CAPTAIN MARVEL #50 (1977)

Trenchcoat disguise entry.  Look at the bystanders in the background.  They’re not fooled at all.

With this issue, the book is titled “The New Captain Marvel–The Spaceborn Hero,” and the story is titled, “To Begin Anew.” They really want this book to work.

It is different, but it’s not entirely different.  First: the creators. Al Milgrom has drawn thsi book before, but there is a new writer, who separates Rick Jones and Captain Marvel (finally!). 

Author Scott Edelman would go on to win awards in Science Fiction and become a prominent editor in the comics field.

Issue #50 starts in the middle of action–Avengers fighting the Super Adaptoid–in a normal-sized 50th anniversary.

Meanwhile, Captain Marvel is in Texas and Ronan is in overalls, wrapping up last issue’s conflict. Ronan’s mind has been erased.

Next, he’s back to being Rick Jones.

Rick Jones, who used to get laughed off stage, now has an act with a black woman called “Rick and Dandy,” and they’re selling out their shows.  I’d love to know if there’s a story behind this sequence, which seems to emphasize that Rick Jones is a genre-busting artist–maybe the first indie rocker?  For one thing, why did Marvel feel the need to emphasize that point.  But for another, new series author was allowed to keep his copyright on the lyrics.  Marvel was not known for respecting creators’ rights at the time (and it still isn’t, really), so why did they let him own something outright that appeared in a Marvel book?

Jarvis the Avengers’ butler goes to see them, then invites them back to Avengers mansion for a threesome nightcap, where they and the A-team are ambushed by Super Adaptoid, and we catch up to the beginning of issue #50. 

During the battle, Adaptoid–who has the power to mimic the powers of anything he sees (including armor and shields, etc.)–adapts to Mar-Vell’s nega bands, which are the very things that force him and Rick Jones to share a body, and when the android bangs the adapted bands together…Wammo!  Rick Jones returns from the Negative Zone, standing alongside Captain Mar-Vell!

I don’t understand why this happened, but I’m not complaining.

With the two being free, maybe this book can stop being a Shazam wannabe and take on its own identity.  At a minimum, we won’t get the “transformation/switch scene” that appeared in every single issue up to now.

She’s not real important now, but I should mention that this is the first appearance of Dr. Minerva. She’s the one watching the separation from above.

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