The Family That Fights Together: Reviewing ‘Captain Marvel’ #6

A showdown has begun as the battle of the bands kicks off. Wait, no sorry, that’s battle for the bands. Easy mistake to make, music bands and Nega-bands are so similar really.

It’s a real family feud situation as Captain Marvel #6 turns up the heat in a story from Alyssa Wong, Ruairí Coleman, Bryan Valenza, and Ariana Maher.

It’s a family reunion, and hell yeah was that the good stuff. Wong just instantly understands what this book should be and what Carol Danvers’ place in the universe can be. Each issue has sprinkled in various aspects of Carol’s presence within the Marvel sphere. Naturally, with Genis-Vell on the antagonist side of things, the rest of the Marvel family is needed.

We do not get enough of Hulkling and Wiccan these days, despite Marvel making Hulkling a freaking space Emperor. Current Phyla-Vell may not be “our” version, but she’s close enough and pretty darn fun. Also, one can never go wrong finding a way to get more of Carol’s badass, sassy, and buff little sister Lauri-Ell.

Mixing all these characters in feels perfectly natural — and just like the Stranges, adds to the overall plot rather than detracting. Guest star and cameo roles are normal for comics but some feel forced into being while others are the natural way to go about it. Wong very much embodies a writer that does things the right way.

It’s only been six issues, but I love Yuna Yang as a character, and the Undone better not do anything to her!

Pacing in this series has been truly on point. Longer form stories in comics are not easy to pull off, with the monthly format and expectations from fan bases. Why it works in many cases, such as here, is the ability to seed just enough revelations and plot movement to keep things engaging. Wrapping that up in big bombastic superhero action is also a good way to go, because a Marvel slugfest never gets tiring really.

Having Coleman and Jan Bazaldua on art duties for this series was a solid move. Their styles are similar enough that even switching off issues, there isn’t that jarring feeling that can come with art shifts.

A smoother touch can be found in Coleman’s art style compared to the slightly rougher texture that naturally comes from Bazaldua. Paneling choices are solid and really help make the quiet and loud moments both lands equally well. Coleman doesn’t miss with the emotional tones; character’s faces are so energetic and give away so much.

There is a whimsical quality to it all, even with the overly serious nature of the story. Lives and the world are at stake, but we can still have fun as the heroes’ rally to beat down those who are doing evil things. It’s the duality that we love in a superhero comic, dire stakes but characters and moments that are fun to fill our days with.

In their previous collaboration, Valenza brought a smooth mix of more vibrant and poppy colors alongside the heavier darker tones. No surprise, those are still here with the percentages just shifted slightly. Threats in the Strange home in the third issue — where they worked together last — tended towards the darker and even more toned-down natural setting colors. All that aforementioned big superhero action goes down here and naturally means the vibrant poppy beats shoot up ten notches.

Vibrant. Energetic. Fitting. All words that equally apply to what Maher does with lettering in each and every single comic book she works on. All the right little added flairs to bubbles, font, and SFX that give them powerful identity and energy. So that characters’ personalities as well as their vocal energy are beyond clear. There is no way to read an issue and not hear the voices, beat for beat, accurately.

Captain Marvel #6 is now available from Marvel Comics.