level with Captain Marvel 31. This is the issue where he writes the full story for the first time, and he has Al Milgrom inking him for the first time. The cover is iconic and was used on slurpee cups and other stuff. Mar-Vell transformed from a Kree warrior to a the Protector of the Universe by becoming "Cosmically Aware". This was a very 1970s concept, like if you meditated enough or became one with nature you could improve things more than with just sheer violence. But it seems Starlin had a plan for this character from the start. In the early stories, Mar-Vell is a very capable warrior but a bit reckless and prone to mistakes. A very strange, almost Ditko-esque being named Eon helps Mar-Vell walk through his past mistakes and to transform into something new. And into someone with blond hair instead of silver, because the latter made him look too old!
See my full review, illustrated with images over on my blog: http://www.giantsizemarvel.com/2017/0...
December 6, 2014
I actually really enjoyed this book. It's everything you expect from the 70s -- maudlin dialogue, excessive narration, and surface-level characterization at best. Yet, it's a lot of fun, if you can embrace that over-the-top declarative style. (Which, being a comics nerd, I can). I don't think you need any background for this, maybe just a general familiarity with Marvel superheroes. You'll probably want to go on to Carol Danvers' Ms. Marvel, and/or the Annihilation series, both of which I highly recommend.
There's some fun meta-humor, with Thanos referencing his own gloating, saying Drax is easy to beat because he literally announces every move before he makes it, etc. The idea that anyone can LOSE while possessing the cosmic cube is shaky -- mostly it makes sense that Thanos takes a while to learn its use and/or wants to keep people around to boast at, but they also fall back on the "Why is he creating weird earth monsters to kill us instead of winking us out of existence? Because he's insane!" explanation. I mean, I know he's the Mad Titan, but really. He comes off more like the Stupid Titan. Hopefully the movie version will be smarter, incorporate Thanos' love for death, and possibly have those glimmers of self-awareness. (I really liked that angle!)
The collection's construction is weird. It's one long Thanos story, then at the end there's a story from seven years later about Captain Marvel's death from cancer. It just didn't make much sense to skip over the intervening Thanos battles and whatnot -- maybe it should've been several volumes. The death story really is touching, though... the long death of a hero beloved across the galaxy.
Lastly, the female representation in this book is laughable. I know it's an old book, I'm not particularly angry about it, but it was so awful I started keeping track. In the first half, there are three women: Scarlet Witch, who barely speaks, she's just drawn in Avengers backgrounds; Lou Ann, Rick Jones' perma-damsel sexpot "female friend"; and Una, Mar-Vell's fridged ex-lover. Lou-Ann is the only one who even talks, and that's not a huge improvement! The second half is better. Moondragon appears -- mostly standing around being corrected, getting injured, and having a gendered power, but she's there and gets some narrative hyperbole like everybody else! There's a brief (but useful) appearance from the Avenger Mantis, a snappy woman of color who sings with Rick, the brilliant Carol Danvers pre-Ms. Marvel, and a sexy (but alive) girlfriend named Elysius for the older Mar-Vell. So... even with Moondragon and Carol Danvers being slightly important, it's still a miserable showing. Just gotta remind myself how awesome Carol will be!
(And yeah, as long as you can laugh about the women, it's a fun book).
There's some fun meta-humor, with Thanos referencing his own gloating, saying Drax is easy to beat because he literally announces every move before he makes it, etc. The idea that anyone can LOSE while possessing the cosmic cube is shaky -- mostly it makes sense that Thanos takes a while to learn its use and/or wants to keep people around to boast at, but they also fall back on the "Why is he creating weird earth monsters to kill us instead of winking us out of existence? Because he's insane!" explanation. I mean, I know he's the Mad Titan, but really. He comes off more like the Stupid Titan. Hopefully the movie version will be smarter, incorporate Thanos' love for death, and possibly have those glimmers of self-awareness. (I really liked that angle!)
The collection's construction is weird. It's one long Thanos story, then at the end there's a story from seven years later about Captain Marvel's death from cancer. It just didn't make much sense to skip over the intervening Thanos battles and whatnot -- maybe it should've been several volumes. The death story really is touching, though... the long death of a hero beloved across the galaxy.
Lastly, the female representation in this book is laughable. I know it's an old book, I'm not particularly angry about it, but it was so awful I started keeping track. In the first half, there are three women: Scarlet Witch, who barely speaks, she's just drawn in Avengers backgrounds; Lou Ann, Rick Jones' perma-damsel sexpot "female friend"; and Una, Mar-Vell's fridged ex-lover. Lou-Ann is the only one who even talks, and that's not a huge improvement! The second half is better. Moondragon appears -- mostly standing around being corrected, getting injured, and having a gendered power, but she's there and gets some narrative hyperbole like everybody else! There's a brief (but useful) appearance from the Avenger Mantis, a snappy woman of color who sings with Rick, the brilliant Carol Danvers pre-Ms. Marvel, and a sexy (but alive) girlfriend named Elysius for the older Mar-Vell. So... even with Moondragon and Carol Danvers being slightly important, it's still a miserable showing. Just gotta remind myself how awesome Carol will be!
(And yeah, as long as you can laugh about the women, it's a fun book).
April 21, 2018
The Road to Avengers: Infinity Wars begins!
Having just finished a massive rewatch of the MCU, I thought I'd revisit (and in some cases just plain visit) some of the comics that inspired it.
This collection brings together the first appearances of Thanos and Drax the Destroyer, as well as the point where Jim Starlin's revamped Captain Marvel into the cornerstone of his unfolding cosmic universe. What Starlin does here is both remove many of the complications of Mar-Vell's history while making him far more focused on the cosmic.
It's all here from the beginning: an enigmatic Thanos, a vengeance-filled Drax, and the personifcation of Death that would become a recurring motif throughout Starlin's work. Ironically, there's several references to an encroaching 'cancer' in the Captain Marvel issues that makes you wonder how long Starlin had been toying with the idea of the character's ultimate demise.
Then there's Starlin's stunning artwork, which is comparable to the psychedelia of Steve Ditko or Frank Brunner's Doctor Strange work. Over the course of the next 30 years, Starlin's characters would be joined by a ragtag bunch of losers and heroes who faced the biggest threats in the galaxy. What is surprising is just how fully-formed some of these ideas are from the beginning, and are still recognisable in the modern comics and films.
Fun aside: we also get some early appearances of future Ms/Captain Marvel Carol Danvers in some of these issues, and it's amazing how the characterisation has changed over the decades.
The collection wraps up with The Death of Captain Marvel, which I will deal with in a separate review entry. It's a nice bookend for this series, but as Marvel first official 'graphic novel' it's so much more than that. Apart from being one of the finest Marvel cosmic books ever written, it's a clear indication of the type of stories Starlin had in his head. We'd see this kind of work on a more ambitious scale years later with Thanos: The Infinity Revelation and its sequels.
So now it's onwards and upwards to Warlock: The Complete Collection before slamming down Infinity Gauntlet: Omnibus before the cinematic adaptation of this world.
Having just finished a massive rewatch of the MCU, I thought I'd revisit (and in some cases just plain visit) some of the comics that inspired it.
This collection brings together the first appearances of Thanos and Drax the Destroyer, as well as the point where Jim Starlin's revamped Captain Marvel into the cornerstone of his unfolding cosmic universe. What Starlin does here is both remove many of the complications of Mar-Vell's history while making him far more focused on the cosmic.
It's all here from the beginning: an enigmatic Thanos, a vengeance-filled Drax, and the personifcation of Death that would become a recurring motif throughout Starlin's work. Ironically, there's several references to an encroaching 'cancer' in the Captain Marvel issues that makes you wonder how long Starlin had been toying with the idea of the character's ultimate demise.
Then there's Starlin's stunning artwork, which is comparable to the psychedelia of Steve Ditko or Frank Brunner's Doctor Strange work. Over the course of the next 30 years, Starlin's characters would be joined by a ragtag bunch of losers and heroes who faced the biggest threats in the galaxy. What is surprising is just how fully-formed some of these ideas are from the beginning, and are still recognisable in the modern comics and films.
Fun aside: we also get some early appearances of future Ms/Captain Marvel Carol Danvers in some of these issues, and it's amazing how the characterisation has changed over the decades.
The collection wraps up with The Death of Captain Marvel, which I will deal with in a separate review entry. It's a nice bookend for this series, but as Marvel first official 'graphic novel' it's so much more than that. Apart from being one of the finest Marvel cosmic books ever written, it's a clear indication of the type of stories Starlin had in his head. We'd see this kind of work on a more ambitious scale years later with Thanos: The Infinity Revelation and its sequels.
So now it's onwards and upwards to Warlock: The Complete Collection before slamming down Infinity Gauntlet: Omnibus before the cinematic adaptation of this world.
December 31, 2016
Pure genius from Jim Starlin, the master of the cosmic comic...
Does it get any better than this, True Believer?
Well, maybe it does a couple years later when Starlin teams up Adam Warlock with Thanos, Gamora, and Pip the Troll to defeat the Magus and the Universal Church of Truth but, skipping all that, this is pretty goshdarn excellent and shows the early Starlin laying the cosmic foundations for some of the themes and characters that get more developed in his later work on Strange Tales, the rebooted Warlock title, and the much later Infinity Gauntlet and the other storylines it inspired.
Here, although hardly "complete," much of the Mar-vell early lore has been collected, culminating in his exposure to Compound 13 during his fight with Nitro in Captain Marvel #34 and concluding with the brilliant graphic novel The Death of Captain Marvel almost a decade later.
I owned Captain Marvel #34, buying it off a kid I went to church with back in the '70s, along with some early Iron Fist. It was one of my favorites and was well thumbed even before I got it. Rereading it here 40 years later, I'm reminded of how much I liked that comic and how much of its art has stuck with me over the decades: the close-up on Mordecai Boggs' face, Rick in the distance through the window leaving Lou Ann, Dandy recoiling from Nitro, and Nitro recombining in the smoke...Starlin's work on Captain Marvel from the '70s is for the ages, if you can look past what a putz Rick Jones can be sometimes.
One thing I hadn't recalled about Captain Marvel 34 was its cameo by Carol Danvers, whom the rest of the world will soon enough know as Captain Marvel when the next blockbuster Avengers movie comes out. It's too bad the Marvel Cinematic Universe couldn't have found some way to introduce the real Captain Marvel into its Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. That would have been beautiful, and Mar-vell would have fit in nicely with the Guardians' cast of cosmic characters, but ah well...
Does it get any better than this, True Believer?
Well, maybe it does a couple years later when Starlin teams up Adam Warlock with Thanos, Gamora, and Pip the Troll to defeat the Magus and the Universal Church of Truth but, skipping all that, this is pretty goshdarn excellent and shows the early Starlin laying the cosmic foundations for some of the themes and characters that get more developed in his later work on Strange Tales, the rebooted Warlock title, and the much later Infinity Gauntlet and the other storylines it inspired.
Here, although hardly "complete," much of the Mar-vell early lore has been collected, culminating in his exposure to Compound 13 during his fight with Nitro in Captain Marvel #34 and concluding with the brilliant graphic novel The Death of Captain Marvel almost a decade later.
I owned Captain Marvel #34, buying it off a kid I went to church with back in the '70s, along with some early Iron Fist. It was one of my favorites and was well thumbed even before I got it. Rereading it here 40 years later, I'm reminded of how much I liked that comic and how much of its art has stuck with me over the decades: the close-up on Mordecai Boggs' face, Rick in the distance through the window leaving Lou Ann, Dandy recoiling from Nitro, and Nitro recombining in the smoke...Starlin's work on Captain Marvel from the '70s is for the ages, if you can look past what a putz Rick Jones can be sometimes.
One thing I hadn't recalled about Captain Marvel 34 was its cameo by Carol Danvers, whom the rest of the world will soon enough know as Captain Marvel when the next blockbuster Avengers movie comes out. It's too bad the Marvel Cinematic Universe couldn't have found some way to introduce the real Captain Marvel into its Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. That would have been beautiful, and Mar-vell would have fit in nicely with the Guardians' cast of cosmic characters, but ah well...
December 12, 2022
It's amazing how bad a book can be when it's clear no one's passionate about it. That was true of the first run of Captain Marvel, which limped along into semi-cancellation until the early 70s, then limped along a little farther until someone with some vision took over: Jim Starlin. Even so, I found Starlin's contributions to be rather like Jim Steranko's on Nick Fury - a little over-exaggerated and not that great. It's clear that Starlin doesn't have any particular affection for Mar-Vell (who would?), but merely sees him as the vehicle for the space fantasy involving immortals from Saturn that he really wanted to tell. And so we have our first major Thanos story, and Mentor and Eros too, all presiding over an oddly empty Titan. The Avengers show up, we get our first taste of "cosmic awareness" in Marvel which I really should have realized would wind up originating from a sort of far-out Age of Aquarius-style "Hey, we're all connected, maaaaaan" ethos. The notion of Rick and Marv swapping places, with Rick physically incapable of actually assisting in any of the adventures he's a key part of, could have been interesting if anything was done with it.
I didn't read the "Death of..." portion because it'll come later in my Big Read and I have a separate copy of that. It'll be interesting to see how Starlin's storytelling chops will have developed by then.
I didn't read the "Death of..." portion because it'll come later in my Big Read and I have a separate copy of that. It'll be interesting to see how Starlin's storytelling chops will have developed by then.
February 12, 2016
Este tomo contiene dos verdaderas obras maestras, en mi humilde opinión.
Por un lado nos presenta "La Guerra de Thanos", en la que Jim Starlin nos cuenta las peripecias del Capitán mientras trata de detener los planes que tiene un recién aparecido Thanos para destruir el universo con el Cubo Cósmico. No voy a negar que por momentos la descripción exagerada y el ritmo de algunos diálogos se vuelve molesto, pero no por eso deja de ser una historia excelente en sí misma y que todo fanático del universo Marvel debería leer. La escena en la que Eon hace que Marvel descubra su consciencia cósmica es verdaderamente espectacular, Starlin es un autor muy adelantado a su tiempo (y bastante fumón, si se me permite la expresión ja..)
Al final del tomo nos encontramos con "La muerte del Capitán Marvel", historia ya bastante conocida en la que el protagonista muere debido a un cáncer provocado por los gases que ingiere durante una pelea con Nitro (capítulo también incluído en el tomo). Es una historieta muy triste, y oscura, que se diferencia mucho de los números más coloridos que vienen antes. ¿Un superhéroe muriendo de cáncer? De lo mejor que leí en estos años.
Tomo muy recomendable e ideal para empezar a leer a Jim Starlin y meterse dentro de sus obras cósmicas.
Por un lado nos presenta "La Guerra de Thanos", en la que Jim Starlin nos cuenta las peripecias del Capitán mientras trata de detener los planes que tiene un recién aparecido Thanos para destruir el universo con el Cubo Cósmico. No voy a negar que por momentos la descripción exagerada y el ritmo de algunos diálogos se vuelve molesto, pero no por eso deja de ser una historia excelente en sí misma y que todo fanático del universo Marvel debería leer. La escena en la que Eon hace que Marvel descubra su consciencia cósmica es verdaderamente espectacular, Starlin es un autor muy adelantado a su tiempo (y bastante fumón, si se me permite la expresión ja..)
Al final del tomo nos encontramos con "La muerte del Capitán Marvel", historia ya bastante conocida en la que el protagonista muere debido a un cáncer provocado por los gases que ingiere durante una pelea con Nitro (capítulo también incluído en el tomo). Es una historieta muy triste, y oscura, que se diferencia mucho de los números más coloridos que vienen antes. ¿Un superhéroe muriendo de cáncer? De lo mejor que leí en estos años.
Tomo muy recomendable e ideal para empezar a leer a Jim Starlin y meterse dentro de sus obras cósmicas.
March 23, 2023
I came to this volume knowing nothing about Captain Marvel. I just wanted to see some early Thanos material (and I wasnt disappointed!). Even though I wasn't invested in Captain Marvel in any way, I still had a lot of fun with these issues and even felt the emotional weight of the "Death of Captain Marvel" story. As an added bonus, the art was fantastic.
The only thing that was cringy was Rick Jones jive talking left and right (everything is groovy, you dig?). Overall, though, i found it more funny than annoying.
As an aside: To me, Jim Starlin shares a place among names like Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Without Starlin, there would be no Thanos and no Infinity Gauntlet (thus no Infinity War movie that will likely make a trillion dollars), no Drax or Gamora (thus no rebooted Guardians of the Galaxy), no Mongul over at DC, and the list goes on and on.
The only thing that was cringy was Rick Jones jive talking left and right (everything is groovy, you dig?). Overall, though, i found it more funny than annoying.
As an aside: To me, Jim Starlin shares a place among names like Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Without Starlin, there would be no Thanos and no Infinity Gauntlet (thus no Infinity War movie that will likely make a trillion dollars), no Drax or Gamora (thus no rebooted Guardians of the Galaxy), no Mongul over at DC, and the list goes on and on.
April 25, 2018
Follow me back to the days of yesteryear, when untested plotters could be given control to create totally Chiroptera-Guano crazy plot arcs that ran through multiple random titles, and are recognized later as being the pinnacle of a character. Mad, glorious fun, and you can watch Starlin's art get better every issue.
The standout of the series is, no surprise, the reprinting of the Death of Captain Marvel graphic novel at the end of the book, which is such a heartfelt working through of Starlin's father's death and the best example of Starlin's unfiltered voice. It's a bold decision in the comics to allow a character to definitively end - one that Starlin has never shied away from - and it pays off.
The standout of the series is, no surprise, the reprinting of the Death of Captain Marvel graphic novel at the end of the book, which is such a heartfelt working through of Starlin's father's death and the best example of Starlin's unfiltered voice. It's a bold decision in the comics to allow a character to definitively end - one that Starlin has never shied away from - and it pays off.
November 27, 2018
The writing over the main storyline is clunky and repetitive, with pompous and/or cringeworthy dialogue, whilst the artwork ain’t all that either. But, that said, the comics featured still retain a certain charm in colour and style of my favourite era (after the 1960’s). Plus, it gives a great insight and background into the force that was/is Thanos. But, for my money, the best thing about this collection is the genuinely affecting standalone ‘The Death of Captain Marvel’. Sensitively handled with real emotion; this is an outstanding piece of storytelling which sadly, neatly but effectively brings the whole thing to an end.
January 12, 2017
Jim Starlin is my favorite superhero artist
His artwork is the perfect synthesis of Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and Gil Kane. He is also among the medium's greatest writers and his work on Marvel's CAPTAIN MARVEL is my favorite, followed closely by his work on WARLOCK. Starlin's THANOS is one of comics' greatest villains, rivaling Kirby's DARKSEID, who surely inspired his creation. Starlin also created THE DESTROYER within this series and I drastically prefer his version of the character to the one on display in the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY films.
His artwork is the perfect synthesis of Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and Gil Kane. He is also among the medium's greatest writers and his work on Marvel's CAPTAIN MARVEL is my favorite, followed closely by his work on WARLOCK. Starlin's THANOS is one of comics' greatest villains, rivaling Kirby's DARKSEID, who surely inspired his creation. Starlin also created THE DESTROYER within this series and I drastically prefer his version of the character to the one on display in the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY films.
April 21, 2017
This left me a bit speechless at the end. There are two big stories here. One is Captain Marvel's epic battle with Thanos, which is spectacular, and the other is The Death of Captain Marvel. That latter one is probably the best-written death in a comic ever told. It was interesting--not the death you would expect of a superhero--beautifully told, and moving. The last page is perfect. And Starlin's art is wonderful.
October 20, 2017
This is what comics are all about. When it comes to this medium, this collection is the basis to compare every classic. 5 stars.
July 20, 2025
Stupendous story. I don’t want to explain too much so as not to spoil anything — I just strongly recommend reading it. The first half of the collected edition serves more to set the stage. The stories are very characteristic of their time — good, even — but nothing surprising, in my opinion. While reading those early parts, I thought this was going to be more of a historical collection — important for what it represents, but not necessarily that great. I was wrong.
The actual story begins in the second half, and you can tell right away it's something different. The art becomes beautiful, taking on a more sober tone, and the writing becomes more succinct compared to the earlier issues. From that point on, it’s a true spectacle.
The story deals with death, vulnerability, friendship, legacy — and, of course, cancer. It makes you reflect on all of that, even on the afterlife. I’ve had many emotional experiences reading comics before, and I’ve had teary eyes on two occasions (both involving the death of Robins, haha), but I had never spent over 20 pages holding back tears like I did here. It’s not one specific scene that gets to you — it’s everything that happens, everything it makes you think about. And that’s perfectly expressed in the different reactions of the characters involved.
I recommend it to everyone — a true masterpiece of the comic book medium. Here, superheroes are just a metaphor used to talk about something much deeper, which is right there in the title: death.
The actual story begins in the second half, and you can tell right away it's something different. The art becomes beautiful, taking on a more sober tone, and the writing becomes more succinct compared to the earlier issues. From that point on, it’s a true spectacle.
The story deals with death, vulnerability, friendship, legacy — and, of course, cancer. It makes you reflect on all of that, even on the afterlife. I’ve had many emotional experiences reading comics before, and I’ve had teary eyes on two occasions (both involving the death of Robins, haha), but I had never spent over 20 pages holding back tears like I did here. It’s not one specific scene that gets to you — it’s everything that happens, everything it makes you think about. And that’s perfectly expressed in the different reactions of the characters involved.
I recommend it to everyone — a true masterpiece of the comic book medium. Here, superheroes are just a metaphor used to talk about something much deeper, which is right there in the title: death.
April 3, 2019
Kree warrior Captain Mar-Vell was whipped up in a hurry (DC was about to revive the Golden Age Captain Marvel and Marvel Comics wanted to trademark the name) and it showed. It was an uninspired series until Jim Starlin took it over and launched a plotline involving the Death-loving god Thanos, the Cosmic Cube (as Thanos notes, this is the first time it was used to its full potential), mind control, alien armadas ... and in the middle of it, "Marv" acquires cosmic awareness and becomes more thoughtful about punching people. I prefer Starlin's Warlock run from this era, but this is the second best thing he ever did.
And then he returned to the character in "The Death of Captain Marvel," included here. Inspired by the death of his own father, Starlin has Mar-Vell expire from cancer. No miracle cure, no magical solutions, just facing death and dealing with it (as must his friends). It's gut wrenching. And even after 30-plus years, nobody's tried to undo it and resurrect him.
And then he returned to the character in "The Death of Captain Marvel," included here. Inspired by the death of his own father, Starlin has Mar-Vell expire from cancer. No miracle cure, no magical solutions, just facing death and dealing with it (as must his friends). It's gut wrenching. And even after 30-plus years, nobody's tried to undo it and resurrect him.
July 2, 2024
I knew Jim Starlin was well regarded for his work on the "cosmic" side of the marvel universe, but I had never really gotten the appeal Captain Marvel as a character. In retrospect, Starlin has really embraced Thanos as his great legacy, and Captain Marvel has passed on as a moniker for the generally middling character Carol Danvers. Ironically, Captain Marvel's greatest legacy is his absence- the only real superhero to stay dead, and it's all due to the subversive and surprisingly touching "Death of Captain Marvel" graphic novel. It might read as sappy and saccharine to some modern readers, but there's an earnestness about approaching the subject of death here that is missing from just about every other cynical, temporary superhero death just to boost sales.
August 30, 2025
"Perché recuperare queste storie?", potrebbe chiedere qualcuno.
PRIMA APPARIZIONE DI THANOS. Ok, ora che ho catturato la vostra attenzione...
"La morte di Capitan Marvel" è una delle storie più toccanti mai scritte, almeno tra quelle di genere supereroistico, tanto che praticamente da allora vige la regola non scritta di non riportare mai in vita Mar-Vell (se non come versione alternativa, skrull in incognito, o in modo comunque non permanente) proprio per non rovinare, con la sua resurrezione, questa storia.
Direi che questo già può bastare, no?
Ma per chi voglia di più, abbiamo anche la pregevolissima run di Jim Starlin, una delle più apprezzate sul personaggio.
PRIMA APPARIZIONE DI THANOS. Ok, ora che ho catturato la vostra attenzione...
"La morte di Capitan Marvel" è una delle storie più toccanti mai scritte, almeno tra quelle di genere supereroistico, tanto che praticamente da allora vige la regola non scritta di non riportare mai in vita Mar-Vell (se non come versione alternativa, skrull in incognito, o in modo comunque non permanente) proprio per non rovinare, con la sua resurrezione, questa storia.
Direi che questo già può bastare, no?
Ma per chi voglia di più, abbiamo anche la pregevolissima run di Jim Starlin, una delle più apprezzate sul personaggio.
April 16, 2018
Jim Starlin is like a one man cover band of the Marvel classics. Draws just like Jack Kirby and has some big crazy psychedelic moments just like Steve Ditko. The main story is a bit goofy, and Captain Marvel was a rather dull character, but the big moments in it, like Mar-Vell being granted cosmic awareness and the hallucinations he experiences while dying, hit pretty hard.
February 6, 2019
One of the greatest books of all time, it kickstarted a trend of elseworld stories like the dark knight returns old man logan the death of Wolverine the death of Superman except this one is in canon and follows the main character dying to something so human as cancer, not some supervillain and breaks down the true purpose of a superhero and the meaning of life itself.
October 4, 2018
Some interesting stories along the way, but over all Starlin's run is magnificent. And "The Death of Captain Marvel" is truly touching and emotional.
July 9, 2022
Starlin is a master storyteller. This is especially true with cosmic stories/characters and this is him at his best.
January 8, 2023
Variety of heroes, good fun
January 7, 2023
Per capire al meglio il volume sarebbe necessario leggere anche le storie precedenti del personaggio, ma nonostante ciò la storia risulta chiara e abbastanza scorrevole. Il racconto risale al '73 e l'età si sente tutta; parole austere, temi un po' retrò. I disegni di Starlin rimandino comunque dettagliati ed abbastanza attuali; alcune tavole lasciano senza fiato considerando il tempo in cui vennero disegnate.
In definitiva storia consigliata, ma rendendosi di stare andando incontro a qualcosa che lascia il suo tempo; da recuperare se al momento ci si trova sforniti di spunti di lettura.
In definitiva storia consigliata, ma rendendosi di stare andando incontro a qualcosa che lascia il suo tempo; da recuperare se al momento ci si trova sforniti di spunti di lettura.
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