Ms. Marvel

Ms. MarvelMs. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson
Series: Ms. Marvel
Also in this series: Ms. Marvel Vol. 1
Also by this author: Ms. Marvel Vol. 1
Published by Marvel on November 18, 2015
Genres: Action & Adventure, Superheroes
Pages: 36
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
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four-half-stars

Look out world, Kamala Khan is back and officially an Avenger! Yup, the dream to end all dreams has happened for Kamala. She's toe to toe with the best of the best, but will being one of Earth's mightiest heros be everything she imagined? Is being a celebrity hero as wonderful as Kamala has hoped? Plus: WHO IS THAT WITH BRUNO??

Ms. Marvel is Back! Not only is Ms. Marvel back but now she is an Avenger! I absolutely love the Kamala Kahn version of Ms. Marvel. Nothing against Carol Danvers but Kamala is that cute little sister type that you can’t help but love and connect with, did mention that she can kick some serious butt too? This new story by G. Willow Wilson is great so far. Currently the series is at issue #4 which is the start of a new storyline called “Army of one” so if you missed the first 3 issues then now is a great time to get to your local comic book shop and jump on board.

Just a heads up that I am about to spoil at least a little bit of the first 3 issues so if you haven’t read them then trust me that they are completely worth your time and turn back now otherwise get ready because I am about to sing some praises.

This book is immediately relatable for just about every single person that picks it up because the real focus is on how overwhelming life can get. Kamala is now a member of the Avengers which you can imagine takes up a lot of time, and she is in high school, and she has a crazy family, and she has a love interest in her best friend Bruno and it is all just becoming a little too much and she finds herself on auto pilot more often than not. unfortunately for our hero she takes a breather long enough to realize that while she has been off fighting crime and thwarting evil with the Avengers, Bruno found himself a girlfriend named Mike. Mike is a really cool character and is kind of ground breaking in the comic book world. Mike is slightly overweight, has blue hair, and her parents are a lesbian couple and I love all of this about her because it is all either over looked or talked about very casually which I think shows great progress in the comic books world. Kamala however, not such a fan, but only because she feels like she is losing Bruno not for any other reason. So right off the bat Kamala is starting to feel overwhelmed, she was so busy with the avengers and school that she didn’t even notice her love interest slipping away. I don’t know of anyone that can’t relate to that feeling of being overwhelmed in all aspects of your life. When I was in college I was taking classes full time, working two part time jobs, I was in the National Guard, and I was in ROTC, I thought my pillow and I would have to go into couples therapy we were so estranged. So right away reading Kamala’s story I could feel the weight on her shoulders (well sort of, I can only dream of being an Avenger).

Since Kamala is so busy because she is off being a superhero she has come in to quite a bit of notoriety as Ms. Marvel which is great except that it appears a new real estate developer is taking advantage of that notoriety and plastered her face all over a billboard without her permission. I can hear you now “But Josh why is that so bad, all publicity is good publicity” well it turns out when the real estate developer is gentrifying the neighborhood that you love and is running small businesses and low-income families out of town by using nano tech to take over people’s minds…its bad publicity. Now it’s up to Ms. Marvel to get to the bottom of what’s happening while figuring out how to juggle everything in her life and cope with Bruno having a new girlfriend. Why aren’t your keys in your hand yet? you’re supposed to be rushing out to get your copy of Ms. Marvel, ok fine I will sing more praises.

The art in Ms. Marvel is on point for the light hearted and somewhat adolescent story that it is telling. I absolutely love that they draw Kamala so small since her super power (given to her by a cloud of terrigen mists, which is proving more and more important in the Marvel Universes) is to “embiggen” . More importantly I enjoy that they draw her this way because she just feels like she could be your little sister, the kind of little sister you want to protect but that’s where her duplicity lies because she doesn’t need protecting. I also love the emotion that is drawn into the characters. There is one scene where Mike learns that Bruno has feelings for Kamala and you can see it in her face and in her body language that she is intimidated by Kamala but she is confident in herself. I really like Mike and I hope that her character continues to develop because I think she is capable of reaching a lot of kids out there and in issue #3 we do see Mike help Ms. Marvel save Bruno despite being absolutely terrified so I think we will get the chance to see her develop as a “hero” in her own right.

Overall I think this is a comic book worth picking up. I think most people will enjoy it but it is very much a lighthearted progressive story aimed at the adolescent market. However, I’m a 28 year old man and I still love the story so I think just about anyone can enjoy it. It truly is a fun story that is relatable to all, leaves you with a smile and itching for another issue.

four-half-stars
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Josh is in his late 20s. He's taking over as graphic novel/comic book expert for the Good Books & Good Wine team.

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About Joshua Spencer

Josh is in his late 20s. He's taking over as graphic novel/comic book expert for the Good Books & Good Wine team.

Comments

  1. Ohh I finished reading her comics a few weeks ago but I didn’t know the next publication was going to be so fast! Can’t wait to read it and see what happens, she is now an Avenger? Wow

    • Kamala is an Avenger! Here is the deal though, if you really want to see her as an Avenger and not as a stand alone hero you should pick up Avengers #0 and then get the All-New All-Different Avengers #1-6. The Avengers are going through some rough times right now and there really wasn’t a team carrying the name for a bit. Now there are several “Avengers” teams (Uncanny Avengers a.k.a. the unity Squad, A-Force, The New Avengers, and All-New All-Different Avengers).

  2. I’ve not read this one yet. I read the other Kamela Khan ones and enjoyed them. I am looking forward to this one and the new arc. I must admit though that I am a carol Danvers fan, Kamela Khan is very likable.

    • Don’t get me wrong I like Carol Danvers (I currently subscribe to her new Captain Marvel volume with the amazing Art Deco style covers by Kris Anka) but I miss when she was Ms. Marvel and all the “Rouge vs Ms. Marvel” drama.

      • I totally agree. I haven’t always been a comic book fan so I’m slowly becoming acquainted with who is who and all that, but ever since I read the Ms. Marvel with Kamela and Carol was introduced as Captain Marvel, I just had to read all of Carol’s. I enjoy all the female superheroes and comics…very empowering.

  3. Not yet read this one, but I was in the process of getting it. Can’t believe the next publication is coming so soon yet I haven’t read this one. I don’t deserve to call myself a fan of comics 🙂
    Thanks for the share Josh.

    Cindy

    • The best part of comic books is that it takes no time at all to get caught up. As long as the characters reach you on a personal level and bring a smile to your face then you are hands down a Comic Book Fan!

  4. This sounds awesome!! I read the first bind up of the Kamala Khan Ms. Marvel (when she became Ms. Marvel) but I didn’t keep up with that run or this new one. Sounds like I need to jump back in because I liked her a lot and adding Avengers to the mix only makes it more awesome! I also like the sound of even more diversity included in a natural way. Super awesome review!!

    • Kamala is great right? As far as the Avengers thing goes take a look at my reply to Gaby above. You should absolutely jump back into her book it’s really entertaining. As for diversity I think you hit the nail on the head. Comic Books are becoming increasingly diverse but in my mind G. Willow Wilson does it the right way, naturally. There are several books out there that are bringing diversity to the forefront but its like they want a pat on the back or a cookie for doing it. Ultimately I think writers should be increasing diversity without the reader ever even noticing. When I read Ms. Marvel the characters just are who they are and when Mike’s parents are first mentioned it’s very nonchalant like “Oh, my moms said I could go out tonight” or something along those lines. Very cool stuff.