Carol Danvers is the characters most readers today think of when they see the name Captain Marvel (as well they should). But long before she finally earned the title, the original Captain Marvel was a Kree warrior with the improbable birth name of Mar-Vell, sent to Earth as a spy but eventually warming to his human neighbours considerably. He served for a few decades as a superhero with PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWERS which made his peers rather pale in comparison. For a time he was teamed up with Rick Jones, the Marvel Zelig, with whom he occupied the same body, allowing Rick to transform into Mar-Vell and vice versa. Sales plummeted after a while, however, and long-time writer/artist Jim Starlin was given a chance to send him off in style. What sort of death would befit a cosmic being? Perishing during battle? A heroic sacrifice to revive a dying sun? Nah, he contracts space-cancer from a bomb and cant be treated because of the wristbands that give him his power. Weak.
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/
