Remember the old “Church of Hala” cult that worshipped the Kree Mar-Vell? Well, they help ring in the final issue of this series when their hero–the original Mar-Vell–appears to have destroyed their L.A.-based church.
Of course it wasn’t him. He’s dead. It also wasn’t a clone. There are more sightings and, in a huge editorial mistake, the cover of issue #48 gives away the mystery.
It’s Mystique. Why on EARTH didn’t Marvel use the cover of issue #49 for issue #48, and vice-versa? That would have maintained the mystery. As they did it, it makes no sense because by the end of issue #48 (i.e., before the start of #49), Carol has figured out that it’s really Mystique, not Mar-Vell, and we readers know, too.
Anyway, after they fight, Mystique shares that she recently discovered a nest of Mar-Vell clones manufactured by skrulls. So there ARE clones. Or at least there’s ONE, who Carol kills in the end.
After that, there’s a VERY nice scene between her and Spider-Man. Brian Reed started this series with the idea that Danvers wanted to be one of the best heroes of all time, which she had achieved in her House of M fantasy universe.
In the final pages, Spider-Man tells her that she is in fact one of the GOATs.
And then, for the first time in a while, she seems content.
See, THIS IS HOW YOU END A SERIES! Ms. Marvel is a franchise character, so Reed needs to end his run “clean” so that she can be used again. But at the same time, he completes the narrative that he launched and owned and offers a satisfying conclusion to his truly great run.
There’s a Protector back-up story in issue #50 that I could have done without. It’s not bad, but when you’ve just served a perfectly satisfying main dish, I really don’t need a mediocre dessert.
The cover to the final issue is a tribute to the classic “Death of Captain Marvel” graphic novel–Marvel’s very first graphic novel.
