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Carol Danvers Reading Order, From Mrs. to Captain Marvel

Created by Roy Thomas and Gene Colan in Marvel Super-Heroes #13 (March 1968), Carol Danvers was originally an officer in the United States Air Force and a colleague of the Kree superhero Mar-Vell, the original Captain Marvel—you can see our Captain Marvel Reading Order to know more about all the incarnations of the famous superhero.

It wasn’t until 1977 that Carol got her powers and became known as Ms. Marvel (created by writer Gerry Conway and artist John Buscema). At that time, she resurfaced as the editor of Women Magazine, a spin-off of the Daily Bugle. We then discovered that the energy exposure from the explosion of a “Psyche-Magnetron” was behind the melding of Carol’s genetic structure with Captain Marvel’s. She technically became a human-Kree hybrid.

At the beginning of the 1980s, Mrs. Marvel was the victim of bad writing before being mixed up with the X-Men—and especially with Rogue who absorbs her abilities and memories. This story led her to become known as Binary, the superhero capable of generating the power of a star. During the 1990s, after some cosmic adventures, she reverted to her original Ms. Marvel powers and later rejoined the Avengers as Warbird.

When Brian Michael Bendis took over the Avengers, he introduced the idea of Carol Danvers becoming Captain Marvel. This didn’t become a reality immediately as she reclaimed her place in the hero community as Ms. Marvel, playing significant roles in major events. In fact, it was in July 2012 that Carol Danvers finally assumed the mantle of Captain Marvel in an ongoing series written by Kelly Sue DeConnick with art by Dexter Soy. And now, she got her own movies!

Carol Danvers Reading Order

Simply Carol Danvers

Before becoming a superhero, Carol Danvers was an officer in the United States Air Force and Security Chief of a restricted military base. That’s where she met Dr. Walter Lawson, aka Captain Marvel. She’s mostly present during the first part of the series (mostly issues #1 to 18, but she came back a bit later in #34-35, 40). Those stories were reprinted in the Masterworks Collection:

Mrs Marvel Logo - Carol Danvers Reading Order

Carol Danvers as Ms. Marvel

In 1977, Carol Danvers made her first appearance as Ms. Marvel. That’s also when she became the Editor of Woman Magazine.

  • Captain Marvel: Ms. Marvel – A Hero is Born (omnibus)
    Collects Ms. Marvel (1977) #1-23; Marvel Team-Up (1972) #61-62, 76-77; Defenders (1972) #57; Marvel Two-In-One (1974) #51; Avengers (1963) #200, Avengers Annual (1967) #10; Material From Avengers (1963) #197-199, Marvel Super-Heroes (1990) #10-11, Marvel Fanfare (1982) #24.

Those issues are also available in the Epic Collection:

Carol Danvers joined The Avengers in issue #183, but left the team in #200:

And then, Carol lost her memories and powers during a fight against Rogue. After Avengers Annual #10, Carold decided to leave The Avengers behind and stay with the X-Men – she then appeared in Uncanny X-Men #150 (collected in Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men Vol. 6) and #153-154 (collected in Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men Vol. 7).

Mrs Marvel Logo - Carol Danvers Reading Order

Carol Danvers as Binary

Starting with Uncanny X-Men #158, Carol Danvers meets the Starjammers, then takes part in The Brood Saga (#161-166) during which she is changed by the alien race known as the Brood and becomes the extremely powerful Binary.

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #164 Carol Danvers becomes Binary
Uncanny X-Men #164 – Carol Danvers becomes Binary

As Binary, Carol Danvers stayed in space with The Starjammers, appearing in multiple issues of Uncanny X-Men, but also New Mutants or Quasar, but the stories rarely focused on her.

Mrs Marvel Logo - Carol Danvers Reading Order

Carol Danvers as Warbird

Carol Danvers returned with The Avengers (Kurt Busiek and George Perez’s version in 1998). At first, she’s still known as Binary (but wearing her old Ms. Marvel costume), but she became known as Warbird in Avengers vol. 3 #4. This didn’t last long as Carol started to drink heavily, and this led her to leave the team.

  • Avengers Assemble, Vol. 1
    Collects Avengers vol. 3 #1–11, Annual 1998; Iron Man vol. 3 #7; Captain America vol. 3 #8; Quicksilver #10.

After leaving the Avengers in #7, Carol mostly appeared in Kurt Busiek’s Iron Man series (Iron Man #11-12, 18-19, 21, 23-27).

  • Iron Man By Kurt Busiek and Sean Chen Omnibus
    Collects Iron Man (1998) #1-25, Captain America (1998) #8, Quicksilver #10, Avengers (1998) #7, Iron Man & Captain America Annual 1998, Fantastic Four (1998) #15, Iron Man Annual 1999, Thor (1998) #17, Peter Parker: Spider-Man (1999) #11, Juggernaut: The Eighth Day, and Iron Man: The Iron Age #1-2.

Carol later got back with The Avengers in Avengers #26, taking part of The Nefaria Protocols crossover, Maximum Security, and playing a big part in The Kang Dynasty storyline.

After Avengers #70, Carol mostly made cameos, until:

Mrs Marvel Logo - Carol Danvers Reading Order

Carol Danvers as Ms. Marvel (again)

Carol Danvers made her comeback in an alternate reality during the House of M event. When everything came back to normal, she remembered everything and those memories pushed her to become a new and improved Ms. Marvel. In fact, Marvel decided to finally put treat her as an important Avengers and she had a new ongoing series.

House of M Reading OrderThe Avengers and the X-Men are faced with a common foe that becomes their greatest threat: Wanda Maximoff! The Scarlet Witch is out of control, and the fate of the entire world is in her hands. It’s House of M, and for more information and tie-ins, go to the reading order.

Carol Danvers: Ms. Marvel Years

Before looking at a more detailed list incorporating most of Ms. Marvel’s apparitions in and outside her series, the following is the list of all the lastest editions of the Ms. Marvel series. It was recollected in three bigger books under the title “Captain Marvel Carol Danvers: Ms. Marvel Years”:

Ms. Marvel Years: A Complete Reading Order

Civil War Daredevil Reading OrderIt’s The Civil War! The U.S. Government proposed the Superhuman Registration Act, intending to register all super-powered beings as living weapons of mass destruction and requiring all costumed heroes to unmask themselves before the government and subject themselves to federally mandated standards. Heroes had to choose between rallying behind either Iron Man’s pro-registration forces or Captain America’s opposition. The Civil War began, go to the reading order.

Secret InvasionThe Secret Invasion begins with a brutal battle between the New Avengers and the Hand—one that claims the life of Elektra and reveals that she was a Skrull! What does this mean for Tony Stark and his Mighty Avengers? How about the Illuminati? go to the Reading Order!

Dark ReignThe immediate event that spun out of the conclusion of Secret Invasion was War of Kings, but it’s about the Marvel Cosmic Universe, not about the Avengers. On the regular Earth, after Secret Invasion came the Dark Reign, a new “dark” era for the heroes of the Marvel Universe. Dark Reign is not an event, but a thematic era (see this article to learn more about it). A new status quo, a bad one for the heroes but good for the Dark Avengers, Norman Osborn’s team!

 

Marvel Siege LogoSiege! It’s the end of the Dark Reign Era. Coerced by Loki and on the brink of madness, Osborn, in his final bid to take total control, targets the final obstacle in his mission…Asgard. More with the reading order of the event.

  • Siege
    Collects Siege: The Cabal, Siege #1-4, and Avengers: The Way Things Are.
  • Siege: New Avengers
    Collects New Avengers Annual 3, Dark Reign: The List – Avengers, New Avengers #61-64 & New Avengers Finale.

After that, Carol Danvers was for a short time relegated to be a secondary character in events like Spider-Island, Fear Itself, and Avengers Vs. X-Men.

Logo - Captain Marvel Reading Order

Carol Danvers is Captain Marvel (2012-)

Marvel Comics committed to making Carol Danvers an even bigger character and rebranded her. She’s now Captain Marvel. The title came with a new costume and a new series.

Captain Marvel by Kelly Sue Deconnick

Written by Kelly Sue DeConnick with art by Dexter Soy, the new Captain Marvel series established Carol Danvers as Earth’s Mightiest Hero. But there still is a Mrs. Marvel, see Kamala Khan Reading Order.

  • Captain Marvel by Kelly Sue Deconnick Omnibus
    Collects Captain Marvel (2012) #1-17, Captain Marvel (2014) #1-15, Avengers: The Enemy Within (2013) #1, Avengers Assemble (2012) #16-19, Avenging Spider-Man (2011) #9-10, Captain Marvel & The Carol Corps (2015) #1-4.

Secret Wars 2015Secret Wars! The interdimensional Incursions have eliminated each and every alternate universe one by one. And now – despite the best efforts of scientists, sages, and superhumans – the Marvel Universe and Ultimate Universe have collided…and been destroyed! For more information, go to the Secret Wars (2015) Reading Order.

The Secret Wars rebooted the Marvel Universe (the story picked up eight months after the event). It’s the “All-New, All-Different Marvel” now and the Captain Marvel series is written by Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas, with artwork by Kris Anka. Carol Danvers took over the responsibilities of the military agency S.W.O.R.D., and also joined The Ultimates.

Logo - Captain Marvel Reading Order

Civil War IICivil War II! Carol Danvers was at the heart of this event written by Brian Bendis. When a new Inhuman emerges, with the ability to profile the future, Captain Marvel wants him to work with the Ultimates, to preemptively tackle disasters before they happen, but Iron Man opposes the idea, suggesting it is dangerous to take his visions for granted for several reasons. This is the beginning of a conflict. For more information, go to the Civil War II Reading Order.

This event takes place after Captain Marvel (2016) #5, Ultimates #6, and A-Force #7.

Captain Marvel by Margaret Stohl

At that point, the series was relaunched with the title “The Mighty Captain Marvel,” by writer Margaret Stohl and artist Ramon Rosanas. The whole run is right now collected in one book:

  • Captain Marvel by Margaret Stohl
    Collects The Mighty Captain Marvel (2016) #0-9, Captain Marvel (2017) #125-129, Generations: Captain Marvel & Captain Mar-Vell (2017) #1, The Life of Captain Marvel (2018) #1-5

Previously collected in – with Carol’s other appearances during this run:

Secret Empire Icon 29Secret Empire! Captain America, Sentinel of Liberty, is living a lie! The Cosmic Cube has remade the world’s greatest hero into a secret true believer in the cause of Hydra, wholly dedicated to its mission of progress through authority and unity through adversity! Now, using the trust and respect he’s been accorded by the great powers of the Marvel Universe, Steve Rogers makes Hydra’s ideals a reality. For more information, go to the Secret Empire Reading Order.

Thanos - Infinity Reading Order, a Marvel EventInfinity Wars! The Infinity Stones are back. Individually, they grant their wielders great power. Together, they bestow the power of a god! As each stone’s location is discovered, forces converge for a battle that will send the universe down a dark path…to the end! Captain Marvel is one of the main characters here. For more information, go to our Infinity Wars Reading Order.

  • Infinity Countdown
    Collects Infinity Countdown Prime #1, Infinity Countdown #1-5, Infinity Countdown: Adam Warlock #1.
  • Infinity Countdown Companion
    Collects Infinity Countdown: Black Widow, Infinity Countdown: Captain Marvel, Infinity Countdown: Champions #1-2, Infinity Countdown: Daredevil.
  • Infinity Wars
    Collects Infinity Wars #1-6, Prime, Fallen Guardian And Infinite, and material from Thanos Legacy #1.

As we entered the Marvel Fresh Start era, Marvel published a new origin story in:

Captain Marvel by Kelly Thompson

In 2019, with the movie coming out, a new Captain Marvel series written by Kelly Thompson and drawn by Carmen Carnero was launched. Carol Danvers is also a member of Jason Aaron’s Avengers. You can find more about it in our Avengers Reading Order.

War of Realms Logo 72War of Realms! The Dark Elf known as Malekith the Accursed has been conquering the Ten Realms one by one until there is only one left: Midgard (Earth!). For more information, go to our War Of Realms Reading Order.

Empyre Reading OrderEmpyre! Old allies make a distress call to the Avengers with news of a terrible enemy that could wipe out humanity. Meanwhile, in the most unlikely of places, the Fantastic Four witness the final conflict of the Kree/Skrull War — and a long-hidden Elder of the Universe stands revealed! With the Kree and Skrulls united under a new emperor, their war fleet charts a course — for Earth! For more information, go to our Empyre Reading Order.

  • Captain Marvel: Game On
    Collects Marvel Action Captain Marvel (2019) #1-6, Marvel Action Captain Marvel (2021) #1-5. Part of Marvel Action, an imprint of comics meant for readers of all-ages and generally out of the main continuity. You can read it here if you like.

Captain Marvel by Alyssa Wong

A new start for Captain Marvel! She is now the leader of the Avengers (by Jed MacKay) and has her own ongoing series from Alyssa Wong and Jan Bazaldua. But first, she stars in a miniseries written by Ann Nocenti…

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