Captain Marvel (2018) 22

Marvel’s stable of monster comic books rivaled that of its Distinguished Competition in the 1970s. Continuing the horror homage for October 2020, Marvel chose to remember its trepidatious tome Monsters Unleashed.

Captain Marvel (2018) 22 variant cover by Taurin Clarke

Captain Marvel was one of a continuing line of heroes sharing the same name. The original Captain was created C.C. Beck and Bill Parker in 1939 for Fawcett comic books.

Following a decade long court battle with National Periodicals (DC Comics), Fawcett cancelled the title. In the late 1960s, Marvel obtained the trademark with its first series.

Unlike Fawcett’s magical creation, Marvel’s was a military officer of the Kree Imperial Militia. His mission was to observe Earth and monitor its ability to develop technology for interstellar travel.

Mar-Vell would meet an untimely end in Marvel’s first graphic novel, The Death of Captain Marvel published in 1982. Mar-Vell would be diagnosed with incurable cancer as a result of exposure to toxic nerve gas.

Monica Rambeau was next to don the mantel. A New Orleans police lieutenant., she possessed the power to transform herself into any form of energy. She would later christen herself Spectrum.

The title was passed to Phyla-Vell in Captain Marvel (2003) issue five. She would later become the new Quasar and sacrifice herself for the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Khn’nr appeared in Civil War: The Return in 2007 as the new Captain. During the Secret Invasion, he was thought to be killed by invading Skrulls.

Noh-Varr used the name for a brief time before calling himself Marvel Boy.

The current Captain – as of this writing – is Carol Danvers. The former Ms. Marvel adopted the mantle in 2012.

Monsters Unleashed was published by Marvel Comics owned Magazine Management beginning in 1973. It would run 11 issues and one annual, lasting till 1975. The magazine was an anthology series of horror stories, some featuring Man-Thing, the Frankenstein monster and Wendigo.

A company-wide crossover titled Monsters Unleashed hit spin racks in 2017.