Warning: This Post Contains Spoilers For Captain Marvel #1
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Captain Marvel is back with her own title, and this week sees the hero back on Earth, rekindling relationships, rejoining the Avengers, and getting her own protege. Whew! That's a whole lot for a first day back... (well, a first few weeks, to get technical about it).
Until recently, Captain Marvel has been away from the Avengers, New York City, and everything happening on Earth in the Marvel Universe. She's been out in space, doing her hero thing to protect the planet from alien threats from afar, but now Carol is back in town, and ready to get back to her old life. The new comic series launches this week, ahead of the highly anticipated Marvel Cinematic Universe movie (also titled Captain Marvel), which will be the character's introduction to the MCU. Because she's been away for a little while, and because the comic is intended to appeal to (and by readable for) new fans who are brought to it by the movies, this first issue does a whole lot of catching up. It brings readers up to date on what Carol has been up to, her friendships, her romances, and her heroic deeds - and sees the hero rejoining The Avengers.
Related: Captain Marvel's Prequel Comic Doesn't Start Where You Think
Captain Marvel #1 starts on a fight scene - as Captain Marvel works with Spider-Woman Jessica Drew to take out a Kraken that happens to be wreaking havoc in the city. We don't learn why, of course, but that's because it's not important. As the issue continues, Carol and Jessica arrange a coffee date and talk about how great it is to be back in the same city (and on the same planet), Carol bumps into (ex) War Machine James Rhodes and the pair almost share a kiss, and Carol has a meeting with Tony Stark about her return to Earth.
By the end of the issue, Captain Marvel is back in full-on Avengers mode, working with Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America to try and take down Nuclear Man. Not only is Carol back working with the Avengers full-time, though, she also has a new Avengers protege: Hazmat. And of course, this being the comic universe and the start of a new adventure, the issue wraps up with Nuclear Man kidnapping a journalist and popping through an interdimensional portal, with Captain Marvel hot on his heels.
It's a fantastic first issue for new readers, that fully catches them up with the major players in Captain Marvel's life, shows off a few familiar Avengers faces, and sets up the first story arc neatly. It's also not so clogged with backstory that long-term fans of the character are going to be put off by it, and it looks like Captain Marvel is going to have plenty of female-focused writing, with Spider-Woman, Hazmat, and Ripley Ryan surrounding Carol. As a start to the new series, it's a solid one - and it's great to have Captain Marvel back on Earth.
Captain Marvel #1 is available now from Marvel Comics