Captain Marvel vol. 6 #3Captain Marvel vol. 6 #3
Title:"Pamavision”
Writer: Peter David
Penciller: Chriscross
Colors: Chris Sotomayor
Editor: Tom Brevoort
A Kree armada converge on the planet Toped because of its strategic location in relation to the Skrull empire. Captain Marvel senses their arrival. Rick Jones senses it too for all the good it does him.
The Colonel calls Captain En-Vad. He tells Captain En-Vad to tell him again about the Topeds. En-Vad says that they are a fierce warlike race. He says that they have primitive weapons, but that they are well garrisoned and quite aggressive. Colonel says that he has one other question, “Where in the Pama are they?” He says that they passed two outposts on their moons and that they were both deserted. He says that they are right in front of a fortress, but that they are nowhere to be seen. En-Vad says that either something has happened to them or that this is a trap. The Colonel says that those are his thoughts and tells En-Vad to find out which it is before it is too late. The troops pour through the fortress. They finally find someone and prop her up from the ground. One of the soldiers says that he thinks that the Topeds are overrated and that he was expecting a fight. The female Toped starts to freak out. She says, “He looks at us! He looks at us, and… and he knows!” She starts flailing around and grabs onto En-Vad’s legs. She tells him to conquer them if he wishes. She says that they have no objection as long as it drives the “starry one with the eyes cold as ice! Cold as death!” The Colonel says that the Topeds aren’t really living up to their billing. En-Vad points out that the women just tossed aside two of his men like they were sticks. En-Vad says that something has them in the thralls of terror.
Rick sits in Shinga Doon’s cave freezing. He has been there freezing for twenty-eight days. Rick says that it has been about two months since the last time Marv banged his bands and switched places with Rick. Rick says that this cave was supposed to give him a clue on how to get out of the Microverse, but instead it has become his prison. A voice calls out to Rick. She asks if he has heard of a huge hairy individual that lives around here. Rick says that she is dead. He says that he came looking for him too, but that he was killed by his jailer. The woman takes the hood down from her cloak. She asks if Rick has anything to eat. Rick says, “Shinga Doon”. The woman says that was the answer to her first question. Rick says that by coincidence that is also the answer to her second question. Rick says that it is quite cold and so Doon’s body has kept quite well. Rick says that Doon was quite rational and so in death he thought it fitting that he rationed Doon.
The Kree are walking around the landscape. There are bodies of the Topeds everywhere. En-Vad says that it looks like they have been killed by a pulse blast. He says that it seems like weapons similar, or even identical, to theirs. The Colonel tells Vad to do something about the stench and health hazard. Vad orders his men to set their weapons on inferno. The Kree burn the dead bodies of the Topeds. Rick can sense that Marv senses them doing it. Rick can also sense that this doesn’t bother Marv. Rick says that nothing bothers Marv anymore. Rick says that Marv has the “utter calm and focus of the truly insane.” Rick says that Marv didn’t always used to be this way. He says that he was trying to master his ability of Cosmic Awareness. The power to perceive everything overwhelmed him. The Colonel gives the Topeds’ ashes a burial ceremony. He then tells the men to mount up. He says that they are going to find who did this and do it to them. He says that no one can exploit these people until they’ve had a chance to exploit them.
Marv faces the wall. He says that they are coming and that they are quite close. Marv tells them to go out and greet them. The frightened Topeds asks if he is really going to let them leave the room. Marv says that they act as if he were keeping them prisoner. He says that he has kept them there for their own safety. He says that it isn’t like he is forcing them to stay, but after thinking about it for a second he says that is actually what he has done. He tells them to go anyway. The Topeds rush from the room. Marv says, “What a great bunch they are. Wouldn’t you say, Rick?”
Rick is stunned. He shouts that “he spoke to me!” The woman asks if something is wrong. She says to herself that obviously several things are wrong. Rick says, “Marv! Marv, listen to me! You’ve gotta…” but as he says it he stands up and smashes his head against the rocky wall that was right about him. Rick falls over unconscious. The woman looks down at Rick and says, “What an odd little man.”
Outside, the Kree are all standing. Colonel says that the doors are wide open and that it looks like a trap. Captain En-Vad says that he doesn’t think so. He says that his soldier’s instincts tell him that something happened here that none of the locals were expecting. Colonel orders the men to raise their weapons as all the Topeds come rushing out of the building. Colonel says that it looks like Vad’s instincts have lost their edge. Vad says that they aren’t attacking and to listen to them. The Topeds are all shouting to save them and shouting praise for their saviors. The Topeds rush around the soldiers and hug them. Vad points to one and tells them to tell him what is happening. He asks if this is all that is left of them. The woman Toped says that there are more of them, but that they are afraid to leave the city. She says that they think that this is a trick of their ruler. Vad asks who their ruler is. She replies, “He… he calls himself… Captain Marvel.” Vad says that is a name he never thought he would hear again.
Rick wakes up in the cave. He asks if Marv is there. The woman says that there is no Marv there. She asks Rick if he is all right. Rick keeps trying to contact Marv by saying, “Rick to Marv”. The woman asks if Marv is his god. Rick says that he would have laughed at the idea once, but that Marv is attuned to the cosmos, holds his fate in his hands, and that when he speaks to Marv that he has no idea if he is listening. Rick says that he isn’t laughing anymore. Rick offers her some water. She declines and says that she doesn’t understand any of this. Rick says that he came looking for answers from Shinga Doon that a cosmic level being squished Doon. Rick says that it told him that he was “No One” and then left. Rick says that every time he has tried to leave since then that Mr. No One has stopped him in the form of “avalanches, quakes, and other manner of fun.” She asks Rick what his point is. Rick says that No One could have squashed him at any time, but that he is thinking that he didn’t for some reason. She asks Rick why he thinks that. Rick says that it was “just a sudden flash of insight.” The woman says, “Yeah. That tends to happen when I’m around. So tell me what’s happening with Marv, Rick.” Rick says that he knew it. He says that he never told her his name and that there is more to her than meets the eye. The woman says that Rick said “Rick to Marv” and that she assumed that made him Rick. She asks Rick if he sees a different world through Marv’s eyes. Rick says that he does. The woman says that normally this would be considered madness, but that here it is an interesting diversion. Suddenly Rick sees something through Marv’s eyes and says, “Son of a…” She asks Rick what it is, but Rick just says that it is a “blast from the past”.
Marv is standing in the exact place he was before and says, “Well, well. A blast from the past”. The Kree soldiers enter the place with their weapons drawn. Marv welcomes them to his world. Vad asks if he is the “pup calling himself ‘Captain Marvel’ these days”. Marv says that he is Captain Marvel. Vad says to save the posturing. He says that until his time on Earth warped him that Captain Mar-Vell was one of the finest soldiers in the Kree army. Marv asks how he would know this. Vad says, “Because I’m Captain En-Vad, and I’m the one that trained him.” Vad says that other officers wouldn’t have anything to do with Mar-Vell because of his white skin, but that he believes that it is all about what a man has inside that counts. Vad says that Marv developed into a formidable fighter and a brilliant tactician. Vad says that he became like a son to him. Marv smirks and says he supposes that makes him like his grandson. Vad asks if he thinks this is funny. Marv says that he does not. Marv says that he has no intention of any Topeds dying when he decided to take over the world. He says that he chose it at random and that there was a chaotic world with civil war. He says that he wanted to control the discord and make sense of things. He says that he wanted to see if it was possible on a small scale before trying something bigger. Marv says that the Topeds attacked him, but that it was their own weapon ricocheting off of him that killed them. Marv says that it is important that Vad understands this. Vad asks why. Marv says, “So that when I kill you, you’ll appreciate it.” Marv smashes through Vad’s chest with his fist. The Kree start shooting, but Marv is protecting by his shields. He tells Vad that he has issues with Vad. He tells him that his father is dead because of a fight with Nitro. Marv says that if Vad had trained him better that his father wouldn’t died. He says that if his father hadn’t died that his mother wouldn’t have used science to “create” him and that he wouldn’t be there. Marv says, “And I wouldn’t have to endure the insanity that is the entirety of the damned universe! So, as you see… we have some issues, you and I. But in a way, they’re surface issues. And I, like you, believe it’s all about what a man has inside, not on the surface. Here. Let me show you what you have inside.” Marv pulls Vad’s insides out with his hand.
Rick throws up. The woman guesses that Rick’s species doesn’t normally void their food through their mouths.
Marv stands
before the Colonel and his men dressed in En-Vad’s now
repaired uniform. He tells the Colonel that he knows that these
are odd circumstances, but that if he look past them that he will
see the potential he offers. Marv says that there is much he
still needs to learn about maintaining order and discipline. He
says that he thinks that he needs to be in the army and, because
his father was a Kree, that he prefers that it be in his army.
Marv asks what the Colonel has to say. The Colonel says,
“There’s only one thing I can say: Welcome to the
Imperial Kree Army… Captain Marvel.”
Legacy rating: 10 out of 10
I can’t imagine this issue being written or drawn better than it is. The story continues to spiral into madness in a bizarre and unique way. Cross and Sotomayor have also created a unique and beautiful way of doing the artwork. The results are a magnificent book that so few people are buying that it is ridiculous. If you read comic books, read Captain Marvel. IF you have friends that read comics that don’t read Captain Marvel, force them to buy it. If they still won’t buy it, buy it for them.