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About This
Series:
Issues:
This
first "Ms. Marvel" series didn't have that great of a go. It
was cancelled, in mid-storyline, with issue 23. The character of
Carol Danvers actually first appeared in "Marvel Super-Heroes" #18
(1968). At that time she was a member of the U.S. Air
Force. It wasn't until nine years laters, in 1977, that she was
transformed into the superheroine Ms. Marvel. The very character
concept of Ms. Marvel was, quite simply, a sexy female version of
Captain Marvel. Ms. Marvel was created by writer Gerry Conway,
and artist John Buscema.
I love the look of Ms. Marvel, especially the first costume version, but she isn't one of my top-favorite characters. Her supporting cast is nil. Some of the issues are great, some are just boring. I don't think Ms. Marvel ever really reached her full potential in comicdom, and she's always been one of Marvel's most unstable heroine characters. The costume changes, the name changes (she's also been known as Binary and Warbird, to name a few), the character revamps...they still don't know what to do with her. I think she was more of a concept drawing quickly rushed together into a regular series, but the series flopped so Marvel keeps her around in hopes that they can give her more of a story someday.
Ms. Marvel's original red and blue costume, with the bare midriff, was the sexiest. This didn't last long. I think Marvel must've gotten some heat about this scant costume. It wasn't too long before they covered her midriff with more red material. That look was okay, but still not as sexy as the original. The black and yellow costume is okay, I guess, but it's just not "Ms. Marvel" for me. Dark colors are rather unimaginitive for superhero costumes.
I love the look of Ms. Marvel, especially the first costume version, but she isn't one of my top-favorite characters. Her supporting cast is nil. Some of the issues are great, some are just boring. I don't think Ms. Marvel ever really reached her full potential in comicdom, and she's always been one of Marvel's most unstable heroine characters. The costume changes, the name changes (she's also been known as Binary and Warbird, to name a few), the character revamps...they still don't know what to do with her. I think she was more of a concept drawing quickly rushed together into a regular series, but the series flopped so Marvel keeps her around in hopes that they can give her more of a story someday.
Ms. Marvel's original red and blue costume, with the bare midriff, was the sexiest. This didn't last long. I think Marvel must've gotten some heat about this scant costume. It wasn't too long before they covered her midriff with more red material. That look was okay, but still not as sexy as the original. The black and yellow costume is okay, I guess, but it's just not "Ms. Marvel" for me. Dark colors are rather unimaginitive for superhero costumes.
Issues:
#5: May, 1977.
Vision is the guest superhero in this issue. Ms. Marvel and
Vision are at odds for most of the issue. Later, they would work
with each other in the Avengers team. Supervillain Modok appears
at the very end of this issue. Again, another ho-hum issue.
#7: July, 1977. Modok, the flying, giant-head robot is the villain in this issue. The cover is about the most exciting thing to this issue. That part is well-done. Just couldn't get into the comic itself.
#8: August, 1977. Grotesk is the villain in this issue. Another so-so issue. The story ends with Grotesk's apparent death. Most of the issue is a fight scene. Okay, if you're going to have a fight scene, don't put so much dialogue in it! How can these characters talk so much when they're fighting?! Why do we have to read all that standard comic book gibberish when the main point of it all is that two characters are kicking the crap out of each other? Marvel, as a publisher, always did like to overdo dialogue for dramatic effect. This was too much. This is the last issue where we see Ms. Marvel's midriff in the original red and blue costume.
#9: September, 1977. This is the first issue where Ms. Marvel's midriff was covered in the red and blue costume. So this is actually the second costume design for the character. The villain is Deathbird.
#10: October, 1977. Modok comes back for another beating from Ms. Marvel. Deathbird also returns.
#13: January, 1978.
#14: February, 1978. Steeplejack is the villain. At least this is an interesting supervillain character for Ms. Marvel. Steeplejack's theme is a construction worker. Funny. Carmine Infantino takes over the art, who later went on to do Spider-Woman. I love Infantino's Spider-Woman art, but to tell you the truth, his style doesn't really match "Ms. Marvel". She looked better in the sleeker, more stream-lined style of her earlier artists. Infantino's still great, though, I'm just stating a preference.
#7: July, 1977. Modok, the flying, giant-head robot is the villain in this issue. The cover is about the most exciting thing to this issue. That part is well-done. Just couldn't get into the comic itself.
#8: August, 1977. Grotesk is the villain in this issue. Another so-so issue. The story ends with Grotesk's apparent death. Most of the issue is a fight scene. Okay, if you're going to have a fight scene, don't put so much dialogue in it! How can these characters talk so much when they're fighting?! Why do we have to read all that standard comic book gibberish when the main point of it all is that two characters are kicking the crap out of each other? Marvel, as a publisher, always did like to overdo dialogue for dramatic effect. This was too much. This is the last issue where we see Ms. Marvel's midriff in the original red and blue costume.
#9: September, 1977. This is the first issue where Ms. Marvel's midriff was covered in the red and blue costume. So this is actually the second costume design for the character. The villain is Deathbird.
#10: October, 1977. Modok comes back for another beating from Ms. Marvel. Deathbird also returns.
#13: January, 1978.
#14: February, 1978. Steeplejack is the villain. At least this is an interesting supervillain character for Ms. Marvel. Steeplejack's theme is a construction worker. Funny. Carmine Infantino takes over the art, who later went on to do Spider-Woman. I love Infantino's Spider-Woman art, but to tell you the truth, his style doesn't really match "Ms. Marvel". She looked better in the sleeker, more stream-lined style of her earlier artists. Infantino's still great, though, I'm just stating a preference.