Review by Tony Keen
This was one of a number of titles published in 2019 to coincide with the release of the Captain Marvel movie, in which Starforce is an elite military team of the star-spanning Kree, to which the woman who was once Carol Danvers and will become Captain Marvel initially belongs. The team is led by Yon-Rogg, and also features Minn-Erva, Korath, Att-Lass and Bron-Char, though the last two aren’t greatly characterised (to the point where some commentators can’t tell which is which).
All were drawn from Marvel comics, and this collection brings together their early appearances, though not necessarily their first, spread out over a period of thirty years. The opening story doesn’t actually feature any of Starforce, but instead shows the first meeting of the Fantastic Four with Ronan the Accuser, who appears in the Captain Marvel movie as a minor antagonist. From the same year, 1967, we have the introduction of both Yon-Rogg and Marvel’s first Captain Marvel, Mar-Vell, who is gender-swapped in the movie. There’s a 1977 story in which that Captain Marvel first clashes with Doctor Minerva, and from the same year we see Carol Danvers’ first outing as Ms. Marvel.
Doctor Minerva returns in 1990, teamed with the Kree Captain Atlas against Quasar. From 1992 there are two parts of the big cross-over event Operation: Galactic Storm, the first of which pits Captain America against Korath the Pursuer. The second sees Starforce debut as a team (see sample image), featuring Minerva, Atlas and Korath, but not Yon-Rogg, and a token couple of other super-powered Kree. Finally, there’s a Captain America story that’s credited to Mark Waid, but as it is part of the ‘Live Kree or Die’ story that ran across Avengers and related titles, one can assume a fair amount of input from then-Avengers writer Kurt Busiek. It’s included as it introduces Bron-Char, who, astonishingly, is characterised even less than in the movie.
As you might expect, this collection isn’t terribly coherent, as quality is variable. The FF is Lee and Kirby from when Kirby was turning out grand cosmic concepts every other week, though this isn’t his very best. The Avengers story comes from when they were known as the ‘jacket Avengers’ because several of them wore jackets over their uniforms. It’s not a well-regarded period, though this example passes muster, and while the sample image doesn’t show him at his best, Steve Epting’s art defines the characters and delivers the action.
The big problem is the Starforce of the movies and the Starforce in these pages having little in common apart from their names. Even Carol Danvers in 1977 isn’t the character known now as she has yet to be retconned as a former USAF pilot. It raises the question of who this volume is for. Anyone hoping to have the characters of the movie illuminated is going to be disappointed. And the stories aren’t strong enough on their own to warrant this collection.
