10 Changes That Totally Ruined Comic Book Characters

8. Ms. Marvel

Carol Danvers was an associate of Marvel€™s first Captain Marvel, a Kree hero named Mar-Vell. After being caught in the explosion of a Kree device, Carol discovered that the device altered her genetic structure, merging it with Mar-Vell€™s and transforming her into a Kree-human hybrid. Taking on the name Ms. Marvel, she began a superhero career of her own and soon joined the Avengers. But in Avengers #200, Carol was captured by a supervillain named Marcus and taken to an alternate dimension where she was brainwashed, seduced, and impregnated. She then returned and gave birth to Marcus, who quickly grew to adulthood and then wanted to take Carol back to that same dimension, with zero opposition from the Avengers. Despite being very strange, the storyline was heavily criticized by comics historian Carol A. Strickland, who eviscerated the plot in an essay titled €œThe Rape of Ms. Marvel.€ Chris Claremont, who at the time had the longest run on the Ms. Marvel solo title, also hated the story and tried as best he could to retcon it. Unfortunately, his retcon did even further damage to Carol€”with Rogue (then a supervillain) stealing Ms. Marvel€™s powers and memories. After being shuffled into the background for most of the 90s, Carol was brought back as Warbird by Avengers writer Kurt Busiek, who began the work of building her back up. Now, she has taken on the name Captain Marvel and has finally moved beyond the infamous rape storyline that left her character crippled and marginalized for years.