The upcoming comic Captain Marvel Annual #1 follows the intergalactic hero Carol Danvers as she once again joins forces with the space pirate team Starjammers, led by the father of X-Men member Cyclops. The one-shot comic features Captain Marvel and the galactic enforcers the Starjammers teaming up to escape a prison-like planet, K’rsak, run by the totalitarian K'rsaky military.
Carol Danvers is one of Marvel Comics' earliest heroes, having been introduced in 1968 as a human ally of the original Captain Marvel, the Kree hero Mar-Vell, before eventually gaining his powers through an explosion that merged their DNA. Danvers is the Avenger with perhaps the most experience in space, so she has had run-ins with the Starjammers several times over the last few decades, and was even a member of their team after becoming her alter-ego Binary in the '80s. The Starjammers were first introduced in 1977 before it was revealed that their leader Corsair is actually Christopher Summers, the father of the X-Men Cyclops and Havok, who they thought was dead. The crew of space pirates have gone on to feature as allies of the X-Men, and enemies of the Shi'ar Empire as well as the third Summers brother, the supervillain Vulcan.
Captain Marvel Annual #1 - written by Torunn Grønbekk (Wastelanders: Doom) with art by Carlos Gómez (America Chavez: Made in the USA, Sinister War) and a gorgeous cover by Lee Garbett and David Curiel - appears to partner Carol Danvers with the original Starjammers team. The pirate teams roster has switched often over the years, but has almost always included Corsair, Hepzibah, Raza, and Ch'od. This is the team that Captain Marvel must ally herself with, as seen in a preview shared by AIPT.
In an interview with AIPT, writer Grønbekk had this to say about the team-up:
“I have an irrational love for the dastardly gang of space pirates that make up The Starjammers, and a completely rational love for our very own Captain Marvel,” Grønbekk said. “Needless to say, I jumped on the opportunity to reunite them for this space adventure! (And to throw them in prison, where at least a few of them belong.)
“However, Corsair, Hepzibah, and Ch’od aren’t the only characters from Carol’s past who catch up with her in this story, and getting away from the maddening, authoritarian nightmare that is the planet K’rsak might prove the least of her troubles.”
While the Starjammers have acted as heroes in major crises over the past several decades, at their core they are a group of space pirates primarily interested in their own self preservation and survival. The Starjammers team actually met in a prison camp, so being back together in a authoritarian prison world must be triggering for their whole group, especially Corsair who was forced into prison slavery after watching his wife and unborn child (seemingly) slaughtered right in front of him. The Starjammers most recent adventure saw them teaming up with the Krakoan team New Mutants in space, before the pirates pulled a pirate-move and betrayed the mutants, leaving them stranded in Shi'ar territory! The mutants obviously survived the situation, and didn't even seem to put off by the Starjammers betraying them, but the whole event surely emphasizes one major thing: The Starjammers' number one priority is themselves.
Perhaps the Starjammers will end up betraying Carol to ensure their own escape and survival? Or maybe Captain Marvel's time as Binary, when she was a member of the Starjammers, will prove to be enough of a bond to keep this crew civil and trustworthy. To see what dangerous shenanigans the Starjammers get into, and to see Carol interact with the father of the X-Men member Cyclops, make sure to check out Captain Marvel Annual #1 when it debuts in April 2022.
Source: AIPT