Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes - Posts Tagged "miss-marvel"

Ms. Marvel, Vol. 1: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This is a book you are SUPPOSED to like. It boasts on its cover copy that it's the most IMPORTANT comic book of the year. This is a red letter warning that this book is not very fun, but given the critical acclaim of the book, its high ratings, and that I could read it for free with Prime reading, I decided to check out this Hugo Award-winning book which collects Miss Marvel Issues 1-5 as well as a point one comic.

The book follows Kamala Khan, who gets her powers in the first issue in a way that is never actually explained in this book because instead of seeing her get her powers, we are treated to her having a trippy vision of the Avengers appearing to her. And the nature of her powers is...also not really understood. How it works or what the extent of her powers are is unclear.

Part of the problem is that we're getting a ton of characters introduced and emotional teenage drama frontloaded before we've actually established her as a hero. She's being grounded and sneaking out, and so many other things that really don't work in a first book.

Most of the supporting characters are not all that likable or well-crafted. The exception is her dad. My favorite scene is the one where he has a one-on-one talk with her. The character (practically a giant) really is drawn in a way that communicates how much he cares and you genuinely like him. The rest of these people are mostly unpleasant. The point one comics big plot point is Kamala's mom blowing up at her at a wedding.

While the book is advertised as being about a Muslim character, and we are reminded of this frequently, we never actually get her thoughts about her faith. I'm not saying this should be fleshed out in the first volume, but it's as if everyone's talking about it in general, without our main heroine ever indicating anything about her feelings about it.

The book has some fun moments towards the end, but they're ultimately drowned out by the book's self-importance. This can be done better as DC has illustrated. The Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle from the mid-2000s introduced a character from a minority culture and was fun and likable. Simon Baz is a Muslim Green Lantern who was a Guantanomo detainee, but has writers let us see him as a hero rather than putting so much emphasis on issues of identity that we don't actually get to understand who he is.

From what I've read, some of the plot points that should have been resolved in this book are addressed in the second volume, but this book doesn't leave me wanting more. There's just no excuse for failing to answer basic questions about your main character, while giving space to boring or unlikable characters.



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Essential Ms. Marvel, Vol. 1 by Gerry Conway

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects the entire Miss Marvel series from the 1970s (1-23) along with two previously unpublished stories that were released with Marvel Superheroes Magazine #10 and #11 in the 1990s, and Avenger Annual #10. While Carol Danvers had been introduced in 1968, this book really marks her heroic beginnings as Miss Marvel.

Throughout the book, Miss Marvel is a battler, having the knowledge of a Kree Warrior. The character was introduced when seventeen page issues had become the norm and this leads to some tight and exciting battles. My favorite stories in here are found towards the back of the book. Issues 17 and 18 have her dealing with a murderous plot involing SHIELD and the Avengers. Issue 19 sees Ronan the Accuser trying to take her and Captain Marvel back to the Kree homeworld in a good team up. In Issue 20, she gets a new (much better) costume and begins a two part story involving sentient lizards in the desert. The story in Marvel Superheroes #11 shows how she began investigating the death of a friend and ultimately ran into the then villainous Rogue and Mystique and lost her powers and memories to them. Avengers Annual #10 is a great story about the Avengers having to fight Rogue, but Miss Marvel's main role in this is as the inciting character and to chew the Avengers out over something they did in an issue not collected in this book.

The biggest challenge with this book is the character of Miss Marvel and Carol Danvers. Probably the main point of sympathy is her relationship with her dad, class A chauvinist who won't accept that she can do anything and when she was younger refused to pay for her college because he was spending all the college savings on her brother. Beyond that, the writers tried to give her some feelings of duality for the first dozen issues. But beyond that, she comes close to becoming an example of the "Strong, Independent Woman" archetype that replaced the damsel in distress...and is just about as interesting. In the first issue, she's hired on to edit a magazine for J. Jonah Jameson, says in the interview that she'll ignore the his vision of the magazine and edit the thing her way. She bulldozes him so that Jameson gives her the pay rate she demands to run the magazine the opposite of how he actually wants it run. Again, this is J. Jonah Jameson.

To be clear, the stories are all good fun, if you're looking for some fine comic action. The writing is by Gerry Conway (for the first three issues) and then by Chris Claremon, two comic book legends. The art is all competently done. This book will give you some fun action. If you're looking for a deeper and more well-rounded female character, however, you'd do better to check out Spider-woman and She-hulk books that came out a few years later.



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Ms. Marvel, Volume 1: Best of the Best by Brian Reed

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects the first five issues of Brian Reeds run on Ms. Marvel.

The first story opens with Carol Danvers trying to right her life. When she fights Stilt Man and he has no clue who she is. It confirms for her that she's wasted a lot of her life and talent what with her alcoholism as well as general goofing off. She says, "I can do more, I know I can. I can be the person other people strive to be...I can be the best." That's a solid goal. Though her move of hiring a publicist is an iffy way to do that.

However, by the end of Issue into Issue 3, she's facing off against the Brood and another alien creature known as the Cru and she's the only one who can save the Planet. We get a well-paced action story that shows what Carol can be and feeds into her character arc.

Issues 4 and 5, we get a story with a sorcerer coming after Carol while she's trying to do an interview with a Superhero news magazine show. This is a follow up to House of M guest starring Doctor Strange. This isn't a bad story, it's okay, but Doctor Strange is the real star as he tends to be in any story featuring a non-magical character dealing with magic.

Overall, the book is pretty good. The book sets up Carol Danvers' character arc and has a nice three-issue story but gets bogged down by Marvel's mandated never-ending crossovers and that may be the first time that happens in this series, but it'll be far from the last.



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Ms. Marvel, Vol. 3: Operation Lightning Storm by Brian Reed

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 11-17 of Miss Marvel.

It contains three stories: First off in Issues 11 and 12, Miss Marvel faces off against a villain she defeated back she was at the Avengers. Interesting story, particularly loved the villain Doomsday Ma throwing off on the Avengers for failing to keep track of him so that AIM was able to snag him.

Issues 13 and 14: The Deal: Carol agrees to lead the Mighty Avengers in exchange for Tony Stark (currently director of SHIELD in this book) giving her her own detachment of superheroes and SHIELD agents (not actually reporting to SHIELD) to prevent major crimes before they start. After taking out an AIM sight, she decides to use this to help Julia Carpenter, who in the previous volume, she captured and dragged off to secret prison with her daughter watching and described bringing her in as "her pleasure." Carol's efforts to help Julia are meant to soften that image a bit, but instead the characterization is so off that the story instead makes me wonder whether she's a fit mother as she has little concern for her daughter's welfare and commits a parental kidnapping from the grandparents with SHIELD help.

Issues 15-17: The book ends with a big AIM story and it's a blast. It involves an AIM Civil War, witha variety of factions that include MODOK and different alternatives to him. It contains the cheesiest scene in the book , but is still a ride.

I thought both the first and last stories were pretty good. Carol also showed herself to be relatable. Not only does she feel regret over what she did to Julia, she also begins to question the wisdom of the entire Superhero registration movement in light of AIM being able to carry ou tattacks due to Tony spending an inordinate amount of time enforcing them.

Teenage superhero Anya Corazon was likable and this book made me curious to read her solo stories.

On the other hand, most characters in this book are either unlikable or flat. Tony Stark and Maria Hill come off as particularly unlikable. In one scene, Carol references "debriefing Tony Stark" and Maria asks if that's "the only time you debriefed him?" What is she? In High school?

The story tries to add in romantic subplot, maybe a bit of a triangle. However, both Wonderman and the non-hero potential love interest are dull, so it's hard to get into them.

In the end, this isn't bad, but there's a lot bad about this book. Hoping Volume 4 gets better.



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Ms. Marvel Vol. 4: Monster Smash: Monster Smash v. 4 (Ms. Marvel by Brian Reed

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


We get seven issues and two stories.

First up is the three-part story Puppets. Puppets does some nice things. It really strengthens Operation Lightning Storm by introducing Robotman and the the giant stalking character of the Sleepwalker. They (particularly Machine Man) have a solid time. With Miss Marvel, we get to see the level of concern to Anya. The Puppet Master makes a sick villain.

The four-part "Monster and the Marvel" story finds Carol dragged off by the Cru to Monster Island as Carol retained a part of the Cru which explains her high healing factor. However, their powers are turned off and they find the Brood are on the island. This is a decent action story with a lot of madacap moments.

Overall, this is the best Miss Marvel so far with two strong stories that provide some key insight into Carol's character.



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Ms. Marvel, Volume 5: Secret Invasion by Brian Reed

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Ms. Marvel is a natural match for this event with her Kree powers.

In the first half of the book, there's a Skrull replacement for Miss Marvel running around and her own team is set to bring her in. I think this is very well-handled. There's also a really cool bit in the first issue where we get to see Carol Danvers' first meeting with the Skrull done in vintage 1960s style. Things don't go well and she ends the first half of the book in a pathetic state.

But then we get into the proper tie-in to Secret Invasion and Ms. Marvel returns to deal with the Skrull invasion of Manhattan. Not only does the story have a very good bit of action, it also shows Miss Marvel at her best and she's at her best when she's hitting things and being able to be a warrior. This book works because it allows her to shine while also setting up some mystery for the next volume.



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