Carol and pals attempt a great escape from the nefarious plans of Amara and her son Ove in Captain Marvel #25, written by Kelly Thompson, art by Lee Garbett and Belén Ortega, colors by Antonio Fabela, and letters by Clayton Cowles.
Christina Eddleman: I have been critical of this future timeline, but candlelit dungeons is a vibe I can get behind, whether or not it’s what you picture for post-apocalyptic future. We’ve made it to part four of this five part arc and I’m just starting to warm up to this cast a little. Who could complain about a quartet of blondes?
Cat Purcell: Blondes really do just want to have fun, but there hasn’t been much of that around this timeline. I’ve felt like there’s been a strange amount of action going on that has somehow left me wanting more these past few issues. I’m interested in seeing if it starts to pick up.
The Plan
CE: There’s a certain joy I take in the fact that futuristic restraints are just magical green shackles. With the Enchantress reveal of the last issue, the aesthetic here begins to make much more sense. I mean, how am I just now noticing Enchantress and Ove’s coordinating green pants with concentric circles? And boy oh boy is there magic to do. What do you make of our mini villain monologue, Cat?
CP: The mother/son outfits weren’t even something I noticed, but they are very well designed! So, I’m kinda fuzzy on HOW exactly they’re gonna use past Carol to send Ove back to the past since she’s not even sure how she got there again, but magic, I guess? I had a slim hope that once Ove went back he would vow to prevent all this dystopia from happening, but alas, he is truly evil and just wants to rule everyone.
CE: My least favorite villains are the ones with no clear motivation besides “gonna do some evil I guess” so I really relate to hoping there was more to Ove’s plan. Give me a nice, complicated villain who can really justify their actions with their own terrible ideas as to why what they’re doing is right! I’ve been intrigued about the blonde that we only catch a brief glimpse of this issue, Illyana Rasputin. Last issue we found out Ove used Illyana’s powers to bring Carol to the future. If his goal is simply to travel to the past, bringing Carol to the future to help transport him to the past seems like an incredibly round-a-bout way to do this. There’s got to be some sort of hand-wavey explanation as to why it had to be Carol and it had to be this way, but we’re not getting it here. Cat, what do you make of this villainous plot?
CP: Knowing Thompson, it’s gonna be magic or some well hidden detail we didn’t see coming. I’m worried about the toll it will take on Carol, Illyana, and anyone else he’s got involved. And as we know Ove isn’t doing this to try and correct the future, it’s probably not looking good for the people of this current timeline or the past. Science fiction and comics have a history of intentional time traveling going awry and I can only hope that our team can put an end to this before it begins.
CE: A power-crazed, delusional dictator is definitely a villain that feels perennially timely. While I do hope that we see part five tie this evil plot together, I still feel as though it’s a bit half-hazard. I am very interested though in a terrible ruler being appeased by family members that seem to know better. So familiar.
The Past
CP: I have never related to Enchantress and this monologue didn’t endear me to her, but I can see where she’s coming from with her choices now. I suppose most villains turn out that way because they’re just trying to look out for their own livelihood after all. Stylistically, I LOVED the way Ortega and Fabela did Enchantress’ flashback page. The reds and pinks contrasted with her green costume was delicious. Amora’s drive to survive certainly extends past her husband’s death at the hands of her own son, which took me by surprise. As much as I love my kid more than my own life, I’m not sure I could go that far.
CE: Enchantress is definitely one devoted mother, though she offers a very different version of the past than what we got from Ove. A comparison of the two does offer some similarities: Namor and Enchantress had a troubled relationship, Namor was killed, and mother and son did flee. Ove being his father’s killer was quite a detail to gloss over. What do you make of Ove’s decision to withhold this information, Cat?
CP: I certainly don’t know what or who to believe now. In # 24 we’re told by Ove that he watched Namor killed by the rebellion and he’s shown as a mere child. Here, in Amora’s version, he looks quite a bit older when he stabs the trident into Namor himself, but we just saw him brutalizing a plush dolphin in the panel before. Someone or both of this mother and child team up is an unreliable source. There’s also a part of me who wants to say it doesn’t matter who, they’ve got to be stopped. Despite their paradise, their use of people as tools is pretty foul. What’s your take on it, Christi?
CE: It seems as though we’ve got a bit of a Rashomon effect here. (Will my editor give my Criterion knowledge bonus points??) [Ed. Note: Yep!] The fact that these two versions of events diverge points to the unreliable nature of both accounts. Doubtless, if Namor could speak on it, the account would be much different. It seems clear that Ove is “the rebellion” he watched murder his father and that his mother’s love endures despite that fact. Now mom’s ready to send her son, her only joy, into the past to ruin it all. Solid parenting.
CP: I wouldn’t say Namor is one of my favorites, but I do have a soft spot for him. I’d be curious to hear his side, regardless. If only we could. However, we can’t quibble over what may or may not have happened when right now we’re dealing with the possibility that several of our blondes might be drained of their skills to bring a dystopia to the past, present, and future.
The Pals
CP: Sadly, one is already down for the count and that’s Rhodes. Brigid and Emma are all we’ve got against Ove, Amora, Luke, and their minions. The idea of Emma having to explain gallows humor to a girl raised in a desolate wasteland is amusing to me, but maybe not in it’s intended way. How do you feel about this unmatched battle, Christi?
CE: What most fascinated me about this battle was Emma. She’s mysteriously remained in her diamond form, unable to use her psychic abilities, up until this point. Last issue she had a touching moment with Illyana and promised not to leave without her. However, Illyana has been recaptured and is now a part of whatever spell Ove and Enchantress are crafting. I have a feeling releasing her diamond form to psychically communicate with Luke Cage is a sacrificial move on her part, and I would expect nothing less.
CP: I tell ya, Thompson is working really hard to get me to come around on Emma! That moment gave me chills. It was incredible to watch her drop her shields to reach out to Luke. Mentioning his daughter to pull him back was a nice shot of a healthy parental reaction. It was also great to see Brigid finally get Mjolnir to answer her call. I legitimately grinned at that scene.
CE: Brigid has been giving us delightful strong girl content so far and seeing her transformation to Thor was very cool. The pacing of those last four pages was nicely done and I will never get tired of Carol on fire. We seemed poised for a very fun final battle.
CP: This arc hasn’t been my favorite by a long shot, but this specific issue pulled me back in a bit. I believe our future team will pull through somehow and am curious about how they’re gonna solve the Ove and Amora problem without upending this little palace set up. I’m also keen to see Carol get back home and deal with the repercussions of this and see how things shake out. A part of me feels though, that Thompson is struggling to fit her in the 616 universe with all this jumping around in space and time and that troubles me.
CE: This arc has felt repetitive and a little sloppy. We’ve had some similar story arcs (looking at you Vox) both structurally and in terms of Carol being a tool at the center of someone’s evil plan. We haven’t really gotten to see much character growth at all from Carol recently. She’s currently a static character that hasn’t faced a challenge that a little teamwork and a lot of punching can’t get her out of. Thompson’s run came out of the gate feeling really strong, but without a lot of through lines between our “villain of the week” style story arcs, I’m unfortunately beginning to lose interest.
Marvelous Musings
- Oh MY! Brigid pulling up those chains?!?
- There’s a whole mess of chains in this issue, making Ove’s tastes pretty clear.
- I kinda want a poster of those last shots of Thor’s daughter and Captain Marvel!
- Enchantress not having a response to Ove’s “I’ll miss you a great deal” speaks volumes
- Emma telling Ove that Namor would be ashamed of him is a wonderful nod to Emma and Namor’s history together as frequent allies, friends, and maybe more?
- There are maybe too many blondes in this issue and they start to look a little too similar.
Cat Purcell is a Career Services Librarian, cosplayer, artist, and massive coffee consumer.
Christi Eddleman is the world’s first Captain Kate Pryde cosplayer and co-host of Chrises On Infinite Earths.
