Monster and Marvel, Part 3

Carol Danvers (aka Ms. Marvel) finds herself face-to-face with the Brood Queen, which seems impossible. Carol thinks back to how Brood experiments turned her into Binary and she later used those newfound powers to destroy the Queen and the entire Brood home world.[1] Yet here the Brood Queen stands, seeking to get revenge against Carol for what she did to her empire. Her attack happened as Carol and the alien warrior known as Cru were attempting to sever the bond between them.[2] This has left Cru unconscious and Carol without her powers.

The Brood Queen boasts about her survival and how her last battle with Carol allowed her to become invincible and spread her empire across the universe. Unwilling to surrender, Carol fights back against the Brood with her military training. She banks on the possibility that while her traditional powers have been shut off, she maintains the invincibility she gained from her link with Cru. She painfully learns that this is not the case when the Brood Queen impales Carol through the chest with one of her crystalline tentacles. With Danvers seemingly dead, the Brood Queen proclaims her victory.

Meanwhile, the Operation: Lightning Storm mini-carrier has tracked Cru’s energy signature to Monster Island to rescue Carol. On board are SHIELD Agent Dave Sum, Rick Sheridan, Machine Man (Aaron Stack),[3] Wonder Man (Simon Williams), and Araña (Añya Corazon). As the grown-up put on jet packs to fly to the ground Añya keeps on asking how she is joining them on this mission. Dave ignores her and after Rick uses his sleep induction device to summon Sleepwalker, the heroes all leave without her. This angers Araña who promises to hit the first person who tells her she is safer aboard the carrier. When Sum and the others land on the island, Simon comes across dead Brood. Sum suggests that Simon uses his credentials as an Avenger to compel SHIELD to send back-up making a point to needle Williams about the secrets that his team has been hiding.[4] As they bicker with one another, a large shadow suddenly looms over them.

By this point, the Brood Queen has become aware of the mini-carrier and orders her army to attack it. The heroes return to their ship and Agent Sum orders them to keep the Brood off the carrier while he goes inside. There he finds Añya and tells her that she can help him. While Araña believes that they will be using the mini-carrier’s weapons to fight back against the Brood, she grimly discovers that Sum is actually priming a nuclear bomb that will destroy the ship. This is an insurance policy in case the carrier is stolen, regardless of how many crew is still on board. Sum tells her that she is to do exactly what he says if she wants to get out of this alive.

Back on the ground, Carol is still alive but is just barely. She blames Cru for this situation and uses her remaining strength to grab the alien by the throat. As she blacks out from blood loss, the mental link between the two is re-established. Carol finds herself floating in the void of space where Cru talks to her. The alien warrior admits that she both admires and dislikes the Earth woman but with the situation as dire as it is, she has no choice but to do something turn the tide of the Brood invasion. She tells Carol that what she is about to do is less of a gift and more of a curse, as Danvers will soon learn.[5] When she tells Carol to open her eyes, they are glowing with fire. Cru has reactivated Carol’s long lost Binary powers and with them she takes the battle directly to the Brood Queen!

Recurring Characters

Ms. Marvel, Cru, Brood, Operation: Lightining Storm (Agent David Sum, Machine Man, Sleepwalker), Araña, Wonder Man

Continuity Notes

1. In Uncanny X-Men #163, Carol was experimented upon by the Brood, giving her cosmic level powers, she later too on the identity of Binary in the following issue. The Brood Queen was later turned into crystal by the Acanti Prophet-Singer and their planet was blown up by Binary in Uncanny X-Men #166. However, neither Carol nor the Brood Queen acknowledge the fact that they encountered one another after the fact in Contest of Champions II #1-5. I posit a reason why in my index entry for last issue.

2. Carol and Cru became linked after their previous battle in Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #1-3, as explained in issue #21.

3. Per Marvel Comics #1001, this is not the real Machine Man, but an impostor who took his place after the real Aaron Stack after he left Earth in X-51 #12. This impostor first appeared in Nextwave #1. As of this writing (June, 2024), his purpose has yet to be revealed. Here, he is depicted with the body of Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau) this is because most of his body was destroyed Cru in Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #20. This is a Life Model Decoy of Monica’s body that was given to him as payment for joining Lightning Storm, also explained in issue #21.

4. Simon is at odds with Sum because he has refused to share classified information the Avengers have. Simon is referring to the discovery that the Skrulls might be invading the Earth. Something that his team (the Mighty Avengers) learned in Mighty Avengers #7. This is but a precursor to a larger invasion that will primarily take place in Secret Invasion #1-8.

5. It’s not clearly explains what Cru means by Carol’s restored powers being a curse but it could be referring to how said powers will grow unstable as seen in Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #34-46.

Topical References

• When helping Agent Sum with the Brood attack, Añya believes that she is going to man turrets, saying she gets to be like Han Solo. Han Solo is a character from the Star Wars franchise. A kind of space freebooter, Solo flew a ship called the Millennium Falcon. which had turrets to fight off attacks from enemy ships, as showcased in an iconic scene in Star Wars: A New Hope. This would usually be considered a topical reference, but now that Disney owns both Marvel and Star Wars, this would be an instance of brand synergy.