Magically Fantastic Four: Reviewing ‘Captain Marvel’ #4

An answer-giving trinket lies at the heart of a shapeshifting Negative Zone fortress. Sounds like the setup for a heist. Good thing Captain Marvel has a fledgling super thief on her side.

It’s a team-up of interdimensional proportions in Captain Marvel #4. Another truly fun and illuminating issue from Alyssa Wong, Jan Bazaldua, Bryan Valenza, Carlos Lopez, and Ariana Maher.

Characters that are heavily invulnerable, super strong, and carry powers levels off the scale can be tough to write. A natural instinct might be to toss them up against other heavy hitters, solving everything with fists/blasts. Often the real fun comes from avoiding such a box for them. Throwing said characters into a space where they must rely on other skills, or people in this case, shining differently.

In four issues, we’ve gotten the best mix of all of that. Wong understands that Carol is a multifaceted character and has far more to offer than being one of Marvel’s heaviest hitters. At the same time, none of the issues have been the same. Kicked off with a slugfest, followed by a chase, some beats of horror and magic, and now a heist. Talk about some well-rounded stuff.

Yuna, our resident new character thief, gets so much room to shine and grow. Much of the foundation of this series rests on the vast moments of characterization and this issue doesn’t skimp there either. Really this is the Goldilocks zone of series when it comes to pacing and development. Not too much, not too little, just the right amount. Enough that Yuna feels like a character we’ve known for years, easily bouncing off the Stranges, Captain Marvel, and the (fake) Black Cat.

Speaking of the (fake) Black Cat, that was one of the slickest action heist scenes but also hilarious with Carol’s portion. Naturally, this being that shifts into your counterpart would pick Black Cat for Yuna, someone that she clearly yearns to be like or beat at thieving. Yet, Carol being irked that it turned into Blastaar (a threat to many but not her) rather than like a Thanos or someone else heavy-hitting was great comedy. Keeps things tight and serious, but the character’s understandable reaction and sarcasm make it all work.

Bazaldua is back fully, tackling the whole artistic vision for this issue, after providing the ending for the previous one. There is plenty to show off how much life she breathes into everything, with that just right bit of roughness around the edges. Those aforementioned heist/fight/chase scenes blast across the pages, flowing from one panel to the next without stopping. A mix of grounded weighty serious feeling and lighter more whimsical tones.

Even in the spaces that are unfamiliar to us, there is depth and a keen eye for the scale. Blastaar feels like the hulking being that he should, while Black Cat is graceful and fluid moving around. Little flourishes here or there keep facial expressions and body language on point, letting the emotions of the characters do the talking as needed.

The last issue saw two artists sharing the space and creating a harmony of similar styles. Colors find themselves in a similar situation as Valenza and Lopez share that duty. If confronted with a demand to point out which colorist did which portion of the issue, well I’d be quite hard-pressed to answer. It’s a smooth marriage as there doesn’t seem to be a discernable space where they part ways, and that’s a good thing. Such a solid collaboration.

Together they hit all the same tone-down colors, allowing many of the elements on the pages to feel akin to things seen in the real world. When all the powers, other dimensional beings, and their like come into play that’s when the colors are kicked up several notches. Vivid bursts of greens, purples, reds, and so many other colors. Again, a compelling combination of the whimsical and the natural.

Voices are bouncing around from characters in differing universes, from supernatural beings, and even alien despots. Adding the right alterations to their font bubbles or captions can spice things up, allowing voices to sound and feel authentic. Maher is a letterer who makes it all feel so simple yet also artistically technical all at once. Various colors, styles of bubbles, and other minor yet major alterations alter voices or the tone of the moment.

Comic books have a variety of little things that uniquely make them such a delight. One of those things found in comics across the varied spectrum is the SFX, those often big colorful loud sound effects. It’s the printed version of diegetic sound, aka those sounds that originate from the world around us. So much energy is put into these by the right artists, and Maher is always one that makes them feel both natural but also just so fun.

Captain Marvel #4 is now available from Marvel Comics.