So Secret Wars canceled everything, and then (before it had even ended, because delays and/or Hickman's inability to properly pace the mini-series meant it required an extra issue), Ms. Marvel was back. G. Willow Wilson uses the undefined timeskip to change a few things. Kamala is part of the Avengers now (with Jane Foster Thor, Sam Wilson Captain America, Sam Alexander Nova, and Miles Morales Spider-Man), and at some point in the intervening months, her best friend Bruno has begun dating Mike, a pleasant and intelligent young woman.
This volume ran 38 issues, and I tend to break it up into 3 broad, yearlong arcs. Year 1, Kamala learns the downsides of a reputation. Not just it makes her a target, that word's gotten around electricity neutralizes her powers. A reputation means people grow to rely on you, expect more of you, will view you through their beliefs. And Kamala, who is helpful, conscientious, and (in the case of dealing with the Avengers or Captain Marvel) starstruck, has a difficult time turning people down and a harder time feeling hated. Especially when the hatred is coming from her friends.
Dr. Faustus unleashes a mind control scheme under cover of a gentrification plan that co-opted Ms. Marvel's image for their campaign. Kamala's unaware of any of this until she sees the billboards. Just like she wasn't aware Bruno was dating Mike (or even who Mike was), because she's too caught up in being an Avenger. Trying to handle that, plus Avengers stuff, plus her brother's impending marriage leads to a disastrous plan to 3-D print (with a printer gifted to the school by Stark) extra Kamalas to handle the mundane, civilian stuff for her. Which does lead to a bizarre scene where an army of Kamalas (including a King Kong-sized one) rampage through Jersey City, fighting Loki and the storm guardians he left to protect the high school after he messed with the Valentine's Day dance in the previous volume. Nico Leon and Ian Herring really capture the farcical nature of that whole thing.
Then Kamala is too swept up in her hero worship of Carol Danvers entrusting her with a special squad to utilize "predictive justice" (Civil War II tie-in alert!) to recognize the dangers until it hits close to home. That ends with her on the outs with Captain Sparkle Fists, and Bruno badly injured and moving to Wakanda (because he might, technically, have committed domestic terrorism.) Kamala goes on a trip to visit family in Pakistan for an issue, where Wilson introduces the local hero Red Dagger, who becomes more prominent around the end of year 2.
At least Wilson and Takeshi Miyazawa give us a gang of Canadian ninjas, who roll through Jersey City in a tank at one point. I absolutely loved the random weird stuff in this book.
Year 2 doesn't start off great; the one-shot where Kamala gets out the vote to stop HYDRA from taking over the city government feels like being lectured, and the 4-parter about fighting a sentient program that's basically an internet troll falls flat.
After that, it picks up as HYDRA, plus a particular fascist that was part of Kamala's little special squad, illegally seize power in the city and start rounding up people with powers. Including Kamala's brother, marking the only time the weird powers he got in the previous volume are remarked upon.
The critical part here, Kamala's handling most of this on her own. Year 2 is the grind of dealing with everything with no support network, and how quickly people can turn on you. She and Danvers are on the outs. Bruno's gone. None of her other friends know her secret identity. Nakia in particular has been down on Ms. Marvel since Faustus used her image. Kamala can usually rally some help in a pinch, but it's mostly the people of Jersey City caring enough to get themselves involved. Red Dagger shows up late in Year 2, so he and Ms. Marvel renew acquaintances while trying to stop a runaway train. But even with that, Kamala finds everyone fawns over the new guy, while she starts getting the Spider-Man treatment of being mocked and unflatteringly portrayed by the news media.
(When it turns out Nakia knows Kamala is Ms. Marvel, her earlier attitude is not addressed or even commented on. Wilson has a tendency to set up potential interesting character conflicts and then just, not do anything with them. Likewise, Kamala's mother knowing she's a superhero, while her father doesn't, comes to nothing.)
Year 3 is Kamala finding balance, after initially going to the other extreme. The "Teenage Wasteland" arc, she's missing. Her friends try to step in as Ms. Marvel-lettes, but there's limits to what they can handle. Ms. Marvel eventually gets back in the game, having seen how people are trying to fill her shoes. She and Carol reconcile, Bruno returns, which creates some awkwardness with him and Mike and Red Dagger and Kamala, but she's got her support network back and she's willing to keep lines of communication open. Things find an equilibrium.
The artists vary a lot more on this volume. Most of the first year and a half (through the Doc.X story) is drawn by Takeshi Miyazawa, but Nico Leon, Adrian Alphona, and Mirka Andolfo draw issues as well. Miyazawa's art, with a greater manga influence, tends to look prettier than the other artists. Kamala doesn't look as distinctive as under Alphona's pencils (although none of the others artists give Kamala the same prominent nose as Alphona.)
Leon, who takes over as primary artist in Year 3, is closest to Alphona in terms of the sheer amount of silly details he'll add to the margins and backgrounds of panels. I don't know if he or Wilson came up with the idea of Kamala's friends doing Power Rangers-esque poses when they're acting as Ms. Marvel, but I love it.
But let's talk about Ian Herring. Herring is the color artist throughout volumes 3 and 4. Across something like 9 different artists (not counting the ones who drew a brief story in one of the couple of anthology-style issues), Herring is the one who gives the book it's consistent feel. Kamala's appearance may vary, the city itself may vary (Leon gives it skyscrapers, which I don't think any of the other artists do, and Diego Orlotegui's two issues are mostly spent viewing a sparsely populated countryside on the top of a train), but the feel of Ms. Marvel's world remains the same.
I think the aspect that always catches my eye is this particular shade of golden yellow he likes.The subtle variations in it, even within a single panel, make it look water-colored. Maybe it is. How he uses it varies with the story and artist. In the issue above, it's mostly a solid color he uses as a background when the focus is meant to be on the character. When Zoe and Mike are fighting some of the reptile-bots, it's just that color (and some speed lines) in the background. When Kamala's friend Naftali finally finds her in a snooty private academy on a hill, and makes the point that her friends need her, the background is a that color.
It other situations, he uses it differently. It's a sunset color a lot, either when the scene is actually near sunset, or when a confrontation is reaching its climax. When Kamala and Danvers are crossing the city during their team-up in the previous volume, all the rooftops they pass above have that shade. Whether Kamala knows it or not, things are coming to an end. With Miyazawa's art, Herring uses a slightly lighter shade of it to coat Kamala when she "embiggens," and it may almost suffuse the room she's in, a sign of power and her being the focus in the scene. It's a color I instantly associate with this book, and this character, so credit to Herring.
The book ended at 38 issues, in early 2019. Marvel started up Magnificent Ms. Marvel, written by Saladin Ahmed, but I dropped that after 6 issues. It's finally revealed Kamala's dad knows her secret identity, courtesy of her mother telling him at some point, but Ahmed then has helpful aliens wipe it from the minds. There was something with a sentient suit, and Minkyu Jung's art didn't fit what I was used to for the character, even with Herring handling the color art duties. Josh, who had seemingly reconsidered working with fascists after his one storyline being an embittered white boy, was back working with the redhead again, and bleh.
But maybe that was for lack of recurring villains. Kamala didn't get an extensive rogue's gallery. The Inventor (Edison-bird version) died. The Inventor (human who created Edison-bird) was still around, and maybe you could keep doing things with a guy whose shtick was sacrificing people society didn't value to "save the world", but it'd be hard to keep coming up with new approaches. Plus, you need Wilson and the various artists' aesthetics to keep his creations from looking generic. Kamran kind of failed once Kamala saw through the pretty boy facade, plus the Inhumans were on the outs again, so Kamala doesn't interact with them much (hardly at all) in volume 4.
Doc.X, the sentient, evolving, hate-filled computer virus/program? Maybe, though you almost have to make him stupid enough to keep creating physical bodies for Kamala to punch, because her powers don't really interact well with him otherwise. Lockdown, as an authoritarian tool of whoever will let her bully people. OK, always useful to have someone the hero can punch without qualms. One of the last stories involved the Shocker moving to jersey City, figuring with only one hero - a kid a that - he could be king of the mountain and indulge his inner mad scientist. I really enjoyed that story, especially after years of Nick Spencer and other writers treating him as a joke. You could do worse for an established villain to switch over to a newbie's foes. Not like Spider-Man is at a shortage.
2 comments:
Wilson has a tendency to set up potential interesting character conflicts and then just, not do anything with them
I am reminded of Young Vision being on the same team as Old Vision's long lost children. He's not technically the same person, but he does have all of that person's memories. Are we going to explore that? Mention it at least? No, no we are not.
Must be a Young Avengers thing.
They're too busy following other peoples' interpersonal drama on their phones to deal with their own interpersonal drama.
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