Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and designed by artist Gene Colan, the character first appeared in Marvel Super-Heroes #12 (December 1967).

[2] The character debuted during the Silver Age of comic books and made many subsequent appearances, including a self-titled series and the second volume of the Marvel Spotlight series until his death in 1982, which has since remained largely permanent within mainstream continuity and most other media, with Carol Danvers becoming the primarily featured Captain Marvel in the modern age.

[4] The series failed to register with readers, and was revamped by writer-artist team Roy Thomas and Gil Kane in issue #17 (October 1969).

[11] Thomas stated that the intent of the change was to create a more science-fiction oriented update that was reminiscent of Fawcett Comics's original Captain Marvel, who similarly had an alter-ego that could not co-exist with the superhero.

[4] It was initially canceled with issue #21 (August 1970), though the character appeared in the Kree–Skrull War storyline in Avengers #89 – 97 (June 1971 – March 1972), also written by Thomas.

6, #1–5 (January–June 2008) was released as part of the 2008 "Secret Invasion" storyline and supposedly heralded the return of the character, although it was eventually revealed that this Mar-Vell was the Skrull Khn'nr.

[8] He adopts the identity of recently deceased scientist Walter Lawson, but occasionally dons his Kree military uniform to protect the people he is observing.

His job is made difficult by his jealous commanding officer, Colonel Yon-Rogg, his growing affection for humanity, and his fake identity's criminal past.

[22] After aiding humanity several times, Mar-Vell is found guilty of treason against the Kree Empire and sentenced to death by firing squad.

When Jones puts on the bands and strikes them together, he trades places with Mar-Vell and is encased in a protective aura in the Negative Zone.

[10][24] After brief encounters with the villain Scorpio[25] and the Hulk,[26][27] Jones uses Mister Fantastic's portal to the Negative Zone to free Mar-Vell, who then becomes embroiled in the Kree-Skrull War.

Photon ray treatments by Professor Savannah stabilizes the situation and brings Mar-Vell's body and consciousness to the surface.

[13][32][33][34] Seeing the magnitude of the threat, the cosmic entity Kronos aids them by creating Drax the Destroyer, whose sole purpose is to kill Thanos.

[41] Mar-Vell investigates Nitro's allies, who are revealed to be the Kree "Lunatic Legion", leading to a series of protracted battles and the eventual trial of the cosmic entity Uatu the Watcher for constant involvement in Earth affairs.

[42] After ending the threat and aiding Uatu, Mar-Vell briefly separates from Jones and has an encounter with a space parasite that assumes the form of former lover Una.

[43] Mar-Vell travels to the Kree homeworld of Hala, and through a protracted series of events that almost kills Rick Jones, frees himself from the manipulation of the Supreme Intelligence.

The hero locates the Kree scientists, and briefly battles Ronan the Accuser, who was left with the mind of a child after a previous encounter.

[47] Mar-Vell continues to have dealings with the Kree, preventing scientist Doctor Minerva from killing Rick Jones and battling High Council member Phae-Dor[48] before travelling to Hala and, with King of the Inhumans Black Bolt as his ally, preventing the "War of the Three Galaxies" by exposing a Skrull infiltrator.

[51][52] After an encounter with Thor,[53] Mar-Vell is forced to fight off Drax, who has been driven insane due to being unable to fulfill his purpose and kill Thanos.

[54] Eventually convincing Drax to aid him, Mar-Vell enters into a war against ISAAC, the sentient computer that served Thanos and now directs his forces.

[61] After a battle in the Dark Dimension;[62] an encounter with the Hulk,[63] and an adventure on an alien world,[64] Mar-Vell discovers that his past exposure to Compound 13 has given him cancer.

He takes leadership of the group, helping protect civilians and the main Avengers from chaos demons before being killed by the Grim Reaper.

[77] Due to his Kree physiology which had evolved to cope with the heavier gravity of home planet Hala, Mar-Vell was significantly stronger and more durable than a normal human.

As a soldier, he was trained in all forms of Kree combat, possessed a superior knowledge of tactics, and was equipped with a device called a "universal beam" (or "uni-beam"); which was at first a handheld pistol before Mar-Vell converted it into a wrist-mounted device capable of projecting energy, emitting beams of pure darkness, and controlling magnetism.

The first Captain Marvel started as a Kree soldier but became Earth's foremost cosmic defender, battling threats from outer space and beyond, vying with Thanos, and helping the Avengers when they needed it.

His death brought heroes and villains alike out of the woodwork to mourn the cosmic champion in an unprecedented display of respect.

"[93] Christos Tsirbas of CBR.com stated, "The Death of Captain Marvel is still shocking, even 35 years after its initial publication because it shows the frailty and finality of the human condition without providing the comfort of a reset switch.

Yes, there would be some journeys to the afterlife where heroes would meet Mar-Vell again and there was even a teased return during the Secret Invasion event of the mid-2000s, but that turned out to be a Skrull in disguise.

"[7] Matt D. Wilson of ComicsAlliance asserted, "Despite some overbearing religious imagery, The Death of Captain Marvel took a sensitive, poignant approach to Mar-Vell's battle with cancer, as well as his relationships with other heroes.

This version is a scientist who rejected the Kree's war with the Skrulls, fled to Earth in the 1980s, adopted the alias of Dr. Wendy Lawson, and became a physicist at Project Pegasus.