Apparently some stores were late in getting their copies, so I waited a little bit to let everyone have a chance to read it.
Whad’ja think?
PAD
Apparently some stores were late in getting their copies, so I waited a little bit to let everyone have a chance to read it.
Whad’ja think?
PAD
• 
Good Issue. The art was a big improvement from the last artist. One question though, What happened to the infamous letters page? was that just for the 50th issue?
You have definately been lucking out with the art department. For a title everyone through Bill Jemas would can after 12 issues – it’s been getting the excellent talent it deserves.
Also love the new color change for Marvel’s costume. It’s a bounce back to his old one, but the gray lets you know he hasn’t changed back just yet.
Keep it up! This new ‘keeping it closer to the vest’ deal was just what Marv needed. Going crazy is fun and all, but you gotta keep it interesting, and still keep the hero having challenges. (Which he’s had a lack of, until he ran into his family, since he’s all powerful now)
Just a quick question.
Why, exactly, did you put Moondragon and Marlo together in the first place? I can see how Marlo could get attached to Moonie, what with Heather saving her life, capturing Jackie Shore, and being able to see Lorain (p.s. very dissapointed that you haven’t had Marlo, MD, and Lorain jaunting through the cosmos and making a “space ghost” reference.), but having the always heterosexual Marlo suddenly leave Rick for Moonie was a bit shocking. I mean, Moonie isn’t exactly the most likable person in comics; she once called herself Madame McEvil, for crying out loud. Were you going for shock value? Making a statement on what love is? Desperately trying to write the supporting cast out in time for the relaunch? Fans want to know.
Best issue in a while, mostly because the art is so much better, although I still think an inker is needed. I also prefer the Kree uniform, but this new one is a good compromise. Glad to see that Phyla is still around. She’s quickly become my favorite.
As for Marlo and Moondragon, Moonie has been known to fool around with people’s heads, so I’m thinking that’s got everything to do with Marlo’s actions.
You’ve apparently gotten permission from the higher ups that allows you to come up with an explanation for why continuity among Marvel’s titles doesn’t mean anything anymore, not that it has for a long time.
–your pal, Hoy
After dropping the title for a while, I picked it back up and caught up on the recent issues leading up to this one. I loved the first version of this book before the big change, and have not enjoyed the insanity arc. This issue has not yet convinced me to stay. It was an improvement, but I just would rather read a more “old fashion” hero who is honestly trying to do good. (I am enjoying the current Iron Man and Amazing SpiderMan issues for that reason.)
I agree with the earlier reader and don’t get the Marlo / Moondragon thing. It just makes no sense based on past history of their characters (something PAD is normally better about).
I am still holding out hope and may try one more issue. I love PAD’s sense of humor (in spite of being almost the polar opposite in my political views) and this issue (especially the opening paragraph) struck me as more like the old series. But this current incarnation has not been my cup of tea.
Till Cap’t Calhoun makes a guest appearance, I will simply be a regular visitor to the series.
James
Great Issue. I have always liked your time travel stories in novels and comics and this looks like it will be another winner.
Welcome aboard, Aaron Lopresti. He did a great job!!!
Keep up the good work.
P.S The ULTIMATE and MARVILLE jokes had me laughing out loud.
Dear Pete,
I have to say I really enjoyed this issue. I like where Genis seems to be at right now. He’s still a little off, but he appears to be trying to become a hero again. I also think Phylum is going to be a great character, and I look forward to seeing her character be developed. I think this is a great title. You have made what appears to be a solo title and made it more of a team with all the great characters. You have continued to suprise me as the series has gone on. You’ve taken this series on some different paths, but have never failed to disapoint. So Pete you keep writing and I’ll keep reading.
Sincerely,
Luke Buchanan
420 Burbank
Muskogee, OK 74403
First off, the artwork by Loppesti was a vast improvement from previous issues (which leads to believe he’ll be gone in 6-issues)… and while I still don’t like the coloring process, at least it didn’t look like such a muddied mess this time around. Still, I would perfer an inker and traditional coloring for the book.
Oh, the story was pretty enjoyable, but I have a feeling you’re going to make me very mad with what you may have planned with Marlo!
Liked it quite a lot, in particular the Lopresti art. And of course I was very happy to see Heather and Marlo again after their much too long absence, even though a bit sad that it now seems as if you are setting them up for the big split. It certainly was enjoyable to see Heather telekinetically shaving her head. (And I definitely hope that Lorraine will also return next issue).
Re. the M/M (Moondragon/Marlo) relationship: I rather like it, to a large part because it made me like Heather better, to see her as a person with feelings and a degree of emotional vulnerability (no matter how much she tries to conceal it). And as for Marlo, she is someone whom I just love (if that word can be applied to a fictional character) no matter who she is with – I liked her with Mr. Fixit, I liked her with Rick, and I like her with Moondragon.
Dear Trading Spaces,
I admire Genis’ ability to play his insanity close to the vest. He’s a role model for postal workers everywhere. Oh, and Soto’s doing a fantastic job on colors. Everyone, keep up the excellent work, and until CBS has Rick and Dazzler perform together at the Grammys, make mine Captain Marvel.
Matt Adler
Copiague, NY
I thought issue 19 was a good launching point for the next stage in CM’s and Rick’s lives. I’m psyched to see what happens next. I’m interested in CM’s sister, I think having his annoying little sister along will add to things. Any chance that she and Moondragon will hook up after Marlo gets back with Rick? J.
I thought it was great. I am lazy, so I clipped this out of my revies for 411mania:
Peter David is a class act. When Bill Jemas portrayed Peter David as a drunken, homeless man in the pages of Marville, Peter David didn’t lash out, or make a big deal out of it. But, in this issue, he does manage to get subtle revenge. When Rick arrives at the “Captain Marvel For Hire” office, Phyla is reading an issue of Marville, and she comments that it is the funniest comic she’s ever read. Unfortunately, the humor is just too sophisticated for our primitive Earth minds. Ah, so that’s the secret to enjoying that pile of dreck!
Over the last 18 issues, Peter David has created an epic storyline. It is rare in comics for a character to go through lasting changes, and that is usually a result of complaining readers. The illusion of change is okay, but all changes must be made and fixed back to normal within a nice packageable four to six issue arc. As always, Peter David breaks the mold and produced one of the best comic epics over the last five years. I would compare these last 18 issues with the amazing twenty-five issues of Orion or eighty issues of Starman. And, this saga is still ongoing, even if it seems to be headed in a slightly different direction.
At the end of the last issue, it was ambiguous where Genis stood, but this issue he seems to be at least attempting to be a hero again. Having read PAD for as long as I’ve read comics, I doubt he’s going to let Genis or the readers off this easily. But, for now, Peter David is telling stories more in line with his first run on Captain Marvel, which is cool with me. That was one of the best series I have ever read.
Also, I need to comment that Captain Marvel (and X-Statix) has a “must read” summary page. Somehow, PAD always manages to slip some humor in here. This month, it is a guide to Marvel’s most difficult to pronounce names. Including Moon Knight (ka-NIG-git). Sure, it’s silly, but it also cracked me up. Without Young Justice, I have to get humor in comics anywhere I can. PAD, please hurry up and get out that next SpyBoy special!!!
I love the summary page. Mostly the last paragraph though…
Shall I presume that the reason for Marv’s choice of gray is similar to Hamlet’s reasoning (or lack thereof)?
Hey Pad;
A bit OT, and so I apologize, but–
I’ve noticed now that you have written at least two characters that having once been straight, have “gone gay”. I’m thinking more of the Supergirl series with Andy and the Angel of Light ( I forget her name). I remember you even got a GLAAD award for your protrayal of Andy coming out to her parents. Of course, good drama being conflict, you’ll rarely see a gay person come out to a parent and the parent doesn’t even bat an eye, but I wanted to ask: What do you think would happen to your GLAAD awards (or standing) if you were to do a story where say a well known gay character like Maggie Sawyer did a “Chasing Amy”? What kind of response do you think you would get from the gay community? BTW, I know it happens that way sometimes, I’ve seen it with a couple of friends of mine (twice) and nationly, of course, with Ellen Degeneres and the actress she was involved with.
Just FYI, folks. His costume is white, not gray. White, for purity & innocence and happyjoy feelings. 🙂
i think i’m the only one that isn’t pleased with the new artist. i rather enjoyed the last story arch and the artwork. though the coloring was muddy (or painterly depending on how you look at it) i think that the anatomy was solid, facial expressions believable, and the pacing good. i don’t understand why so many people hated it. not all comics have a slick look to it. well, now that lopresti had taken over it seems bland and overly polished. i get nothing emotionally from it. well, that’s the nature of comics. after lopresti’s run maybe you ought to consider juan bobillo from the mekanix title. i don’t think he’s tied up to any other title, he’s up and coming, and he was phenominal. or send him over to fallen angel. that series also could use a major boost in the art dept. i just don’t understand why such a top notch talent like peter is getting stuck with low budget artists lately. i’m not trying to be rude to the good people working their tails off at the drawing board. maybe i just got spoiled from chrisssross. talk about a monstrous talent. that guy doesn’t get his due.
I agree with everyone that the art has taken a turn for the better. The new guy did a great job. I’m also one of the people that miss the Kree uniform [minus the helmet& gun] but costumes aren’t everything right? It was good to have the old feel to the book again. Looking forward to the next issue. Whats the possibility you can talk the artist into letting Phyla’s hair grow out a little. I’m afraid Moon Dragon might start to take a “liking” to her =).
I have been a PAD reader since… forever. I was reading Marvel when PAD was still in Sales, for crying out loud. And your work has always been at the top of my buy list every month.
The last big story was fine, nothing special, but I did enjoy it. The new one seems, I dunno, a little forced? Not sure how to put it. It just seems that, for me at lease, you may have lost a little of the passion for this title you once held. Marlo is sort, kinda gay now? What the heck was that all about? I can forgive the Moondragon and Marlo kiss from way back when, but to actually have them hook up seems contrived and unfair to the Marlo character. And now the evil Marlo from a possible future? Been there, done that. Yawn…
Honestly, Peter, I think you need to expand your stories, or at least get back to what you do best. When you were doing your best work, there really were not all that many REALLY good writers working in the field. Today, it is a writers paradise, and I think your peers are SO good today that what you have been doing as of late seems… dated.
I hope you don’t think this unconstructive criticism or some such. I am really trying to be open minded and fair. Fallen Angels never pulled me in, and I did give it six issues before dropping the title. The comic storeowner told me a lot of people started dropping it after #4. He also said less people have been getting CM as well. When asked why, he simply said that there were so many newer, better-written books out there vying for attention, and he felt (and I agree) that your writing has been below what you are capable of.
Do you agree? Are you burned out some? Not eating enough Wheaties in the morning? I dunno, but I can say I have been enjoying your book less and less the last, say, nine months or so.
CAPTAIN MARVEL #19
Whatever you like to do is fine with me. Being civil is easy, for me anyway. So, lets talk about CAPTAIN MARVEL #19! I really enjoyed it and the artwork is fantastic.
To think I was considering dropping the book, not because of the stories, but because of the $2.99 price tag. Oh well, with X-treme X-Men going the way of the DoDo in a few months, it’ll be $3 dollars less that I have to worry about.
I was also wondering if Fallen Angel cracks the 100 list of comics ordered. According to WIZARD issue #149, I did not see FA on the Top 100 for the month of November, I did see CM at #93. If FA continues to be out of the TOP 100, will it mean that DC will cancel the series? I hope not.
I’ve been waiting over a week to comment (got it here in Canada). Like that CM is crazy, but perhaps having him hold up the appearance of “doing the right thing” will rehabilitate him.
And will Rick’s love song be the beginning of explaining why Moondragon kicks CM’s butt in the (alternate) future?
I liked the art/art process on
this one. It didn’t have that
“muddy” look that detracted from past issues.
And the story, I like it. It’s cool. (yes, I’m old enough to say something is cool)
I like the new uniform, & I’m hoping that lil’ sister stays around awhile. ( wouldn’t suprise me much if PAD did a Mar-Vell Family…)
Anyway, thanks for the entertainment.
BTW: I noticed over in “Thanos”
(fun read, too bad Starlin is leaving) that “Mr. T” is stopping by Titain, next. Any chance of a cross-over?
This is what I love about the Marlo/Moondragon plot: It seems to me to be utterly, totally true to the concept of Marlo from day one of her introduction way back in HULK.
That concept being, namely, that Marlo is SO UNBELIEVABLY FREAKING SEXY that anyone on earth who met her would want to do her.
But since, these days, almost every comics artist working tends to draw almost every female character as a pørņ star, PAD needed to remind us just how EXCEPTIONALLY sexy Marlo is — not through the art, but through the story — by establishing that she even gets the juices flowing in Moondragon, the most frigid character in the Marvel Universe, a person who makes Mr. Spock look like Christina Aguilera.
And then we went and totally missed the joke. (Well, it’s a joke, but it’s not. I’ve known people, men and women, who are indeed that sexy. And they do indeed move through the world leaving confusion and chaos in their wake. And smiles.)
Do you agree? Are you burned out some? Not eating enough Wheaties in the morning? I dunno, but I can say I have been enjoying your book less and less the last, say, nine months or so.
In other words, since Cross left the series.
See, that’s what really kills me. I see two comments recurring: “Gee, I no longer like the ‘Marv’s insane’ storyline” and “Gee, I liked the book much better when Cross was drawing it.” No one seems to twig to the obvious: That they *would* like the story if Cross were still drawing it. The story worked as well as it did because of all the stuff Cross brought to it (particularly since his uninked pencils looked so good under Soto’s coloring) and because I tailored it to his artistic strengths. Without him–and with round robin artists–it’s far more problematic to do a story that hinges so much on the subtleties that only Cross could convey (or at least make work uninked under Soto’s colors.)
As for “Fallen Angel,” it’s not a title for everyone. The lead character is bitter and angry, and the story is filled with ambiguities in a world that demands clear black and white. The model for it is “Casablanca,” a film in which the author of the definitive book on the movie comments that–were it being made today–all the ambiguities would have been removed by the studio before the script made it to its third draft.
Yeah, I know we had a drop off around issue 4. It was right around that point that fans who insisted on a definitive link to Linda Danvers went away, and we got hit with the “Mature Readers Only” label which helped kill sales in the 13 to 17 year old group.
You stopped reading it with 6? Fine. But I, who am the harshest critic of my own work and can only see the flaws in work of mine that people say they like, am telling you that issues 7 through 11 (and issue 12 which goes back and tells how Lee and Juris first met and got together) is the best comic story I’ve ever written. Ever. Ever. The *only* drawback is that my coloring instructions weren’t followed and some flashback sequences which were supposed to be in sepia (to distinguish them) were just colored regular, making the story tricky to follow in places. Not impossible; there are other visual cues. But you have to read it carefully. Other than that glitch, though, I think it buries everything else I’ve done.
Of course, it’s also unlike everything else I’ve ever done…which makes it a tougher sell.
PAD
I liked this issue, although it seemed a little strange that after all that had happened it was now back to business as usual. Feels kinda like 1 to 18 was a seperate series (which I guess it was), and now the regular series continues. I really enjoyed the insanity storyline. I didn’t want it to end, but I guess it had to. Still, its great to see Marlo and Moondragon again. Hopefully Marlo hasn’t come back just to get killed off.
I liked the current issue, and I can see your point Peter about the frustration involving people’s comments about the art. I think the story that you’ve been trying to tell has come through and remained consistent even when the art hasn’t. For me, that’s the important thing. I’ve never left or stopped reading a book because of an art change, and I think it’s pretty silly to do so.
As for the Marlo/Moondragon/Ellen/Anne Heche thing, I think it’s important to remember that while Rick and Marv have been galavanting around the stars blissfully or not so blissfully insane, other stuff has happened. I’m guessing (and thus could be totally wrong) that the M&M relationship (be it plain or peanut) was something that would have gone on without the U-Decide reboot. Of course, you’ve said (and I believe you) that the insanity plot was coming anyway, so maybe that’s not the case (or the focus was moved squarely onto Rick/Genis and not the supporting cast, as opposed to having little cuts back to what was going on back home).
So yeah, I’m wicked late because my computer at home is broke, but this is good stuff. I’m enjoying it, and I’m still reading.
Gotta say I like what is going on in this issue. I like the idea of Genis being a “Hero for Hire” and Rick being his first customer. Good job with this series Peter, even with the switches in the art team. Hopefully Lopresti is going to be with the title for awhile and allows you to get into a groove with him like you did with CC.
Also, loved the little blurb at the bottom of the recap page with the pronunciation guide for tough-to-say Marvel names. Ka-NIG-git.
jeff brown
I have to confess that I haven’t bought a Marvel comic in ten years.
After seeing Peter’s work on Supergirl, I was drawn to his take on Captain Marvel.
Read #49 with the Neal Adams(!) cover.
Fought mightily but was seduced by the covers of the new series and the prospect of reading a new, and on-going Peter David book. A quick trip to the internet and I bought up the entire run of this latest series. Read them all slowly and carefully over the course of an afternoon.
First off…this is GREAT stuff. I loved the fact that you have a character with God-like power who isn’t afraid to actually use it.
Second, I love the surprises. A great example of this was the Coven storyline.
Third, this series explores moral ambiguities, provides political allegories, injects clever humor, and still manages some kick-ášš action.
I had hoped that the Genis character wouldn’t be a Kyle Rayner character who tried to fill the shoes of a more-capable predecessor. No need to worry. Genis is insane. But in a *good* way. 🙂
The Kree Uniform was awesome. Wish it could return.
Nice touches, as always, are the references to other comic icons, such as Billy Batson, Superman, Robin.
Gonna buy this series on da regulah.
Nice work, Mr. David. Don’t make this a standard superhero book. Don’t settle for the pat answers used for the past fifty years of comic book stories.
This is *your* series. Hope it runs as long as your Incredible Hulk run.
By the way, do you think that if Marlo had switched on the TV this past weekend and seen the news, would she have seen that as a sign to stay with Heather?
(Cue the Flower Pot Men and “Let’s Go to San Francisco”) 🙂