Kelly Sue DeConnick to depart "Captain Marvel" post-"Secret Wars"

[CBR News]

After four years on the title, "Captain Marvel" writer Kelly Sue DeConnick announces her run will end following "Secret Wars."


Full article here.

[gurkle]

I can't say I enjoyed her take on the character, but I appreciate that a lot of people did, and I think DeConnick did a great job using every device at a modern writer's disposal to keep a book going - it wasn't just the prospect of a movie that kept Captain Marvel running, it was her effective promotion of the book using Tumblr, Twitter, conventions, interviews. No, the book didn't sell great, but no one remembers in hindsight how well a book sold. What matters is it kept running for what is, in today's market, a good long run, and that's partly due to her strong work in cultivating a fanbase.

I hope the next writer is able to tone down some of the worshipful tone that the Marvel Universe has given to Carol in its attempt to turn her into The Greatest Flagship Female Hero Ever. Maybe now that there are more female-led books than there were three years ago, it'll be easier; she doesn't have as much pressure on her to be The One.

[Darth Weevil]

I hope the next writer is able to tone down some of the worshipful tone that the Marvel Universe has given to Carol in its attempt to turn her into The Greatest Flagship Female Hero Ever. Maybe now that there are more female-led books than there were three years ago, it'll be easier; she doesn't have as much pressure on her to be The One.

To be fair, the "Best of the Best" tone started with Brian Reed's Ms. Marvel run about a decade ago. His series essentially started with Carol saying "I've got an A-list power set and history, but have been treated as a B-list hero. I want to change that." Kelly Sue continued it, but it's been a part of the character for a long time—what she really did different was promote Carol outside of ordinary comics media and show some response in-universe to her heroics. I don't think the "striving to always be the best" thing will go away, but I'd be surprised if we see anything as overtly praising as the Captain Marvel #17 "I am Spartacus" scene again anytime soon.

[Den]

There will be much sorrow among the Carol Corps. I haven't been reading it, but the fan base and boosters for the series have impressed me. They are some die hard types who (That I've seen) while enthusiastic about their heroine, have avoided being really obnoxious about it.

Big boots to fill here

[randomengine]

Ehhh, she and her husband were never fully committed to Marvel anyway. It will make room for new and interesting writers to come.

[randomengine]

To be fair, the "Best of the Best" tone started with Brian Reed's Ms. Marvel run about a decade ago. His series essentially started with Carol saying "I've got an A-list power set and history, but have been treated as a B-list hero. I want to change that." Kelly Sue continued it, but it's been a part of the character for a long time—what she really did different was promote Carol outside of ordinary comics media and show some response in-universe to her heroics. I don't think the "striving to always be the best" thing will go away, but I'd be surprised if we see anything as overtly praising as the Captain Marvel #17 "I am Spartacus" scene again anytime soon.

Brian Reed. Now that is a writer I sorely miss. He was co-writer on New Avengers Illuminati, one of my favorite series ever.

[Darth Weevil]

I can't say I enjoyed her take on the character, but I appreciate that a lot of people did, and I think DeConnick did a great job using every device at a modern writer's disposal to keep a book going - it wasn't just the prospect of a movie that kept Captain Marvel running, it was her effective promotion of the book using Tumblr, Twitter, conventions, interviews. No, the book didn't sell great, but no one remembers in hindsight how well a book sold. What matters is it kept running for what is, in today's market, a good long run, and that's partly due to her strong work in cultivating a fanbase.

On the sales front, it's been really hard to know how well the book is doing because Marvel doesn't release digital numbers and it's widely believed this book does disproportionately well digitally. But, yeah, there were some dark days in 2013 when it looked like it would be cancelled and Kelly Sue's constantly promoting the title really helped it to continue and to get a second volume.

I've really enjoyed the bulk of Kelly Sue's run and will be sad to see her go, but I really do feel like this was inevitable. While she still tweets about CM, it really feels like the bulk of her attention is now on Bitch Planet. She's now had two co-written arcs in the past year, for instance. Secret Wars was just the logical point to leave.

[randomengine]

If Marvel wants to push Captain Marvel for her upcoming film debut, they will want to replace DeConnick with an in-house writer. Since this and Miles Morales were announced on the same day. My guess would be Dan Slott.

[t hedge coke]

They should hire Larry Hama to write Carol again. He has a fantastic history there and I don't think he's ever written her with superpowers. Could be a badass book.

Ehhh, she and her husband were never fully committed to Marvel anyway. It will make room for new and interesting writers to come.

"Committed" to Marvel or not, she was committed to that title, and on it and her Avengers, she was doing some of the best work of any writer at Marvel in the last ten years.

[Darth Weevil]

Brian Reed. Now that is a writer I sorely miss. He was co-writer on New Avengers Illuminati, one of my favorite series ever.

Yeah, his absence from comics is a real loss. He did do a Spider-Man/Human Torch story that was pretty funny in one of the ASM 700._ issues (want to say 700.5), but otherwise I think he's just doing video game work now.

[randomengine]

"Committed" to Marvel or not, she was committed to that title, and on it and her Avengers, she was doing some of the best work of any writer at Marvel in the last ten years.

Boy, wouldn't I love to know what your reading list is for Marvel Comics. It is hard for me to wrap my head around the idea that DeConnick on Captain Marvel was better than anything I have read at Marvel over the past 10 years. I understand we all have different taste, but that is a head-scratcher.

[Teste]

This is interesting. Carol Danvers has been Marvel's token female lead for quite some time now. They have kept the book and used every strategy they could muster - a very large number of relaunches, adversiting in Tumblr, Twitter, etc - despite how the book always sold poorly.

Now that Marvel has other books with female leads selling well - at least Spider-Gwen and Miss Marvel, with the latter's popularity probably going to last - there isn't any need for Carol Danvers to act as the token female lead. Marvel could just let the book fall down in sales without further relaunches and cancel it...

...But with the movie coming? Nah. They will likely try to push her even more. I'm surprised Captain Marvel isn't in the Avengers; I'm guessing they will add her back to the Guardians of the Galaxy.

[RJT]

On the sales front, it's been really hard to know how well the book is doing because Marvel doesn't release digital numbers

For what it's worth, Marvel doesn't release print numbers either.

[Darth Weevil]

If Marvel wants to push Captain Marvel for her upcoming film debut, they will want to replace DeConnick with an in-house writer. Since this and Miles Morales were announced on the same day. My guess would be Dan Slott.

My guess is Kelly Thompson, since she's co-writing the Secret Wars mini with Kelly Sue and is developing quite the reputation based on Jem (and other things). But, I would also not be shocked if we saw a short 6-issue run by Warren Ellis before someone else takes over. Marvel clearly thinks Captain Marvel can be one of its big franchises, so there'll be some internal desire to put a big creative team on it, but they'll also not want to piss off the current readers by changing the tone too much, which militates for someone like Thompson.

As for Slott, while I enjoy his writing on Spider-Man and Silver Surfer, many current readers would not react well to his writing Captain Marvel, based on the perception that he does not write women particularly well. (That's oversimplifying a bit—it's more that his women tend to be secondary to the men around them, but in fairness it's hard to say what his writing would be like on a female-led title.)

[gurkle]

Boy, wouldn't I love to know what your reading list is for Marvel Comics. It is hard for me to wrap my head around the idea that DeConnick on Captain Marvel was better than anything I have read at Marvel over the past 10 years. I understand we all have different taste, but that is a head-scratcher.

Yeah, even on Avengers Assemble, I thought her work was outshone by Ewing's fill-in issues.

I'm sure DeConnick is a good writer (though her work isn't really to my taste), and I think like a lot of writers she's been hurt at Marvel by the idea that women writers must write female-led books only. But her work is so Bendis-influenced in its dialogue and style, but without the intensity that Bendis has when he's at his best.

As for Slott, while I enjoy his writing on Spider-Man and Silver Surfer, many current readers would not react well to his writing Captain Marvel, based on the perception that he does not write women particularly well. (That's oversimplifying a bit—it's more that his women tend to be secondary to the men around them, but in fairness it's hard to say what his writing would be like on a female-led title.)

Slott's She-Hulk was, in my opinion, one of the best female-led books Marvel ever did.

While we're doing writer fantasy baseball, I would never want to see Kurt Busiek write Avengers again, but if they could get him to do a Carol run, I'd read it. People who like pre-DeConnick Carol tended to like her in the "Warbird" era, when she was trying to reestablish herself in the Marvel universe and her self-destructive impulses kept getting in the way. Now that she's a more confident person, maybe a more history-conscious approach would unite fans of pre- and post- 2012 Carol.

As long as the writer signs a pledge never to mention Avengers 200 again.