If anybody deserves a break, it's Carol Danvers. One of the most put-upon characters in the Marvel Universe - a universe that includes the unlucky likes of Spider-Man, Jean Grey and Daredevil, might we remind you - she's had to deal with any number of crummy life events over the course of her history. She briefly lost her powers to X-Man Rogue, when she was still in her evil early days; she was kidnapped and brainwashed into having a baby with an insane space god; and in the process of that, she had to deal with her Avengers teammates and so-called friends allowing her to be hypnotised and spirited away by Immortus, her lover/son (yeah, it's confusing) again, a stinging betrayal that she still feels to this day. She's also had to suffer the indignity, for the majority of her appearances in comics, of being saddled with the title of Ms Marvel. Like Captain Marvel, she's blessed with a vaguely defined set of powers that derive from the space-bound Kree empire. She can fly, shoot energy bolts, has super strength, all that good stuff. She's also worn costumes that look mighty similar to that of Mar-Vell, but her name has always pigeonholed her as a derivative of the original, a pale imitator of the proper Captain Marvel. Which is total nonsense, and also pretty silly, considering Captain Marvel's spent half of the last thirty years dead or otherwise indisposed. So it was a relief to readers and character alike when, with Kelly Sue Deconnick taking over writing duties on the title, Carol Danvers' series was relaunched as Captain Marvel, and she got a brand spanking new (and much more appropriate) costume to replace the aforementioned black swimsuit thing. She's also proven that she can easily live up to the legend of Mar-Vell, as a key member of the Avengers and as one of the few Earth-born superheroes who consistently and successfully deals with interplanetary threats. Her huge IRL fan following, dubbed the Carol Corps, is just further testament to how well she's done at making the Captain Marvel name her own. Major Danvers, we salute you.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
