Or a look at scalable character design in CM&CC #1
by Kelly Sue DeConnick, Kelly Thompson, David Lopez, Lee Loughridge and Joe Caramagna; Marvel Comics
Frankly, I don't really care about Secret Wars. I mean, I like several of the creators involved and I'm sure that if you are a core Marvel reader it's an exciting and rewarding read. But as someone who tends to read the more idiosyncratic, creator driven comics around the periphery of the Marvel Universe apparatus, this event is mostly a big headache. My books are being derailed for various alternate reality tales and then some sort of new-status-quo-reboot thingy is happening. It is exhausting and I'm not sure if I have the energy to deal with these reading logistics when I could just be reading other comics that don't require continuity gymnastics. So maybe it is more accurate to say that I do care about Secret Wars, and that I just dislike it.
That said Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps is *delightful*. It presents an alternate reality status quo where Captain Marvel is leading a squadron of women pilots who protecting some sort of enclave or base from enemy incursions on Battleworld (whatever that means...). But that is all secondary because this is a comic that continues working on the themes of heroism and teamwork of the series and showcases the creative team's ability to rapidly build rich ensembles of characters. It's more great stuff in the vein of Captain Marvel proper and while I might not care at all for Secret Wars, I'm very happy this Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps exists.
(Incidentally, the ability of Team Captain Marvel to generate quality stories as Carol Danvers is thrown by editorial whim into radically different situations (now New York, now space, now Battleworld) is really impressive. To be able to build a thematic, consistent narrative through all of that is quite an accomplishment.)
Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps is also interesting in that contains some really great, scalable character design that I think is worth taking a look at.
There will be *SPOILERS* for CM&CC #1 below.
The central character design challenge of Captain Marvel and the Carol Crops #1 is that it's a comic about a group of military pilots. Military Pilots in the real world almost universally wear uniforms, use face obscuring helmets and masks, and fly the same model of aircraft within squadrons. It is therefore difficult to distinguish individuals within a military unit. This of course, is terrible for storytelling, where it is really important to be able to assign actions to individual characters and to distinguish between them on the page. So there is a practical storytelling pressure to give every character their own fighter type or jumpsuit look and basically go full space pirate at all times. But since technicolour swashbuckling isn't particularly martial, this approach doesn't translate well to a story about military aviators. Which means a balance has to be struck somewhere between military conformity and narrative necessary individualism.
Since Captain Marvel is a comic that doesn't mess around, it deftly negotiates this compromise by building characters who all operate within a certain degree of uniformity but who all display small touches of individuality that are visible during all levels of storytelling.
When taken as individual people the Carol Corps are pleasantly distinct looking group of women. Each of these pilots, despite wearing variations on a common uniform, manage to look unique on the page with small character touches that makes each stand out as their own person from Blaze's old-fashioned feeling beauty-spot mole to Pancho's screw-the-rules sunglasses and lip piercing. What's great is that this all translates to the cockpit. A combination of helmets decorated with pilots name and logo as well as carefully chosen facial characteristics (freckles, mole, piercing, black skin, or chin skin imperfection (warts? scars?)) keep each character looking distinct and recognizable even wearing a combat helmet. This design motif scales up yet again to the actual fighter planes which, while all one model, each display a painted nose cone playing with the motif of the helmet designs. This again allows the aircraft themselves to be instantly recognizable and tied to their relevant characters. It's quietly really adept comics.
The result of all of this is a group of military pilots who look like military pilots but we are able to keep track of whether the story is in the barracks, chatter between cockpits, or punching holes in the sky. It's also an approach that manages to create distinct, individual characters who wear their personalities in their designs in a really obvious and compelling way. Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps may only be one issue long, but I already have a sense of who these women are, how they relate to each other, and care about their outcomes. And what more can you ask from a first issue?
Marvelling at Captain Marvel #15: triumphs and tribulations
Marvelling at Captain Marvel #9: a rhyme map of a rock and roll space opera
Marvelling at Captain Marvel #4: Joyous collaboration.
Marvelling at Captain Marvel #3: When joke and story telling collide
Marvelling at Captain Marvel 17: A meta-fandom salute
Marvelling at Captain Marvel 15-16: On tie ins
Marvelling At Captain Marvel #13-14: On The Enemy Within
Marvelling At Captain Marvel #12: Demarcating reality and fantasy
Marvelling At Captain Marvel #10: A dramatic contract
Marvelling At Captain Marvel #9: How your brain tells time
Marvelling At Captain Marvel #7: Saving a reporter in distress... AND ITS A MAN!
Marvelling At Captain Marvel #1: An alternate reading order that I liked more
Or a look at the triumphs and tribulations of Captain Marvel #15
by Kelly Sue DeConnick, David Lopez, Lee Loughridge, and Joe Caramangna; Marvel Comics
A really smart critic, whose writing I really enjoy, is overall pretty dismissive of the Superhero genre in general and corporate (Marvel and DC comics) in particular. As part of a discussion on this topic she challenged people about why they like Superhero comics and whether they had artistic merit. My stance on corporate Superhero comics is that at worst they provide some fun escapism, but at their best they can be really exciting, well made comics that transcend their genre-trappings to tell some really powerful stories. Captain Marvel #15 is one of those comics that transcends it's genre to approach a level of dramatic truth that I think exemplifies why I still read Superhero comics.
Of course, Captain Marvel #15 also tragically suffers from the kind of corporate comics nonsense that I find deeply infuriating.
I want to take a look at the triumphs of Captain Marvel #15, the things that make it a powerful work of art, and the tribulations of the issue, the unnecessary choices that try and cheapen a great comic.
There will be *SPOILERS* for Captain Marvel #15
The thing about Superhero comics is that punching spacegods, while exciting, is just pure escapism for me, and not especially heroic. While people who put themselves into danger on behalf of others are certainly heroic, I think that violence is objectively a sad thing. So I am kind of uncomfortable with glorifying fighting and combat as standards of heroism, as entertaining as explosions might be. But I am also stymied by such portrayals of heroism because they fundamentally miss an essential truth: there is so much ordinary, human heroism all around us. People perform amazing feats of emotional courage in so many ways; ways that are often quiet and private or seemingly passive and not punching spacegods. And I think this ordinary heroism is tragically largely missed by mainstream Superhero comics.
My wife's grandmother passed away on Christmas Day 2014. Grandma Shirley was a generous, warm, and wonderfully salty woman who was a regular fixture of every family gathering. She was very close to her whole family and she will be profoundly missed. She lived 91 years and saw her children grow up and prosper, knew her grandkids, and even got to meet some of her great grandchildren. She was, among many other things, a favourite travel companion of my wife during most of her wandering years. She was also an old woman, in her nineties, and was suffering from a precipitous decrease in her health. She knew she was dying and had seemingly made her peace with it and managed to die in her home with her mind intact. Other than the timing, she died the way she wanted to. Death, even in the best of circumstances, is a fucking bastard.
Losing a loved one on Christmas Day is awful. However, while obviously sad, my family-thing rallied and has largely celebrated Shirley's life and taken solace that she died according to her wishes. And while Christmas next year is going to certainly have a pallor, my family-thing, with stoicism, humour, and each other, has done their best to keep living their lives. To do the next right thing. It's what Shirley would have wanted. I've never lost anyone I've so deeply loved and so I am absolutely stunned by the strength of my wife and in-laws. Deciding to walk forward, to take on life after death is an act of everyday heroism that takes as much courage as any Superhero who has ever punched a spacegod. My family, my wife, are fucking heroes.
Captain Marvel #15 captures this reality. It is a comic that shows two "generations" of friends and loved ones banding together following a death and making that heroic, incredible decision to move on with their lives and continue living. It's on the face of it, a beautiful story. But it's also a moment of real, human heroism that stands out in a comic largely about the nature of heroism. This is a story that is True, that is resonate with something fundamental to the human experience, that transcends fiction and touches people. This is Art. And this is in a superhero comic book.
True art can be anywhere.
Captain Marvel #15 is an amazing comic by talented and honest creators. It is beautiful and triumphant.
Captain Marvel #15 is also a comic that is marred by it's corporate comics nature. While the story itself is powerful and transcendent beyond the trappings of its genre and medium, it's also ultimately hurt by it's genre and nature. Captain Marvel #15 ends with an uplifting moment when the dearly departed essentially lured her loved ones to the beach in a faux-ash scattering to help her friends celebrate life. It's a beautiful, uplifting perfect moment. That ends in Marvel Comics advertisement for Secret Wars (Hey! Hey! Everyone! Shut the fuck up! Did you know? SECRET WARS IS A THING! Guys! Guys!). Not only is there an ugly advertisement sitting like a turd on this perfect moment, but the tone of the ad is that everything is doomed because of Secret Wars. Which means that this near-perfect comic about celebrating life and moving past death, in the triumphant moment of catharsis, has a message of doom and death shat onto it. It is tone deaf and disgusting and emblematic of everything wrong with corporate comics. I am heartbroken that this was done.
Look, I have no idea who in the editorial chain approves or places these kind of ads. I do know that everyone who works in comics, works at Marvel, clearly cares about comics and making the best books they can. What I don't understand is how people who care so much about comics can mar their work, especially comics this special with stupid, unnecessary, tone deaf advertisements. And as a comic consumer who dropped ~$5CAN on this book I am really annoyed that an advertisement damaged this beautiful product that I spent a non-trivial amount of money on. It's really frustrating as a reader and a customer and it's emblematic of why some really smart critics do not have respect for Marvel comics.
I profoundly hope this is corrected for the eventual collection and that Marvel shows more thoughtful ad placement in the future.
Previously:
Howard The Duck #1: How a Marvel Ad hurt a joke
Marvelling at Captain Marvel #9: a rhyme map of a rock and roll space opera
Marvelling at Captain Marvel #4: Joyous collaboration.
Marvelling at Captain Marvel #3: When joke and story telling collide
Marvelling at Captain Marvel 17: A meta-fandom salute
Marvelling at Captain Marvel 15-16: On tie ins
Marvelling At Captain Marvel #13-14: On The Enemy Within
Marvelling At Captain Marvel #12: Demarcating reality and fantasy
Marvelling At Captain Marvel #10: A dramatic contract
Marvelling At Captain Marvel #9: How your brain tells time
Marvelling At Captain Marvel #7: Saving a reporter in distress... AND ITS A MAN!
Marvelling At Captain Marvel #1: An alternate reading order that I liked more
Or a roundup of cool features from recent issues of Captain Marvel
by Kelly Sue DeConnick, Warren Ellis, David Lopez, Marcio Takara, Laura Braga, Lee Loughridge, Nick Filardi, and Joe Caramagna; Marvel Comics
Captain Marvel is another comic I can count on to always be good. It's also a comic that is frequently pretty seamless: it features amazing dialogue, fantastic acting artwork, and clear functional storytelling. It's a comic that does all of its constituent jobs well, but often in a way that is quietly great. Less elaborate flourish, more solid workmanship. Which makes writing about the comic a little difficult sometimes.
That said, Captain Marvel does feature some pretty clever choices, so I've rounded up some of my favourite comics moments recently in Captain Marvel here.
There will be *SPOILERS* for Captain Marvel #10, #11, and #12 specifically
Captain Marvel #10 makes good use of infringing on comic gutters for fun storytelling effects. The more obvious of these choices is for emphasis: we see Spider-Woman break panel borders with her body and see her energy blasts surge over boundaries and seemingly out of the page. This makes her the focal and emotional centre of the page and makes her blasts seem especially powerful and important. It's a straightforward approach but it makes this page exciting and interesting.
Captain Marvel #10 has more adept and interesting games to play with the gutter spaces between panels. The story of the issue has amoral (or maybe outright evil) genius Grace Valentine launch a quest of vengeance against Captain Marvel and her allies by mind controlling a horde of New York rats. So much of the story revolves around hundreds and hundreds of rats (a ratatouille of rats?) overrunning New York and invading the subleased Statue of Liberty apartment of Carol Danvers. In a really clever and adorable bit of comics, many of the gutters feature little rats peaking out from between the panels. On the one hand this is just kind of fun, but on another it really emphasizes the feeling of being infested with rodents. There are so many rats in Captain Marvel #10 that they are even appearing in the parts of the comic that it should be impossible for them to be in. It's a really effective and fun choice.
Captain Marvel #11 has a great two page sequence that does some interesting, comics rule breaking things. The sequence, which sees Carol Danvers drugged unconscious by the Toxic Doxy and then regain consciousness captive is delivered in a very effective way. After Carol is dosed with the drug, there is a break between the normal structure of the comic, which functions as a sort of visual shorthand for reality, and Carol herself. We see the background panels become repetitive and strrreettcchhhh as the moment drags out, while meanwhile Carol falls, along with some collapsing panels, out of the plane of the page and faints into a white, roiling zone perpendicular to the normal structure of the comic. Then we get a well placed page turn, giving a clear break between events, before returning to Carol as, golden coloured and still surrounded by the panels of fainting, she oozes back into the page and reality. Which on a purely visual level is pretty interesting.
It is also super evocative of the experience of being sedated to the loss of consciousness. I've only done local anaesthesia once in my life, but I can remember the way time stretched, growing dim and fuzzy, before suddenly I was thrown from reality and rendered oblivious before, even fuzzier, I slowly swam back to reality. The way this sequence dilates time, literally casts Carol out of the universe of the page, and then gives a clear, quick feeling discontinuity between story sections wonderfully encapsulates that experience. It's a really smart stretch of comics.
This double page spread from Captain Marvel #12 is also pretty cool. Obviously it has a giant Space Tardigrade, aka Space Water Bear, which is totally rad. More things in life should feature Water Bears, particularly giant Water Bears. It's also a cool spread because it quietly does a lot of smart comics things to make a pretty dense composition work really well. The page is double page spread which immediately imparts a sense of size and majesty to the Tardigrade and puts the rest of the events in relation to this noble space monster. The rest of the key storytelling items are arranged on the page in a long continuous curve starting at the Space Water Bear's eye catching mouth and sweeping across the page. This allows readers to quickly parse the story elements and experience them in a fast feeling order. This sweeping arc of smaller panels is also interesting in how it plays with panel position and size to impart motion and proximity in a clear way. While swinging across the page we see Carol's spacecraft start big and "close" and shrink as it travels "further away" while the space between panel moments increase as the ship accelerates. Conversely we see the HUD display of the enemy base/refinery grow larger as the ship dwindles, signifying that the spaceship and the story are approaching the base. It all comes off as a tremendously smooth and organic page, but when you break it down this sequence introduces a cool new setting, a new situation, and some stage direction very clearly. And, you know, giant Space Water Bear.
Captain Marvel is another absolute horse of a comic that does its normal comics business very well and sometimes also manages to make some really clever comics.
Post by Michael Bround
Previously:
Marvelling at Captain Marvel #9: a rhyme map of a rock and roll space opera
Marvelling at Captain Marvel #4: Joyous collaboration.
Marvelling at Captain Marvel #3: When joke and story telling collide
Marvelling at Captain Marvel 17: A meta-fandom salute
Marvelling at Captain Marvel 15-16: On tie ins
Marvelling At Captain Marvel #13-14: On The Enemy Within
Marvelling At Captain Marvel #12: Demarcating reality and fantasy
Marvelling At Captain Marvel #10: A dramatic contract
Marvelling At Captain Marvel #9: How your brain tells time
Marvelling At Captain Marvel #7: Saving a reporter in distress... AND ITS A MAN!
Marvelling At Captain Marvel #1: An alternate reading order that I liked more
Or a look at how the band brings the band together with panache in Captain Marvel #4
by Kelly Sue DeConnick, David Lopez, Lee Loughridge, and Joe Caramagna; Marvel Comics
Captain Marvel has been one of the most consistent mainstream comics in my top ten. I'm always looking forward to the next issue and once I get it, it's often one of the first in my stack I read. It is easily one my favourite comics.
But it's a little hard to express exactly why.
Captain Marvel is a fairly straight forward superhero comic: Carol Danvers, aka, Captain Marvel, fights villains and does inspiring heroic things. Team Captain Marvel have done a great job presenting interesting wrinkles and challenges to keep the superheroing interesting, but the comic isn't doing nifty things with genre like many of the other comics I'm currently reading. Similarly, Team CM, while great storytellers, also aren't really experimenting with the medium of comics in the way most of my other favourite books are. So it's a little hard for me to pin down exactly what it is about Captain Marvel that makes it stand out in a field of genre-bending, medium-experimenting comics.
Captain Marvel #4 might be the explanation I've been looking for.
There will be *SPOILERS* for Captain Marvel #4 in this post.
Captain Marvel #4 is, at first glance, a business story. It fleshes out the premise of the current storyline, introduces and solidifies the new supporting cast, and advances the plot to the point where the comic can begin telling the meat of the story. In most collections, this would be a down chapter, a necessary block of logistics for later chapters. This should be a forgettable chapter of comics.
But Captain Marvel #4 might be one of the best comics I've read in a while.
The crux of what makes Captain Marvel #4 a memorable comic for me is all about craft and collaboration. While the issue might not have the wildest plot, every single aspect of this comic is pitch perfect and allows the story to function brilliantly. This a fantastic example of a creative team firing on all cylinders.
David Lopez, the current main penciller on Captain Marvel is a solid storyteller and a fantastic acting artist. His characters emote dramatically, and just beam feelings off the page. A lot of this, I think, is that his characters are juuusssstt a little exaggerated in their expressions and gestures, and this really helps each snapshot convey optimal emotion. (This approach to acting makes me really wonder if Lopez has a background in animation.) Lopez's excellent character work helps make every character exchange pop, and makes everyone depicted in the comic feel unique and alive. It's great stuff.
Kelly Sue DeConnick, the writer in Team CM, is a wizard at dialogue. There is a certain brisk snappy rhythm to the words that is just... for lack of a better way to express it, fun. DeConnick writes really engaging characters. And, in a way that is really important for this issue, she gives each of her characters a unique voice which, when coupled with Lopez's excellent acting, allows each character to come into their own really quickly.
Lee Loughridge, the colourist in Team CM, pulls off a quietly great issue of comics. Captain Marvel #4 has a wide variety of settings which are swapped pretty rapidly. Loughridge does a fantastic job using different colours and shadow work to help distinguish these settings and keep them all straight. My favourite examples from this issue are his treatment of the various planets in the comic: from the sickly-yellow suffused lighting of Torfa, to the flat gey and harsh lighting of Ursor 2, to the warm, soft glowing orange of the Maniaciano Outpost of Ursor 4. Beyond keeping these settings distinct, it gives every planet it's own feel (Miasmic Torfa, post-apocolypticky Ursor 2, and gritty port-esque Maniaciano). It's a small, background portion of the comic, but it really makes everything clearer throughout the issue.
<PAGE TURN!>
When all of these collaborators and their individual elements come together, there are these great sequences in Captain Marvel #4. Like this sequence here: a great joke series with a pretty good 1-2-3 gag strip, and then an even better surprise punchline (ha!) after the page turn. It's great comedic timing, but more than that, fantastic sequential storytelling that displays the strengths of Team CM.
The cohesive work of Team CM also does a fantastic job establishing all of the characters in the current cast of Captain Marvel. This issue really highlights the traits of the alien cast and solidifies the voice of each team member as the story moves forward. We see Carol being earnest and headstrong, Tic being clever and common sensed, Gil being strong and angry and maybe not terribly thoughtful, Bee clowning around, and Jackie swash-buckling and generally being the best person ever. And we also see how all of these characters fit together: the gluey regard they all hold for Tic, the abrasive friction between Carol and Gil and the sparks of new friendship maybe developing between Jackie and Carol. Captain Marvel #4 with a great deal of quiet skill manages to take a group of new strangers and make them a team that we as readers understand. I think that's a pretty solid accomplishment.
Another aspect I really like about Captain Marvel #4, and the series as a whole, is how the story and its structure fit into the broader themes of the series. Beyond general heroism and smashing vaguely patriarchal figures (which you could argue this issue is building too with the Spartax Emperor), I feel like Captain Marvel has been about finding and building communities and picking yourself back up after failures. And I think Captain Marvel #4 speaks brilliantly to both of these themes. This issue shows Captain Marvel finding and building a new team, in a new community playing into the comics motif of finding your people. Meanwhile the structure of Captain Marvel #4 has Carol dropped into a new scenario she is ill-equipped to deal with, building a team, picking herself back up and trying again to address the problem in a new way.
And this is why I think so highly of Captain Marvel: even a down issue of character development and plot logistics is a pretty fantastic study in authorial collaboration and technical skill. This series is, in a way that I think is under-appreciated, quietly great comics.
Previously
Marvelling at Captain Marvel #3: When joke and story telling collide
Marvelling at Captain Marvel 17: A meta-fandom salute
Marvelling at Captain Marvel 15-16: On tie ins
Marvelling At Captain Marvel #13-14: On The Enemy Within
Marvelling At Captain Marvel #12: Demarcating reality and fantasy
Marvelling At Captain Marvel #10: A dramatic contract
Marvelling At Captain Marvel #9: How your brain tells time
Marvelling At Captain Marvel #7: Saving a reporter in distress... AND ITS A MAN!
Marvelling At Captain Marvel #1: An alternate reading order that I liked more
Or the tension between punchline and setting in Captain Marvel #3
by Kelly Sue DeConnick, David Lopez, Lee Loughridge, and Joe Caramagna; Marvel Comics
As a general rule I try not to write critical posts. I avoid comics that I don't think I'll like very much, and try to focus my time and money on the best comics I can. As a result, especially for my mainstream comics intake, I read a reliably fantastic collection of comics. When I write about these books, it's much easier to highlight especially interesting positives than trying to find problems to worry at. And when I do notice something about these comics that I don't especially like, it's usually something obvious like deadline rushed art in a crossover or awkward fill in art, neither of which makes for a particularly interesting bit of criticism (It is bad and I don't like it!). However there is a sequence in Captain Marvel that I think, given the collision between two different storytelling priorities, is worth taking a critical look at.
There will be *SPOILERS* for Captain Marvel #3 in this post.
Now, I really enjoyed Captain Marvel #3! In a time when I am becoming increasingly less interested in straightforward super heroics, Captain Marvel remains my example of the best conventional superhero comic being made. The comic is fun, aspirational, rock and roll action packed, has a sense of humour, and manages to provide sufficient character stakes to feel substantiative and dramatic. Kelly Sue DeConnick's dialogue wizardry makes every character interaction a joy to read and her approach to Captain Marvel as a confident, driven, professional whose personality is both her greatest asset and largest challenge is immensely relatable. (I think it's pretty common that the curiosity, competitiveness, or drive of a lot of very talented, successful people can make them simultaneously exceptional and pretty flawed people, and it's pretty great and humanizing that Carol displays this). I'm also really into the way Team Captain Marvel creates challenges that are beyond Captain Marvel's powers to directly address: be it Vol. 1's medical affliction or Vol. 2's diplomacy and plague challenges. A powerful hero who is fallible and has to struggle against broader challenges is great. David Lopez is a pretty fantastic new voice for the comic too: his modern, but very superhero-y style really fits the aesthetic of the comic and does a solid job storytelling. By any reasonable metric Captain Marvel #3 is a very good comic that is completely worth reading.
The thing is, there is one sequence in this comic that I think is super interesting because it is a compromise between two different aspects of comics.
So these two panels here, I think, represent the set up of a joke. The premise is that Carol will have to travel to a planet and act as a diplomat to convince a group of alien refugees to flee their new, toxic home and that Starlord doesn't think it will be an easy task. The set up for the punchline is that Carol has "got some moves", that her diplomatic skills are up the task. And then....
...we get this long, very well thought out storytelling sequence. We see your standard, new planet setting establishing shot, Carol dropping in like this whole thing will be easy, a panel introducing a big, tough looking new character, who then punches Carol in the face. This sequence is very good storytelling that quickly establishes a new setting, introduces a new character, and succinctly displays the thematic challenge of the story (that Carol's help isn't exactly wanted and that she is ill equipped for it.) However, I think, steps all over the joke that was set up on the previous page. By my estimation the punchline of the gag set up in those two previous panels is the punch to the face and because of storytelling clarity needs there are four panels between the set up and the delivery. And this, I think, waters down the effectiveness of the joke.
So there is this whole type of comic which is the short gag strip. Now the best of these, like the above new (ohmygodnew!) Perry Bible Fellowship comic, follow a certain idealized structure. (I mean, there are a lot of ways to skin a cake, but this is one common forumla that works quite well.) The idea here is that in three, immediately connected frames, a premise is etsbalished, a joke is set up, and then an unexpected and impactful punchline is deployed. And those two panels in Captain Marvel at least looked like they were a panel 1 and 2 in a three joke structure gag strip. And then there was a page turn, which set the stage for a great punchline reveal. Which did not materialize.
Instead we get premise, setup, setting. Which, while it is good storytelling to establish where the story is happening, maybe does not fully deliver on the joke setup.
In my opinion this collection of panels is the most direct delivery of the gag. We get premise, the joke setup, and punchline rapidly to maximum impact (ha ha). Of course, this collection of panels makes a pretty big compromise in storytelling: it delivers the joke but with no information about setting, characters, or the context of the punch. This is a pretty big omission and a lot to expect the reader to figure out on their own and, since storytelling is king, probably not the best course.
So after all maybe the actual layout is best: it maximizes storytelling clarity and still manages to deliver a pretty decent punchline on the gag. If the joke isn't in service to the story, than what's the point?
But I wonder if maybe there is some sort of compromise between the two that would provide the needed storytelling and still maximize the punchline. Maybe something like this?
Or maybe I'm completely wrong?
Regardless, Captain Marvel #3 is a great comic you ought to read and judge for yourself.
Previously
Marvelling at Captain Marvel 17: A meta-fandom salute
Marvelling at Captain Marvel 15-16: On tie ins
Marvelling At Captain Marvel #13-14: On The Enemy Within
Marvelling At Captain Marvel #12: Demarcating reality and fantasy
Marvelling At Captain Marvel #10: A dramatic contract
Marvelling At Captain Marvel #9: How your brain tells time
Marvelling At Captain Marvel #7: Saving a reporter in distress... AND ITS A MAN!
Marvelling At Captain Marvel #1: An alternate reading order that I liked more
