Ms. Marvel #1

creators:  G. Willow Wilson & Adrian Alphona
released: February 2014
publisher: Marvel

You might remember Marvel garnering a whole lot of attention back in November, not because of some character dying or coming out, but because they were adding a Muslim superhero to their ranks. Finally, Kamala Kahn is being introduced in Ms Marvel #1 to the world, and it not only lives up to the hype of introducing a beautifully well rounded character who happens to be Muslim, but also provides an entertaining and visually lush story too.

Kamala Kahn is a sixteen year old girl who just wants to be normal–sounds familiar, right? Her Pakistani Muslim religion and culture feels like a natural part of Kamala – not forced – and writer Wilson brilliantly weaves in multiple characters who engage with their faiths differently. Kamala curiously sniffs at bacon, “infidel meat,” while her friend chooses to wear a headscarf; her brother remains overly devout while her father is conservative but skeptical towards constant prayer. Wilson is Muslim, and it is obvious that she brilliantly introduces a whole spectrum of modern Muslims certainly with intention, but also sensitivity. (Her jabbing at the faux pas of non-Muslims, however, is considerably less so.)

Of course this is combined with the fact that so much of Kamala’s personality feels like a normal teenager. She loves the Avengers (to the point that she writes fanfiction, okay we would totally be friends), is desperate to fit in–for goodness sake, her father won’t let her go to a party with boys! She doesn’t want to be the one with “weird food and holidays” and goodness knows anyone part of a minority culture or ethnicity can relate to that. I love Kamala’s quirkiness and spunkiness.

Interestingly Kamala views not only white, blond and popular as “the other,” but superheroes as well. Wilson deftly injects the racial politics of superheroes (as largely white, heteronormative, etc) as an undercurrent of her comic–not only showing what superheroes are like right now, but how Kamala is going to be breaking those bonds as well.

Adrian Alphona has a lot of experience drawing rebellious teenagers through the excellent series Runaways and he does an absolutely fantastic job with the art here. The style feels completely like its own world, with lots of lovely subtle expressions and little ‘easter eggs’ for those who take the time to try to find them. I felt immediately sucked in, and I cannot get over the wonderful moment towards the end when Kamala has her vision, or visit with “faith.”

Absolutely on board and looking forward to #2! And I would love to see some at some point Kamala being under Captain Marvel’s tutelage. Those two would have a pretty cool Jedi Master/Padawan relationship, no?