Every once in a while, I like to check in on ongoing series that I initially missed out on. Which is how I wound up reading and loving the latest issue of Kelly Thompson, Carmen Carnero, Tamra Bonvillain, and Clayton Cowles’s Captain Marvel.

Even though I happened to grab part two of an ongoing Captain Marvel story, I didn’t feel lost or left behind. Instead, I easily picked up what was happening in Carol’s life (without reading the text piece at the start of the issue), and I was treated to an action-investigative issue that ended with a compelling cliffhanger.

More importantly, though, I found re-entering Carol’s life, and her interactions with War Machine, Spider-Woman, Tony Stark, and even Alpha Flight’s Agent Brand, entirely familiar. Even when I didn’t recognize exactly what these characters were talking about (because I hadn’t read previous issues of the series), I recognized the characters themselves – because they were behaving exactly as they should.

This is exactly the “friendship” Carol and Tony Stark have.

I’ve been a Carol fan for quite a while (I loved seeing her hang out with the X-Men in the Essential volumes I read as a teenager), and I’ve popped in and out of her ongoing adventures since Kelly Sue DeConnick’s 2013 run. This comic seems like a great read for those who’ve just found the character (via this year’s mega-hit summer blockbuster) as well as readers like myself – who might’ve just taken a break between ongoings.

While I do have minor quibbles with the issue (Carmen Carnero kills it with characters’ posture and facial expressions but her Iron Man is a bit boxy and indistinct; I really wish we would’ve gotten one close-up of new character Star), the issue’s cliffhanger ending hooked me. I’m an absolute sucker for a good mystery, and I’ll definitely be coming back to see how this one is resolved.

So if you’re looking to hop on to a “new” Marvel series, Captain Marvel seems like a great place to spend your $3.99. The creative team’s made it easy for readers to enter Carol Danvers’s life, and also given them good reason to stay.