With the Captain Marvel movie hitting theaters in just over a month, it’s a good time to get into some of the character’s comic book background. As Carol Danvers, she first showed up in Marvel titles more than 50 years ago. She has gone through a few incarnations over the years, including becoming Ms. Marvel in the late 70s. 

Carol remained Ms. Marvel into the 2000s, but passed on the name when she took on the mantle of Captain Marvel. The early stories of Ms. Marvel are interesting, to say the least (it was the 70s, after all), but the later ones are a bit more effective. The collection Captain Marvel: Carol Danvers – The Ms. Marvel Years Vol. 1 is a good introduction to the character, her powers, her life and how she fits in with the Marvel universe.

This volume includes almost 20 issues of the Ms. Marvel title from 2006, written by Brian Reed. You don’t need to be familiar with the character at all to dive right in. The story takes place immediately following the big House of M storyline, but you get a brief description of that madness and it moves on. These issues give a great look at Ms. Marvel’s powers as she battles aliens and mutants, helps out SHIELD and the Avengers, and crosses paths with AIM and MODOK. There is a lot of action, but also some really good interaction between Carol and other heroes and how she doesn’t quite feel like she fits in.

At more than 400 pages, this is a hefty collection and well worth a read. It will definitely make you want to read more about Ms. Marvel and see how she ultimately becomes the Captain that so many people are going to know and love come March.