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Cover: Jim Starlin & John Romita & Al Milgrom

Captain Marvel #29

Name: Captain Marvel #29
Brand: Marvel
Availability: InStock

Nov 1973 · Marvel · 0.20 USD; 0.20 CAD

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“Metamorphosis!”

★ 1st appearance — Sui-San★ 1st appearance — Uranos

About this Issue

Captain Marvel #29 is the fulcrum of Jim Starlin's early-1970s cosmic reinvention of Mar-Vell: it is the issue in which the Kree warrior formally sheds his martial identity, receives the power of Cosmic Awareness from the newly introduced entity Eon, and is designated the 'Protector of the Universe' — a title and a power-set that would define the character for the rest of his existence and carry forward into the Quasar series years later. The transformation from soldier to cosmic guardian was a philosophically charged narrative move unusual for mainstream superhero comics of the era, pushing Marvel's space-opera storytelling into territory that felt closer to science-fiction literature than to conventional cape adventures. Issue #29 also lays foundational mythology for the Titan lineage by presenting an early version of Thanos's cosmic origins — later partially retconned but enormously influential on how Marvel's cosmic hierarchy developed. The cover image Starlin produced for this issue proved durable enough to anchor Marvel merchandising throughout the decade, appearing on a 1974 Marvel Value Stamp and a 1975 7-Eleven Slurpee cup.

writer, artist, colorist Jim Starlin · inker Al Milgrom · letterer Tom Orzechowski · cover Jim Starlin, John Romita, Al Milgrom

ComicBooks.com Value

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Raw (Fine) $22

CGC 9.8 · 30 in census $946

CGC 9.6 · 47 in census $300

CGC 9.4 · 75 in census $176

CGC 9.2 · 55 in census $176

CGC 9.0 · 52 in census $105

CGC 8.5 · 34 in census $54

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CGC 8.0 · 30 in census $54

CGC 7.5 · 20 in census $54*

CGC 7.0 · 14 in census $54

CGC 6.5 · 20 in census $53

CGC 6.0 · 11 in census $53*

CGC 5.5 · 11 in census $53

CGC 5.0 · 3 in census $38

CGC 4.5 · 2 in census $35*

CGC 4.0 · 5 in census $33*

CGC 3.5 · 1 in census $27*

CGC 3.0 · 1 in census $24*

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CGC 8.5 ▾ $54–$330 3 listings

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Raw / ungraded ▾ $1.5–$100 27 listings

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FN $32.98 VF+ $64.95 Captain Marvel (1st Series) #29 1973 Jim Starlin Cover We Combine Shipping $18

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History

Jim Starlin had been penciling Captain Marvel since issue #25 and co-plotting since #26 alongside writer Mike Friedrich, but #29 marks his first fully solo script — the result of a deliberate tryout Roy Thomas had arranged with issue #28, where Starlin scripted one of three chapters; Thomas approved, and Starlin took sole creative control for #29 onward. Starlin later recounted that he had long doubted his scripting ability and only requested the opportunity after reading a comic he found embarrassingly weak, deciding he could do at least as well. The cover carries the pseudonym 'GEMINI,' reflecting the Starlin–Milgrom creative partnership on pencils and inks respectively, though editor Roy Thomas had John Romita Sr. redraw Captain Marvel's face on the finished cover — a fact confirmed publicly by Al Milgrom in 2006.

Trivia · 8 facts

Title and story: 'Metamorphosis!' — written and penciled by Jim Starlin, inked by Al Milgrom, lettered by Tom Orzechowski, edited by Roy Thomas; published with a November 1973 cover date, on sale August 21, 1973.
First (or full) appearance of Eon: the ancient cosmic entity who grants Mar-Vell 'Cosmic Awareness' and the title 'Protector of the Universe' — a mantle later passed to Quasar (Wendell Vaughn) after Mar-Vell's death.
First appearance of Uranos (in flashback/cameo): the exiled uncle of Thanos, a figure whose throwaway backstory here seeded later Marvel Eternal mythology expanded in What If? #26–28.
Mar-Vell's physical and conceptual transformation: his hair color changes from white to blond, his Kree uniform receives minor modifications, and his warrior persona is narratively 'destroyed' and replaced by a protector's mindset — all in a single issue.
First solo Jim Starlin script on the title: Starlin had co-written the three preceding issues with Mike Friedrich; #29 is the first issue plotted and scripted by Starlin alone.
Early origin of Thanos's lineage presented: the issue depicts a cosmic history of Titan linking the Eternals/Olympians — a mythology later partially retconned in What If? #24–25.
Cover production note: the cover was penciled by Starlin and Milgrom (signing as 'GEMINI') but Captain Marvel's face was redrawn by John Romita Sr. — confirmed by Milgrom in 2006; the cover went on to appear on Marvel Value Stamp Series A #9 (1974).
Extensive reprint history: the story has been collected in The Life of Captain Marvel #3 (1985), Marvel Masterworks: Captain Marvel Vol. 3 (2008), Avengers vs. Thanos (2013), Essential Captain Marvel Vol. 2 (2013), and Captain Marvel by Jim Starlin: The Complete Collection (2016), among many international editions.