The Marvel version of Captain Marvel (as opposed to the Fawcett/DC Captain Marvel and the one who's arms and legs popped off) has had a convoluted history. He originally had a green and white costume and was stuck on Earth as an ex-patriot spy for the Kree. Eventually he changed to a red and blue costume and exchanged molocules with Rick Jones everytime he whacked his wrist bands together (a clever homage to the golden age Captain Marvel) and gained "cosmic awareness". Low sales kept dogging the title. It started and stopped repeatedly and made numerous changes trying to find a winning sales formula. Despite some truly great stories by Jim Starlin in the mid-seventies, the book was cancelled for good and it was only an epilog when the character was killed off (by cancer, no less) in the graphic novel creatively titled "The Death Of Captain Marvel". The title character of this book is the son of the first (or forth, depending on how you look at it) Captain Marvel. He went by the name of Genis, but Captain Marvel has a certain pizzazz (and more sales marketability) to it so, here we are on the 3rd (or 16th, depending on how you look at it) try at a regular Captain Marvel series.
This time out the book is written by Peter David. When Peter David is good, he's very good. When he's not at the top of his game...well, at least he's pretty funny. This book fall somewhere in the middle. The character taking certer stage, even more than Captain Marvel himself, is Rick Jones. David is no stranger to Jones, as he was a supporting cast member of The Incredible Hulk, which David wrote for a very long run (oh, go ahead, say it with me: "It was an INCREDIBLE run!"). Rick and his sort-of estranged wife, the ultra sexy Marlo, provide much of the humor in this book. When they are present, the book moves briskly along and is very entertaining. When Marvel takes over to slug it out with whatever bad guy is visiting that month, the book starts to wander away. David's long history with Rick Jones makes it obvious that he is comfortable with his character and still very sketchy on Marv's personality.
This time out, Marlo convinces Rick to allow Captain Marvel to appear at her comic shop to sign autographs for publicity. Rick's protest that it will only attract super-villains fall on deaf ears. Of course, that is exactly what happens. Peter David is always adept at stuffing wry comic book references in his work, and this book is no exception. Sly guest appearances by Namor, the Micronauts and Drax the Destroyer flesh the book out. Mostly, however, it's the "Rick And Marlo Show". They are the chief attraction for the book and if Captain Marvel is somewhat less than a fully interesting character, they can carry it easily.
