A mass suicide by a branch of the Church of Hala has claimed the lives of twenty families. With Captain Marvel gone, Carol Danvers investigates this tragedy performed in his name, putting her directly in the path of would be Captain Marvel replacement: Noh Varr. Collects Ms. Marvel #35-41.
The book is a little too intertwined with Dark Avengers without explaining what is happening over in that book. It's like hearing one side of a phone conversation. We really have no idea why Norman Osborne and Carol are after one another or even what happened to make Ms. Marvel's powers begin to go out of control. Anyway the book ends the spy storyline with the first 3 issues before handing the book over to the new Ms. Marvel (Moonstone) from the Dark Avengers for a few issues. Reed's writing style irks me. He has some good ideas but he is easily distracted, leaving those good ideas behind without buttoning up his subplots.
This book collects three stories. First, is the three issue "Death of Ms. Marvel" storyline which answers a lot of questions from Volume 6 such as why Carol wasn't using her powers because after her encounter with the Cru they are spiking. At the same time, we learn about Carol's investigation. It's a good conclusion to the previous arc.
Then there's, "Meet the New Boss" where with Carol assumed dead after the previous arc, Karla Sofen (anti-hero/Thunderbolt Moonstone) has been chosen to be the new Ms. Marvel as one of Norman Osborn's Dark Avengers, but first she has to meet with the official psychiatrist, who has an agenda of his own. This is a good introduction for Sofen. It doesn't cause you to like her or sympathize with her, but it does show what she's about and serves as a good introduction for the character.
Finally, we have the last three issues which are very fast-paced. The Dark Avengers are trying to secure Modokesque clones of the Storyteller, however AIM wants them back and hires Deadpool to help, while it's Karla's job to protect them. Meanwhile, colored female light-shaped entities are searching for Ms. Marvel and they don't mean Karla, and the New Avengers are drawn into the case leading to a stunning reveal to end the book and set the pace for Volume 8. Overall, best book in the series so far and sets the stage for the next book.
Carol struggles with/against her powers, and the legacy of the name she carried for so long. Her emotional emptiness is clearly a liability that's getting to her, and we need more time to explore that.
OTOH, exploring Karla Soffen's sinister charms is always fun, not to mention how Osborn's influence over Carol's life makes life more interesting for us readers. Wrapping Moonstone-as-Dark-Ms-Marvel up in this storyline is great - she's obviously more complex than we give her credit, and as a counterpoint to Carol's wild-yet-ethical approach to the world, she's a worthwhile mirror.
I enjoyed immensely Reed's contribution to the Dark Avengers era - this felt suitably ominous and fit well within the meta-storyline illustrated best by Bendis, but also gave us a chance to dig a little deeper in Karla than we've seen elsewhere. It was fun to re-read this as a refresher towards Kelly Sue DeConnick's launch of Captain Marvel in 2012.
I'm OK with most of the art in this book, but I'll say that - as always - shifting artists this often in the run makes it harder to get into the groove of the book. Interesting takes on the characters all, but I actually preferred Takeda & Arino to Olliffe. However, there is some positivity awful rendering of the female body here - Moonstone in later chapters looks like a broken-backed caricature.
Here are my plot notes because I can never remember who when and what, when I'm reading later books:
As we're firmly in Dark Reign now this volume features Death of Ms Marvel which sees Carol finally catch up with Ghazi, but things go horribly wrong due to project Ascension. After that Karla Sofen is free to take up the 'Dark' Ms Marvel mantel.
I'm not familiar with Moonstone but I did love how dark she is, but still seems to be a complex enough character to replace Carol for now.
It ended on a good cliff hanger, and Deadpool is in the mix!
I'm a really big Thunderbolts fan and have always enjoyed Dr. Karla Sofen as an unrepentant antagonist. Also being a HUGE Carol Danvers/Ms Marvel fan having the two characters collide as they did during Dark Reign/Dark Avengers is probably one of my all time favorite all time Marvel event.
To be honest, I haven't enjoyed this as much as the others. I actually stopped halfway, which is why it's taken me so long to finish it off. That being said, it has managed to tie up some of the last few volumes, the death and return on Ms Marvel, and also features issues that link to The Dark Avengers storyline (worth reading if you're interested) Deadpool made an appearance and always makes me smile when he pops up, so this is another positive.
I still like the art and main storyline in this series, so I will be continuing with it. The next one won't take me 2 months 😂
I expect there to be wholly ridiculous depictions of women. I've learned to make my peace with that. This is on a whole other level. The poses and the ridiculous proportions move beyond fantasy and drift well into the territory of fetishizing.
All of this would be upsetting on its own, but, perhaps grudgingly passable, if not for the absolutely dreadful writing.
Can someone buy Brian Reed a thesaurus? And then a gun? Please?
This is the book that should have been volume 6. This picks up really where number 5 left off. There were many guest stars from other characters, like Deadpool, Wolverine, and Spider-man. That was fun. Moreover, there was a back up Ms. Marvel? I really need to see what happens next. This volume really left the reader at a cliffhanger!!
i enjoyed how they ended the spy arc with Rossi, Rick, Ghazi and the ascension stuff, it was pretty entertaining and had its nice dose of plot twists and action scenes.
one major thing is kinda bothering me: Carol has a problem with violence. let me explain what i mean. you see her going on a skrulls killing spree in one volume, then in the next volume you see her feeling all sorts of regrets for being forced to kill people even if they were literally keeping her imprisoned and they were torturing her. then, AGAIN, you see her in this volume publicly fighting Ghazi and blowing her cover, putting at risk not only herself but her teammates as well, all because, as she herself admits, she lost control. now, i'm not saying it's wrong to have violent characters or violence in general in your story (hell, look at marvel's Daredevil on netflix, it's so filled with violence but everyone loves it. /i/ love it. what's more, people are wary of the disney reboot SPECIFICALLY because they fear the violence is not going to be there or that it's going to be severely decreased). what i'm saying is, at least be coherent with it. you want Carol to go ape shit? fine by me! but please, PLEASE, keep it consistent throughout the volumes
i did like how they used the concept of “life flashing before your eyes” in issue #37, but instead of bits of life it was actually bits of emotions, it was a nice touch. now, obviously she's not dead, as we found out in a matter of few issues. she gets “resurrected” pretty quickly, which is not itself a problem (at least to me) BUT i am curious to see exactly why she… overloaded? and what exactly happened with her powers? oh and also how come these weird babies were able to bring her back and why they are connected to her? you can certainly say i am intrigued, and i do hope to get some answers in the next volume
"it always amuses me how people so ready to do the devil's work fall into asking for god's help when things don't play out as planned" now let me tell you, karla's story in issues 39-41 was INSANE (in every sense of the word lol), i had not read anything about her prior to this but she seems like a very cool character. can't wait to see her and carol's fight
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Ms. Marvel catches up with Ghazi and the Ascension weapon are revealed. All is taking place during Dark Reign and features the death of Ms Marvel and Moonstone´s takes her place in Osborns new Dark Avengers group.
A pretty quick read, this volume had Carol Danvers vanish as Ms Marvel and replaced by Moonstone as part of Marvel's Dark Reign storyline. It was okay, and the artwork in the second half of the volume was awesome!
Another re-read for me. Of all the Ms. Marvel graphic novels that I currently own, this is one of my favorites.
Carol has went into hiding since refusing Osborn's offer to join his new group of Avengers. During a search for Ghazi Rashid, who is said to possess Ascension, events go terribly wrong and Carol is presumed dead.
Karla Sofen, the criminal previously known as Moonstone, takes Carol's place as the new Ms. Marvel. When infiltrating a corporate building in search of A.I.M., Karla makes a discovery that is the beginning of events that eventually will lead to Carol's resurrection.
A faceless entity appears, believed to be the real Ms. Marvel, and she enlists the help of the New Avengers in an attempt to reassemble herself.
The book's conclusion arrives before we discover if they are successful, so you have to pick up "Ms. Marvel Volume 8 : War of the Marvels" to know the answer.
I won't lie about this, I am a new comer the the Ms. Marvel fandom, and the only reason I picked this up was because I saw it had Deadpool in it. I let it sit in my book pile for awhile before I picked it up and started reading this. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Ms. Marvel is fast becoming one of my favorite Marvel heroes. This is a great tale for anyone who enjoys the Avengers, X-Men or Norman Osborn. Very awesome storyline.
This was a lot of fun! The first story wrapped up the Ascension storyline and also set-up something for the Dark Reign storyline. The second part of the book featured the former villain Moonstone taking over the role of Ms. Marvel which was pretty interesting too! I also really liked the art in the issues drawn by Takeda and wish this artist drew more of this series. Pretty good cliffhanger at the end too although I guess anyone would have seen that coming.
I probably should've re-read the previous volume, since this one picks up mid-story but I figured it out eventually. Things came together fairly well, in the end, and I really enjoyed the cameos from other heroes that I recognized (Deadpool, represent!). It was fun and the plot is progressing nicely. I'll definitely be picking up the next two volumes to finish out this series all at once, because I need to find out what happens next!
Picked this up at a used bookstore because I've been playing too much Marvel Puzzle Quest and Moonstone caught my eye. I don't have a lot of context for the story but I could do without the terrorism cliches. The spy / anti-spy stuff was pretty convoluted too. The art is fantastic though, and the agonized narration is good.
I really did have a hard time with the Dark Reign stuff at first, and I really dislike Karla, but this whole Ms. Marvel as an energy form thing is really intriguing. And I love all the Avengers cameos. Also, Sana Takeda's art is BREATHTAKING.