Written and drawn by Jim Starlin, it follows Mar-Vell, the superhero Captain Marvel, as he comes to accept his impending death from cancer.

It portrays the emotions felt by Mar-Vell and his allies, particularly his surrogate son Rick Jones, as they find that his condition is terminal.

He remembers a previous adventure when he sealed a tank of nerve gas without equipment, acknowledging that the incident had exposed him to a carcinogen.

The superheroes work to find a cure, but they discover that Mar-Vell's nega-bands, which give him his powers and have protected him from the cancer, also prevent any form of treatment.

Mar-Vell was created by Stan Lee and Gene Colan, and he first appeared in Marvel Super-Heroes #12 (1967) where he was introduced as an alien warrior from the Kree Empire who had come to Earth.

[7] As part of the Marvel Graphic Novel line, the story was printed on higher quality paper than standard comic books.

The cover art is reminiscent of the Pietà by Michelangelo,[8] and it creates a three-dimensional effect by portraying Death and Mar-Vell in the foreground full tone while the other heroes are behind them in half-tone.

[13] During the sequence in which expresses his emotions by striking out at his surroundings, he is drawn in traditional superhero poses, but this falls away as the panels grow darker and he embraces stoicism.

[14] The story addresses the common inability of one's mind to accept the fact that they will eventually die—a theme that is further explored through the idea that heroes are expected to fall in battle rather than face terminal illness.

[15] Mar-Vell is emasculated by the deprivation of a heroic death, which is countered by his symbolic fight with Thanos to give him what Starlin described as "a moment of triumph" to leave the reader satisfied with the ending.

He explains that he no longer needs "the illusion", presenting an awareness and acceptance of death in a way that had not historically been portrayed in mainstream comic books.

[3][4] Mar-Vell's recounting of his past adventures, in addition to serving as a standard comic book recap sequence, allows for meaning to be found in the narrative of his life.

The book shies away from showing the most severe aspects of his decline, preserving his image of a heroic figure when both his collapse and his coma are described by Eros rather than shown directly.

[24] In the final sequence, Thanos's dialogue on the inevitability of death is written in boxes rather than speech balloons, a format traditionally reserved for captions and narration.

It also invokes Christian iconography in a secular fashion, such as that expressed by the 15th century Catholic texts on death, the Ars moriendi.

[3][2][29] Media studies professor José Alaniz described it as "the most radical representation of superhero death in a mainstream, continuity-driven series".

[4][18][6] Several other characters have since taken the title of Captain Marvel for a time, including Monica Rambeau, Genis-Vell, Rick Jones, Phyla-Vell, Khn'nr, and Noh-Varr.

[6] Nitro, the character who caused Mar-Vell to get cancer, later served as the catalyst for another major event in Civil War (2006).