Monster and Marvel, Part 4

Monster Island has been infested by the Brood. Their Queen had come to Earth to get revenge against Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers) and the alien warrior known as Cru. Linked together, Cru uses this connection to reactivate Carol’s old Binary powers so she can end the Brood menace on Earth once and for all.[1] Ms. Marvel confronts the Brood as they attack the mini-carrier of Operation: Lightning Storm and revels in the return of her old powers.

Meanwhile, on board, SHIELD Agent Dave Sum and Araña (Añya Corazon) have activated a nuclear bomb aboard the carrier to prevent it from falling into Brood hands. As they try to abandon ship they are attacked by the Brood Queen and her minions. Unfortunately, Sum’s gun has run out of ammo, as the Brood Queen gets the bomb. That’s when Ms. Marvel arrives to face her foe. Something inside her tells her to stop fighting, but she decides to ignore it.

She ends up slamming the Brood Queen outside the ship as Wonder Man (Simon Williams), Sleepwalker, and Machine Man (Aaron Stack),[2] prepare the re-enter the mini-carrier. Carol slams the alien into the side of Monster Island’s active volcano but then her Binary powers fizzle out. She has become so weak she can barely stand, she tries to absorb the radiation energy of the volcano, but it is not enough. Before the Brood Queen can attack, she is seemingly killed by an energy blast through the head.

Carol is surprised that Cru has regained her original form, thought to be permanently lost when she was transformed into a living weapon to avenge the destruction of her people.[3] However, as the two women are talking the Brood Queen recovers and impales Cru through the head with one of her tentacles. She then tosses Cru’s lifeless body into the open volcano where it sinks below the lava. Furious, Carol attacks the Brood Queen once again. Deciding that this battle has to end, Ms. Marvel grabs the nuclear bomb and the Queen and flies into space. There, she stuffs the explosive down the Brood Queen’s throat and uses her energy powers to ignite it. The resulting blast sending the Brood Queen flying into deep space while Carol is sent crashing back down to the ocean below.[4] Moments later, Carol is recovered by Wonder Man and everyone heads home.

Araña returns home to her worried father, and the two make up.[5] While Rick Sheridan uses his sleep inducer once more so Sleepwalker can come out of his mind. Aboard the mini-carrier, Machine Man is given a brand new body. While Wonder Man departs, he looks longingly at the ship, his thoughts of Carol. [6] When Carol returns to her old apartment, she discovers that it is still in ruins and that it doesn’t really feel like a home anymore.[7] She gets a hotel room where she thinks about her recent activities and gets down on herself for rushing into things half-cocked and not thinking things through. This has led to people getting hurt, and growing doubts about herself.

Three days later, SHIELD Director Iron Man (Tony Stark) calls a meeting with Agent Sum. He apologizes for the secrecy between the spy agency and Operation: Lightning Storm and then reveals what the secret that Wonder Man had alluded to on their last mission. Tony has become aware of a possible Skrull invasion of Earth. He explains that Skrull operatives have been using their shape-shifting powers to hide in plain sight and he wants to quietly root them out. With this knowledge, Stark wants Sum to go after Ms. Marvel, whom Stark is convinced is a Skrull spy![8]

Recurring Characters

Ms. Marvel, Operation: Lightning Storm (Agent Dave Sum, Machine Man, Sleepwalker/Rick Sheridan), Wonder Man, Araña, the Brood, Gilberto Corazon, SHIELD (Iron Man)

Continuity Notes

1. There is a lot going on off the top, so let me explain everything for you:

   • Carol and Cru were linked together during their first clash in Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #1-3. They have been trying to sever this link since issue #21.

   • Years earlier, Carol obtained cosmic level powers from the Brood in Uncanny X-Men #163. She would later use those powers to destroy the Brood home world in issue #166 of that series. This is why the Brood Queen has come to Earth to get revenge.

   • Originally, Carol’s Binary powers eventually faded, and were completely gone by Avengers (vol. 3) #4. Cru reactivated those powers at the end of last issue.

2. Per Marvel Comics #1001, this is not the real Machine Man, but an impostor. He took place the place of the real Aaron Stack when he went into space in X-51 #12 and was first seen in Nextwave #1. As of this writing (June, 2024), the reason for this has yet to be explained. In this story he is wearing a Life Model Decoy body fashioned after Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau) because his original body was destroyed in Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #21. He got it as payment for joining Operation: Lightning Storm.

3. As explained in Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #21, Cru’s entire race was wiped out by the Brood. She underwent modification to transform herself into a living weapon.

4. As of this writing (June, 2024), Cru is still considered to be among the deceased. The ultimate fate of the Brood Queen has yet to be revealed.

5. Añya and her father got into a spat over her activities as a hero. Not long after that she was captured by the Puppet Master until Carol rescued her. See Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #18-20.

6. The scene with Wonder Man is reference to the fact that he has developed feelings for her that date back to Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #1. These feelings are unrequited, but have become more complicated after Carol was forced to kiss him in order to free him from MODOK’s mind control in Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #16.

7. Carol’s apartment was trashed by a variant from another reality in Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #10.

8. Iron Man became aware of a possible Skrull invasion in Mighty Avengers #7. This will lead to a larger invasion that is primarily chronicled in Secret Invasion #1-8. That said, Carol isn’t a Skrull, as we’ll learn in that event as well as in Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #25-30. The target that Tony wants Sum to eliminate is a Skrull that is posing as Carol, but hasn’t swapped her out yet.