Captain Marvel-less

When I heard last year that Ms. Marvel was being "promoted" to Captain Marvel and getting her own new series, I thought, "Well deserved!"  Back in the day, Ms. Marvel was created as Marvel Comics' answer to DC's Supergirl; she was the female version of a male powerhouse.  I've always liked her character since her days as Ms. Marvel in the 1970s and Binary in the 1980s.  I also loved the connection between she and Rogue (back when Rogue was ultra cool, a bit wicked, and not some hooded no-personality with a daddy fetish).  There was such animosity between the two that led to some great tension in the X-books.  Ms. Marvel may have started out as a "super girl," but she became so much more.

My first reaction a year ago to the released images of Ms. Marvel as the new Captain Marvel was, "Why are they making this once-sexy woman look like a bird-headed dyke?"  Yes, that was a brash and stereotypical thought and comment.  However, it wasn't far from the truth.  Her new hairstyle did look like that atop a cockatoo, and not unlesbian-like. 

Despite my initial reaction, I gave the series a try, and I recently had the chance to read the first year of the new Captain Marvel series.  Sadly, I'm underwhelmed.  The stories and characterizations are very mediocre.  The time-travel saga with the female pilots felt like I was caught in a time loop and couldn't get out.  The highlight of Captain Marvel's first year was probably the guest appearances of Monica Rambeau, the 1980s Captain Marvel, another character I really liked. She could make for a great regular supporting character. 

Fortunately, in the later issues, Carol Danvers is letting her hair grow long again and gaining back some of her feminine appearance, but the stories still feel lacking to me.  Worse, the art has gotten poorer with Filipe Andrade's distorted imagery of Captain Marvel.  For instance, what's happened to her face?   It's enough to send children screaming.  Is there a new Cubist movement?

I don't see myself continuing to read the new Captain Marvel series.  It feels like such a letdown, which is disappointing because Marvel has so many great female characters in their universe, but too few solo female comic books.  There's Captain Marvel and, um...Red She-Hulk.  Is that it?  Am I missing any?  Even Marvel Comics' new upcoming female-only X-book is simply titled X-Men.  What's that about, ladies?  Marvel would probably reply, "Female-driven comic books just don't sell."  The reality, though, is that crappy comic books don't sell.  It doesn't have to do with sex; it has to do with quality storytelling (and art).