If You Wrote Comics: Captain Marvel

[Anthony W]

In other words not many likes that hair cut and it was a horrible idea to begin with seriously what was Marvel thinking?

They were probably desperate to show the difference between her and Wonder Woman.

"She has short hair! She doesn't show skin! She is an actual Captain, so she has a bunch of other heroes to give orders to. Remember Alpha Flight, Canada's premier super team? Well now they are just her underlings! Now give her Ms Marvel name to a sidekick but don't call her a sidekick and make sure that they hardly ever talk to eachother and give the sidekick polymorphic abilities that she will use to make a big fist most of the time!"

[Tiamatty]

In order for it to be a debate wouldn't someone have to defend that terrible haircut? I think we have reached consensus

I think the haircut's fine. Some artists make it look better than others. But I see no reason for people to get as worked-up over it as they do.

[KurtW95]

In order for it to be a debate wouldn't someone have to defend that terrible haircut? I think we have reached consensus

I think a vast majority prefers long hair on Carol. But let’s do a poll.

http://www.strawpoll.me/15923327

[CaptCleghorn]

I think the haircut's fine. Some artists make it look better than others. But I see no reason for people to get as worked-up over it as they do.

Some care about Superman's red trunks. Why not a hair style?

[Skedatz]

Some care about Superman's red trunks. Why not a hair style?

The focus on both can be a tad bit weird. lol

[responsarbre]

To be honest, I think a lot of this hairstyle conversation is being framed less as "I have these aesthetic preferences for a character I like" and more as "I don't like this character unless she has a specific sort of sex appeal." I'm struggling to see how a hairstyle would be a definitive part of a grand direction for a Carol Danvers story, as opposed to a footnote. (And I say this as someone who likes the long hair on her better! I, like most comics fans, am reticent to change.)

Anyways, I personally think that there's a point to Carol Danvers beyond her visible "femininity" or how pleasing drawings of this fake person are to look at. I don't even know if this type of conversation is in the spirit of the character at all, seeing as she was made a superhero back in the throes of second-wave feminism, written to be a superheroine for that specific cultural moment.

[Seren]

I'd just make Abigail Brand in charge of Alpha Flight.

She should be the authority, because she is an excellent FOIL for Carol to play off.

And then Carol could more effectively/appropriately play to her strength of sassy, snarky, defiant, take charge gal.

I really really like this. I'd also toss Jessica Drew on as a major supporting character because of her history with Brand and role as Carol's BFF. She could re-establish her role of Brand's on Earth Alien Bounty Hunter or something. If Jess can't have a solo I'd prefer her to be in a book alongside Carol. Their friendship is a hell of a lot of fun and one of my favorites.

[CaptCleghorn]

The focus on both can be a tad bit weird. lol

Weird (or different or unusual) is cool. Deciding what an appropriate reason is to like or dislike a comic book character isn't.

[Drops Of Venus]

That's not a bad idea. I could get behind something like that, though it's not the direction I myself would take.

Though I'd leave Mar-Vell dead and gone. I feel like bringing him back, even as a disembodied "ghost" would be to cheapen his death (one of the few that has actually stuck to any degree). And this isn't a franchise that needs competing voices of authority. Carol is Captain Marvel, the "top of the food chain" within the IP should be her; not the voice of a guy who died over thirty years ago and couldn't find success beforehand.

What would the team be called? The Marvels?

Well, what to do with Mar-Vell will vary from one reader to another. I know and understand people feel like Mar-Vell should never come back but, as seen in this thread, there are people who believe there are still stories to be told with him. Also, I wasn't really envisioning him as an authoritive figure to compete with Carol. He's probably not even the type that would do that sort of thing. If anything, Genis is the one who'd probably challenge her leadership the most. My idea for him on the team would be more related to his children and how he could be a presence in their lives and make up for the lost time. I think that's a pretty reasonable motivation for him to be involved. Carol would naturally be a central character in the story, but not all the dynamics have to be about her. And Marvels sounds pretty good for a name. Not sure if Marvel would be ok using that, since it's already associated with another critically acclaimed story, but I wouldn't oppose.

In order for it to be a debate wouldn't someone have to defend that terrible haircut? I think we have reached consensus

Not really. Carol can have any haircut she wants if it's well drawn, in my opinion. She was recently on Champions and she looked amazing. Not everything is black and white, you know.

[Anthony W]

I think the haircut's fine. Some artists make it look better than others. But I see no reason for people to get as worked-up over it as they do.

Just fine? It's not good. It's not great. It's just fine.

[The Dying Detective]

They were probably desperate to show the difference between her and Wonder Woman.

"She has short hair! She doesn't show skin! She is an actual Captain, so she has a bunch of other heroes to give orders to. Remember Alpha Flight, Canada's premier super team? Well now they are just her underlings! Now give her Ms Marvel name to a sidekick but don't call her a sidekick and make sure that they hardly ever talk to eachother and give the sidekick polymorphic abilities that she will use to make a big fist most of the time!"

If that's how Marvel wants to make Carol into their Wonder Woman they got something wrong when they thought of it.

[Tiamatty]

Just fine? It's not good. It's not great. It's just fine.

Look, there are very few hairstyles that I actually have strong feelings about. "It looks fine" is pretty much my default with hair. My opinion on the long hair was also "it looks fine." I don't have the strong feelings on hair that so many here seem to have. Most of the time, if I love a character's haircut, it's more about the artist. To grab an example from this past week, Jenn St.-Onge draws some great hair in Nancy Drew. (Great fashion, too. Great everything. St.-Onge is just a fantastic artist.) It's how certain artists draw hair styles that grabs me, not really the hair styles themselves.

[Carabas]

Just fine? It's not good. It's not great. It's just fine.

It's a vast improvement over the 80's Barbie hair.

[Skedatz]

Weird (or different or unusual) is cool. Deciding what an appropriate reason is to like or dislike a comic book character isn't.

Weird can be cool. The sort of weird I'm talking about borders on stalkerish behavior. That's NOT a cool kind of weird. And I'm not throwing arbitrary reasoning for people to like or dislike anything. I'm talking about the focus and energy put into some of the reasoning, not the reasoning itself. It's one thing to say, "I just like Carol's hair longer because it makes for more energetic paneling," it's another to say, "She looks like a damn man! Why can't Marvel just have sexy women?! I swear Marvel has been screwing it up and this hair just a symptom!" I believe this to be a big difference. I should have elaborated on why I said the focus "can" be a bit weird, and contrasted on why I didn't say the focus "is always" a bit weird.

[Xalfrea]

Kamala and the other Marvels would play a larger role. Every major, A-list hero has at least a few legacies, sidekicks, and/or junior partners. Phylla is at the top of my list for returning Marvels, but I'd want to bring in Genis and Monica too.

In Kamala's case, how large a role we talking about here? She ain't exactly into cosmic stuff.