CAPTAIN MARVEL #26

By Tony Whitt     January 06, 2002

Rick Jones has had a hard time lately. Not only has he been turned into an old man, he's been mugged by a young guy trying to get together enough money for Christmas. Worse, the mugger has stolen one of the Nega-Bands. Depressed and suicidal, Rick prays for a miracle-and ends up being a direct participant in one.

As I've said in other reviews of the "'Nuff Said" comics available last month from Marvel, the only way they can really work is if the writer and the artist are so completely in sync on the story they're trying to tell, no words, or at least very few, are needed to convey that story. Marvel must realize that not all their teams are up to former Marvel president Bill Jemas and current president Joe Quesada's challenge, so they've included the script for each story at the end of each issue. Or part of it, anyway-the complete script is only available at Marvel.com. But you would have visited that site anyway, right? In any case, the scripts provide a fair clue as to whether the writer and artists are in sync, as well as allowing the reader to see whether the story he actually got from the book was the story that was intended.

Despite Peter David's recent intemperate remarks about fandom, I remain impressed with his work, especially when he's one of the few writers this month to be in such sync with his artist. The story told here is a simple and elegant one, and only in one instance-the final miracle of the story-is there any confusion as to what's happened. Of course, that particular event will no doubt be explained in upcoming issues, especially as it sees the end of a very affecting story arc for Rick Jones. Otherwise, this story is so perfectly suited to the silent "'Nuff Said" format that it's hard to imagine it being told with words at all. Words would only get in the way.

The words would certainly get in the way of guest artists Leonard Kirk and Robin Riggs's wonderful imagery, which is full of subtle touches that help to convey the story far more than dialogue or exposition would. There's even a flashback sequence here that makes perfect sense, as does Rick's flurry of thoughts just before he attempts suicide-with a toy knife. It's not the cosmically huge imagery of the book's regular artistic team, and that's a good thing-the downfall of many other "'Nuff Said" books has been their tendency to attempt the same sort of artistic complexity that they display in a regular issue. Those teams should really learn the lesson implied by this book: less is more.

In a way, it's a shame that this issue is wordless, and that it came out just a bit too late for Christmas: it's the perfect sort of story to read to the kids to show them the meaning of the holiday season, regardless of whatever religion one might be. It's also an elegant enough story that it should be read to the kids anyway, whether they're the children of those dreadful fans or not.

CAPTAIN MARVEL

Grade: A-

Issue: No. 26

Author(s): Peter David, Leonard Kirk, Robin Riggs

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $2.50