Book Review: Captain Marvel vol #3 and Avengers: The Enemy Within (Marvel Now)

Book: Captain Marvel vol #3 and Avengers: The Enemy Within by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Jen Van meter (issue #15-16) with illustrations and color by various artists

Issues: Captain Marvel #13-17, Avengers: The Enemy Within #1 and Avengers Assemble #16-17

Reading Order:

1) Avengers: The Enemy Within #1, Avengers Assemble #16, Captain Marvel #13, Avengers Assemble #17 and Captain Marvel #14

2) Captain Marvel #15-17


Edition:

Single Print Issues: CM #13-14, #17 and Avengers: The Enemy Within and Avengers Assemble #16

Digital Issues: CM #15-16 and Avengers Assemble #17


Description:

The hotly anticipated Avengers/Captain Marvel event is here! Vicious echoes of the Avengers' past are cropping up all over Manhattan...but Captain Marvel, grounded since a recent and mysterious power loss, refuses to be left behind. Who is the sinister figure behind these incursions, and what does it have to do with Carol Danvers' mysterious condition? And the most disturbing question of all...is this villain even real? Or just a figment of Captain Marvel's increasingly deadly imagination? Be here as Carol Danvers demonstrates that you just can't keep a good Captain down!



Rating: 4 stars

Review:

I enjoyed reading the second volume of Captain Marvel so much that I figured I would go ahead and read the rest of the series.

The Enemy Within crossover with the Avengers deserved 5 stars for the writing and the story but what knocked off a star was the last three issues of Captain Marvel.

I will start with The Enemy Within crossover, which I thought was amazing. In these five issues, Carol finally figured out who has been behind all of her troubles and the connection to her health problem. An old enemy, Yon-Rogg had returned and was seeking to get revenge on Carol as well as destroy New York City in the process. Captain Marvel worked with the rest of the Avengers to try to stop Yon-Rogg's plans. However, she made a huge decision to stop him. To break the connection between her and Yon-Rogg, she did the one thing her doctor told her not to do and in doing that she will never be the same again. Although this story was filled with so many characters, nothing distracted from the story which was exciting and fun to read.

It was a bit of a letdown going from that story to the next which turns out to be yet another crossover, Infinity. In these two issues the writing was good but this part of the story was fair. It would have been much better if those two issues had forgone the crossover and just went back to being about Captain Marvel. In Captain Marvel issues #15 and #16, Carol was still dealing with the after effects of her decision. She's still Captain Marvel in fighting ability and being a good leader but she lost a part of herself that made her who she was. The Avengers and their allies were preparing to go into battle against The Builders, powerful aliens who were trying to destroy the Earth. The fight was happening out in space but The Builders ambushed them and captured some of the fighters including Captain Marvel, leaving them to try to escape.

Last was Captain Marvel issue #17, which wasn't bad but as the last issue for this series it sort of went out with a whimper. And despite that little glimpse of Kamala Khan (who at that time was the soon to be Ms. Marvel) at the end, this felt like a total filler issue. In this story, Carol unknowingly acquired a new enemy, megalomaniac Grace Valentine. After Grace was so rudely dismissed by a magazine editor, who decided not to go with Grace's article in favor of one about Captain Marvel, that started her on the road to a warped sense of vengeance. With Captain Marvel receiving the Key to the City that seemed to have inspired Grace to attack. Also included in this story is Carol's biggest fan Kit who was looking forward to spending time with Carol and also to try to help her recover in a way as well as Carol found a new apartment.

Overall, the best part of volume #3 was The Enemy Within story, it was so worth reading. Eventually, I will get around to reading the next most recent Captain Marvel series and the follow up miniseries Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps but for now I will say these three volumes were mostly a very good read.