Captain Marvel Volume 1 – The Omen 

Writer – Alyssa Wong 

Artists – Jan Bazaldua with Ruairi Coleman 

A villain named The Omen is after the all-powerful Nega Bands. The Omen engages in battle with Genis-Vell and they crash through the apartment belonging to Rick and Marlo Jones. Minutes before this cosmic clash, a young thief named Yuna Yang was in the process of breaking into the apartment. Genis’ Nega Bands are violently removed from his person and Yuna grabs hold of them before they fall into the clutches of The Omen. She dons the bands, clangs them together, and Carol Danvers appears in Yuna’s place. 

Alyssa Wong takes the reins of Captain Marvel after Kelly Thompson’s phenomenal fifty issue run. 

After reading Wong’s first trade of Deadpool and finishing this volume, I can say with a hundred percent certainty that Alyssa Wong can do no wrong. 

New writers have the daunting task of trying to start anew after a lengthy run that was well-received. Alyssa Wong is up to the challenge and I like the new direction for Carol and her family and friends. During the original Captain Marvel run from way back when, Rick Jones and Mar-Vell’s lives were intertwined. I like this callback/homage with Carol and Yuna now. Yuna and Carol must work together as a team to ensure they stay alive long enough to stop the Omen and find a way to solve their entanglement. There are a few shocking revelations like the final fate of Genis and the identity of The Omen that will keep you invested in what happens from one issue to the next. The final issue of this volume ends on a hell of a cliffhanger as The Omen attacks one of the extended Marvel family. 

I am taking part in the annual Summer Reading Challenge hosted by the local library system here in Pittsburgh. Last year, I read the first volume of Kelly Thompson’s Captain Marvel and I find it a bit funny that I read Wong’s first volume during the same period this year. I would like to go back and finish Thompson’s run at some point. I jumped on late during her run with The Return of the Brood, which I reviewed back in 2022. 

Captain Marvel – The Omen is available instantly via Hoopla. The next volume in this series will be released on October 22, 2024 (per Amazon). I’m not sure I can wait that long to see what happens with Carol and Yuna. 

If you are a member of the Carol Corps, let us know what your favorite run of Ms. Marvel/Captain Marvel is in the comments below.