Mystique (Raven Darkholm) has tracked down a Captain Marvel impostor that has been attacking branches of the Church of Hala. Found in an alley in Seattle, Raven decides to reveal the truth about him so he knows what will happen next. She starts by saying that while she was recently in the employ of Norman Osborn, she learned about how — during the recent Skrull invasion of Earth — the invaders tried to make a perfect imitation of the deceased Kree hero, Captain Marvel. It took 97 tries before they got it right.[2] Mystique tracked down their lab and discovered that, after they were defeated, the Skrulls abandoned the last surviving test subject. This was test number 96, a near perfect copy of Mar-Vell. Mystique decided to use him to get revenge against her old foe, Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers), setting him on his path of destruction.

However, Ms. Marvel got herself killed and she kind of abandoned this mission. Now that Carol has cheated death, the Marvel impostor is back in play.[3] With Ms. Marvel on her way, Darkholm tells the Skrull to get ready for the fight.

When Carol arrives moments later, she discovers that the building has exploded nearby and helps evacuate the injured. That’s when Mystique (wearing the form of Ms. Marvel) is knocked into her vicinity. Carol grabs Raven and demands to know what she is up to. All Darkholm will say is that Carol is about to have a pissed off Skrull infiltrator coming her way. When the fake Marvel arrives, Mystique assumes the appearance of Carol out of costume and tries to convince him to attack the real Ms. Marvel.

However, this phony has seen through Mystique’s shapeshifting ability and tosses her into the side of a building. Still, he attacks Carol anyway, and when she starts absorbing the energy he is giving off, she discovers that they are overloading his body. As the Skrull begins building up to critical mass, Carol flies him high into the air where he won’t harm anybody when he explodes. She tries to convince the Skrull to keep it together, but he can’t and his final words are that he loves her before he explodes. Still not high enough to protect people from the explosive energies, Carol instead absorbs it into herself, reducing the amount of damage. This process is painful and knocks her out for a time.

Days later, back in New York, Ms. Marvel is out with Spider-Man (Peter Parker) and is telling him what happened in Seattle that day. She says that Mystique managed to get away by posing as an injured civilian and fleeing from the ambulance she was riding in.

In the end, the incident gave Carol a lot to think about. She remembers how she recently became obsessed with becoming the best superhero there is, she has since come to realize that she only really needs to be the best she can be, and that’s a more reasonable goal.[4] With their chili dogs finished, Peter asks Carol if she wants to go on patrol with him. She declines his offer, deciding that she is going to have a “me” day and flies off.

Recurring Characters

Ms. Marvel, Mystique, Number 96, Spider-Man, (in flashback) Norman Osborn, Skrulls

Continuity Notes

1. This cover pays homage to Marvel Graphic Novel #1.

2. Lots going on here off the top, so lets break it all down:

   • The real Mar-Vell died of cancer years ago in Marvel Graphic Novel #1.

   • More recently, Marv appeared to come back through some kind of time travel incident that brought him forward in time in Civil War: The Return #1. As we later learned in Captain Marvel (vol. 6) #1-6, this was actually a Skrull infiltrator named Khn’nr

   • The Skrull invasion occurred primarily in Secret Invasion #1-8, which ended when Norman Osborn killed the Skrull leader, landing him a cushy spot as America’s top cop. During this invasion, Khn’nr sacrificed his life defending the Earth, as seen in Secret Invasion #6.

   • Raven recently entered the employ of Norman Osborn in Dark X-Men: The Beginning #1. The Skrull impostor she is using here started his murder spree in Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #48.

3. Carol Danvers powers went out of control causing her to explode in Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #37. Believed dead, she was actually fragmented into composite beings that were slowly reintegrated between issues #42 and 46.

4. Carol’s obsession with being the best hero came from her experiences in the House of M reality. See Giant-Size Ms. Marvel #1.

Protector

Noh-Varr is out on a drive with his current romantic interest, a woman named Annie. When they stop at a gas station to fuel up, they are suddenly attacked by a woman in high tech battle armor. While Annie runs inside, Noh-Var changes into his Protector identity to engage this hostile.

This attacker, who claims to be from the future admits that they overshot their time travel coordinates. After making some cryptic hints about how Noh-Varr’s current heroism will be short lived, she decides to target the people inside. Fearing for Annie’s safety he races inside and pulls people out of harms way.

He then knocks the time traveler back outside, knocking off her helmet off in the process. He is shocked to see that his attacker looks like an older version of Annie. This time traveler tells Noh-Varr that she has come from 1000 years in the future and is amazed that his future self didn’t tell her about this encounter. She assures him that it will all make sense in the future and vanishes back into the time stream.

When the present-day Annie comes out and asks who that was, Noh-Varr keeps the true identity of his attacker a secret, just saying he didn’t understand anything about the attack.[1]

Recurring Characters

Protector

Continuity Notes

1. The Unofficial Appendix of the Marvel Universe states that the future version of Annie comes from Reality-10450. I don’t know if this has been listed in an official Marvel publications as yet as I write this (June, 2024) so this could be subject to change at a later date as Appendix designations sometimes change when they are later published. That said, this storyline kind of dies on the vine, at least as I write this. Whatever story was supposed to come out of this has not been explored any further.