Captain Marvel Dark Past # 1

 By Mark Rodriguez

I didn't think I'd pick this one up but the premise grabbed me. Captain Marvel seems to have some locked memories from her days as Miss Marvel that are coming back to bite her in present day... but what can she do if she doesn't remember? Let's see what happens. 

 

"Captain Marvel Dark Past" opens with Carol Danvers waiting outside a building. She monologues that she focuses too much in the future which is often easier then remembering the past. She explains that several years ago, her memories were stolen by Rogue. She thought most of them came back, but lately she's been getting flashes of new memories she doesn't remember. These new memories feel like they don't really belong to her. She snaps out of it as Tony Stark arrives.

Carol says she doesn't want to go in the building alone. Tony, arm in a sling, asks if she's alright. Carol says she's had a guy and tells him to go in. Tony refuses and says he'll catch the early matinee. He invites her for some coffee since it's rather cold out and she could use some warming up.

At the cafe, Tony tells her to talk since he noticed something was bugging her early that day. Carol explains she's been having flashes of memories she doesn't recognize and she feels it's connected to losing them to Rogue. She also feels her seventh sense is coming back. She keeps seeing things from the past as well as future events that haven't happened yet. Tony asks if anything stands out in particular. She remembers something with her father that she hasn't thought about in years.

She remember Carol visiting her home in Maine and having an argument with her father. Tony says it sounds like an average Wednesday for them. Carol says something important happened between them that one time, and she can't remember what it was. 

Tony says he knows she worked things out with Rogue long ago, but he can't imagine what it feels like to have his memories stolen. He says she should see someone, as Carol doesn't have a therapist. Carol says she sense that something is about to happen and it's going to be bad. Tony says it could be PTSD or stress or something else, since she takes on a lot and internalizes everything.

They leave the cafe and head towards the meeting. Carol says it's going to look like they beat each other up and remarks this is why they keep looking for new groups. Tony says something shook her up earlier and asks her what happened.

Earlier that day, Carol and Tony, as Captain Marvel and Iron Man fly over Broadway as there is an attack happening. They see that's the Wrecking Crew (Wrecker, Piledriver and Bulldozer) and Iron Man jokes that he was expecting a real problem. The Wrecker says he'll use his crowbar to scoop out their insides. Carol says he's so dramatic and should be on Broadway. The Wrecker slams his magic crowbar on the ground causing a huge shockwave headed their way. 

 

Iron Man says he'll focus on keeping Wrecker away from the buildings and tells Carol to take on the other two. Carol says she doesn't remember their names and asks which one is 'The Welder'. Bulldozer tells her his name as he socks her in the face. Captain Marvel barely budges and then sends him flying back with her own punch. Piledriver blasts her with his jackhammer which actually hurts her. She tells Tony that they did something to enhance their gear (even more than usual). Tony says Wrecker actually managed to dent his armor.

Iron Man is sent flying back. Wrecker asks Carol if she doesn't like 'extra Kree spice' like her mother used to make. Carol says something is wrong here and tells Tony that he has to get out of there now. Wrecker's crowbar fried some of Iron Man's circuitry and he can't move. Wrecker smacks his crowbar against Iron Man's side and says that times change and technology changes. Carol flies in to tackle Wrecker away before he hit Iron Man again.

Wrecker tells Carol to let him go, and she says he'll fall if she does so. She says she prefers it this way and tosses him into the ground so hard it causes a big explosion and makes the street cave in. Piledriver and Bulldozer grab Wrecker and make a run for it. Iron Man radios Carol to make sure was OK. Carol has a satisfied smile on her face and says 'that was fun'.

Currently, Carol is outside wearing a raincoat and an umbrella. She says the Wrecking Crew had somehow gotten their hands on Kree technology. She's curious how they knew about her family. That somehow opened the door to these memories and she thinks her seventh sense is coming back. Carol says Tony told her to talk to someone, and now she is. We see she is visiting her mother, Marie Danvers' grave. She thinks she remembers what happened with her father.

Flashing back to her home in Maine, her father was lamenting the loss of his son, her brother Steve. He yells out that it never should have been Stevie and that Carol should have died instead. Carol asks how she's supposed to forgive her father. She doesn't even want to but if she doesn't the memory will hold her back. She's afraid of what will happen if she remembers and if she doesn't. She asks her late mother how she could stand by her father after being treated that way. Of course, there is no answer.

Later on, we pan out through the city as Carol's pet cat looks out the window. Carol has an odd dream. She's back in her Miss Marvel days, while also being a reporter, looking for something in a file cabinet. She pulls out a file labeled DNVR which shocks her. Then she remembers her father yelling that it 'should have been her'. Carol snaps awake and then wonders what DNVR was.

 

The next morning, Carol is at Jessica Drew's apartment where she hasn't heard of DNVR either. Jess says it'll come her and asks how she's doing. Carol says she doesn't get it, she could see the letters in front of her face but doesn't know what they mean. Jess tosses whipped cream on her and says she meant what's going on in her love life. Carol says no and asks Jess about her. Jess say no as well, 'not unless he has a death wish'.

Jess says Carol might need to take actual time off and leave the rest of the heroes deal with explosions. Carol agrees but says it feels like when you have something on the tip of your tongue and you don't get it until it actually happens. Jess says Carol might need a new perspective and asks why she doesn't return to being a reporter since she was good at that. Carol asks if they can take a road trip.

Captain Marvel and Spider-Woman go to the caved in streets where the fighting against the Wrecking Crew happened earlier. Spider-Woman asks exactly what they're looking for. Carol doesn't know but says to look something that makes her 'tingle'. Spider-Woman says the place wants to make her scream. Carol says the Wrecking Crew knew something about her that they shouldn't have known, and they were trying to draw her out somewhere. 

 

Spider-Woman says if Carol's seventh sense is anything like her spider-sense, she has to open up a bit. Like hitting a golf ball, if she swings too hard she'll miss. Carol says she can't believe she used a golf metaphor and starts to focus. She sees her hand holding scrap of paper with the DNVR logo on it. She says the bad guys left an artifact behind. Just then Spider-Woman finds the scrap of paper with the logo.

Captain Marvel said she just saw this, her hand holding the paper a moment ago... like a memory of the future. Spider-Woman is confused. Carol concentrates and says that someone is there. Spider-Woman asks what she means and if something happened.

Several rooftops away, a sniper is aiming his sights on both women.

 

My Thoughts-

My first question at the end of this issue is if Carol can be harmed by bullets. I believe Spider-Woman just like Spider-Man can be hurt by gunfire if they didn't dodge the bullets, but I'm not sure about Captain Marvel. On the other hand, given this is the Marvel Universe, this mystery man might not be using regular bullets.

The story is interesting and I love a good mystery. So the Wrecking Crew somehow got access to Kree technology and know that Carol's mom was a Kree. This jump-starts a series of memories taking her back to her Miss Marvel days and some sort of organization called DNVR. 

I mostly picked up this story since I found out that in a later issue she was going to have to go to Rogue to deal with her missing memories. I liked that concept because maybe Rogue remembered something she didn't. I didn't know the whole story was going to be about 'what if Carol didn't get ALL of her memories back after Rogue got to her?', and that's a pretty cool concept. The funny part is, at least for me, the very first time I ever seen or heard of Miss Marvel was during that one X-Men cartoon episode that showed the flashback of Rogue draining her powers after she held on too long.

 

I guess the real mystery lies in what exactly DNVR is, and I'm surprised nobody brought up that it's very similar to Carol's last name Danvers. I mean if Marie Danver's name is somehow tied to it, that would explain how the Wrecking Crew knew about her. We can also assume that DNVR somehow led to Steve Danvers' death, which is why that memory of her father keeps coming back.

That has to be wild though. A mixture of visions of both the past and present, without being completely sure which is which, except for obvious clues like her old costume.

I've heard of the Wrecking Crew but haven't come across them in the comics I own just yet. They're mostly Thor villains and their weapons were originally powered by Loki. I guess now they threw in some Kree tech into the mix.

On other things, it seems Carol has had a bout of alcoholism recently and who better than Tony whose had his own bouts with the bottle to help her deal with it. It turns out the building she was hanging around in the beginning was Alcoholics Anonymous, and the meeting they were talking about was an AA meeting. 

 

Now in this case I can't really complain about this just being a mini-series since the Dark Past subtitle makes it clear this will be 5 or 10 issues of that storyline. What I will say is this could have been the start of a new Captain Marvel run with the 'Dark Past' being the first storyarc. Say what you will about Captain Marvel (or Brie Larson) I like this story so far. 

The only negative thing I can say about Carol is how she purposely caved in the streets to defeat The Wrecker. Iron Man is like 'let's keep them away from the buildings' and Captain Marvel is like 'IMMA WRECK THE WHOLE STREET'. And yeah, heroes cause collateral damage all the time, but usually it's because the villains did it, or the villains knocked the heroes into buildings or whatever. The heroes usually don't purposely smash stuff with glee, unless you're the Hulk or something. I guess I was expecting Iron Man to bring it up and maybe have Carol say 'hey gimme a break, I saved you life didn't I?' or something.

 

 

We'll see what happens next issue as Carol seeks out Rogue!