The Classics - Captain Marvel #29

Now here's a comic that shattered my tender little teenage mind.

Captain Marvel (as in the Marvel Comics alien named Mar-Vell) probably had the most messed-up, monkeyed-with superhero career ever.

In his short run he went from being an spy for the alien race known as the Kree to a hero of Earth. He was given incredible superpowers by a mysterious creature, and they were almost immediately taken away. He was dumped in the Negative Zone and could only be freed by changing places with Rick Jones, courtesy of the Nega-Bands on his wrist.

The quality of the comics varied wildly, from awesome art by Gene Colan and Gil Kane to art by others that, well, weren't awesome at all. And the stories! Some great, most average, a few truly bad.

Luckily, help was on the way, thanks to writer and artist Jim Starlin. After several issues where he got the feel for the character, Starlin broke all the rules with this issue (which is cover dated November 1973).

But first, let's look at the iconic cover on this issue. It's one of my all-time favorites, but I'm conflicted about it. It's amazing, but even my young eyes could tell there was something wrong with Capt. Marvel's face.

As I found out later, that's because someone had the great John Romita re-draw the head and replace the original. Usually I'd hate that, but I've seen the original art, and I have to say - they made the right call. Starlin's original face was very odd, almost distorted. But there's a voice in my head that says they should have stayed with the original art. Glad I don't have to make these decisions.

Inside the comic, we find Mar-Vell being confronted by the strange alien named Eon. It's sort of a floating green blob with a huge eye on the left, and an extra face on the right. It was created to guide Mar-Vell to the next level, and give him the abilities he'll need to battle Thanos, who was threatening all of creation with a Cosmic Cube.

Mar-Vell is led through an issue filled with psychoanalysis, a cosmic journey that gives Starlin lots of room to create strange and intense images - not to mention some terrific cinematic fight sequences.

By the end, Capt. Marvel has undergone some changes both deep and superficial, and Starlin advanced him from being just another superhero to being one of the most interesting and capable figures in the Marvel Universe.

Marvel had made its reputation creating cosmic stories with alien races and god-like characters - but with this issue, Marvel (and Mar-Vell) became cosmic with a capital "C."

And it was just the beginning - soon Starlin would raise the stakes with Warlock, and writers such as Steve Englehart, Steve Gerber, Chris Claremont and John Byrne would do their part to push the edge even further.

Readers were shocked by the depth of the story, and the challenging concepts that were presented. As such, it was a significant moment in the advancement of the art form - and a heck of a great comic book, too.

Grade: A+