Review by Ian Keogh

This third volume of Captain Marvel adventures by Sam Maggs is, at five chapters, at least the content of a regular graphic novel rather than the slim three-chapter predecessors.

After Spider-Woman in Cosmic Cat-tastrophe and the Wasp in A.I.M. Small, Captain Marvel is here teamed with another female superhero in Spider-Gwen or Ghost-Spider, over the first of two stories. Readers might suspect there’s something not quite right about Doctor Octopus and Mysterio turning up, and they’d be on the button with that in what turns out to be two chapters about the importance or irrelevance of a social media profile. This is drawn by Mario Del Pennino rather than regular artist Sweeney Boo, and is simpler, but not as imaginative or attractive.

All the better, then that Boo returns for the remaining three chapters featuring Squirrel Girl attempting to free Carol from the weird world she’s been trapped in. It takes her a chapter to figure it out, and the surprise is best left as such, but it both limits Boo and gives her a chance to shine via the design elements of the unusual location. Ghost figures recur, rapid changes of costume and place occur, and there’s the opportunity to draw a squirrel every bit as cute as the cats in the first volume. The Minecraft Captain Marvel of the sample art is a highlight.

If the first story has a couple of nice moments, but is average overall, for the second Maggs really supplies a treat, constantly challenging Captain Marvel and very much removing her from her comfort zone. As she’s so powerful, this requires smart thinking, and Maggs obliges.

All Captain Marvel by Maggs and Boo is worth reading, and that’s perhaps why Marvel have combined their work in the handy slightly larger than pocket size Game On.