Episode 138, “By Friends — Betrayed!”
Avengers Annual #10, Summer 1981
“By Friends — Betrayed!”
Written by Chris Claremont, Pencils by Michael Golden, Inks by Armando Gil, Lettered by Joe Rosen, Colors by Michael Golden, Edited by Chris Claremont and David Kraft, Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter.
The Captain Marvelous Ms. Marvel!
In Which We Discover That The Only Things More Nefarious Than Evil Mutants Are Long Distance Fees, That The Blob Lets His Little Blobs Dangle And You Can’t Unsee It, And That Storm Is Not Sure What Exploding Relays Stimulate, But She’ll Take Two Of What Kitty Is Having!
Fertility Is Intensely Personal, But We Can All Agree That Trans-Dimensional Implantation (TDI) Is Too Risky And Too Likely To Result In Megalomaniac Transfers Of The Father.
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Left) Carol Danvers first appeared in Marvel Super-Heroes #13 (March 1968) as side character for the original Kree Captain Marvel. Partially hidden behind the shoulder of a male character, it was an inauspicious start to the feminist icon. Right) In January of 1977, Carol got a super power upgrade and her very own title, Ms. Marvel. Ms Marvel was a deliberately feminist character, being editor in chief of Women Magazine and fighting for equal pay for equal work. Originally written by Gerry Conway, the writing duties were rapidly taken over by Chris Claremont, who penned most of her initial two year comic run.
Left) Carol Danvers went on to join the Avengers in Avengers #183, only to have her time with the team come to an abrupt and highly criticized end in Avengers #200. The storyline, often referred to today as “The Rape of Ms. Marvel”, has many accredited writers (David Michelinie, Bob Layton, George Perez, and Jim Shooter) and none. No one seems to quite remember exactly whose idea it was, but all of them are sure it wasn’t them. Right) Carol Danvers went on quite a journey from there, changing names (Binary and Warbird), bouncing around books (X-men, where Claremont worked hard to redeem her, then back to the Avengers), boosting her power set, then de-boosting her power set, multiple costume changes; a fairly standard rigamarole for marginal characters as each new generation of writers tries to find a place for them. In 2012, she took up the mantle of her former mentor, Captain Marvel, and has really taken off since then, becoming one of the Marvel Universe’s core characters, helped greatly by a major motion picture with her name on it.
