The Death of Captain Marvel (Marvel Premiere Classic) [Hardcover]

Jim Starlin (Author), Steve Englehart (Author), Doug Moench (Author), Pat Broderick (Author)

Book Description

Grade Level: 4 and up

Witness the classic and tragic end of one of the greatest heroes of all time, Mar-Vell of the Kree, who became the Earth hero Captain Marvel! After dozens of battles on Earth and across space, and with the power of his Nega-bands and his all-knowing Cosmic Awareness, can Mar-Vell fare well in his battles with Nitro (the exploding villain who later sparked Marvel's super hero Civil War), the death-defying Stellarax, and the seemingly dead Thanos? Guest-starring Rick Jones, Drax the Destroyer, Starfox, and all your favorite Earth heroes!

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Marvel (June 9, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 078514627X
• ISBN-13: 978-0785146278
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 0.5 x 10.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #424,520 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Marvel's first ever graphic novel, September 26, 2001

By 

Jeffrey Ellis "bored recluse" (Richardson, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Death of Captain Marvel (Paperback)

There's a tendency to dismiss the comic book industry as being hopelessly juvenile with an infantile addiction to graphic violence and adolescent sexual imagery. Unfortunately, in some cases, this is a correct assessment. But then there are the other, too often ignored comics that transcend such self-imposed limitations. The Death of Captain Marvel is one such example.

Originally published in 1982, this was the first of Marvel's graphic novels and it has been said, quite correctly, that it revolutionized an industry that had started to grow fatally stagnant. Just as the title says, Jim Starlin's wonderfully written and illustrated novel details the last days of Marvel mainstay Capt. Marr-Vell (an alien better known as Capt. Marvel in one of those delightful comic book coincidences). After years of battling various cosmic foes of all size and evil, Marvel finds himself felled by that most human and realistic of diseases. He had cancer and a great deal of this graphic novel examines how his super powered friends react to the death of one of their own from a disease that could have afflicted any of them. Though Starlin allows for a bit of the expected super heroic melodrama, overall the Death of Captain Marvel is distinguished by a quiet, contemplative mood as Marvel deals with his impending death. In the end, its rather touching and truly thought provoking.

The term graphic novel is one that gets mocked. It sometimes seems to reek of fanboy pretension. The Death of Captain Marvel reminds us of what a graphic novel was originally supposed to be. A comic book, yes, but a comic book for adults -- a comic book that eschewed the melodrama and absurdities of a monthly title and instead used the format to say something truly special. The Death of Captain Marvel more than lives up to that promise.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Death of Captain Marvel, March 31, 2000

By 

[e-mail] - See all my reviews

This review is from: Death of Captain Marvel (Paperback)

A humane farewell to one of the finest character in the Marvel Universe. Captain Mar-Vell is depicted as a person who has to deal with cancer. Does he just give-up everything he stands for, or continue protecting the innocent and unjust? The answer comes in the form of Thanos... How will this end?

Jim Starlin provide a staggering story of facing an enemy that cannot be defeated. The guest appeareace of The Avengers and some of the Marvel Universe characters should attract most of the superheroes readers, but this time Starlin's depicted them in a more human perspectives. Try it out! You'll love it!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Son of the Kree Empire- Champion of the Universe, April 4, 2005

By 

OAKSHAMAN "oakshaman" (Algoma, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Death of Captain Marvel (Paperback)

Unlike Superman, there was no miraculous return from the grave for Captain Marvel. Nor did Marvel die a heroic death in battle while saving the universe. But then he didn't need to, for he had already fought that great battle- against Thanos, the Titan who had become God Himself, and who sought to deliver the totality of Creation unto Death Herself....

No, Captain Marvel had already fought his great battles and was enjoying the hard-won fruits of semi-retirement. He had finally found the peace, and the love, that had eluded him for so long. And then he was diagnosed with what is known on Titan as Inner Decay, and among the Kree as Blackend- and on Earth as... Cancer.

Yet, the Captain faced this last foe with courage and dignity that put the rest of the Marvel Universe to shame. Hero after hero, from Captain America to Thor, came to wonder at the dignity and nobility with which the Captain faced a foe that could not be defeated. No, Marvel wasn't tired of living- he made that abundantly clear- but when he knew his time was done he accepted it. Not only that, he made sure that the comrades and loved ones around him accepted- and learned- from his example.

Of course, in a way, Marvel was the best prepared of any of the heroes for this final journey. After all, the bombastic Captain Mar-vell, super-soldier of the mighty Kree Empire had died once before- to be reborn as Captain Marvel, the cosmically conscious warrior champion of the entire universe. This was because Mar-vell had faced death once before with pride and power and ego- and he had failed.... After that, he was taken to a place beyond space and time by the being named Eon. Under the direction of this being, created by Kronos, the Cosmic Balance, some eight billion years before, Mar-vell the soldier died, or at least his colossal pride and ego did. After facing his inner demons, he was reborn as the champion of all-things. This was possible since he was now cosmically aware and he knew that he was truly part of all-things. The Universe had crystallized out an antidote for ultimate evil in its time of need- a cosmic champion.

You don't really have to he familiar with the saga of Mar-vell to enjoy this story. It is all spelled out right here. While I know of a number of graphic stories as good as this one, I really don't know of any that are BETTER than this one.