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Captain Marvel #28: Review

Sep 1973
Mike Friedrich, Jim Starlin

Story Name:

When titans collide

Review & Comments

Rating:
4 stars

Captain Marvel #28 Review by (November 13, 2013)
Next issue doesn't contain any of the stars of our Libraries, so won't be synopsised. But it is mainly a digression where Eon gives Mar-Vell Cosmic Awareness as Protector of the Universe. Also we see that Thanos uses the Cube to capture the last free Titanians, Mentor and Eros. That issue also contains some history of the Titanians. Chronos and Uranos led opposing bands of Titans. Uranos lost and was banished to Uranus. Chronos eventually died in a life force experiment, and went on to become the disembodied entity Kronos who we saw creating Drax in Iron Man #55. Kronos foresaw the Cosmic Cube and Thanos and created Eon 8 billion years ago to await the advent of Captain Marvel. Chronos' sons were Zeus and A'lars. Zeus founded the Olympian gods and banished A'Lars to Titan, where he found Sui San the last of a previous Titanian civilisation. Together they founded a new Titanian race. (Although Eros and Thanos are supposedly their only children, so where did the other Titanians come from?) What If #26-28 will rework this to make these characters Eternals (which Jack Kirby hasn't invented yet), and so Zeus becomes Zuras. It will also explain what happened to Uranos, and who the previous Titanians were. This new origin would make a mess of Eon's 8 billion years, but somewhere along the line *his* origin will get separated from Kronos. Also eventually Uranos' story will give rise to the Uranians who are connected to various Marvel Boy characters.

This issue is divided into 3 chapters, and Jim Starlin scripts the central chapter about Drax and Thanos. Controller has made a couple of appearances as an Iron Man villain, and will continue mainly in that vein after this stint as Thanos' lieutenant. Thanos must have improved Basil Sandhurst's equipment, because he no longer needs his Absorbatron to siphon energy from his victims. Isle Dernieres (which is actually Isle Derniere or Isles Dernieres) is a place off the coast of Louisiana. Presumably it is near the AIM underwater base in the Gulf of Mexico which is where the Cosmic Cube was last seen in Sub-Mariner #47-49. With hindsight Drax and Thanos' references to Death *could* mean that Drax can see Thanos' companion. If so then this is where we are 1st told that the companion is Death. But I suspect not, and this is just Starlin messing with us. Part of Thanos' psychic attack is images of Drax's past. These include shots of a car crash and certain faces that will be explained in #32.




 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Captain Marvel #28 Synopsis by Rob Johnson
Rick Jones is at Avengers Mansion, concerned for his comatose girlfriend Lou-Ann who is under the influence of 1 of the Controller's discs. Iron Man wants to know what Thanos has to do with this, after he helped Drax the Destroyer against the villain in their 1st appearance in Iron Man #55. Rick thinks Captain Marvel can explain better. But his alter ego in the Negative Zone is currently seeing a vision of a strange being who talks to himself, calling himself Eon.

Rick swaps bodies with CM, and Mar-Vell explains how Thanos is seeking the Cosmic Cube. Black Panther goes to fetch a tape Iron Man made describing his encounter with Thanos and Drax the Destroyer. But a shadowy figure has invaded the Mansion, and knocks him out with 1 blow. Vision goes to see what's taking Panther so long, and is felled by a hunk of machinery. Scarlet Witch hears the blow and rushes to her lover's aid, and falls just as quickly. Captain America lasts longer but also succumbs to crushing blows. CM stays to protect Lou-Ann, as we hear Iron Man  get defeated too.

Finally the invader comes out of the shadows, and we see that it is the Controller. As mentioned in #26 Controller has his discs on many important people, as part of Thanos' plan to rule Earth. And he siphons strength from them all, which is how he could defeat the Avengers.

Meanwhile on the Isle Dernieres Drax has confronted Thanos to stop him getting the Cosmic Cube. Thanos tries to drive Drax mad with the Time-Mind Sync-Warp. Cue several pages of Starlin psychedelia. Drax fights free but collapses at his foe's feet. Then Thanos takes possession of the Cube.

Back in Avengers Mansion Controller defeats Captain Marvel and slaps a disc on his neck, to make him his 1st super-slave. But Mar-Vell calls on his mental link with Rick Jones to overcome the slave disc. He rips it off and hits back at the Controller. Controller responds by bringing down a large chunk of the building on top of CM.

Controller takes Lou-Ann and leaves. But what he doesn't know is that as the roof fell in Eon whisked Mar-Vell away. It is Rick who is trapped in a gap under the rubble. And clanging his wrist-bands together doesn't bring CM back.

Somewhere else Captain Marvel confronts Eon, who continues to refer to himself as more than 1 person. And they say they have brought Mar-Vell here to give him the power to oppose Thanos.



Jim Starlin
Dan Green
Jim Starlin
Jim Starlin (Cover Penciler)
Jim Starlin (Cover Inker)
Plot: . Letterer: Tom Orzechowski.
Editor: Roy Thomas.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Black Panther
Black Panther

(T'Challa)
Captain America
Captain America

(Steve Rogers)
Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel

(Mar-Vell)
Drax
Drax

(Drax the Destroyer)
Iron Man
Iron Man

(Tony Stark)
Scarlet Witch
Scarlet Witch

(Wanda Maximoff)

Plus: Controller (Basil Sandhurst), Eon, Lou-Ann Savannah.

> Captain Marvel: Book info and issue index

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