What do you know about Monica Rambeau? As the character is back on the big screen with the release of The Marvels, we take a new interest in the Marvel superheroine created by Roger Stern and John Romita, Jr. who has been known as Captain Marvel, Pulsar, Photon or Spectrum and a leader of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
With four decades of history behind her, Monica Rambeau has proved more than once that she was worth reading about!
The Creation of Monica Rambeau
Her story started in the late 1960s, when Marvel gained the trademark “Captain Marvel”, leading to the creation of the first Captain Marvel comic book. But Captain Marvel was not popular, and the decision was made to kill him in one of Marvel’s first-ever graphic novels, The Death of Captain Marvel, in 1982.
If Marvel wanted to keep ownership of the name “Captain Marvel”, the company needed to use it. Enters the scene: Monica Rambeau. Created by Roger Stern and John Romita, Jr., Monica was conceived to take the mantle of Captain Marvel, though she had no connection with the First Captain, Mar-Vell. Even her powers were different. Monica was still a trailblazing in her own right, as a black female superhero was rare then, but Marvel never intended to give her her own series.
It didn’t mean Monica Rambeau wasn’t destined for great things. On the contrary, since her first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #16, Monica joined and ultimately became the leader of the Avengers. She has also been a member of Nextwave and the Ultimates. Her superhero identity has evolved throughout the years, leaving the Captain Marvel name behind her to take other aliases: Photon, Pulsar, and recently Spectrum being the most famous of them.
Introducing Monica Rambeau, the new Captain Marvel!
Thirty years before Carol Danvers assumed the mantle, Monica Rambeau was introduced to the Marvel Universe and became the new Captain Marvel. A New Orleans-born and bred, Monica was a lieutenant in the harbor patrol who was just being refused a promotion to become Captain. Monica’s life was transformed following an encounter with Professor Andre LeClare, an old friend of her grandfather, asking for her help to destroy a dangerous weapon. During this operation, Rambeau was struck by the device’s extradimensional energy and gained the power to change her own body into energy. She was then dubbed Captain Marvel.
Monica needed help to control and master her new powers and sought out the Avengers. She became a member-in-training before quickly graduating to a full membership where she proved herself regularly and established herself as one of the team’s most valuable members. She ultimately was offered the position of chairwoman, which she accepted!
During all those years as an Avenger, Monica fought against many threats including the Masters of Evil, Beyonder, Kang the Conqueror, and even the X-Men. She lost for a time her powers, following a confrontation with Marrina (Namor’s love) where she transformed herself into a bolt of lightning and dispersed her atoms by accident.
Monica decided to quit as a leader and took time to regain her physical health and her powers. However, she didn’t savage her links to the group, and acted as a reservist, even assuming leadership on some occasions, when the chairman was absent.
The Name Game: From Photon to Pulsar
When Monica adopted ‘Captain Marvel’ as a codename, she didn’t know it was used by another hero before her. As the Avengers thought she was a worthy heir, Monica kept it. Even Mar-Vell’s close friend Starfox (Eros) gave her his blessing after being impressed by Monica’s abilities.
But things got complicated when Genis-Vell, the son of Mar-Vell, decided to follow in his father’s footsteps. He first called himself Legacy before renaming himself Captain Marvel.
When Monica Rambeau and Genis-Vell met in Avengers Unplugged #5 (June 1996), there were two Captain Marvel, and one had to go! Despite Genis thinking that Rambeau is more deserving of the name, Monica declined out of respect for the Mar-Vell legacy and chose to be called… Photon!
It was the first time, but not the last Monica would concede a name to Genis-Vell. As a member of the New Thunderbolts, Genis decided to carve himself a new identity as… Photon. He had totally forgotten that it was Monica’s name. When she discovered it in New Thunderbolts #9 (August 2005), she was pissed against him but not for long and decided to change again. She took the name Pulsar.
Rebranding as Spectrum
As Pulsar, Monica was recruited by Black Panther to help against a vampire outbreak and joined Captain America’s Secret Avengers during the Civil War. But she also became the leader of the elite anti-terrorism team called Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. (Highest Anti-Terrorism Effort). This unusual period of her life left her with some baggage to deal with.
To distance herself from her past, Monica decided to reinvent herself and took a new alias: Spectrum (in Mighty Avengers #1, published in November 2013). Under this new name, Monica has been a member of the Mighty Avengers, the Ultimates, and Strikeforce. Her power levels were significantly augmented, making her an immortal being. For a time, she was worried about losing her humanity, a situation that was resolved when her powers declined after battling the goddess of the night, Nyx.
Recently, Monica refused to lead the new Thunderbolts but still joined the team to fight threats arising in New York City.
Monica Rambeau as Photon Again
Sometime later, Monica’s life underwent some changes, as she broke off with Blue Marvel and chose to go back to the alias Photon. Most importantly, she is headlining in her own solo series, called Monica Rambeau: Photon from Eve L. Ewing And Michael Sta. Maria.
Whatever her name, Monica Rambeau is a force to be reckoned with.
Where to Start? A Marvel Comic Book Reading Guide with Monica Rambeau
The following collection contains some of the most important issues to understand Monica during her run as Captain Marvel.
- Captain Marvel: The Saga of Monica Rambeau
Collects Amazing Spider-Man Annual (1964) #16; Avengers (1963) #227, 279; Marvel Team-Up (1972) #142-143; Captain Marvel (1989) #1; Captain Marvel (1994) #1; Avengers Unplugged (1995) #5; material from Solo Avengers (1987) #2; Marvel Fanfare (1982) #42, 57.
In the noughties, Monica became part of the team Nextwave, a satirical and comedic take on the superhero genre from Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen, an unmissable title for Monica (as well as Elsa Bloodstone):
- Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E.
Collects Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. #1-12.
Monica chose to rebrand herself as Spectrum to distance herself from the Nextwave Squad and soon joined the 2013-2014 “Mighty Avengers” series in order to help people:
- The Mighty Avengers vol. 1: No Single Hero
Collects Mighty Avengers Vol. 2 #1-5. - The Mighty Avengers vol. 2: Family Bonding
Collects Mighty Avengers Vol. 2 #6-10. - The Mighty Avengers vol. 3: Original Sin – Not Your Father’s Avengers
Collects Mighty Avengers Vol. 2 #11-14. - Captain America & The Mighty Avengers vol. 1: Open for Business
Collects Captain America & the Mighty Avengers #1-7. - Captain America & the Mighty Avengers Vol. 2: Last Days
Collects: Captain America & The Mighty Avengers #8-9, Captain Britain & The Mighty Defenders #1-2, Avengers Assemble #15au
Following the dissolution of the Mighty Avengers, Monica Rambeau stays a team player and became part of the Ultimates whereshe serves as one of the newest heralds of Galactus the Lifebringer and experiences a big power increase.
- Ultimates: Omniversal Vol. 1: Start With the Impossible
Collects Ultimates “1-5, Avengers #0. - Ultimates: Omniversal Vol. 2: Civil War II
Collects Ultimates #7-12. See also our Civil War II reading order. - Ultimates 2 Vol. 1: Troubleshooters
Collects Ultimates 2 (2016) 1-6. - Ultimates 2 Vol. 2: Eternity War
Collects Ultimates 2 (2016) #7-12. (#7 is a Secret Empire tie-in)
And more recently, It’s up to Photon to put the universe back together in this new series:
- Monica Rambeau: Photon
Collects Monica Rambeau: Photon #1-5.
Note: This article was originally published not that long ago on Comic Book Treasury in 2022, but we thought Monica Rambeau could find herself once more in the spotlight in our pages!