I have been hearing nothing but good things about
Ms. Marvel, the House of
Mouse Ideas' first comic starring a Muslim-American superhero. If I was keeping score (and I kinda am), I'd say Marvel is winning the unspoken diversity war with DC.
Here's the sales pitch:
• On the run from the Inventor, Kamala needs all the help she can get. Did someone say Wolverine?
But I guess I'm getting ahead of myself. I have been watching the fanfare about
Ms. Marvel from the beginning. Diversity in comics is one of my things, so I was intrigued at Marvel letting
G. Willow Wilson (Air, Mystic: The Tenth Apprentice) put the mantle of Ms. Marvel
on a Muslim-American teenage girl. After all,
since Carol Danvers was promoted to become the second female Captain Marvel, a perfectly good name was going unused. Our hero Kamala Khan doesn't really do much in this preview from
Ms. Marvel #6, but from what I can tell,
Kamala has powers similar to Plastic Man or Mister Fantastic, which strikes me as a strange choice for a solo female superhero. Not a bad choice, exactly. Just strange. These pages below from previous issues showcases her powers a little more...
I'm disappointed that these kids didn't fight back, but I love the character designs. That kid with the orange jacket looks like he comes straight out of
Brandon Graham's King City, which (as anyone who knows
how I love Brandon's work would tell you) is about the highest praise I could give
. Anyways, here's a few more pages...
I really like the art here, by regular
Ms. Marvel artist
Adrian Alphona (
Runaways). Alphona's work is perfect for Kamala and the other characters in
Ms. Marvel. He didn't draw issue 6, but I'm hoping he will continue on the book, because his work has the balance of youthful style and mature craftsmanship that gives
Ms. Marvel its substance. Creating good new characters is not all that hard in the inspirational stews of Marvel and DC, but
keeping appropriate and awesome talent on the books is essential, and for whatever reason, the major publishers don't always manage that part of it. No one can tell a character's story like the creators who originally breathed life into them, hence promising characters tend to fall off once the marquis names depart, which is very sad. Kamala Khan seems to have all the ingredients to hit hard with audiences that need to be reached and held for the health of the comics industry, and keeping the creative team on
Ms. Marvel together as long as possible will help solidify her as a real player.
Ms. Marvel is already selling well, so Marvel needs to make sure to maintain continuity while they establish Kamala's brand or whatever. So chain Adrian to his desk, schedule some
more NPR interviews for Wilson, and let the good times roll!
If you're currently reading
Ms. Marvel, please take a second to let us know how you feel about it. If you're not reading, you should probably handle that ASAP.
Peace,
-samax
Samax Amen draws people, places and things for fun and profit. He is the artist of many great comics you never heard of like Herman Heed, Champion of Children, The Brother and The World As You Know It. He even writes and draws his own comics, like Dare: The Adventures of Darius Davidson, Spontaneous, and Manchild when he gets around to it. Because making comics is hard and stuff, he started GhettoManga as a blog in 2006 and as a print magazine in 2008.
GhettoManga.com
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