Mini-Opinions – Friday Edition

Captain Marvel #1-#8

So, I was only supposed to read #1-#7 for class (and I think she really meant #1-#6 since that was where the first story arc ended…) but I figured I would read everything that I had so that would have completed the series so far. Captain Marvel has been one of my favorite characters/series since I first picked up Issue #9. Even at that point, most people I was following said that it wasn’t worth going back and reading the beginning, that #9 was a good place to start and just to keep going from there. The story before was just too weird. I’m not entirely sure why they said that, now that I’ve actually read the first eight issues. Yes, these were more sci-fi stories than the down-to-earth stuff we have now, but it was still pretty interesting, and really, the time travel story was a fun primer for Carol’s origin. It was certainly a more interesting way of doing it than just showing it to us through some flashbacks. I enjoyed myself when I was reading them! And the robot story was just hilarious. I loved Carol and Monica going back and forth – they are a pretty funny combo.

Final Opinion: Must Read!

Mini-Opinions – Friday Edition

Continuing with the mini-opinions, which will hopefully be scheduled for Friday and Monday from now on. Plenty of new issues this week, plus a few new series I picked up and others that have been waiting for me to find some time. I’m hoping to get through as many as I can!!

Nova #2

I enjoyed this issue! It was a bit of a filler issue in that we really didn’t meet anyone new (unless you count the very end…) but we did establish that Sam has figured out the helmet and suit and kind of knows how to operate it. We also establish that something went rather wrong with whatever his father was doing, which is why he now has the helmet, and why Rocket Raccoon and Gamora came to him in the first place. I’m kind of curious about the panel with the mother looking out the window…think she knows more than she’s letting on? I wish we had run a little more with the story, but I still liked it overall.

Final Opinion: Solid

Infinity and Beyond! (Nova #1)

After reading Guardians of the Galaxy, a lot of people were recommending Nova as another series to read, so I picked it up this week to give it a try.

This was a pretty interesting start to a series. It was totally a background issue (why is this numbered #1, when the background to Guardians was #0.1?) but definitely interesting enough to make me want to keep going. We got the story of Jesse as a member of Nova Corps interspersed with the story of where he is close to now (it says six months ago…from what I gather on Wikipedia, I’m guessing this was supposed to take place prior to AvX) and how his son, Sam, is taking care of him. Until Jesse disappears, and Sam hurts himself before finding out that maybe his father’s stories weren’t quite as imaginary as he thought…

It seems like we have a lot of kids with Daddy issues running around, especially those that eventually end up in space (Star-Lord, Stark…assuming his background story matches what’s in the movie, and now Nova…) I’m kind of curious if that’s going to play into any sort of story, or if that’s just a rather easy way to create a character (characters with parent issues are usually a little more interesting to read and write…). Outside of that, there were lots of cute moments in this story – I liked the father telling his daughter his story, and how the daughter is still totally enamored with those stories. And the reaction that their mom had, that it wasn’t wrong for her to still see her father as her hero. When Sam came back to his sister and told her to ask for the story about Saturn’s Ring. Sam obviously cares about his family – and he’s trying to keep things working. But he’s obviously got some resentment issues. I thought the character development was done really well, but it just took a little while for us to get to the point (which we were all waiting for…because we already knew this was all true, right?)

I enjoyed this story, and especially the reveal at the end. It seems like this series could be going in an interesting direction once we get past the backstory, which I don’t think we’re past yet. I definitely want to pick up the next issue to see where they want to go with this!