TDOCM
The Death of Captain Marvel – This collection combines the classic “The Death of Captain Marvel”, Marvel Comics’ first graphic novel, with three other Captain Marvel titles. The first one, Captain Marvel issue 34, tells the tale of Marv’s encounter with Lunatic Legionnaire Nitro (the cover of that issue is also cropped for the cover of this collection), along with Marvel Spotlight On Captain Marvel, issues 1 and 2. The former is important because it shows the source of the cancer that kills Marv in the graphic novel, and it’s also a pretty good story, but I’m not sure about the middle two tales, which are about the Titan’s computer Isaac, who’s gone insane and thinks it’s human.
By the way, Nitro’s super-power is that he can blow himself up… nice super-power!
The story itself is more a tale of flashbacks, of Mar-vell taking leave of his friends and enemies, including Rick Jones – with whom he has a complicated relationship – and his new girlfriend/former enemy Elysius. The Marvel universe learns of it, it mourns in advance, Spider-man just can’t take it, all of Marvel-dom’s greatest scientists (Reed Richards, Henry Pym, etc) can’t figure it out. Gosh! Finally, there’s a strange battle with Thanos, and then… the end.
Yes, a very strange story indeed. Sorry for all of the spoilers, but you didn’t think that Marv would get out of it alive, did you?