Writer: Stephanie Phillips
Artist: Giada Belviso
Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Cover Artists: Rickie Yagawa; Corin Howell & Rachelle
Rosenberg; Jacopo Camagni; Junggeun Yoon
Designer: Jay Bowen
Editors: Lindsey Cohick, Annalise Bissa, Tom Brevoort &
CB Cebulski
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $3.99
Release Date: November 5, 2025
Carol Danvers is hurting. She accepted the Phoenix Force ten
years ago. Yet in the past year, she has suffered from increasing headaches.
Along with the people she protects, frustration has begun to overtake her. Like
the characters in Stephen King's novel, the inhabitants of Beverly,
Massachusetts, live under the dome. And after a decade of lockdown, Carol's
protection feels like imprisonment. How will the townspeople express their
frustrations this time? And how will their actions change Carol Danvers' life? Let's
slip on some shades, leap into Binary #2, and see!
Story
When Doug Ramsey unleashed the X-virus, Jean Grey knew how
dangerous it was. She feared not only what it would do to our planet but that the
virus might spread to other worlds. Carol Danvers tried to talk her out of it,
but Jean had to try. As in Robert Charles Wilson's novel Spin, Jean Grey
attempted to enclose Earth in a protective barrier. When the effort proved too
much for Jean, Carol was with her. She accepted the Phoenix Force and vowed to
live with it.
In Binary #2, Carol suffers from an inferiority complex.
Distraught over Jean's death and burdened with unwanted power, she retreated to
her hometown. Erecting a barrier to protect the people in her community from
the X-virus came naturally. But once Carol erected the barrier, she couldn't
leave. Trapped in a prison of her own making and expending energy to keep the
virus out, Carol couldn't learn to wield the Phoenix Force like Jean. So, she
feels like a failure. Worse, she broke her promise to Jean to protect the rest
of the Universe from the X-virus.
After beginning her story shortly after Doug Ramsey
unleashed the X-virus, Stephanie Phillips fast forwards to the days following
the troubled town hall meeting. Just as Hank stirred up the audience, he called
people to his home. He shows them the explosives that they will use to blow up
the Beverly town hall at the beginning of Binary #1. But neither he, his
followers, nor Carol expect what happens next.
Art
Jean kneels and supports her weary body with her hands
inside her barrier. While her hair flutters with the Phoenix Fire, Captain
Marvel keeps her long blonde hair bound in a braid. Fracture lines race across
Jean's face as Carol pounds on the barrier. When hands reach toward each other
to touch the barrier, Jean and Carol form two dark beings at the heart of a
white hole star in Binary #2.
Carol Danvers burns orange, yellow, and white as she hovers
over the street. A Babel pushes herself up and kneels while supporting herself
with her hands. But when she looks up, her features evoke Carol’s anger. And
instead of submitting like Jean, she lashes out with her fists like Captain
Marvel pounding on the barrier. So, Carol encloses her in a pink ball of
energy, evoking the shield Jean placed around the Earth.
Like the clothes of the Babel she captures, Carol takes
refuge in a green room. Giada Belviso shows how the community space has fallen
into disrepair. Broken window blinds in a private residence are another
reminder that the lockdown is unsustainable. As Rachelle Rosenberg shows the
yellow sunlight streaming into the room, the light mimics a cosmos. The glowing
stars illuminate Hank as he preaches. One of his followers, clad in a red
jacket, best expresses their resolve in Binary #2.
Carol Danver's white uppercase thoughts also appear in red
boxes. Travis Lanham places bold black time/space markers in white boxes
bordered with yellow. Black uppercase dialogue inhabits white balloons and
narrative boxes. The letters grow bold for intonation. Anger swells words and
deforms balloons. Sound effects help us hear Carol's efforts to rescue her
friend and a Phoenix scream. Thanks to Marvel Comics for providing a review
copy.
Final Thoughts
Carol Danvers has done her best. But it doesn't feel like
it's enough. Her efforts are a drop in a bucket compared with what she promised
Jean Grey she would do. But while Carol acts out of compassion for the
townspeople and the Babels, another woman exploits Carol’s self-doubt and guilt
to expand her power base in Binary #2.
Rating 9.6/10
To look inside see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
To see how this series started, see my review of Binary #1.
