When NASA Security Chief Carol Danvers' genetic structure was melded with alien Kree DNA, Danvers was imbued with amazing powers - and an all-new Marvel hero was born! But before she became Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers was Ms. Marvel - with X-Men writer Chris Claremont weaving together complex plots and compelling characterization to craft her iconic original adventures! Witness Carol's first meeting with the Avengers! The debuts of Mystique and Rogue! Battles with Ronan the Accuser, Sabretooth and the Guardians of the Galaxy! And Carol's story reaches its epic conclusion in a Marvel milestone guest-starring the X-Men and the Avengers! Collecting MS. MARVEL (1977) #1-23, MARVEL TEAM-UP (1972) #61-62 and #76-77, DEFENDERS (1972) #57, MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE (1974) #51, AVENGERS (1963) #200 and ANNUAL #10, and material from AVENGERS (1963) #197-199, MARVEL SUPER-HEROES (1990) #10-11 and MARVEL FANFARE (1982) #24.
Captain Marvel is one of my favorites and it was a great to read her origin story. I loved reading at the end of each story, the feedback people wrote in about Ms. Marvel at the time. I liked reading the opening by Gerry Conway on looking back on his creation of Ms. Marvel and his feelings when looking back at that time. I loved that Kelly Sue DeConnick also wrote about her time on writing for Captain Marvel and how she researched everything of Carol Danvers life before starting. It also helped to read her musing about Avengers 200 at the end of the book. I've never read that single before, so had no frame of reference when reading Kelly's thoughts. After finishing the book, I went back to read what Kelly wrote again. She's right, Avenger's 200, is garbage but that garbage doesn't take away from her Origin story or how strong Carol Danvers is. In fact, it goes to show how much she has survived and Captain Marvel will always be one of my favorites. Most of the early years and the comics in this Omnibus shows it was written by Chris Claremont who I think did Ms. Marvel justice especially for the years it was written in. He also wrote Avengers Annual 10, which deals with the aftermath of Avengers 200 and I'm glad Carol had people on her side, which the Avengers should have been. I haven't read much Avengers in the late 70's and early 80's and I don't know if their reactions were a product of their time or unusual for that issue. The writers on those Avengers issues were not Chris Claremont and one can't help but wonder if somebody on that writer team hated what Ms. Marvel stood for and what she could become.
These comics were written in the late 70's, which is quite different from today's comics. I'm not only talking about the dialogue and how woman were perceived in the world but about how comics were made. There is at least 2-3 times more dialogue and thought bubbles and they describe or say everything the character does. It can feel like a tough read if you've never read older comics but the story is still solid, especially for the time it was made.
I knew some of Carol Danver's history, at least the major stuff. I started reading Marvel comics, especially Ms. Marvel Comics in the early 2000's. You get dialogue on past history between people. One of the major ones is her encounter with Rogue. This book shows that history and what happened between those two and why.
Overall, I was pleased with what I read, except for Avengers 200, but I was warned that was coming by Kelly, which I appreciated.
