Face front, true believers! The Captain has made her return and oh, how mighty it is. It’s a bold new frontier for Carol Danvers as she soars to new heights in her greatest mission yet—leader of the all-new Alpha Flight space program. Yup, Alpha Flight. As earth’s first line of defense, Carol and her team aim to protect the planet from extraterrestrial threats. But can Carol be a soldier and a diplomat? Especially when an unknown enemy emerges that Carol can’t quite punch.

We’ve known through other series of Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel’s, new status as the head of the space/alien defense force Alpha Flight. It seems to have taken the place of the previous organization S.W.O.R.D. After reading this first issue, that continues to seem like the case.

Written by Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas, the team behind Agent Carter, the first issue is entertaining, but at the same time something feels missing. There’s a lot going for the comic, as it focuses much more on the characters themselves as opposed to trying to dazzle us with tons of action, and that’s the fantastic part about it. But, it’s that focus that also might be its downside. The space action doesn’t feel all that exciting.

The first issue has the team dealing with asteroids and two mysteries, but neither have the build up, or the “threat level” that had me really excited. Much like Carol is dealing with as the head of the new Alpha Flight station, it all feels a bit mundane and boring.

The characters are great though with a fantastic mix of ones that haven’t gotten enough love for some time. Agent Brand is on board, and with the name Alpha Flight, many members of Canada’s super group are on board. One that looks to be taking center stage is Puck who has all sides of his personality shown off, bit of a sexist pig, fanboy, and there’s some sadness there too. Carol spends most of her time debating if her career move is the right one, and then being bored with what that job is. That part is ok as it’s relateable, but also is a bit odd she wouldn’t know what she’s dealing with. A lot of that is played off for laughs, with humor peppered throughout the first issue and used really well.

The art by Kris Anka is solid with some great design of all of the characters. I’m personally digging Puck’s look and the space station has a look that really does put you in awe a bit. It’s supposed to be an amazing structure and it comes off as such. It’s a solid look to it all, but there’s some issues with the space battles where some of what’s going on is lost.

The first issue is a nice start be left me wanting. It’s missing the excitement I was expecting and other volumes gave us, and it’s focus on the boring role Carol has found herself in bleeds off the page in a negative way. Previous volumes have thrown their feminism in our faces, along with action, and this in some ways feels like a dialed back take in both ways. Hopefully, like the latter half of the comic, we get a better mix of action and space station management.

Story: Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas Art: Kris Anka
Story: 7.4 Art: 8.2 Overall: 7.4 Recommendation: Read

Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review