Ms. Marvel: Crushed

by G Willow Wilson, Takeshi Miyazawa, and Elmo Bondoc
Collects Ms. Marvel #12-15 and S.H.I.E.L.D. #2
main series: volumes four | five | nine | ten
magnificent ms marvel: volume one | two

Ms Marvel continues to be one of my favorite comic book series with this latest installment, but admittedly volume three is not as great as the first two. First, the artwork: Bondoc and Miyazawa are an interesting change from Adrian Alphona, and even though their art was mostly solid, I found their styles significantly changed Kamala’s physical look. I say this only because she ended up looking different with both artists, particularly when it comes to her nose shape which makes a big difference – especially Miyazawa who has a more anime style.

Here is Alphona’s Kamala:

And this one is Miyazawa’s Kamala. It’s not a terrible change by any means, and Miyazawa does capture a lot of Alphona’s style, but I did like how Alphona gave Kamala a more distinctive and less generally anime look.

Also Kamala, lol. I’m glad to see that while your parents keep you sheltered you realize exactly what you just said. And I love this teen moment also – we’ve all done that.

This volume continues Kamala’s burgeoning adventures as a new superhero in Jersey City, while balancing high school and home life – no embiggie, right? She continues to be her charming, nerdy self and it’s delightful, especially when Wilson introduces some romance! That’s right, we’ve got some love stories in this one, first the Valentine’s Day dance with a visit from Loki, and Kamala and Bruno’s “will they won’t they” continues as it becomes clear that Bruno has feelings for her, but Kamala develops a crush on someone else – and her infatuation is with a guy who would be much approved by Kamala’s parents (Bruno, not so much).

SPOILERS My issue with this is not the romance per say – it’s a high school book! And Kamala and Bruno have a very cute thing going on. My problem is that the love-interest-turned-villain trope has been done many times before, and it felt very predictable. It also happened so quickly that there was no time for good ole love triangle high school drama, and who doesn’t love that?? But seriously though, I would have liked for Kamala to struggle just a little bit more with her feelings. Like a teenager. But also, a teenager who is also part of a religious/cultural minority and might have issues with the romantic pressures put on her by her parents – along with all the other pressure!

On that note, we barely saw Nakia this book too and that was disappointing – especially if Kamala is having boy troubles! I find it odd that Kamala doesn’t seem to have any female friends other than her sister – or really any friends at all, aside from Bruno. I don’t necessarily think this is a huge problem, but it seems clear that Kamala’s life as Kamala is more important than Ms Marvel. I hope we see a larger cast of friends in the future.

Speaking of Kamala superhero-ing, this volume introduces a new Inhuman villain, but this doesn’t necessarily deepen Kamala’s own relationship with her Inhuman side. When it comes to the Loki story in issue #12, it doesn’t do much because we already know Bruno’s feelings for Kamala, so aside from a weird guest appearance and Kamala saving her school once again, I’m not sure what the point of the story was. But when you only have four issues to work with, there’s only so much you can do!

Even though Kamala is a terrific character, the conversation between Bruno and Aamir (Kamala’s brother) was the highlight of the book for me. Bruno reveals his feelings towards Kamala, and Aamir tries to gently let him down, saying that their parents would never allow them to be together. It was a great moment between two characters who usually don’t interact, but it felt really genuine and also relates to some of the tension I mentioned earlier:

Aamir makes a classic argument here (that as a Jewish girl I heard a lot growing up), but he’s not correct. Being married to someone different than you doesn’t lessen your pride in who you are. And it’s CLEAR that Bruno doesn’t want to CHANGE Kamala. But this is a huge (and admittedly real) anxiety among minorities that if you marry out, it suggests a lack of caring about your identity, and you won’t pass down your traditions. It’s first and foremost a survival thing, and that is a powerful fear.

Bruno’s sensitivity and understanding that his (Catholic, Italian) family might not jive with Kamala’s Pakistani Muslim one was fascinating and also exceedingly mature for a high school student (though it fits with Bruno’s personality), and I hope we get to know Bruno better, beyond just a love interest and tech whiz. (Plus he’s already on the L WORD!! So cuttteee!) It’s clear Willow is setting Bruno and Kamala up to become a couple, and this is just a fantastic conversation to see in comics as our world becomes more accepting and diverse. How many real life interfaith/interracial couples and families can relate to Bruno and Kamala? It’s exchanges like this that give me hope she will create not only an excellent story arc, but also a sensitive one that ties in bigger themes and tensions.

I love the references that Willow puts into her book (this time my favorite was “TL;DR”) – it’s an interesting mix of teen speak, geek references, and language from Arabic and Muslim culture. Wilson walks a very fine line between references feeling organic and forced, and I think for the most part it’s the former. Some might find it to be forced but you can’t just not have them in there, right? Though sometimes I do wonder – though it’s valuable to teach us non-Muslims – what it would be like if the Arabic had no subtitles. It might prompt the reader to do their own research.

G Willow Wilson and Takeshi Miyazawa continue a fantastic Ms Marvel run in this third volume, and I can’t wait for the next one!

Ms Marvel 2

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

In this wonderful issue, Kamala discovers her size (and appearance) changing ability and saves her first citizen-the mean girl at school who marginalized her- but not without its limitations and consequences.

This issue is so wonderful because it hearkens back to the Spider-Man days of a teenager wrestling with their identity, fitting in, struggling with independence,  and so on, along with having superpowers–which really serves as a metaphor for those aforementioned things. But instead of being cliché the issue is instead genuine, authentic, visually beautiful, and very entertaining.

After her strange vision, Kamala quickly discovers that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side–her fantasy of being the blonde, stylishly costumed hero is uncomfortable, too tight and annoying; it’s a clear metaphor for those of us in a minority who dream about “just being normal,” only one day to realize that it’s never as ideal as we imagine. This is only emphasized in how Kamala seems to activate her powers: by becoming self conscious, and her feelings reflect the result (i.e., popular girl Zoe makes Kamala feel small, and then she turns to find an ‘enormous’ cockroach. Symbolically enough, again, Kamala must make herself larger in order to save her.)

But at the same time, it’s the preteen story that is familiar to all of us: her parents catch her, are not understanding of her and ground her. For some it might be cliche and predictable, and that is completely fair…but for a character who was widely hyped through her religion and ethnicity it feels completely natural–though it’s not without its uniqueness. Wilson deftly deepens Kamala’s family dynamics, as her mother complains about moving to America, her brother keeps up his religious bent on life, and a sprinkling of affectionate and colloquial terms some may not be familiar with.

As Kamala discovers her powers–she can change the size of her entire body, or parts of it, at will–Alphona does a fantastic job playing with proportion, when Kamala is mid-transformation, and her often amusing shocked and bewildered expressions. While sometimes it looks a bit too cartoony, he has a fabulous style (again, Runaways fans, you’ll find it familiar), and if anything it adds to both the yin (light and fun) and yang (undercurrent of inclusion) of the story. Kudos to the colorist too as the colors are rich and vibrant.

There was some lovely fan service to Captain Marvel, and I wonder if she will actually appear in the flesh within this series or if she will be the more intangible Obi Wan to Kamala’s Luke Skywalker. Regardless, looking forward to seeing how Kamala negotiates her now-grounded status with the impending responsibilities and tensions of being a superhero.

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?