"As Carol [Strickland] pointed out in her article in LOC, women tend to get very short shrift in comics. They are either portrayed as wallflowers or as supermacho insensitive men with different body forms, who almost invariably feel guilty about their lack of femininity. And it's always seemed to me that, why does this have to be exclusive? Can you not have a woman who is ruthless and capable and courageous and articulate and intelligent and all the other buzz-words -- heroic when the need arises, and yet feminine and gentle and compassionate, at others? That was what I tried to do with Ms. Marvel. I tried to create a character who had all the attributes that made her a top-secret agent yet at the same time was a compassionate, warm, humorous, witty, intelligent, attractive woman."
-Chris Claremont
CAPTAIN MARVEL IV (Carol Danvers, aka Ms. Marvel I, Binary, Warbird)
Created By: Roy Thomas & Gene Colan
First Appearance: Marvel Super-Heroes #13 (March 1968) (Carol), Miss Marvel #1 (1977) (as Ms. Marvel)
Role: Background/Forgotten Character, Distaff Counterpart (to Mar-Vell), Pet Character (to Claremont), Flying Brick, Blaster, Resurrected Concept
Group Affiliations: The Avengers, The U.S. Air Force, NASA, S.H.I.E.L.D., The X-Men, The Starjammers
Avengers Grade: A-Level (formerly C & B-Level)
PL 11 (214), PL 12 (214) with Absorption
STRENGTH 11
STAMINA 10
AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8
DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3
AWARENESS 3
PRESENCE 3
Skills:
Aerobatics 4 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 6 (+9, +11 Attractive)
Expertise (Military/Air Force) 8 (+11)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Investigation 5 (+8)
Perception 4 (+7)
Ranged Attack (Blasts) 2 (+10)
Stealth 3 (+6)
Technology 4 (+7)
Vehicles 10 (+12)
Advantages:
Beginner's Luck, Diehard, Fast Grab, Improved Aim, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Interpose, Jack-of-All-Trades, Last Stand (Ignores Damage For 1 Round with an HP), Power Attack, Ranged Attack 6, Takedown, Teamwork, Ultimate Military Skill
Powers:
"Enhanced Physiology"
Protection 2 (Extras: Impervious 5) [7]
Power Lifting 1 (100 tons) [1]
Flight 7 (240 mph) [14]
"Energy Blasts" Blast 11 [22]
Features: Quick Change [1]
"Absorption of Energy"
Enhanced Strength 1 (Flaws: Fades) [2]
Enhanced Blast 3 (Flaws: Fades) [6]
Immunity 20 (Energy Damage) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [10]
"Seventh Sense" Features 1: May Ask the GM a Question with an HP Spent [1]
Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Blasts +10 (+11 Ranged Damage, DC 26)
Boosted Unarmed +10 (+12 Damage, DC 27)
Boosted Blasts +10 (+14 Ranged Damage, DC 29)
Initiative +3
Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +12 (+3 Impervious), Fortitude +10, Will +11
"Versus Energy" Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +14 (+6 Impervious), Fortitude +10, Will +11
Complications:
Responsibility (Alcoholic)- Carol was an alcoholic for a good chunk of time.
Responsibility (Heroism)- Whether it be the government (NASA, Air Force), The Avengers, or elsewhere, Carol is devoted to the concept of upholding the law.
Power Loss (Absorption)- Carol has difficulty with certain types of energy (depends on the writer/GM).
Enemy (Mystique)- Mystique was basically Carol's arch-nemesis for years, but then she got Kingpinned and became an X-Men villain when Claremont went to THAT book.
Total: Abilities: 86 / Skills: 54--27 / Advantages: 18 / Powers: 64 / Defenses: 19 (214)
Carol Danvers- The Feminist Super-Hero:
-Carol Danvers has been absolutely ALL OVER THE PLACE in Marvel, which is funny, because she pretty much vanished for so long that I'd only ever heard of her as "The person Rogue got her powers from" until she made her return as "Warbird" in the pages of Kurt Busiek's
Avengers. Turns out she was a spin-off character of Captain Marvel, himself a low-seller, and her book withered and died, with only Chris Claremont really continuing to use her. But then Marvel just randomly decided that they needed a "Wonder Woman" NOW and that Carol was that woman, and after multiple (MULTIPLE!) aborted runs, they finally had a billion-dollar movie and they're making a better go of it... as she's still one of the most controversial characters around.
-So Carol debuted as a U.S Air Force officer who got injured in an issue of
Marvel Super-Heroes in 1968. Captain Marvel, who was nearby, helps her out. And then the character returns with super-powers (after a "Psyche-Magnetron" merges her genetic structure with Mar-Vell's)... in 1977, making her the "Distaff Counterpart" named Ms. Marvel. The term "Ms.", of course, being a politicized term at that time, indicating that she was an unmarried woman who found the term "Miss" diminishing. It's funny, because as a kid, I only difference between "Miss" and "Ms." I knew was that the REALLY bitchy teachers insisted on "Ms.". At this time,. "Women's Liberation" was a hot-button topic, and many comics were giving it a sympathetic viewpoint, albeit clumsily and in ways that are eye-rolling today. I mostly remember a lot of Archie Comics featuring Betty & Veronica going on about Women's Lib, and often chiding "Male Chauvinists".
-Gerry Conway & John Buscema started drawing the superhero version of Carol, who sported one of the more embarrassing costumes of the '70s, one that looks like it was supposed to be sexy but also modern, making it a weirdly midriff-baring upper body leotard, so the cut-out looks incredibly awkward and out of place rather than sexy. Chris Claremont soon took over the book, and added various feminist touches- she was now the editor of
Women Magazine. This was a The only books I have featuring her in this time period have her as a pretty Claremontian heroine- a headstrong, pushy, powerful woman with a hell of a lot of sass-mouth. In this form, she joins the Avengers and feuds with a mysterious shapechanger named Mystique and the alien warrior-woman Deathbird, both of whom debut in the book. Naturally, once Claremont became the most successful writer in the business, they would be riveted onto his hot new franchise. In any case, the bare midriff only lasted eight issues, at which point it was filled in and looked much better. Four issues before the book was cancelled, Carol got her iconic look- the black leotard with the lightning bolt and arm-length gloves and thigh-high boots, transferring the character's weird scarf into a sash around her waist. This was MUCH better, but the book died with
Ms. Marvel #23 in 1979, two years after it started.
The Rape of Ms. Marvel:
-And then... they did THIS story. So
The Avengers #200 did one of the more bizarre, clunky stories out there for this big anniversary, in which Ms. Marvel is introduced to some guy named Marcus, the son of Immortus, who seduces her with a machine (if that sounds a little bit like rape, it's because IT TOTALLY IS), then impregnated by him... and immediately gives birth to his son... who rapidly ages into Marcus (see, the original couldn't exist in our timeline, so he made a way for himself to be "birthed" in it, because SCIENCE!), and takes her away, while the Iron Man is just like "We've just got to believe that everything worked out for the best" and the other Avengers are like "I guess they're in love now!" and think nothing of it! Now... writer David Michelinie SWEARS it's because an editorial edict nixed their original idea because a
What If? issue had a similar story (it was supposed to be the Supreme Intelligence impregnating her... I would hope via a machine, too) and they had to improvise rapidly, and that nobody realized it was rape until later.
This website elaborates upon it a lot more.
-Naturally, Chris Claremont FREAKED, and wrote a retraction of sorts. In
Avengers Annual #10, Marcus is revealed to have aged and died off-panel, and Carol is attacked and de-powered by Rogue, introduced as the foster-daughter of Mystique. And in a tragic backstory thing, Carol's powers are permanently taken away, while Rogue has Carol's personality placed over hers, messing her up and sending her onto a character arc of her own in the now-successful
X-Men book. Carol, meanwhile, is able to tear the Avengers a new asshole for letting her be taken away by her rapist and not even thinking anything was up. And then the character largely kinda vanishes.
Carol- Binary to Warbird:
-Carol continued to pop up in small roles in the
X-Men book, as her villains got pushed in the same series. However, he did eventually power her up (via the Brood experimenting upon her in space), transforming her into "Binary" and having her run off with the Starjammers. Empowered by a "White Hole", Binary was INCREDIBLY powerful, generating "the power of a star". This was a minor role, though, and she was returned to normal during
Operation: Galactic Storm. Despite this, she got zero push at all- I'd never actually seen her in a book at this point, and had no idea what she looked like (she wasn't in any of the Marvel Cards). Eventually, she returns to
The Avengers as "Warbird", renamed by Kurt Busiek & George Perez. Here, she bemoans the lack of her cosmic powers, and develops an alcohol problem in an ongoing story arc. She is disgraced and removed from active duty at this time, but gets over her addiction thanks to Tony Stark, who went through the same thing, and successfully returns to the team in the "Kang Dynasty" story arc, rebuffing the Scarlet Centurion (the son of Kang, similar to Marcus) and killing the Master of the World.
-Carol disappears from comics for a bit, but returns in Brian Michael Bendis's run, becoming a major supporter of the Superhuman Registration Act and a central Avenger. She forms the first "Mighty Avengers" squad with some random characters and gets drawn by Frank Cho in that and on the covers of a renewed solo book, as Marvel decided around this point that they needed their own version of "Wonder Woman"- aka the Unquestioned Top-Tier Female Superhero. She forms a rivalry with Moonstone (who now goes as "Ms. Marvel" on the Dark Avengers, copying Carol's '70s costume), faces the Brood in her own book, and more, but it's cancelled ater about fifty issues.
Carol Becomes Captain Marvel:
-Eventually, it was decided to give her another shot in the arm, turning her into CAPTAIN Marvel. But the book was... controversial. I hated the first issue, which was largely all "YAY FEMINISM!" in the clumsiest way possible, and even featured a big essay in the back of the book where they talked about how awful her old costume (the one she'd been wearing for years) was and how they needed to "cover her up" (because feminism at some point went sex-negative and was as prudish as conservatism used to be). They gave her a pretty boring costume with a HIDEOUS mohawked facemask, and a haircut that went from "butch" to "feminine" depending on the artists. It's like how Joss Whedon describes himself as a feminist, while punctuating his shows with rail-thin anorexic girls who are either psychotic or cry at the merest provocation (thus basically making them as much nerd-fetish-bait as any gravity-defying comic book women are). Never mind when it came out that Whedon was just another "Male Feminist" who was using his position to f*ck the actresses who were desperate for a "push" (ever wonder why some of them never went on to bigger careers?). Bloggers who were clearly the the target of the book loved her butchness, but the Kelly Sue DeConnick-written series kinda just... came and went. Later artists would work on the costume a bit, and ultimately it kinda grew on me, albeit it's still one of the more "generic" costumes worn by any major superhero, lacking much detail or "iconic" bits. I mean, the old "lightning bolt/S" insignia never made a damn bit of sense, but the whole "Black Leotard/High-Boots" thing was a LOOK, you know?
-Things would kinda go all over the place for her as Marvel continued pushing the character as the centerpiece of their new "Woke" line- female-based books were on the rise, they constantly tried to appeal to more and more politicized audiences, and more- yet not a lot of people were reading her books. Checking out yearly lists, I find her WAY outside the Top 100, and well below what her status would imply. Marvel made her the center of a new
Civil War, but her side (which favored arresting people who were predicted by an Inhuman with Precognition to commit crimes in the future) was so clearly wrong that the new Ms. Marvel- a character named for her and who was her biggest fan- disavowed her. Later artists would butch her up again and again until she appeared almost lantern-jawed and with short hair, thus providing ample ammunition for some of the most annoying people on YouTube to snark on her- though the "Carl Manvers" name admittedly made me laugh. I mean, I'm in no opposition to butch chicks- look at my Zarya fandom- but the weird idea that to be a feminist you had to shame femininity entirely was completely bizarre to me.
The Later Adventures of Carol:
-A Retcon made Danvers legitimately Half-Kree, but also made her father abusive, in some unnecessary stuff that at least could result in more Kree-based things. And Marvel writing stuff like "Carol is now SUPER POPULAR and one of the most beloved superheroes in the world!" stuff came off as Shilling The Wesley to me, to use the TV Tropes parlance. You should never make it look to the fans like you're putting your own shilling in the mouths of characters. But at least
Captain Marvel made a ton of money at the box office, as the Marvel Cinematic Universe FINALLY figured it had the proper timing to make a successful go of a female-led story (translation: they were shamed by DC doing it first and making a shitload of money and credibility off of it). The movie had some issues (Brie Larsen as a pretty stone-faced, unemotional character wasn't great), but I loved the 1990s nostalgia stuff, and being in the theater full of women watching when she went full "Power Geek" and started nuking ships left and right? They LOVED it. And I was like "Well comics has been Power Fantasy for boys for so long- Power Fantasy For Girls needn't be so bad". I mean, it was kinda fun, and I GOT IT, you know?
-Plus, I ended up getting the latest
Captain Marvel series put in my file thanks to Kelly Thompson, the
Jem & The Holograms writer, taking over, and it's been pretty fun. Carol is now beset by personal issues, has rivals, is publicly mistrusted since her alien heritage was discovered, and more... and instead of people shilling her (which ALWAYS HAPPENS in so many of the "Woke" titles and it comes off as cloying and dumb EVERY TIME), instead various heroes argue with her a lot. Her friends call her out on some bullshit, her & Doctor Strange had their bodies switched and were at each other's throats the whole time, while the Black Widow ripped on both of them for being pains in the ass, etc. So she wasn't some Flawless God who received constant validation. Her & Rogue even had a great bit where Rogue was controlled into fighting her, but they kinda had a mutual "moment" where they respected the other- Rogue suggesting Carol's spirit was what let her fully reform, while Carol countered that Rogue probably already had it in her. It was good stuff- the writer can really handle characterization and flawed personalities. Plus the art was GORGEOUS, and Carol having that long, blonde hair again really mad the costume come off a lot better.
Carol's Power:
-Carol as Captain Marvel pretty well fits the higher-class of hero, especially these days. She's very powerful and skilled, but not a god of war or anything- Spider-Man gave her fits during their fight, and she goes off-and-on as a major-league fighter. I think it's generally assumed she's above most baseline PL 10 heroes (she's survived several punches from Wonder Man, after all... though note that Simon is a pushover in most real scraps), but not quite Thor or anything, so PL 11-12 suits her- PL 10.5 in melee and at range, but both are boosted to PL 11-12 when she's using her Absorption power (which I personally have NEVER SEEN USED EVEN ONCE, despite having read like 45+ comics featuring the character). She basically has Enhanced Blast & Strength, both Fading unless she gets hit by a certain type of energy. In addition, she has +6 Impervious to Energy Attacks, giving her a bit of bonus on that regard- she still feels pain from high-powered energy attacks, but they do less damage than general attacks do, and if she goes all-out (ie. spends HP) she can take a freaking NUKE. She's basically a standard Flying Brick/Blaster For any added bonuses to damage (she's implied to be on a level of hitting power with the Colossus/Thing level of guys), and uses Power Attack to hit harder. Aside from that, she's a powerful Flying Brick, but not ready for an "S" on her chest or anything- she's only PL 12 in limited runs, and if the enemy is EXTRA dumb and tries to blast her.
-As Ms. Marvel back in her '70s-'80s run, she was more of a PL 9 to PL 10 Flying Brick, and I think she lacked the Blast (not too up on her in that era, aside from her god-awful Mar-Vell belly-shirt). She had a "Seventh Sense" that is basically Precognition (Flaws: Uncontrolled). Pretty sure she doesn't have that anymore.
BINARY (Carol Danvers)
Created By: Roy Thomas & Gene Colan
First Appearance: Marvel Super-Heroes #13 (March 1968) (Carol), Miss Marvel #1 (1977) (Ms. Marvel)
Role: Background/Forgotten Character, Distaff Counterpart (to Mar-Vell), Pet Character (to Claremont), Cosmic Powerhouse
Group Affiliations: The Avengers, The U.S. Air Force, NASA, S.H.I.E.L.D., The X-Men, The Starjammers
Avengers Grade: A-Level (formerly C & B-Level)
PL 14 (283)
STRENGTH 11/15 STAMINA 10 AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 3
Skills:
Aerobatics 4 (+7)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+10)
Deception 6 (+9, +11 Attractive)
Expertise (Military/Air Force) 8 (+11)
Insight 3 (+6)
Intimidation 3 (+6)
Investigation 5 (+8)
Perception 4 (+7)
Stealth 3 (+6)
Technology 4 (+7)
Vehicles 10 (+12)
Advantages:
Attractive, Beginner's Luck, Diehard, Fast Grab, Improved Aim, Interpose, Jack-of-All-Trades, Last Stand, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 6, Takedown, Teamwork, Ultimate Military Skill
Powers:
"White Hole-Drawn Powers"
Immunity 10 (Life Support) [10]
Flight 13 (16,000 mph) [26]
"Light Speed Flight" Movement 3 (Space Travel 3) [6]
"Energy Field" Force Field 5 (Extras: Impervious 21) [26]
"Photonic Energy Blast"
Damage 14 (Feats: Penetrating 7) (Extras: Area- 120ft. Line +3) (63) -- [70]
- AE: Damage 14 (Feats: Penetrating 7) (Extras: Area- 240ft. Cone +3) (63)
- AE: Damage 14 (Feats: Penetrating 7) (Extras: Area- 240ft. Burst +3) (63)
- AE: Photonic Aura 12 (60)
- AE: Blast 18 (Feats: Split, Extended Range 4- 1200ft. Max) (Extras: Penetrating) (59)
- AE: Environment 5 (Heat 2) (10)
- AE: "Gravity Control" Move Object 14 (Extras: Perception Range) (42)
- AE: Enhanced Strength 4 (8)
Offense:
Unarmed +10 (+11 Damage, DC 26)
Boosted Unarmed +10 (+15 Damage, DC 30)
Energy Blast +8 (+18 Damage, DC 33)
Blast +14 Area (+14 Damage, DC 29)
Initiative +3
Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +15 (+10 Impervious), Fortitude +10, Will +7
Complications:
Responsibility (Heroism)- Whether it be the government (NASA, Air Force), The Avengers, or elsewhere, Carol is devoted to the concept of upholding the law.
Responsibility (Vast Power)- Carol could blow up a space station. This is a lot to deal with.
Total: Abilities: 86 / Skills: 52--26 / Advantages: 18 / Powers: 138 / Defenses: 15 (283)
-Here's Cosmic Carol Danvers, aka Chris Claremont getting his jones off writing SUPER-Powerful women again. She`s a standard excessively-powerful cosmic being, being PL 14 and really really hard to kill. She was the primary fighter during the New Mutants' epic battle against the planet-crushing Magus (ie. she was the only one who would survive a straight-up fight for more than five seconds), and kicked around like this for a while as a minor X-character. High-powered Blasts and vast Area Effects (covering much more than a few ranks) are quite expensive, but I fully support this controversial decision, as these guys are pricey BECAUSE THEY ARE EPIC, and the points reflects that.