Review: Captain Carter #1

When Captain Carter became popular in What If?, Marvel decided to capitalize on the popularity. How does Peggy Carter stack up to Steve Rogers?

Captain Carter #1
Marvel Comics
W: Jamie McKelvie
A: Marika Cresta
$3.99 (Available on Marvel Unlimited App)

What To Know
Captain Carter made her debut on the Disney+ What If? series; she took the place of Steve Rogers when Hydra attacked the super soldier creation. She fought the Nazi’s, but disappeared into a portal opened by the Tesseract. She would later appear as part of the Illuminati in Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Recap
The story starts in modern day international waters, where a Russian tanker was exploring for oil pipelines when it comes upon a sank plane belonging to Baron Von Strucker. Within the plane was a frozen Captain Carter. We are introduced to the Captain when the Russian, US, and UK representatives fight over who she should go with. Cap isn’t having it and demands to return to England, her home.

We get a little of Peggy getting introduced to modern culture. We also get her being pulled into public life; the government wants her to be their superhero. She’s given an assistant – Lizzie Braddock – but they allow her to think it over. On the way home, there is a Hydra attack on her that forces her into the public.

Thoughts
There was little real development in the book, but it was entertaining. Peggy gets fleshed out as a character with almost nothing happening. We also get Lizzie (aka Psylocke, aka Captain Britain) and Peggy’s neighbor Harley, who both seem to be interesting characters. It also appears that the government might be an ally or an adversary, depending on who’s Peggy is talking with.

I’m curious to see if we get a Steve Rogers or a Howard Stark; both are mentioned, along with Bucky and Dum Dum Dugan. Peggy does mention at one point that just about everyone she knew was dead, so there is a good possibility we don’t see any of them. If this runs parallel to the MCU, we might get an old Steve.

There is also the question of other heroes. The British PM mentions there are others out there, like the Fantastic Five, but they are all American. Do we see an Iron Man? Captain Marvel? Dr. Strange?

What I don’t understand is if this is really the Captain Carter from the MCU; we don’t know if this is Earth-383 or another one. Since the Captain if found in a plane, we might have to assume that this is not the same Cap we have already met. I’m OK with that if the story works; I’d just like them to address it at some point.

McKelvie’s script is strong, even if it’s a very basic narrative. He uses a lot of internal monologue to explain Peggy’s adaptation to modern culture. He does well to set up the action in the next issue. Cresta’s art has the feel of the animated series and it crisp and clean. Overall, it’s a solid team.

Rating
4 out of 5; it’s a solid setup that explains a character we already met.