Between the perfect conclusion to Kelly Thompson’s historic run, the announcement of a new ongoing series debuting this Fall, and a successful launch leading the new Avengers team, Captain Marvel is having a moment. Then came CAPTAIN MARVEL DARK TEMPEST #1. Did you know that Captain Marvel is strong? Or that she’s a woman? That’s part of what the first handful of pages of this debut issue of Ann Nocenti’s 5-part limited series spends time emphasizing.

The tone of the book never felt right, from the aforementioned early commentary on Captain Marvel’s strength to the dialogue between Captain Marvel and Spider-Woman when they team up to deal with the main conflict introduced in the issue. I also didn’t quite understand why an anti-technology mindset was chosen as the villains’ main motivations. Perhaps it’s commentary on the current buzz around AI and what it could mean for humanity? But I couldn’t help but think of all the villains AND heroes who have used technology to achieve their goals. It all just felt overly contrived and hard to follow or relate to, unless you’re used to donning a tinfoil hat.

Paolo Villanelli’s linework was decent enough throughout the book, though I didn’t care for Carol’s design in her “normal” clothes during the scenes in Maine. No matter which outfit she was wearing, the facial designs didn’t always look like Carol aside from her blonde hair. Java Tartaglia’s colorings were a bright spot though, with interesting color palettes throughout the book.

Between this week’s title and the past two issues of the current STORM limited series (check out my review of STORM #2 for more on my problems with that series), I’m not sure what is happening with Nocenti’s writing. For someone who wrote some of the first truly feminist character arcs in comics history, these two titles feel like major steps backwards. I understand that she’s stuck between a rock and a hard place writing self-contained limited series between these characters other major storylines, but these are just additional poor entries into the long list of underwhelming stories for Ororo & Carol. I wouldn’t be shocked to find these two titles at the bottom of Marvel’s sales lists for 2023 and for good reason. They haven’t added any depth to the characters (I’d argue they’ve negated some recent retribution both characters have received in recent runs) nor have they been particularly entertaining. At this point, I could have done without them.

Rating: 3/10

Marvel Comics Review: CAPTAIN MARVEL DARK TEMPEST #1

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