Captain Marvel #9 (2014) Review
Even more new friends! You guys are too good to me. Did you enjoy the last arc? It was a bit more lighthearted. Well, this week we got a one-issue arc that’s even more fun! Brace yourselves!
We start this issue with Captain Marvel, AKA Carol Danvers, and Tic, a young alien girl who has become her ward, and they are flying their ship somewhere in the middle of space. It appears they’re playing a game of “would you rather,” and they’re listening to music by an artist named Lila Cheney.
When, lo and behold, who comes crashing in? The aforementioned artist.
Carol of course, is very confused as to how Lila got there. Tic, meanwhile, is fangirling a little. Carol states that she read in Lila’s file that she can’t teleport places she hasn’t been before. Lila, however, responds that she didn’t have to be on the ship before, because her voice has been (in the music that Carol and Tic were just listening to). Lila then starts singing and playing along to the music, and Carol acts… unexpectedly.
Words cannot express how much I love this reaction. Big hero Captain Marvel, superpowered, saver of worlds, is actually a giant dork meeting this musician that she loves? Amazing.
I’ve already talked a little bit in my previous blog posts about how we want our heroes to be relateable. Sure, seeing them with simple joy or crushing sadness makes us feel closer to them, but seeing them acting like us with all our weird quirks is even better.
I’m gonna veer a bit off the path here to talk about another current female superhero we can see being an adorable nerd: Kamala Khan, AKA the new and AMAZING Ms. Marvel. She plays video games, speaks in memes sometimes, and fangirls over superheroes. I love Kamala so much, and I can’t push her enough onto everyone I know who loves comics. (After I catch up with Carol, I’m hoping to try adding Kamala to my reviews. I don’t think I’ll start with issue 1, but I do wanna talk more about this amazing young woman)
Okay, back to the story. Lila opens up to Carol and Tic, talking about how she got her powers. Apparently, when she was younger, her powers were unreliable and she found herself on strange worlds. At one point, she got herself engaged to a prince on one of these different worlds.
Lila then takes the pair to said world. Apparently, they like to talk in rhymes.
So to sum up those panels, Lila wants Carol to try and talk the prince’s parents out of her marriage.
The prince pulls Carol aside and tells her that he knows about her and her adventures. He also gives her the details about his engagement to Lila:
In this world, women have the power to choose their spouse, or forfeit the choice altogether. A man has no choice to wed whom he wishes. He asks Carol to encourage Lila to marry him, and he’ll release her from the “matrimonial duties” (wink wink nudge nudge) once he becomes king.
An interesting reversal of gender roles, eh? In most royalty in literature, this is the other way around. Most of them are patriarchal societies, so to see a society led by women is something different. But this is still a monarchy, and security to the throne is needed, hence him needing to be married before ascending the throne. Progeny is to ensure that your family’s bloodline can continue ruling, and although he states that the marriage would be in name only and that he would abolish the law, for now he has to go through with it.
However, if Lila can’t go through with the ceremony, he needs Carol to object. But then that would mean that his choice of wife could go to his mother. And that choice would result in an unfavorable one called Marlo.
“So I challenge this Lila to a Fight to the DEATH!”
So now we meet this Marlo, who is obviously not happy to be losing out on the prince. Lila wants to get herself, Carol, and Tic out of there, but Carol refuses because she doesn’t want to subject the prince to Marlo. Carol volunteers to fight in Lila’s place.
Yes, friends. Even in all the confusion of the fight, the rhymes are still flying around. Carol even rhymes in a small internal monologue. We also find out that this Marlo is pretty strong, and uses her own blasts which look suspiciously like the “Solar Flare” technique from Dragon Ball Z.
Marlo’s still no match for Carol though.
And right after this moment of badassery, Carol’s internal monologue is “’Tale’ doesn’t even rhyme with ‘fell.’ Amateur.”
It seems as if Carol’s about to finish Marlo off, when Yan (the prince) calls for the fight to stop. He doesn’t want anyone to die for this law. Carol is moved by his sympathy.
Although Carol said once that she doesn’t see herself as a diplomat, she still has a good way of bringing conflicts to an end. Carol wants to help her friends, and she needs to be clever to do so. It’s more an obligation than a talent.
For example, just today I had departmental assessments for the theatre department. One of my professors recommended that I look into directing, because they said I was organized and focused and knew how to direct people. However, I’ve been in a few positions of leadership, and it’s not exactly my forte. I don’t have a commanding or assertive presence, but I do know when to step up and accept responsibility if someone is needed to fill the role. And I believe that this is how Carol’s diplomacy works. It’s a skill that has become necessary on her adventures, but she knows other people (she mentions Captain America) who she thinks are better at it than her.
And deep down, that’s okay. Someone once told me something like “people that seem to have things put together have sometimes just gotten used to doing something, it doesn’t always mean they are comfortable with or like the work.” While Carol has mentioned before that she likes the punching method, sometimes she must step up and be the diplomat. Be the leader.
However, she still gets to punch something. Or rather someone.
That’s right. They just rhymed via onomatopoeia.
Carol then states that she won, and she has no need to kill Marlo. However, she takes the right to marry Yan, which she won in the fight, and tries to return it to him. She tells him that he should just keep saying no, but Yan says he can’t do it forever. And then, something interesting happens…
Tic even agrees to marry him then and there.
Tic recalls their “would you rather?” game from earlier. She also drops the bombshell that she is actually not that much longer for this world, uh, universe. In one of the other issues, Carol asked Tic how old she was. Tic only responded “older than you think.” Now we find out that Tic is well past half of her life, actually closer to death, and she wants to enjoy every moment of it. She also wants to make a legacy for herself, by making a difference to change the entire social structure for this planet. And that’s amazing.
However, we also get to see her act like a lovestruck teenage girl, and it’s adorable. A no “marital duties” marriage with a cute guy. For an asexual like me, that sounds like a dream *sigh*.
…Anyway, the issue draws to a close! In classic Shakespearian comedic fashion, we end this happy tale with a wedding.
Turns out that Lila has something to give to Carol:
Exciting new developments, right? Judging from Carol’s reaction, we’re done with our “lighter and softer” break in these issues. Looks like the suspense is gonna be loaded on soon! And what’s that in the corner? The next issue will be Carol Danver’s 100th solo issue! (As well as my 10th comic review!)
DISCLAIMER: Captain Marvel and this comic are property of Marvel Comics. I do not own any of it. Credit for this comic book and its storyline and art can be found in the intro page within this post. Please support the official release by buying at your local comic book store or buying online.