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The best Captain Marvel comic books

Here's the definitive list of Captain Marvel reference material for the upcoming MCU phases.

Image via Marvel Studios

Captain Marvel is expected to pull a lot of weight in the upcoming phases of the MCU. Now that Captain America and Tony have been essentially written out of the continuing Marvel saga and Thor is on what appear’s to be an extended hiatus in the stars, Carol Danvers is arguably the biggest hitter in the marvel superheroes arsenal.

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While she’s already anchored her own movie and had a fairly spectacular cameo in Avengers: Endgame fans can probably expect to see more of the good Captain in the next few years. Significantly more than the glimpse we caught in Disney Plus’ Ms. Marvel TV series. So while the fans are eagerly awaiting Carol’s return to the big screen in next year’s The Marvels here are a few collections of Captain Marvel’s comic book career that will make the wait a little easier — and make one of Marvel Comics’ most complex character a lot easier to understand.

The Life of Captain Marvel 

To say Carol Danvers has had a long road to becoming Captain Marvel is an understatement of cosmic proportions. Danvers initially appeared in the first run of the series as an Air Force officer and potential love interest of Marvel’s first version of the hero, the alien Kree warrior named Mar-Vell. She’s later in an accident that grants her a set of superpowers of her very own, becoming the comics’ first version of Ms. Marvel.

Those powers are permanently stolen by the mutant Rogue in the pages of X-Men after which Carol becomes a semi-regular character in the series, gaining a new set of powers as the hero Binary, spending some time exploring the galaxy. She’s had two periods of time where she suffered extreme bouts of temporary and permanent memory loss, been a member of the Avengers, and changed her superhero name several times over, and that is all before she finally and officially takes over the mantle and responsibilities of the galaxy’s cosmic protector, Captain Marvel. Whew.

The Life of Captain Marvel is a godsend to anybody attempting to start reading about the character in the comic books. Writer Margaret Stohl explores the character as no one before has, beginning with her childhood and exploring the touchstone moments that would lead to her becoming one of the most important heroes in marvel’s comic book pantheon. Not only does the book serve as a definitive origin for the character, but it’s also the perfect starting point for any fan of the MCU character to dip into her comic book adventures.

Ms. Marvel Volume One

Even though Carol’s very first superhero origin has been retconned, doesn’t mean that the source materials aren’t without their charms. The first run of Ms. Marvel which was published from 1977 to 1979 featured Carol Danvers receiving super-strength, flight, and invulnerability after an explosion grafts Kree warrior Mar-Vell’s DNA onto her own. Danvers ends up leaving her job with the USAF for a position as the editor of Woman magazine where she ends up butting heads with Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson. And if that sounds like she becomes a super-powered version of Gloria Steinem, well, you aren’t wrong.

The run has been collected as Ms. Marvel Masterworks Vol. 1 (Ms. Marvel (1977-1979)) and while its most definitely dated and occasionally ham-handed in its exploration of gender issues (having only male writers doesn’t help a lot) there’s still plenty of fun to be had especially when legendary X-Men scribe Chris Claremont takes over writing duties on the series, beginning a long run of telling Carol’s stories over the next few decades.

Captain Marvel: In Pursuit of Flight 

After years of operating under multiple other identities as Ms. Marvel, Binary, and Warbird, Carol finally comes to terms with taking up what will become her defining identity, Captain Marvel. After the events of House of M, Danvers finally embraces her destiny to be one of Earth’s greatest champions. But not before a great deal of soul-searching, a minor identity crisis, and, of course, a bunch of action. She must come to terms with her own new identity as well as the immense powers that come with it that allow her to absorb and manipulate energy in a variety of ways and make her one of the most powerful heroes on or off the earth. Also, she uses a time-traveling plane to fight UFOs in WWII-era Japan which is really cool.

House of M

Back in 2005, Carol Danvers was trying to figure out her next step. She had been operating as an Avenger under her code name of Warbird but had left the team following an incident where she was forced to kill the supervillain known as The Master of the World. She then became a government employee again working as the Chief Field Leader in Homeland Security.

When the Scarlet Witch used her fully realized the power to reshape reality, Carol found herself in a new existence where she was known as Captain Marvel and was one of the best-loved superheroes on the planet. Although the world’s actual reality was eventually restored Carol decided to pursue the better existence she had enjoyed in the World of M and took on the name of Captain Marvel permanently.

Captain Marvel: Higher, Further, Faster, More

After truly accepting her identity as Captain Marvel and her own traumatic past of loss and interruption, Carol begins a new chapter in her life. She has the respect of her peers, a new romance, a sidekick/partner, close friends, casual friends, and even a cat. She’s at the top of her game. So what else to do but fly off into outer space? Higher, Further, Faster, More is exactly what it says, with Danvers pushing herself farther than she’s ever flown before and shifting away from her role as an Earth-bound hero and leaning into her destiny as a defender of the galaxy itself.

Stay Fly 

Remember that cat Carol had in Higher, Further, Faster, More? Well, here’s the thing. Stay Fly starts off as a fun romp with Carol adventuring through space with her pet cat Chewie. Until she meets Rocket Raccoon who points out that Chewie probably isn’t a cat at all. Chewie, it turns out, is actually an alien called a Flerkin. And she’s Pregnant! With a few hundred “kittens”. Author Kelly Sue DeConnick continued her acclaimed run on the series with this comic masterpiece which ended up becoming a significant part of Captain Marvel’s MCU debut.