Captain Marvel NOW?

Marvel EIC Axel Alonso recently sat for an interview on Marvel NOW! and what changes readers can expect over the next few months. Apparently the one thing we can’t expect is good news for Marvel’s ladies. In particular, I’m a little disappointed that the top brass isn’t shining even more of a spotlight on Captain Marvel; I’m not saying I would’ve preferred the book’s release being pushed back to October to earn the NOW! stamp, but it is disappointing to see that there aren’t more women in a line-up of titles being touted as a starting point for new or lapsed readers.

(And even though Carol’s the first Avenger of my heart, at this point it’s insulting that Black Widow doesn’t have a story of her own; I bought and enjoyed Hawkeye #1, and will probably continue to pick it up as long as Kate Bishop makes regular appearances, but let’s face it—Clint wasn’t the break-out star of The Avengers. That accolade should be shared between Johansson’s Widow and Ruffalo’s Hulk.)

Although two questions submitted by fans directly referenced Captain Marvel—one about newly launched titles that aren’t part of the NOW! initiative, one specifically about Marvel’s women—Alonso instead used the opportunity to, oh, that’s right, praise Hawkeye and tell us that there won’t be a Black Widow series as part of NOW! And that the new Red She-Hulk won’t be included in effort to renumber for accessibility. And that Mockingbird will be getting less face time.

Like I said, I can’t decide if I would’ve liked Captain Marvel to be part of the NOW! initiative. Part of me wants to ignore the whole mess, much as I ignore most of the company-wide events and rebranding efforts, but NOW! is clearly Marvel’s answer to DC’s New 52 and Carol certainly could use the exposure. While the distinguished competition’s relaunch isn’t without its (many, many, many) problems, they’ve done a solid job of putting their superheroines squarely in the center of the action. Once again, Marvel fails to measure up.

Read the interview on CBR.