The case for Angela as Marvel's flagship superheroine or why Captain Marvel hasn't catched on so far

[chamber-music]

I've read various comics most of my life and I had not heard of angela until she showed up in the marvel universe. I've read a little spawn but nothing I read featured her character.

[ed2962]

I've read various comics most of my life and I had not heard of angela until she showed up in the marvel universe. I've read a little spawn but nothing I read featured her character.

There were legal disputes between Gaiman and Mc Farland so that limited her appearances as well as the trend when she originally appeared kinda dying down.

[Arfguy]

I've read various comics most of my life and I had not heard of angela until she showed up in the marvel universe. I've read a little spawn but nothing I read featured her character.

When they released her miniseries around the time of her debut (around 1993, I believe), her comic was selling in the top 15. She was pretty popular when she first appeared. I could definitely be wrong, but I remember hearing about legal actions between McFarlane and Alan Moore/Neil Gaiman way back around the mid-to-late 90s. That could have been a big factor in Angela not being a more prominent presence in comics.

[Doctor Know]

Black Widow is the flagship heroine of the MU. Thanks to the MCU and the goddess ScarJo.

[Reviresco]

I've read various comics most of my life and I had not heard of angela until she showed up in the marvel universe. I've read a little spawn but nothing I read featured her character.

My experience also.

[Factor]

I don't think Marvel really needs a flagship heroine. They don't have one clear flagship male hero, so why do they need a female?
What they need is to continue increasing the importance and popularity of their multiple heroines.
Captain Marvel, Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, Storm, Rogue etc should matter as much Captain America, Iron Man, Thor or Wolverine.

[Mike82]

My experience also.

Mine as well. We should start a group.

[Doctor Know]

I don't think Marvel really needs a flagship heroine. They don't have one clear flagship male hero, so why do they need a female?
What they need is to continue increasing the importance and popularity of their multiple heroines.
Captain Marvel, Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, Storm, Rogue etc should matter as much Captain America, Iron Man, Thor or Wolverine.

Marvel's flagship hero is Spider-Man, and it's been Spider-Man since the 60s. With Captain America, Thor and Iron Man representing Marvel's Holy Trinity.

Marvel's closest thing to a flagship heroine was Storm in the 80s and 90s. Jean and Sue was just "there" from the 60s and beyond; with Byrne giving both characters a shot in the arm with his 80s run on UXM and FF. Carol and Jessica Drew have been inconsistent, but their stars have started to rise recently. With Carol however, newcomer Kamala Khan has been outperforming/outselling her since day 1. Rogue, Jubilee and X-23 have fans and were really big 10 years ago (20 for Jubes and Rogue) but not so much anymore.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

You cant just make a character a flagship character. Angela does not sell.

Honestly, based off the movie alone, Black Widow should be the flagship heroine of the MU.

The MCU has handled Black Widow pretty well for sure!
Regarding flagship heroine...

I am VERY grateful that, if not the first lady who made her debut during the Marvel Age of Comics (Happy 55th anniversary Invisible Woman! 1961-2016), the second lady, Wasp, will be the first marvel superheroine to have a Marvel Studios movie named after her.

What better year to have that happen than the year which will mark the Wasp´s 55th anniversary 1963-2018 of her comicbook debut in Tales to Astonish # 44 (June 1963)

[JudicatorPrime]

One thing is for sure, if Marvel is going to have a so-called flagship heroine, they better hurry up and get her in a movie while the MU craze is still going strong.

[ed2962]

One thing is for sure, if Marvel is going to have a so-called flagship heroine, they better hurry up and get her in a movie while the MU craze is still going strong.

They've got the Carol Danvers movie coming up. Although as much as I like the character, she's not close to being Marvel's female flagship hero.

[gurkle]

The movies are, generally, better at handling the characters than the comics are. Not always, certainly, but there are a number of characters who have been restored to popularity by the movies when they were considered "broken" by years of bad comics storylines: Iron Man, obviously, but also supporting characters like Vision and Scarlet Witch. (And when characters do behave badly, as some of them did in Avengers: Age of Ultron, the next team of filmmakers just mostly ignores it or sweeps it under the rug.) A famous comparison is how hard the Civil War movie tried to keep anyone from becoming unsympathetic, while the comics people only realized too late that the original event had made Iron Man and Carol Danvers unsympathetic.

So I think the movie should be able to give Carol the necessary push. It helps that in the movie she will be new, and the push will seem natural and normal to most viewers. The Carol push in the comics has seemed forced because most comics readers know that she's been around a long time without ever being very popular, and it doesn't seem to make a great deal of sense in-story for her to suddenly be treated as one of the all-time greats. Comics readers are aware that, as with the Inhumans (or the comic Guardians becoming more like the movie), the storytelling is being driven by the marketing potential. It won't be the same way in a film; it'll just be a story that happens to star this fresh and new character named Carol Danvers.

Will any of this help her in the comics? Maybe not a lot; as we've seen with Marvel's short-lived attempt to make Tony Stark their flagship comic hero, movie popularity and comics popularity are not the same thing. But at least she'll be guaranteed to have a comics presence for some time to come.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

I don't see the potential in Angela you do, OP.

And I don't think replacing a character struggling to keep a series past 12 issues with a character that can barely hold 6 is a good investment.

Thordis is a comicbook character who keeps a series past 12 issues so to me Thordis is a good investment.

[RafDanvers]

wait wait, Captain Marvel "didnt catch".. that was the WORST out of the loop thing ive ever read. Shes the woman of Marvel with the most number of solo issues, (more than 110 issues) shes got a big big promo and investment from Marvel since House Of M, have a BIG Carol Corps fandom, a heroine following her legacy, many cosplays in conventions.. AND is getting a MOVIE. Oh please.. next topic.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

That is certainly an understandable line of thought. I would have nothing against it.
But of course Black Widow doesn't have Pew Pew superpowers and can fly around and stuff like that. She is "just" a spy. One that isn't a goody two shoes all the time either.
I personally find that line of thought silly but those are some of the arguments that I have heard when Black Widow being the premier female hero has been brought up.

I find that line of thought silly as well.