Revisiting the Infamous Avengers #200 – and its Aftermath

Avengers #200 (1980) was meant to be a creative highpoint for one of Marvel’s flagship titles. Instead, it’s become infamous as a dark moment in the history of Carol Danvers, and of superhero comics in general. 1/9 #CaptainMarvel #TheMarvels #ComicsStudies

In the story, Carol is raped & impregnated against her free will by an alternate-dimension being named Marcus. She then gives birth to an infant who is also Marcus and she decides to leave the Avengers to commit to a romance with the rapidly-matured man she birthed. 2/9

Scholar Carol Cooper writes, “In that issue, an all-male Marvel staff… slaughtered Marvel’s symbol of modern women, Ms. Marvel. They presented her as a victim of rape who enjoyed the process, and even wound up swooning over her rapist and joining him of her ‘free’ will.” 3/9

Similarly, Carolyn Cocca’s Eisner-winning tome Superwomen: Gender, Power and Representation framed the story as follows: “It indicates that women’s minds can be altered and that they enjoy rape, that all pregnancies are cause for joy…” 4/9

“…no matter the circumstances, that women are emotional during pregnancy but, of course, will love their children as soon as they see them, that women can come to love a rapist, that romantic love and parental love are the most important thing in the world to women.” 5/9

In Avengers Annual #10, former Carol-scribe Chris Claremont famously retconned the story to treat it as a traumatic sexual assault in the eyes of Carol, who holds the Avengers complicit. Her words to them, however, can be read as Claremont’s indictment of his Marvel peers: 6/9

“There’s more – there has to be more – to being heroes than simply defeating villains. You have a role, a purpose far greater than yourselves. You have to set examples, lead the way. You represent what we should be, what we dream of becoming, not what we are…” 7/9

“…You screwed up, Avengers. That’s human. What is also human is the ability to learn from those mistakes. To grow. To mature. If you do that – even a little – then perhaps what I went through will have a positive meaning. It’s your choice.” 8/9

In 2011, Jim Shooter would offer an apology for the issue, calling it a “travesty,” and noting that he doesn’t recall approving the story, but that, as EIC, he has to take responsibility for publishing what might be the most controversial comic book in Marvel’s history. 9/9

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