[LINK] "The Minor-League Superhero Who Changed the Face of Fandom"

[rfmcdonald]

Wired's Rachel Edidin has a nice article taking a look at the recent resurgence of Carol Danvers. The long-time Marvel Comics superhero was initially positioned in the late 1970s as a female superhero, but it's only now--with a new series, a new costume, and the energized fandom that goes by the name "Carol Corps"--that she has become high-profile. (Also, her character appears to be attracting women and girls to comics.)

Created in 1968 by writer Roy Thomas and artist Gene Colan, Carol Danvers was an Air Force officer who gained superpowers after being caught in an explosion with a superhero named Captain Marvel. Adopting the moniker “Ms. Marvel,” Carol spent time on and off with the Avengers and occasionally headlining in her own series. As a character, Ms. Marvel had a lot in common with Iron Man: a larger-than-life personality who’s struggled with alcoholism and alienated fellow heroes with her die-hard stubbornness. She’s got abilities on par with Marvel’s heaviest hitters: She’s super-strong, super-tough, shoots blasts of radiant energy from her fingertips, and she can absorb and redirect the energy of a nuclear explosion.

Yet, she remained a persistent C-lister: shuffled between teams, canceled, and restarted. By rights and name, she should have been a flagship character, but no one at Marvel seemed to know quite what to do with her.

Then, in 2012, everything changed. Suddenly, Carol wasn’t Ms. Marvel anymore—she was Captain Marvel. Gone was the swimsuit-and-sash costume, replaced by a sharp full-coverage bodysuit designed by artist Jamie McKelvie.

Since then, she’s become a fan favorite—and a rallying point for readers like Jennifer DePrey. “I’ve been reading comic books since I was eight,” DePrey says, “and I’ve always kind of avoided superhero comics. If I was looking for a superhero that I felt was like me, her costume was a bikini and thigh-high boots or had a boob window, or she wasn’t ever on a cover by herself—she was always with a bunch of dudes that looked way cooler than she did.”

Jennifer first discovered Captain Marvel with the new series. Her curiosity was piqued by news of the character’s transition and redesign. “One issue in, I was like, ‘This is my superhero. This is the character I wish I’d had when I was 12,’” she says. “I went back and read every Ms. Marvel that had been published and absolutely fell in love with this flawed, real character I could identify with.”