Having discovered that her cat Chewie is the last of an alien race,
Captain Marvel must fight to protect her pet from certain annihilation at the
hands of intergalactic mercenaries. Then, Lila Cheney drops in for some help
wiggling out of a nuptial arrangement she made with the royal family of Aladna.
Captain Marvel Volume 2: Stay Fly
collects issues 7-12 of Captain
Marvel, written by Kelly Sue DeConnick and illustrated by Marcio Takara and
David Lopez.
Picking up immediately after the events of the preceding volume, Stay Fly sees Captain Marvel
begrudgingly accepting Tic as her partner as they fend off mercenaries hellbent
on killing Chewie. Fan-favourite Rocket Raccoon guest stars in this arc, which
ultimately means that DeConnick gets to write plenty of humorous dialogue.
There’s this funny buddy cop vibe between our titular heroine and Rocket, which
is created through a slightly antagonistic dynamic in their interactions with
one another. The narrative itself is kind of strange. It’s a very random
storyline that’s clearly intended to be lighthearted, but it reads and feels
like filler.
DeConnick rushes through the proceeding issues, never allowing the
characters to really breathe or the narrative to unfold organically. We have
intergalactic rockstar (and Chris Claremont pet project) Lila Cheney
teleporting onto Carol’s ship and asking for some help getting out of a sticky
situation. After some uncharacteristic fangirling over Lila, we get some
exposition and then our heroine is off to Aladna to find a way to free Lila
from a nuptial agreement made with the Prince of Aladna. There are some really
cool things about this arc – particularly the way in which everyone on Aladna
speaks in rhymes and the reversal of gender norms. However, DeConnick spends
all of one measly issue on this story. It’s unfortunate because the people
Captain Marvel encounters here are pretty interesting and it would have been
fun to get to see the events unfold a little more elaborately.
Stay Fly concludes with a
two-part story wherein the villainous Grace Valentine escapes from jail and unleashes
mind controlled rats on New York City in the hopes of getting Captain Marvel’s
attention. Once more, we have DeConnick jamming what could easily be a four or
five issue arc into two. She does the most with this limited space,
particularly showcasing the really fabulous supporting cast she’s built around
our titular heroine. Issue #10 did a spectacular job of highlighting the
individual personalities of Spider-Woman and of Iron Patriot, which was done
through an epistolary format. Sadly, the hasty pacing of issue #11 makes for a
disappointing read. The final confrontation with Grace and her partner Toxie
Doxie happens without proper build-up, which offers no suspense or tension. The
silver lining though was in the little moments that reflected upon Carol and
her relationship with Tracy Burke.
While DeConnick’s writing is inconsistent throughout and way too
rushed, the art is on point. In fact, it may be this collection’s saving grace.
Lopez’s art continues to improve, showing more dynamism and character with each
successive issue. The work done by Takara is hands-down the highlight though.
It’s absolutely stunning. It’s colourful, vibrant and full of life. I’ve been a
fan of Marcio Takara for years on DeviantArt and so I’m naturally very happy to
see him drawing these characters here.
Stay Fly is best described as
filler. Nothing terribly important happens and it all feels very uninspired,
which is largely due to none of the stories ever being given the room to grow
beyond a couple of issues. I’ve been a fan of DeConnick’s take on Captain
Marvel, as I think she’s a skilled dialogue writer and knows how to inject a
lot of personality into the characters she writes. Sadly, I’ve been more
ambivalent towards her Captain Marvel work post-The Enemy Within. It lacks the same gravitas that I’d gotten used
to, so her work feels more like an Archie comic with superpowers. That’s not to
say Stay Fly isn’t a fun ride,
because it totally is. It’s punchy, colourful and funny, with moments of genuine
emotion. But if you're looking for groundbreaking, epic adventures, you may want to look elsewhere.
RATING:
B-
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