The Last of the Marvels got going in quick fashion as Vox Supreme has returned to destroy Carol Danvers life. This time around rather than using Captain Marvel to do his evil deeds Vox Supreme has forced Carol’s allies to do his bidding. One of the first people being targeted by Vox Supreme is Kamala Khan’s Ms. Marvel. Captain Marvel raced to save Kamala but may have arrived too late as Vox Supreme’s soldiers. Let’s find out what happens next in The Last of the Marvels with Captain Marvel #33.
Writer: Kelly Thompson
Artist: Sergio Davila
Inker: Sean Parsons
Colorist: Jesus Aburtov
Story Rating: 5 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 6.5 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: While flying Ms. Marvel to safety Captain Marvel contacts sends out a message to War Machine, Spider-Woman, Iron Man, Captain America, and others for back-up.
The people wearing Vox Supreme’s power suit attack Captain Marvel and cause her to crash hard.
The crash ends up waking up Ms. Marvel. After recovering Ms. Marvel happily joins Captain Marvel in fighting against Vox Supreme’s followers.
During the fight Captain Marvel remembers what Phyla-Vell said and comes to the conclusion that Vox Supreme is likely going after anyone who has carried the Marvel legacy and placed them under his control. This theory turns out to be true as Captain Marvel learns that Spectrum (Monica Rambeau) is one of the people Vox Supreme is controlling with the black power suit.
Just as Ms. Marvel is being overwhelmed by the others under Vox Supreme’s control Spider-Woman, War Machine, and Hazmat show up to provide back-up. This ends up working against them as Vox Supreme’s followers are able to infect Spider-Woman, War Machine, Hazmat, and Ms. Marvel with the power controlling black suits.
Just as Captain Marvel is able to get to Ms. Marvel before Vox Supreme’s suit takes her completely over Lauri-Ell (Carol Danver’s half-sister) teleports in. Captain Marvel asks her sister to take Ms. Marvel to Tony Stark.
With Ms. Marvel safe Captain Marvel tries to save Spider-Woman, War Machne, and Hazmat but Vox Supreme teleports them and the others under his control out of the area.
Captain Marvel is able to find coordinates that Spectrum was able to leave behind and flies to the planet where Mar-Vell fell after saving Hala from the Phoenix Force (2010’s Secret Avengers #26-28). Even though she knows it’s a trap Captain Marvel searches the planet and discovers a large facility.
Over at Tony Stark’s lab Lauri-Ell arrives with Ms. Marvel so Tony can help her from being fully infected by Vox Supreme. Tony asks Lauri-Ell if she knows where Carol is at. Lauri-Ell says Carol did not provide her that information.
Back on the unnamed planet, Captain Marvel finds Vox Supreme. Vox Supreme reveals that he chose this planet because Mar-Vell’s organic material and remnants of the Phoenix Force still reside there and is using both as his “Adam and Eve” to create a new world.
When Captain Marvel spots her friends being held captive Vox Supreme activates a special gas he created to immediately immobilize Captain Marvel. Vox Supreme then places Captain Marvel in a metal casket and ejects her from his planet.
While floating in space Captain Marvel regains consciousness and tries to break out of the metal casket. For some reason all her attacks are unsuccessful in powering out of the casket as it continues to drift through space. End of issue.
The Good: There isn’t a lot of progress made in The Last of the Marvels with Captain Marvel #33. This was all about building up Captain Marvel meeting the recently escaped Vox Supreme. The lead up to that moment doesn’t completely work as intended but got the job done in the end.
My favorite aspect of Captain Marvel #33 was seeing Carol Danvers and Kamala Khan working together. While Kamala Khan was inspired to become Ms. Marvel as a fan of Carol we hardly see them teaming up or interacting with each other. Kelly Thompson immediately shows why this should change asap as the chemistry Carol and Kamala share is fantastic. The Lord of the Ring reference as they get ready to fight the people Vox Supreme was controlling was great stuff. It made me wish this entire issue was Carol and Kamala working together to figure out what Vox Supreme was doing.
Also to Carol Danvers credit it is good to see that she did not waste any time in confronting Vox Supreme. Especially with learning and seeing Vox Supreme taking Spectrum, War Machine, Spider-Woman, and Hazmat there is no way Carol would just wait for more back-up. She is someone that is all about acting in the moment and using the coordinates that Spectrum left behind for her was well in character.
Speaking of Spectrum, it is good that in her brief appearance that Spectrum was able to play a vital role in how Captain Marvel #33 progress. Spectrum being able to briefly break out of Vox Supreme’s control to leave Captain Marvel with coordinates showed how powerful Monica is. Because this is something that not even Carol was able to do when fighting the Avengers under Vox Supreme’s orders.
Sergio Davila’s artwork was very good throughout Captain Marvel #33. Every page and panel looked smoothed and clean. Even as things got crazy with Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, and other heroes fighting the people under Vox Supreme’s control you could still tell what is going on. Davila did a particularly good job anytime Captain Marvel powered up as all her attacks came across as very impactful.
The Bad: The one thing that is now holding The Last of the Marvels storyline back is Vox Supreme. Vox Supreme specifically targeting anyone tied to Mar-Vell’s legacy is an intriguing concept. Unfortunately the intrigue behind Vox Supreme’s motivation does not go being the concept stage. As even Carol mentions during their confrontation, Vox Supreme just rambles on and goes nowhere with his giant villain speech. He just says stuff until other characters and the reader gets tired of hearing him talk. Thompson breaking the fourth wall a bit with Carol even referencing the tiredness of his speech does not help the villain any.
The other thing that is holding back Vox Supreme’s latest plot is the fact that there is no suspension of disbelief that he won’t be defeated. Its already been established that Tony Stark can easily reverse the mind control of Vox Supreme’s power suit. So there isn’t much of a concern that any of those Vox Supreme’s lives are in danger. Which makes the fact that Vox Supreme isn’t taking the threat of the other Avengers into account turn him into a terrible villain.
While I appreciate the fact that Thompson is using The Last of the Marvels storyline as an opportunity to explore Mar-Vell’s legacy there is a lot to be left desired. A big example of that is Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel’s team-up. As enjoyable as their interaction is it is far to short. Thompson should’ve taken more of an opportunity to showcase Captain Marvel’s relationships with characters like Ms. Marvel and Spectrum while progressing the plot with Vox Supreme at the same time.
Overall: Captain Marvel #33 gets the job done when it comes to getting us to the next stage of The Last of the Marvels storyline. But even as we are left with a dramatic hook ending the content before the final page left a lot to be desired. This issue just never felt like it lived up to the large potential it had with what takes places and the characters Captain Marvel interacts with.
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