carol danvers iconI am unrepentant about being a “Carol Corps” member. I found out about the latest incarnation of Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel via tumblr, and I’m so glad I did!

Do you read comics? I did, growing up. Not a lot — never got into the X-Men or Superman or Batman, but I was a huge Wonder Woman fan. The reboot of 1987 with Geroge Perez was absolutely foundational for me. I was 17 at the time and everything about that run spoke to me as a young woman, a feminist, and a geek girl. But I turned 19 and went to college and determined to put “childish things” aside. What a mistake!

It took Fraction/Aja’s new Hawkeye series to pull me back into comics. I had kept buying Wonder Woman and become a fan of Mouse Guard but my feelings were, on the whole, “meh” about comics. Then I got into Hawkeye (no lie, an AMAZING series!) and like a junkie, I just could not get my fill.

Fortunately, I discovered the new Captain America!

And she’s just incredible. I never knew Carol Danvers before — as a Wonder Woman fan, I kept mostly to the DC world, and Danvers (and Captain Marvel) were Marvel heroes. I admit, I was not too interested in Marvel until the Avengers, despite enjoying both Iron Man movies and Thor.

But here is why I love Carol Danvers, who has taken up the mantel of Captain America: she’s a USAF pilot and officer in her own right, a career she pursued despite all obsticles; she’s got a take-no-prisioners attitude, very straight up and honest; she’s proud and not ashamed of that; and, yes, her FULL JUMPSUT costume is awesome. She can be abrasive, and she’s stubborn, but no moreso than (for instance) Iron Man or Captain America. She takes no shit and gives no fucks, although she has a heart of gold and is kind and compassionate.

I think she embodies the complexities of being a strong woman, and does so while fighting mutant dinosaurs on the streets of New York City. What’s not to like, I ask you?????

Carol Danvers and dinosaur

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