She used to be a Captain Marvel, but now she’s her own woman, with a very important delivery to make. Your Major Spoilers review of Monica Rambeau: Photon #1 from Marvel Comics awaits!

MONICA RAMBEAU: PHOTON #1

Writer: Eve L. Ewing
Artist: Luca Maresca with Ivan Fiorelli
Colorist: Carlos Lopez
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles
Editor: Annalise Bisa
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: December 14, 2022

Previously in Monica Rambeau: Photon: The hero known as Photon has been charged with making a very special, very cosmic delivery. It should be light work (get it?) for Monica… if family drama doesn’t hold her back!

DON’T CALL IT A MID-LIFE CRISIS

Monica Rambeau: Photon #1 opens in the middle of the ocean, as Monica Rambeau explains how strange it is that she, a woman who absorbs energy, used to be afraid of the water. Returning to New York, she stops for breakfast, meets her biggest fan, and delivers a mystic artifact to Doctor Strange at his Sanctum Sanctorum. When a random villain attacks, she assumes that the bad guy is after the mystical MacGuffin, but instead, she attacks Monica, announcing that Photon is about to destroy the universe! A little family drama ensues with her train wreck cousin, leading her to fly home and visit her mother and father, which also reveals that Monica’s relationship with Blue Marvel is over and that she’s having her own little identity crisis. With her worries about her past, future, codename, secret identity, and more weighing her down, she decides to take some time for herself… in outer space!

MONICA NEEDS SOME SPACE… LITERALLY

In a lot of ways, this issue serves as Rambeau 101, running through Monica’s origin, reintroducing her family, and reminding readers of her history with the Avengers. The downside of that comes at the end of the issue, which actually surprised me, as it didn’t feel like much had actually happened. With that said, it makes for a smart opening salvo, since Monica has been pretty much Team Girl for the better part of 25 years. I found the cover art interesting, giving us a slightly more mature Photon than I’ve been used to seeing, but the interiors were less Madge Sinclair and more thirty-something. There are some issues with consistency in facial expressions and proportions, but overall, the visuals are solid. A flashback to the last days of Captain Marvel back in 1987 works okay, but the coloring feels out of place for that Bronze Age flashback. In fact, much of the issue features very dull coloring, heavy on greens and grays, which seems odd for a character literally MADE of light.

BOTTOM LINE: I LIKE IT, MOSTLY

As a fan of Monica’s from the very beginning, Monica Rambeau: Photon #1 serves as an important primer for the character, if not the ideal first part of a five-issue limited series, with a story that’s well-above-average and art that’s a tiny bit less so combining for 3 out of 5 stars overall. With the promise of The Beyonder and the possible end of the universe in play, I hope this series keeps Photon in focus until her movie debut… whenever that actually comes out.

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