15 Best Captain Marvel Comic Storylines of All Time
Captain Marvel is one of the most popular female superheroes in the world today, especially with the recent release of ‘The Marvels,’ which stars Carol Danvers as one of the three main characters of the storyline. Of course, one of the things that we know about Captain Marvel is that she has been in the world of comics for a while already and is known as one of the most powerful members of the Avengers.
Then again, while she may be powerful, Captain Marvel has one of the most compelling storylines in the comics due to how “human” she can be as far as her emotions and personal problems are concerned. This can be seen in the comics, where there are a lot of different stories that show just how human she can be. So, with that said, let’s look at the best Captain Marvel storylines of all time.
15. ‘The New World’
What it’s about: ‘The New World’ is one of the newer storylines of Captain Marvel, as it was released only in 2021. In this storyline, New York is all but destroyed, and people live in small areas to survive the city’s destruction. This is a futuristic storyline where Carol ends up meeting the descendants of her friends from the present time. And she now has to find a way to return to her time while dealing with the problems of the future.
Why you should read it: The storyline of this comic book series is quite interesting because it thrusts Carol Danvers into an unfamiliar story where she has to adjust to a new world. As such, her problems in this comic book are incredibly real. Of course, she also has a lot of tough choices to make in this comic book, especially when it comes to who she needs to fight.
14. ‘Avengers Annual’ #10
What it’s about: A lot of people tend to forget that Carol Danvers once hung out with the X-Men. In this storyline, she ends up getting attacked by Rogue, who robbed her of her memories and powers. As such, Professor X felt responsible for what Rogue did to Carol, as he took her in and allowed her to live with the X-Men for a while to help her recover. As such, she ends up leaving the Avengers to live with the X-Men.
Why you should read it: Not yet Captain Marvel in this storyline, Carol was incredibly vulnerable in ‘Avengers Annual #10’ as she was depowered and had become a shell of her former self. This allows you to see one of the most human storylines involving Carol Danvers as she struggles to find her place in the world after leaving the Avengers and as she spends time with the X-Men as an adopted member of the group.
13. ‘Best You Can Be’
What it’s about: In this storyline, the ‘War of the Marvels’ is over, and Carol can now return to her normal life. However, she and Peter Parker were supposed to go on a date, as she promised to go out with Spider-Man some time ago. Of course, the date doesn’t end well for both Carol and Spidey, but she still ends up finding a way to make things work while dealing with something so human and normal.
Why you should read it: Some of the best comic book storylines tend to be the ones that allow us to see our favorite characters in situations that allow them to be human in a lot of different ways. The same goes for this storyline about Carol as she has to go through a date she wasn’t even so sure of while also dealing with personal issues and superhero-related problems in her life.
12. ‘The Good, The Green, And The Ugly’
What it’s about: In ‘The Good, The Green, And The Ugly,’ we get to see Captain Marvel and Spider-Man running into one another in the sky as they take on an army of robots and a powerful gigantic woman hellbent on destruction. The storyline features a lot of interesting characters, including Spider-Man, She-Hulk, and Deadpool, as these heroes have their own storylines in this comic storyline. The ones involving Carol are those that show her interaction with Spider-Man.
Why you should read it: Plainly speaking, this comic book storyline is one that allows us to see just how interesting and funny Carol can be, especially when it comes to her interactions with Spider-Man. It’s mostly a fun and action-packed story that doesn’t have a lot of drama in it but is still very much enjoyable for any fan out there.
11. ‘Uncanny X-Men’ #163 – #171
What it’s about: As mentioned, there was a point in time wherein Carol lost her powers as Rogue stole the. She ended up joining the X-Men as one of their associates. In this storyline, she travels to space together with the X-Men but ends up getting captured and experimented on by the Brood, who are interested in Carol’s unique physiology. After getting experimented on, Carol unlocked her hidden potential and became Binary due to the fact that she now has the power of a star.
Why you should read it: Carol Danvers has always been known for her incredible powers, including her Binary Mode. It is this storyline that allows us to see how she was able to unlock her powers as Binary and how she obtained powers that are on par with the energy of an entire sun. There is also an interesting dynamic between Carol and the X-Men here as she ends up getting “betrayed” by the Mutants, who choose to side with Rogue.
10. ‘Alis Volat Propriis’
What it’s about: Translated into “She flies with her own wings,” ‘Alis Volat Propriis’ is a storyline that establishes Carol Danvers as a true powerhouse that the entire universe should respect. However, she ends up getting nearly killed by the Haffensye Consortium, whom Carol has to try to contend with as the true Captain Marvel.
Why you should read it: What makes this storyline so compelling is that it allows readers to truly see how Carol was able to establish herself as Captain Marvel and how she was able to prove to the universe that she was a force to be reckoned with. Of course, it also allows us to see the challenges that she had to go through as a superhero while making a name for herself as Captain Marvel.
9. ‘Death of Captain Marvel’
What it’s about: Don’t let the title fool you because this storyline isn’t about Carol Danvers but is about the original Captain Marvel, also known as Mar-Vell. This story actually introduces the death of Mar-Vell, who died of cancer, which is a rarity among superheroes. Of course, while the story doesn’t focus on Carol Danvers, it allows you to understand the dynamic between Carol and Mar-Vell.
Why you should read it: While we already know that Carol Danvers eventually took the mantle of Captain Marvel, this storyline will allow you to understand why she was reluctant to become the new Captain Marvel. Mar-Vell was such a big part of Carol’s career as a superhero during her younger years. As such, it is a bit too heavy for her to try to take the mantle of the man who served as a mentor to her for a very long time before she eventually decided that it was time for her to become Captain Marvel.
8. ‘Stay Fly’
What it’s about: In ‘Stay Fly,’ Carol Danvers and her cat, Chewie, go on a journey to space, where Carol learns that her cat is actually a Flerken and that she is pregnant. This makes things a lot more complicated as she has to go up against the Haffensye Consortium while dealing with an alien pet who was about to give birth to an entire brood of Flerkens in their small ship.
Why you should read it: This is one of the most lighthearted and fun Captain Marvel storylines of all time, as it puts Carol in a storyline that is quite entertaining due to how seemingly ridiculous and funny her situation is, especially when it comes to her cat and the alien kittens she was about to give birth to. It is similar to what happened in ‘The Marvels,’ where Goose ended up giving birth to dozens of Flerken kittens in space.
7. ‘House of M’
What it’s about: ‘House of M’ isn’t necessarily a storyline about Captain Marve,l but there is an alternate ‘House of M’ storyline wherein Carol Danvers became Captain Marvel. Of course, this happened years before the actual Carol in the main universe became Captain Marvel, but this comic book storyline allows you to see how the future of Carol was basically predicted as she eventually took up the Captain Marvel mantle.
Why you should read it: As mentioned, the alternate universe in ‘House of M’ includes Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel before she became this hero in the mainline universe of Marvel. What makes this an interesting story is the fact that it was able to show how good Carol was in the role of Captain Marvel years before she actually took on this title.
6. ‘The Enemy Within’
What it’s about: ‘The Enemy Within’ tells a very interesting story regarding Carol’s old enemy, Yon-Rogg, who has been invading her brain in an attempt to rebuild a powerful device that enhances powers. This is also where Carol learns that a lesion in her brain puts her life in danger whenever she uses her powers. As such, the storyline allows us to see the different problems that even someone as powerful as Captain Marvel has to go through.
Why you should read it: In this storyline, we get to see a very vulnerable Captain Marvel who struggles to try to defeat the literal enemy within as Yon-Rogg is invading her mind. On top of that, the lesion in her brain is also an enemy that she needs to find a way to defeat without necessarily using her powers a lot. Carol is very human in this comic book storyline, and that is what fans love about ‘The Enemy Within.’
5. ‘Ms. Marvel: Last Days’
What it’s about: ‘Ms. Marvel: The Last Days’ mostly follows how Carol decided to allow a young teenager to use the Ms. Marvel superhero name after Danvers became Captain Marvel. The teenager is named Kamala Khan, who has unique superpowers of her own and is one of the many different young heroes who idolize Carol. This allows us to see the dynamic between Carol and Kamala as a new mentor-mentee duo.
Why you should read it: One of the best parts of this storyline is that it allows us to see Carol understanding what the Ms. Marvel mantle is to her. It is a legacy title that she realizes is important to younger heroes. As such, she is placed in a position that is seemingly new to her as she now has to act as the mentor to Kamala Khan, who needs to have an important figure in her life due to her youth and inexperience as a teenage hero.
4. ‘Down’
What it’s about: Of course, we know that several characters have used the Captain Marvel name, and Carol is currently the most popular one. However, in ‘Down,’ she needs to deal with Monica Rambeau, who was one of the heroes who carried the Captain Marvel name and has returned to make things complicated for Danvers. Carol also faces an underwater problem and an issue regarding her ability to fly.
Why you should read it: This is one of the best Captain Marvel storylines when it comes to looking at two different heroes who use the same identity and superhero name but end up getting into a misunderstanding. Of course, they now have to work together as true heroes against a common threat that tests the limits of their resolve as superheroes who are willing to set aside their differences for the betterment of everyone around them.
3. ‘Ms. Marvel’ #1-7
What it’s about: While we do know that, at one point in time, Carol Danvers died after Yon-Rogg killed her accidentally, the Ms. Marvel comic book line in 1977 opened up the return of Danvers as a heroine who is now more than she was back when she was just a woman obsessed with Mar-Vell. This storyline allows us to understand the early problems that Carol had to face as a young superhero decades before she became Captain Marvel.
Why you should read it: Fans of Carol Danvers would certainly love this comic book storyline due to how it features some of the earliest storylines of Carol as the first Ms. Marvel. It also allows us to see some of the problems that she went through during the early portion of her career after she was supposedly “killed” by Yon-Rogg before she became the superhero known as Ms. Marvel.
2. ‘In Pursuit Of Flight’
What it’s about: ‘In Pursuit of Flight’ follows the story of how Carol is now publicly known as Captain Marvel and how she has embraced this new title. However, she gets thrown back into World War II as she is now trying to find her way back to the present period. The problem is that someone is meddling with time to try to stop her from existing. As such, the problems compound for Carol in this storyline.
Why you should read it: One of the best storylines at telling the different things that Carol had to go through during the early part of her career as Captain Marvel is ‘In Pursuit of Flight’ as she now has to embrace her new role while facing new problems and threats. This is an important issue for fans to read due to how it gives Carol a new origin story and because of how it allows fans to truly understand the character and how she ultimately embraced her new role.
1. ‘Captain Marvel: Higher, Further, Faster, More’
What it’s about: In ‘Higher, Further, Faster, More,’ we get to see Carol Danvers on a new journey as Captain Marvel as she is in space, where she goes on an adventure that tests the limits of her decision-making skills in a new chapter in her life. She decided to leave her comfort zone on Earth so that she could find a new purpose for herself in space, as she believes that her destiny lies in the cosmos.
Why you should read it: The best part about ‘Higher, Further, Faster, More’ is that it puts Carol Danvers in an incredible position as a hero who now understands that she has a higher calling and purpose in life due to her abilities and because of the fact that she is now the one carrying the Captain Marvel mantle. It shows Carol in a new role as the one calling the shots when it comes to her ultimate destiny as a hero.
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