Marvel Action: Captain Marvel, Vol. 1: Cosmic Cat-Tastrophe

Marvel Action: Captain Marvel

by Sam Maggs, Sweeney Boo (Illustrations)

Go higher, further, and faster with Captain Marvel in this brand-new adventure for middle grade readers!

Carol Danvers' quiet night with BFF Jessica Drew (a.k.a. Spider-Woman) takes a cat-astrophic turn when Manhattan's bodegas are suddenly overrun by a host of angry felines! And not just any felines--Flerkens, the most terrifying, pocket-dimension-holding, tentacle-devouring kitty-look-alikes in the entire universe! Carol's paw-sitive she can handle the situation on her own, but questions remain: can she overcome the fur-midible foes before it's too late? How well does the "Find My Phone" function actually work? And will there be more cat puns?!

It's a Flerken invasion in the latest addition to the mighty Marvel Action banner!

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Childrens

72 pages, Paperback

First published March 3, 2020

About the author

SAM MAGGS is a bestselling writer of books, comics, and video games, including Marvel Action: Captain Marvel, The Unstoppable Wasp: Built on Hope, Tell No Tales, Con Quest!, and Marvel's Spider-Man PS4. A Canadian in Los Angeles, she misses Coffee Crisp and bagged milk. Visit her online at sammaggs.com or @SamMaggs!

Reviews

[Ria · Rating 5 out of 5]

the story revolves around ''cats'' so it's amazing. the art style is also super adorable
a masterpiece, 69/10

me and the girlies

[taylah · Rating 5 out of 5]

carol and jess gay

[The Nerd Daily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published on The Nerd Daily | Review by Sarah C

Cosmic Cat-astrophe is a Marvel Action graphic novel (originally published as Marvel Action: Captain Marvel issues #1 -3) written by Sam Maggs (The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy) and with art by Sweeney Boo (Archie Comics, Eat and Love Yourself). It is aimed towards middle-grade readers, but is a must for any Captain Marvel fan!

Short enough to read in one sitting but enjoyable enough to go through more than once, Cosmic Cat-tastrophe follows Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel who investigates the strange behaviour of the cat-like Flerkens when her cosy night in is disturbed by a feline emergency!

It starts in Captain Marvel’s apartment when she is watching a movie with her best friend, Jessica Drew aka Spider Woman, when the news starts reporting that cats are starting to swarm the city. Captain Marvel heads out alone to check it out because it doesn’t seem right that cats, or indeed, Flerkens would be attacking people. She ends up eaten by a Flerken and then finds herself in outer space on a Kree spaceship! Perhaps the Captain might need her squad after all?

With a graphic novel, obviously, the illustrations are important. The artwork is colourful, but not too bright. There is a lot of use of the colour blue. I think my favourite illustrations are the Flerkens because I am a big cat lover, and they are really cute, and I like all of their little expressions. It would be nice if the text was a bit bigger though as this would make it easier to read. It’s really nice to show Captain Marvel as Carol Danvers, having some downtime and a normal night in with her best pal, watching a movie and eating junk food. Avengers are people too, right?

The illustrations really are great, I was pleased with how Captain Marvel looks, she’s not portrayed as stick thin, she looks slightly curvy. I know she’s supposed to be bad-ass, but she also looks cute! The girl power vibe in the book is fantastic as Captain Marvel is probably one of the strongest Avengers (and she knows it), and when she’s needed, she’s straight out of her PJs and off out the door. She appears confident, witty, and self-assured. She’s friends with Spider-Woman and there is no rivalry between them.

It feels like the running theme throughout the story is friendship and not having to do things alone which is a positive message for a younger audience, and a very relevant one. It is nice to show a superhero still needing friends and some back up. The ending also shows what can be achieved as a team which is another positive message for people. A problem shared is a problem halved, as they say.

This would be a good book to pick up for a younger Marvel fan as a gift, or if you were looking to try to get someone into reading more. It’s funny and does not take itself too seriously.

[TJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so fun! A great book for someone to read after seeing the Captain Marvel movie with little knowledge of the character outside of that. I usually prefer more character driven stories with more room for character growth, but I went into this knowing what it was: a quick, fun read for kids. And I think kids will have a blast with this! 4/5 stars

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

My only complaint is this volume is too slim. I want hundreds of pages of flerken hijinks.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many cute kitties! I mean flerkens! A short tale for lovers of cats/flerkens. Although it’s not explained why they all look alike- I would think they would have more physical variety.

[H.L. Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have known for a long time that the superhero genre needed more cats and cat puns. I feel vindicated.

[Raquel · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO MANY CATS😭💕

[Sara I · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just as cute, enjoyable, and punny as you would imagine from the cover and title! This is a great read for young Marvel/superhero fans!

[lvrhania · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mega fajne, chciałabym aby na ziemii była inwazja kotków

[Belle Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s cats- why would I give it any less than 3 stars? Also strong women so that’s cool and my pals Guardians of the Galaxy

[Evey Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dibujo de Sweeney Boo 5/5
Siendo consciente de que es un comic destinado a un publico más infantil, me lo he pasado genial leyendo esta historia. Tiene a Carol Danvers, tiene gatetes y dosis de cuquismo extremo y como sorpresa me ponen a los Guardianes. ¿COMO NO VA A GUSTARME?
Una historia sencilla pero bien llevada centrada en un asunto que atañe a los flerkens que queda bien cerrada y con un final que quieres seguir viendo a Carol y Jessica en más historias.
Un gran acierto de Panini el tamaño de la edición más grande del que solemos estar acostumbrados.
Puro goce de una historia bonita y cuqui. Muy cuqui.

[Brittany Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit simple, but still flerken cute. I’m a lot like Carol in this. I may not be a powerful Avenger, but I am an introvert cat mom who often needs a reminder that it’s important to make time for friends.

⚡️🐈

[Greywolfheir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super fun story and very adorable art style!

[Artemis Crescent · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute and fun little 'Captain Marvel' comic. It's Carol vs a bunch of space cats. What more could you want?!

The pacing is fast and kind of skittish and spasmodic, to make up for the short comic's limited space and page number, I suppose. Not everything flows well or makes sense. Not everything receives a resolution, either. But the fun to be had of the premise and the characters make up for it, as they reach their full, deep and excitable potential.

There is a strong focus on the friendship between Carol and Jessica Drew, aka Spider-Woman. Whether they are civilians hanging out, or superheroines saving the universe, these women love each other dearly, and are always there and super supportive. An example of a BFF-ism: they crash in each other's homes at night, and on a couch they eat ice cream and watch horror movies together in their jammies. I am forever here for positive female friendships of this magnitude.

There is also a Guardians of the Galaxy team-up, and they are entertaining, without taking Carol's story away from her.

Captain Marvel + kitty cats + female friendships = a sure win for me.

Flerken funny!

Final Score: 3.5/5

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was SO CUTE. If you like Captain Marvel and/or cats, you're going to love this. Flerkens are invading the bodegas of New York and it's up to Carol Danvers to figure out why.

You get:
- BFF Carol and Jessica Drew feels
- SO MANY CUTE CATS
- Chewie in a cat spacesuit
- Drax loving flerkens

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Sam Maggs did a fantastic job and I can't wait to read more.

The only reason I rounded down to four stars is because the book is printed in a smaller book format. It makes the speech bubble text hard to read. This is probably much better on digital where you can generally read panel-to-panel.

[Chrisie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now that was purrrfectly delightful. My daughter (10) read it first and said "You HAVE to read this." From her that's a huge deal because she's very choosy with her reading.
The art was great, the puns were plentiful and I loved the surprise visitors.
The only thing I really didn't like was the shortness of it! I wanted more of everything. More girl-time, more cats, more everything!

[Shaun · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the individual issues of this and I think it's great fun. It's a nice all ages approach to Captain Marvel that is super enjoyable for kids and adults alike. Honestly I appreciate it more than some of the stuff Marvel's main Captain Marvel title has been putting out. Bright art, fun story, give it a go.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this really cute and true to Carol’s character, I just wish that it had been pulled back a little. The panelling layout on nearly every page was jagged and hard to scan and the panels themselves were often bogged down in dialogue and asides (and asides to the asides). Not sure if that’s the Marvel Action house style but it jarred for me.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

if you like captain marvel comics you should like this its aimed at little kids but it uses words and concepts some may struggle with that bothered me the art and the plot were cute. i'll buy the next one.

[Gv · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well. I almost don't know anything about Marvel (I mean... I have seen some of the Avenger movies? 10 years ago?) but this was just too lovely and awesome and CATS EVERYWHERE (well... sort of) to pass. It was a delightful 30 min read.

[Andrés Zelada · Rating 5 out of 5]

Divertida y cuqui historia en la que la buena de Carol Danvers se ve ampliamente superada por una invasión de flerkens. Llena de buen rollo, chistes de gatos y los propios gatos, y sazonada con las apariciones de Spider-Woman y de los Guardianes de la Galaxia. La he disfrutado como un enano.

[sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

So cute. Peleas con gatitos, Capitana Marvel en acción, amistad femenina, cameo de los Guardianes y una reflexión existencial sobre encontrar a tu gente siendo introvertida y como no tienes que hacer todo sola.

[Jacki Drane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was just an adorable little story. My husband picked it up today for our girls to read and it’s a really cute story. Perfect for middle-grade readers as well as adults.

[Sarah C · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't really do Marvel but I think Captain Marvel is my fave.
This one has cute cats and girl power so what's not to love??

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Motherflerken...this book is so bloody adorable!!

[Hannah Galler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely marvelous! Carol and Jessica Drew are my favorite and this was so great. My 8 year old loved it too. She was walking around saying things were "flerken ridiculous" after she read it.

[Debra Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flerkin loose in the cosmos.

[Sarah]

Perfectly pitched for the intended audience. Find my full review here http://www.britishfantasysociety.org/...

[Theo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and fun and cat-centric. Great middle reader book.