The Marvels (2023)

Dar-Ben (Zawe Ashton), who took over as Supremor after Captain Sparkle-fists (Brie Larson) killed the Supreme Intelligence in the first Captain Marvel movie (I forgot that happened, along with most of what happened in that movie), is looking for a couple of wristbands that will give her incredible power. But she only finds one, because the other is on Kamala Khan's (Iman Vellani) wrist.

Oh well, enough energy and one bangle (or Quantum Band) is enough to open jump gates enabling Dar-Ben to steal resources from worlds that important to Captain Marvel to revitalize Hala. Yeah, she uses the scheme from Spaceballs, except she actually succeeds in stealing a planet's fresh air, and another's water. Meaning Carol Danvers is less competent than Lone Star and Barf. Ouch.

With only one Band, the gates are steadily tearing apart spacetime, and have also caused Carol, Kamala, and Monica Rambeau's (Teyonah Parris) powers to somehow get "entangled", so if two or more of them use their powers simultaneously, they switch places. Leading to a lot of confusion when Carol, say, abruptly swaps with Kamala (drawing comics about team-ups with Danvers) during a fight with the Kree, or Kamala and Monica get swapped when Monica's on a spacewalk. But it provides an excuse to not send the teenager or the scientist home (since they'd likely just get dragged back in at the worst possible moment), and they have to work together to try and stop Dar-Ben.

I figured that if Dar-Ben kept managing to open gates with one bangle by supercharging it with her Universal Weapon, the solution was going to be Kamala closing the gates (or rift) with her bangle after getting it supercharged by Carol. Probably with some help controlling the energy from Monica, what with her ability to shift between different parts of electromagnetic spectrum. Teamwork makes the dream work, and there was the whole bit about Carol having been on her own in space a lot and being used to handling everything solo, and Monica being reluctant to get involved in this kind of stuff and needing to embrace her powers, and Kamala getting to live out her dream of a team-up on an Avengers-level danger, while having a better sense what that actually entails.

It seemed like an obvious reason to need both bands to create stable gates. One opens, the other closes, they regulate each other, something like that. Plus, you've got Kamala using her power to turn energy into solid barriers or shields or whatever. At least have her try to make a giant plug or patch or something. But they had to do the Multiverse thing, so there you go.

The three leads play off each other well. Vellani's got Kamala's starstruck and eager attitude down cold, and it gives the movie energy and excitement that helped carry it along. Because otherwise, Danvers is really serious and guarded, and Monica is nervous and trying to sort out her feelings about "Aunt Carol." But Larson and Parris let their characters gradually get swept up in the enthusiasm a bit. The training montage sequence was fun, although I'm a sucker for "Intergalactic" (up there with "Body Movin'" and "Eggman" for my favorite Beastie song.)

As generally repulsed by choreographed singing and dancing as I am in movies, the visit to Andala was interesting - I laughed at, "we have two newcomers - although one of them could be more cheerful" - although Carol's Princess Dress Outfit really did drive home that she needs something brighter on the lower half of her costume to break up all that muddy dark blue. If not the classic red sash, at least a bright red or yellow belt or something.

The gags with the Flerkens and the space station were amusing, though it felt weird to be worrying about that when Dar-Ben is about to steal the Sun to reignite Hala's. But the movie was emphasizing home and family, and all 3 of the leads had connections to the people on the station, so it wouldn't make a lot of sense to abandon them to die when the station blows up, implodes, falls into the atmosphere, whatever it was going to do (I wasn't clear on that beyond it wasn't working well.)

Overall, I had a pretty good 95 minutes watching this.

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"Meltdown," in Ms. Marvel: Mutant Menace #4, by Iman Vellani and Sabir Pirzada (writers), Scott Godlewski (artist), Erick Arciniega (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer)

Released last year, but still during the stretch when Krakoa had fallen and the X-Men were back underground (literally, they're hanging out in the sewers like ninja turtles) trying to stop ORCHIS, Mutant Menace takes Kamala back to her Jersey City roots.

Except it's a Jersey City no longer so friendly to Ms. Marvel. Not because HYDRA's using her image to cover for gentrification and a hipster influx, but because she's a mutant. Which feels contrary to how the community was presented in G. Willow Wilson's second volume when the fascists did a takeover of the city and were rounding up anyone with an unusual appearance, but it's a different era. And since Bruno's the only one who knows Kamala a) is Ms. Marvel, and b) died and was resurrected, she has to deal with her other friends calling Ms. Marvel a traitor.

Granted, Nakia was already doing that back in the HYDRA gentrification scheme (and we never got any sort of resolution between her and Kamala over that, nor will we have any sort of revelation/conversation here), so maybe Nakia is just one of those folks who loves to judge others. Actually, I'm pretty sure she's definitely one of those folks. To be fair, it's fun to be judgemental.

So as Kamala tries to spend time with her friends and family, and protect a Jersey City that (mostly) hates and fears her, she's having weird seizures, which former Copperhead artist Scott Godlewski initially draws like someone is exploding her from the inside. Eventually it gets to the mess you see up there.

(The cure ultimately hinges on the fact Krakoa neglected a particular ingredient when they brought her back from the dead. Because they weren't big on working with others.)

The other, more external, problem is Dr. Nitika, still interested in Ms. Marvel for reasons that are finally revealed. She also got ORCHIS to ship her some X-Men corpses, which she reanimates and has attack Jersey City. This culminates in using Kamala's original body, but with the mutant (and MCU-compliant) powers activated, in addition to Kamala's abilities, to prove some point about how Kamala should let Nitika use the mutant ability to "help" people. Honestly, the goal and method of approach don't mesh at all, which Kamala points out, but it's still a weak point. And because people in the Marvel Universe are dumbasses, the Ms. Marvel in the X-Men outfit protecting them from the shambling undead in the classic outfit means no Ms. Marvel can be trusted.

Still and all, Vellani and Pirzada have the character down. Kamala wants to help people, to the point it frustrates her when the X-Men encourage her to go to school and not put herself at risk going on missions with them (Deadpool says they should let her fight, but he's Deadpool. Do not take child raising advice from him.) When she catches a mutant robbing a jewelry store, she first offers to help him hide from ORCHIS if he just returns the jewels, and when he gets targeted by the Hordeculture, she helps him escape, but puts herself at risk. That her friends and family unknowingly hate her, that people got hurt because a crazy scientist targeted her, it hurts her.

Godlewski draws issues 1, 3, and 4. His work is much smoother here than it was in Copperhead, but this is a much smoother, brighter book, even with the reanimated corpses and whatnot. I like his hodgepodge design for "The Planter", there's a nifty couple of pages when Kamala and the Red Dagger fight a trio of re-animated X-Men.

The one weak point is the second issue, where Kamala is abruptly pulled away from fighting the Hordeculture to hep Lila Cheney rescue some of her fans from some weird set-up Mojo's got running. Kamala gets to play distraction by letting Mojo put her in all sorts of commercials and goofy shit, and when it's over, she's back in Jersey City and hey! Red Dagger is here! I guess he caught a commercial flight? It really doesn't feel like it has anything to do with the other 3 issues, beyond the notion Kamala was briefly, superficially, popular while pretending to be something, while people seem to hate her the more she embraces all the parts of herself (i.e., not hiding her mutant heritage.)

Even allowing for that, it felt pointless and irritating (and I'm not even a person that necessarily hates Mojo, though most writers sand his edges off too much from Nocenti's more vicious conception) and just a page-filler until, I don't know, Godlewski could get enough lead time to finish the remaining two issues.

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"Composite Defender," in Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant #1, by Iman Vellani and Sabir Pirzada (writers), Carlos Gomez and Adam Gorham (artists), Erick Arciniega (color artist), Joe Carmagna (letterer)

After Magnificent Ms. Marvel was canceled at 18 issues, Kamala kind of slid into the background for a few years. She got a Disney+ show, which I watched two episodes of and which also completely changed her powers. Then she was added as a supporting cast member to Zeb Wells' Amazing Spider-Man run, seemingly so she could be killed off perfunctorily for the purposes of having a "shocking" death in the story.

I think she was dead for two months, maybe three, in our time, before being resurrected by the mutant nation of Krakoa. Apparently Kamala was a mutant all along, albeit one whose x-gene never activated. And she got resurrected just in time for the whole Krakoa thing to fall apart and mutants to be forced back into hiding. Kamala's advised to just lay low, but refuses to stand by and do nothing.

Which brings us to this mini-series, where Kamala accepts admission to a summer program at a big university. . .which is actually a front for ORCHIS. While Kamala tries to deal with the fact that her attempts to show mutants are not worthy of hate just for existing aren't working, there's a doctor in ORCHIS' basement lab trying to use Kamala to basically destroy all the telepathic mutants. Something about a Trojan horse implanted in her brain by a drone that can access the telepathic network the X-Men communicate with, if Kamala can be tricked into letting it in. The virus appears in her dreams as her mutation, (depicted as a lavender glowy version of herself) trying to making Kamala feel as though the X-Men won't accept her without it. I was surprised they didn't go ahead and give her the MCU powers right then.

(I feel like it's odd that Dr. Gaiha's plan is to attack the X-Men via telepathic communication, but we never see Kamala communicate with them through telepathy, just communicator earpieces. But I guess ORCHIS doesn't necessarily know that, while they do know the X-Men have a crapload of telepaths.)

This isn't a mini-series about Kamala trying to juggle school with helping the X-Men in a world that now hates and fears her. It's outright mentioned she hasn't been to any of her classes yet. It's mostly Kamala struggling with the unresolved issues of her having died and been resurrected (none of her friends or family remembering this, thanks to Emma Frost, though she tells Bruno everything), and feeling like she needs to be too many things to too many people. Part of the reason Dr. Gaiha's virus almost works is because Kamala's been having the same dream about who she really is for 10 consecutive weeks (the entire time she's been resurrected.) The virus initially just feels like an extension of the dream.

Vellani and Pirzada do a good job capturing Kamala's hopeful, determined, slightly goofy, personality. That she'll rush to meet a threat without worrying that people might react badly to someone with an "X" on their costume showing up. That she'll critique the attacker on their poor punching form as she knocks them down, but then hold off on attacking any further until it's needed.

That said, I find it hard to believe the negative public reaction to her being a mutant would stun Kamala that much. Granting she was a big X-Men fan from the beginning, she's been hunted by the government, she's been accused of working with gentrifiers (who were actually HYDRA) by her friends, she's been pulled out of line by the TSA just because her last name is "Khan", and they got a security warning about a "Khan." As she notes more than once, she's a lot of different things rolled into one, and many of those things have gotten her hated or viewed suspiciously for no good reason. So why people disliking mutants so much is shocking, I don't know.

Bruno's the only member of her supporting cast that gets any real page space, and he's pretty much as usual. Dedicated to helping her with hastily conceived super-science, supportive of her desire to help others, but worried about her getting hurt. The both of them firmly insisting they're just friends, and not a couple. Bruno also shows no signs of the injuries he sustained trying to stage a jailbreak in the Civil War II tie-ins. He was supposed to eventually lose the ability to walk, but I don't know when that got erased. I can't remember it being a factor in the few issues of Magnificent Ms. Marvel I read.

I think, having seen his art on Fantastic Four, that Carlos Gomez mostly draws Kamala's waking hours, while Gorham draws the dream sequences. Gorham's work (seen above) is rougher and looser than Gomez's, and if he doesn't play with the weird physics of dreams in how things look, he does capture Kamala's frustration and confusion, and how ragged she feels.

Gomez's art is slicker, and at times the expressions feel like they fall in the uncanny valley, or like I'm seeing actors trying to hold a pose that suggests they're doing something, rather than feeling natural as it would if they were actually doing it. Gorham's version of Kamala is closer to how she originally was drawn by Alphona or Miyazawa, while Gomez kind of generics her appearance (her nose is significantly smaller, for one thing.) Gorham also draws her in her classic costume, while Gomez draws the new X-themed outfit, where the lightning bolt is reduced to a tiny thing on her left shoulder. And it's not like they put anything on her torso in its place; it's just blank yellow space.

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"Kamala Corps Unite," in Ms. Marvel (vol. 4) #28, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Nico Leon (artist), Ian Herring (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer)

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.

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"Internal Destruction Engine," in Ms. Marvel (vol. 3) #11, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Adrian Alpona (artist), Ian Herring (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer)

The second volume of Ms. Marvel ended in 2010. Carol Danvers wouldn't get another series for a couple of years, and by then she was calling herself "Captain Marvel", with the new uniform and the new haircut (that only Ed McGuinness really drew her with.) Come 2014, we got a new Ms. Marvel, in the form of Kamala Khan.

Created by G. Willow Wilson, Kamala was unique in a lot of ways as a Marvel character. A Pakistani-American Muslim child of parents who immigrated to the States when Kamala was either very young or not yet born (I forget the specific timing). Living in Jersey City, where the bright lights, skyscrapers, and super-hero battles of NYC are visible, but at a remove from life there.

And while there had been several young heroes that were inspired by the Silver Age generation of Marvel heroes (I feel like half the guys on the New Warriors looked up to Spider-Man at one point or the other), Kamala was one of the few (certainly one of the few successful characters) that were explicitly positioned as a huge fan of superheroes. She writes fanfiction about Storm and Wolverine fighting an alien blob that farts wormholes, and checks up on superhero news sites, and has posters of Carol Danvers all over her walls. 

Like many Marvel teen characters before her, Kamala feels like she doesn't fit. But isn't from being a bookworm like Peter Parker, though she is a bit of a science geek, or a mutant like any number of kids that end up at Xavier's. Even when a weird fog causes her to feel sick, then burst out of a giant egg with powers and looking like Carol Danvers in the black swimsuit costume, that's not what makes her feel alone.

It's that her religion and culture make her stand out in a way she doesn't want. She can't eat foods the white kids in school eat, because the food is against her religion. Or she can't go to the parties the other kids do, because there'll be boys there, and she can't be around them without a chaperone. Or how people like Zoe treat her culture as some curiosity to gawk over, like a strange bird that happened to land in front of them. Lots of teenagers feel like the rules their parents impose, or their cultural norms, make them stand out, but it's always different when it's happening to you. Lots of people have older siblings that embarrass them, but not many do it by constantly quoting the Koran and refusing to get a job, because it wouldn't be holy.

Kamala comes to some kind of peace with that over the first six months of her first series, as she stops trying to look like some blonde white woman superhero, and just looks like herself, in a costume of her own. All this while fighting the creations of a Thomas Edison clone that got crossed with a cockatiel, that insists Kamala's generation is useless for anything except a power source for the works of a great mind like his. She has to adjust to the fact her powers were result of exposure to the Terrigen Mists, which means somewhere in her ancestry, there's Kree genetic tampering. Which, I guess is another connection to Carol Danvers besides the codename.

Honestly, she adapts to the Inhuman thing pretty quickly, but I don't know if that's a consequence of a) being so immersed in superhero stuff through her interests it doesn't seem so strange, b) being allowed to stay at a remove from "New Attilan" (Marvel at this time trying to make the Inhumans a big deal, gave them a city floating just off the shores of New York City) and keep living her life, or c) having her first introduction to Inhumans be Lockjaw, who Medusa sends to keep an eye on Kamala and becomes her sidekick. Well, one of her sidekicks, along with her best friend/pining love interest, Bruno.

Adrian Alphona draws most of the 19 issues the book ran before Hickman's Secret Wars got it canceled (see, damn it, there is that line again. Frickin' Hickman.) There is one issue drawn by Elmo Bondoc where Loki invades the homecoming dance, followed by a 3-parter drawn by Takeshi Miyazawa where Kamala is drawn into some factional in-fighting among the Inhumans, via the treachery of cute teenage boys. Dastardly!

But Alphona (and color artist Ian Herring, who I want to discuss more next week) set the visual tone and look of the book. Kamala is a short, kind of scrawny girl with hair that falls all over the place and a prominent nose. She wears a trapper or lumberjack hat a lot and loose coats or t-shirts with dorky logos and memes on them. Her initial attempts to cobble together a costume are slightly better than when Peter Parker puts a paper bag over his head, but only slightly. Even though her power lets her change shape and size, she doesn't get huge muscles. If her legs grow, they remain spindly things. Ditto her arms, even if her hands swell up to punch somebody. It honestly makes her look kind of goofy, but she mostly ignores it (the exception being when the dastardly cute boy remarks on it looking 'freaky', and she immediately gets worried he thinks it's gross.) 

Jersey City is no gleaming city of skyscrapers. It's mostly buildings 2-3 stories tall in the commercial areas, built joined together. No bright neon of the city, mostly muted streetlights There's a warehouse district with the typical maze of buildings in various states of use and disrepair, and residential neighbors hoods of houses that still have individual character. No cookie-cutter suburbs here! And it isn't difficult to get into some wilderness, abandoned factories or power plants surrounded by woods and steep cliffs. And Alphona fills the pages with little Easter eggs and odd tidbits that show how Jersey City has a weird and silly character of its own.

A lot of the fun of the book is in pausing to see what little details Alphona added into the background of a page. One of the Inventor's robots (which is equipped with brass knuckles that deliver an electro-magnetic charge to disrupt Kamala's powers) also wears a derby hat, which it doffs as it escapes with Lockjaw as a prisoner. Or Kamala finally gets a team-up with Captain Marvel - pity the world is about to end - and as they cross the city, there are two people on the roof below them, laying on a picnic blanket, with an entire fish laying beside them. One of the buildings below has a sign for 'Pets & Spices', and someone, somehow, crashed a car into the roof.

And Wilson gets in on the fun too, letting Kamala act silly sometimes or behave in a way where her friends and family have to stop and just sort of stare at her. Even her hallucination of Carol Danvers in issue 1, when Kamala says she would fight crime in the 'classic, politically incorrect costume and kick butt in giant wedge heels,' remarks Kamala must have a weird boot fetish.

Although my favorite bit is when Kamala has stopped an impromptu robbery of the Circle Q in her regular clothes and a sleeping mask she poked holes in. The cops arrive, and when she announces herself as Ms. Marvel, one cop responds, 'she's the blonde with big. . .powers,' while gesturing vaguely towards his chest. Kamala promptly grows until her head hits the ceiling and answers, 'I've got BIG powers.' I still laugh at that exchange, over 10 years later.

But, yeah, the book ran 19 issues. Kamala's brother got exposed to something other than Terrigen Mist (it was never explained what, only that Danvers insisted it wasn't the Mist) and developed powers he didn't want. Her mother revealed she'd known Kamala was Ms. Marvel for a while, and then Secret Wars mucked everything up. For about 3 months.

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"Werecat Combat," in Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #19, by Brian Reed (writer), Aaron Lopresti (penciler), Matt Ryan (inker), Chris Sotomayor (colorist), Dave Sharpe (letterer)

One aspect of House of M was that Ms. Marvel was the "world's greatest hero" (whatever that means), because that was apparently the specific desire Carol Danvers had, that the Scarlet Witch granted. This volume was, in theory, Carol trying to make that a reality once the event was over.

In practice, it never comes around, at least not in the two years I bought the title (roughly half its 50 issue run.) Which could have been the point, I suppose. You don't set out to be the world's greatest hero, you just keep showing up to help and maybe one day it turns out you've become the world's greatest. If that was Brian Reed's goal, I dropped the book long before he got to it.

The biggest issue was, Civil War started up early in the book's run, and Carol sided wholeheartedly with ol' Tony Stank. Going so far as to team up with that dolt Wonder Man to run down and capture other heroes, like Julia Carpenter (going as either Arachne or still Spider-Woman at the time), and the Shroud (this might constitute the last time the Shroud was depicted as both sane and competent, depending on how you rate his two-issue appearance in Heroes for Hire vol. 3's Fear Itself tie-ins)

Reed never provided a reason for Danvers siding with the pro-reg forces I found believable (actually, I don't even remember what the justifications were now), and it's not easy for me to enjoy a book where I don't particularly care for the main character, and honestly like it when shit rains down on them.

Beyond that, I mostly recall vague impressions of what went on. Arana was positioned as an apprentice to Carol, seemingly mostly so she could be hurt by Doomsday Man to make Carol angry (and Arana's dad angry at Carol later.) There was something with a blue, tentacled alien that left a part of itself in Carol that let her heal faster. She got a SHIELD sponsored strike team that included Machine Man (Reed using the NextWave version that drinks heavily and insists on being called "Aaron") and Sleepwalker. Which is why I still had the issue the above page is from, as it's the one where, as part of undercover work, Aaron "disguises" himself with a big, bushy, sloppy handlebar mustache.

What can I say? It tickled my fancy.

That storyline involved Puppet Master setting himself up like a warlord in Chile, putting a bunch of superheroes under his control. The comic does not get into what he's using them for besides security, but come on, he only caught women superheroes, I feel like we're meant to connect the dots. Carol shakes his control (thanks to the alien thing), and then, when she has a chance to capture Puppet Master, lets him blow himself up instead, confident the unknown healing thing will protect her.

Which I wouldn't necessarily object to, except she has no idea how big a blast he plans to set off, and her team was still evacuating all the people Masters abducted, and had given no sign everyone was clear. He kidnapped a lot of average joes, what if they couldn't run fast enough? More annoying, even as Reed writes Carol's internal narration as her being willing to make tough choices and live with consequences, he has her lie to her team about what happened, saying she didn't have time to stop Puppet Master.

If she's willing to live with the consequences, why not have her lay it out, coldly and clinically, and use that as a springboard? How does her team react, does it hurt or help her standing with them? (I suspect Aaron wouldn't care, but Sleepwalker's human half almost certainly would be uneasy about it.)

Again, maybe that was all leading to some big epiphany for Carol, but it left a bad taste in my mouth, and after the Civil War mess, I wasn't inclined to cut the character (or Reed) much slack. When the book was about to start Secret Invasion tie-ins, I decided it was time to bail out, though I clearly should have done it sooner.

Sunday Splash Page #367

"Front Page News," in Ms. Marvel (vol. 1) #6, by Chris Claremont (writer), Jim Mooney and Joe Sinnott (artists), Janice Cohen (colorist), John Costanza (letterer)

I don't know what prompted Marvel to give a supporting cast member of Captain Marvel her own ongoing. I think Marvel's prior attempts at a superheroine solo book were things like The Cat (canceled after 3 issues) or Black Widow as a co-headliner in a book with The Inhumans. Was Carol Danvers really popular with Marvel readers of the '70s? However it occurred, she got her own book, and it lasted 23 issues. Gerry Conway wrote the first 2 and plotted the 3rd, which Claremont wrote (John Buscema drew all 3.) After that, it was Claremont all the way as writer, with Jim Mooney as the penciler for the largest number of issues (though also, Sal Buscema, Keith Pollard, Carmine Infantino and Dave Cockrum, among others.)

What I find most curious is, initially, Carol has no idea she's Ms. Marvel, nor does Ms. Marvel have any idea who Carol Danvers is. Carol will be doing something, having lunch with Mary Jane Watson (who Conway tires to establish as a supporting cast member, a young woman who looks up to Carol, but that gets largely dropped by Claremont.) Carol gets a bad headache, most likely passes out and transforms to Ms. Marvel. Ms. Marvel goes to confront whatever premonition her "seventh-sense" provided, while wondering why she occasionally thinks of herself as an Earthling. She's a Kree warrior, after all.

Claremont dispenses with that near the end of issue 3, as Ms. Marvel finally remembers Carol while trying to stop AIM from interfering with Skylab's launch by unleashing the Doomsday Man. Then he takes an approach more similar to the Hulk: Carol and Ms. M share the body, and Carol grows to steadily resent the havoc the super-powered warrior plays with her personal and professional life. 

Carol's supposed to be editor of Jonah Jameson's Woman magazine. Hard to do properly when she's being dragged away to stop jewel store thieves or being assaulted by a lethal winged warrior. Ms. Marvel doesn't see the problem. She's saving lives, that's more important. This comes to a head at the end of year 1, when Salia Petrie, an old friend of Carol's, is in danger, but Ms. Marvel insists on being involved in a struggle between Moses Magnum and two other losers, against some sorceress named Hecate. She reasons the battle could destroy the world, so needs of the many outweigh the few, or the one. Carol is not impressed by this logic.

Rather than pursue the notion of Carol being stuck sharing her body with someone she despises, who forces her way to the forefront of the mind and usually screws up Carol's life in the process, Claremont instead has Hecate help Carol finally realize she and Ms. Marvel are the same person and always have been. I guess Carol's mind created this break inside itself to cope with the exposure to the Psyche-Magnitron. You'd think that would make Carol's guilt even worse. She can't foist the blame on someone else. But she's so darn happy about this revelation that she seemingly forgets entirely about her friend who died alone in space after her shuttle exploded.

(Claremont will reveal in the last issue that Salia survived, saved by some robot with a malleable orb for a head. No, not Ruby Thursday from the Headmen, a different robot with a malleable orb for a head. And he wants to mentally subjugate Carol like he did Salia, because Claremont.)

That inner conflict swept aside like an empty hamburger wrapper, Claremont shifts to, well, not a lot. He introduces Carol's parents mostly to show her dad is of the mindset women belong in the kitchen, but that never comes up after the 2-issue arc. A couple of love interests pop up, but whether it's the therapist guy, or cocky photographer Frank Gianelli, or whoever, none of them are terribly memorable. Nor do they get very far. Mar-Vell finally makes an appearance in issue 19, if you were waiting for that (I wasn't.)  Dave Cockrum gives Carol the black outfit with the yellow lightning bolt during his two issues as artist. The editor job falls apart in the penultimate issue.

The closest thing to a major subplot is mysterious figures trying to find and destroy something Carol has. That runs through the background for months, but most of the time Frank Gianelli's investigating it somewhere off-panel. It ultimately brings Carol into conflict with Mystique, and then the Hellfire Club, but the book gets cancelled before there's any resolution. (The final two issues would be published years later in Marvel Super-Heroes, culminating with Ms. Marvel's defeat at Rogue's hands.)

One thing that doesn't help the book is Ms. Marvel doesn't get a rogue's gallery. Mostly she faces one-off fights against guys in powered armors, or villains on loan from other characters. Scorpion, Tiger Shark, M.O.D.O.K., Ronan the Accuser in the issue with Mar-Vell. Mystique stays in the background. Doomsday Man's became a recurring foe in later volumes, but Carol only faces him the once here.

Deathbird's probably the closest Carol gets to an arch-foe, and she's a) always working for someone else, and b) Claremont doesn't get very far into her character or motivations, beyond revealing she's some sort of alien and she has some limited notion of honor. She's a decent visual, and the battles are presented as back-and-forth struggles, but that's about it.

What I Bought 6/6/2024

Looking at the forecast ahead, this is the last weekend I've got before summer sets in for real. At least it waited until mid-June. In the meantime, as we move into a summer of very few comics, let's look at the conclusion to a mini-series, which doesn't feel like much of a conclusion at all.

Ms. Marvel: Mutant Menace #4, by Iman Vellani and Sabir Pirzada (writers), Scott Godlewski (artist), Erick Arciniega (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - Lockjaw looking at Kamala like she's a pile of throw-up and wondering if anyone's gonna eat that.

The Inhumans determine the reason Kamala looks like a melted candle is because, while the X-Men recreated her powers they didn't recreate the Terrigen Mists that brought them out. It's a catalyst, or maybe an enzyme, her body can't handle all the stretching and whatnot without it. So into a tube, gas exposure, and hallucination. Instead of Captain America or Carol Danvers, Kamala sees her mother, who assures her it's OK that she can't be simplified to an easily defined person.

Hallucination complete, powers back to normal, potential of mutation expressing itself apparently more remote than ever. Awesome! That evil doctor lady, Nitika, has unleashed the reanimated corpse of Kamala's previous body, with the mutation (read: movie) powerset activated, and has it rampaging through Jersey City. Nitika accurately sees Kamala would not trust a former ORCHIS scientist, but she really wants Kamala to activate her mutation (because she thinks hard light constructs could be used to build homes or some shit, really?), and dusted off the, "I hurt you to make you stronger" strategy.

Kamala makes it out physically OK, but Sheikh Abdullah's in a coma, and now everyone in Jersey City hates and fears Ms. Marvel, even as they acknowledge the rampage was by an evil clone. So the death of her zombified corpse is kind of a symbolic death of her old life as the generally beloved protector of Jersey City. The X-Men basically shrug and tell Kamala, "that's life in the X-verse." Excellent mentorship. Especially funny given Kamala admits earlier in the issue she knew she could ask the Inhumans for help, but keeps forgetting she can rely on others. Then she turns to the X-Men and gets, "toughen up, snowflake."

With Nitika still out there, and still determined to activate Kamala's mutation, this feels like the middle chapter of a larger story. Much of her traditional support circle are against her, save Bruno (with the way Godlewski drew the last page, it looks like they're teasing the Kamala/Bruno thing again), Red Dagger (when he's not on the other side of the world), and the Inhumans (whatever their status quo is.) Presumably she'll have some final confrontation with Nitika, maybe regain the trust of the pinheads of Jersey City. Is that going to be a third mini-series, or will this be relegated to a subplot in that NYX book? Will it even get any follow-up?

What I Bought 5/17/2024

They tore up one of the baseball fields a mile or so down the road from my apartment. I thought (hoped) they were putting in some basketball courts. There's not really a good outdoor court anywhere close to my place. But I think it's for pickleball. Boooooooo. There's a couple of tennis courts like 200 yards away that hardly ever get used. Just tell them to play pickleball on those.

Ms. Marvel: Mutant Menace #3, by Iman Vellani and Sabir Pirzada (writer), Scott Godlewski (artist), Erick Arciniega (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - Good thing about a Zombie Cyclops, nobody gives you any grief when you blow its head off with a shotgun.

Back in Jersey City, Kamala finds the Red Dagger waiting for her. He's rather confused that she's alive, since he escaped Emma Frost's non-consensual mind wipe and remembers Kamala died. It seems like Kamala maybe doesn't remember his name, something missed in the resurrection protocol, but there's still a spark between the two.

We are spared further awkward conversations and smoldering gazes by the arrival of Zombie Cyclops! Never thought I'd be grateful such a thing exists, but here we are. Zombie Cyclops is easily dispatched, Red Dagger stabbing it with 3 daggers held between his fingers (complete with "SNIKT" sound effect), which allows for more teenagers talking about whether to have a relationship or not. The part where Zombie Cyclops is still blithely firing optic blasts into the sky behind them as his body decays is kind of funny.

More Zombie X-Men arrive! More fighting! A two-page splash of the fight taking place above an alley where Kamala keeps trying to convince Red Dagger her friends are normally very cool and not crazy zombies! The bit where Red Dagger throws one of his weapons on the end of a chain in the upper left corner, and it bounces around until it pierces Zombie Nightcrawler in the lower left (what had to be several seconds and multiple teleports later) doesn't really make sense if I apply any logic to it, but here we are.

Then the Inhumans show up, hopefully to bring some sort of resolution to Kamala's powers glitching out, which is happening with greater frequency. I also assume the ex-ORCHIS doctor lady, who is responsible for the Zombie X-Men, will be sending out Kamala's old body in her original costume to. . .I actually don't know what that accomplishes. It's very obviously going to be an inarticulate rotting corpse, but I guess she figures it'll hold together long enough to make Kamala "kill" herself in front of the city she loves? Don't see what the doctor - whose name I don't bother to remember because Vallani and Pirzada haven't given me a reason to care about her - gets out of that.

What I Bought 4/11/2024

I wasn't in the totality of the eclipse last week, but that's alright. The one several years ago swung right through town, so I didn't even have to go anywhere then.

Fantastic Four #18, by Ryan North (writer), Carlos Gomez (artist), Jesus Arbutov (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - Once again, Sue's attempts to get Reed's attention fail.

It's Alicia as a private detective, trying to find the missing egghead Professor Richards on behalf of his main squeeze, Susan Storm. Ben (in his human appearance) works for/with Alicia. As either her eyes, or muscle, depending on the need.

The story follows the usual pattern of dead-end suspects. Johnny as the dissolute brother who is in debt to the local nightclub owner (role filled by the Mole Man.) Namor as an honest, but arrogant, cop that's hung up on Sue. Gomez doesn't shift his art style much beyond adjusting character's looks and fashion to match the motif. Maybe softens the lines around Sue's face, makes the eyes a little bigger to fit the "dangerous beauty" role. Johnny still has that terrible mustache, though.

Arbutov colors most of it in grey, with certain objects in color. Sue's dress, Namor's uniform, the lights and door of Mole Man's club. I don't really get the rhyme or reason of the choices of what to color. Why Ben's cup of coffee, or the seats in the diner where Alicia questions Johnny?

The whole thing ends up being the result of a Cosmic Cube falling into the hands of just about the last character you'd expect to get their hands on it. No, not Willie Lumpkin. No, not HERBIE. Just stop guessing! Reed turns out to be shielded from the effect (how is Sue's force field holding when she doesn't even know she can do such a thing?) to guide Alicia to it, and she undoes what was done. Though, in noir fashion, she does it knowing it'll erase her world, but that she's already lost a key part of it, so this is the least amount of losing she can end up with.

Ms. Marvel: Mutant Menace #2, by Iman Vellani and Sabir Pirzada (writers), Rob Di Salvo (artist), Erick Arciniega (color artist), Joe Carmagna (letterer) - The cover list Di Salvo as artist, but the interior still says Godlewski. Oh Marvel, when will you stop being a clown car of a company?

Lila Cheney grabbed Ms. Marvel because Lila stupidly made a contract with Mojo, and when she didn't accept him rewriting the terms of said contract, he abducted her most loyal fans. Kamala was the only X-Man she could find, so here we are.

The rest of the issue is Kamala posing as a new member of Lila's group to keep Mojo occupied while Lila looks for her groupies. This starts with Kamala doing some truly terrible mugging for Mojo's cameras. Then, when it turns out the youth demographic really likes "Chord", Mojo throws her into a million different things while Lila's still trying to figure out how to detach her fans from some gizmos they're hooked into which make them, 'real-life engagement bots.'

I have absolutely no idea what that means. That they're forced to watch stuff to falsely pump up viewership numbers? Either way, Lila gets them loose eventually, while defeating a Spiral clone in a fight (and I call bullshit on that), but Mojo drugs her with something that tamps down her powers. Not enough they can't escape, but enough she can just barely send Kamala back home, where Red Dagger is waiting.

OK, Kamala has a space adventure. Fine, space opera is an X-tradition, and so is dealing with Mojo. But what was the point of this issue? We're halfway through the mini-series, and there was no progress on any major plot points. Not the cause of Kamala's weird spasms, not what the ORCHIS doctor lady is up to. She's getting shipments from ape-scientists (as in apes who are scientists), but if I'm meant to know who those apes are, I don't. Not the fact Kamala's friends think Ms. Marvel's a phony because they were mindwiped with regards to Kamala being Ms. Marvel and having been resurrected.

Literally any of that - Bruno helping Kamala test her powers, difficult conversations with Nakia, Dr. Gaiha actually making an overt move - would have been a better use of 20 pages than this.

What I Bought 3/6/2024

We're at the part of the NBA season where everyone is agog at the Boston Celtics' regular season success and proclaiming them a nigh-unstoppable juggernaut rolling towards a title. Ignoring, of course, the fact they said the same thing the last two seasons, only to watch the Celtics bumble their way through multiple lengthy playoff series against allegedly inferior teams, before eventually NOT winning the title.

Just a couple of night ago they were outscored - the entire team - in the 4th quarter by Dean Wade, a guy best known for NBA writer Zach Lowe saying his name makes it sound like he's an accountant. 'Dean Wade, for your company's accounting needs. Dean Wade!' I'm supposed to take that bunch of bumblefucks seriously? Get the hell out.

Doctor Strange #13, by Jed MacKay (writer), Pasqual Ferry (artist), Heather Moore (color artist), Cory Petit (letterer) - Taskmaster out here like, "How about this? Good pose, right? Lifted it from the last Arkon flick. Piece of shit movie, but good visuals."

So there's a D&D style game that's actually real. Kids start playing it, and it begins to establish itself in their world, branching out and gaining a stronger grip on reality. To beat it, Strange says you have to play by its rules, so that means gathering a party. That's about half the issue, Strange making various pitches to the Black Cat, Hunter's Moon, and Taskmaster. Tasky's in it for money, Felicia so the Doc doesn't snitch to Spidey about nearly dooming Manhattan, Hunter's Moon because Moon Knight owed the Doc a favor.

Into the game they go, complete with new duds. Taskmaster and Hunter's Moon's outfits feel like they match their regular aesthetics pretty well, the Black Cat's not so much. Maybe it's all the lavender, or just the helm with the little cat ears. One montage of various perils defeated or circumvented later and they've found the kids. Unfortunately, Baron Mordo found the game book first, so now he's running this clown show. Next issue, dragon fight!

MacKay has some fun with the banter between Strange and his party, most of whom he doesn't seem very fond of (he admits that's why he picked Taskmaster as the meat shield), but I would have liked a little more of things not going the way the party expects, or the characters less used to this stuff being more confused by it. But Taskmaster just sees it as an excuse to chop things up, and it's probably not that weird for the others, so I guess I can see it.

Moore's colors help solidify Ferry's art more than I remember it looking in the past. It's been a while, but I remember when he was drawing Ultimate Fantastic Four, the colors made everything look like it was shot through a Vaseline-smeared lens. Kind of ephemeral. They save that here for when they find the bubble with the kids in it, playing what they think is just a game, while it rewrites reality around them.

Ms. Marvel: Mutant Menace #1, by Iman Vellani and Sabir Pirzada (writers), Scott Godlweski (artist), Erick Arciniega (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - All X-Men must do dramatic posing in a sewer, it's in the curriculum.

Kamala's back in Jersey City, but Jersey City's not so friendly to Ms. Marvel. Her list of problems is lengthy, and includes half the people who used to love her no being suspicious because of the affiliation with the X-Men, including Nakia and Zoe. In their defense, they've been made to forget Kamala was Ms. Marvel, but not that Ms. Marvel died, so they aren't sure this is the same person. Nobody loves clones!

Kamala can't bring herself to stop trying to help people, even when the X-Men encourage her to focus on living her life, which feels true to the character. She gets overwhelmed at times, but she always seems determined to try and do all she can. Unfortunately, her body is acting up when she uses her powers. Godlewski draws it almost like little explosions are going off inside her.

The Hordeculture, who show up trying to abduct some mutant kid crook with plant powers, claim to know what's going on, but didn't feel like sharing. Kamala does save the kid from capture and eventual dissection by the creepy grannies, which is really nice after he dissed her codename. Not a bad design, lots of room for different looks as he mimicks characteristics of different plants, and the sweatpants emphasize the cobbled together, low-budget crook he's meant to be.

At any rate, Lila Cheney shows up and teleports Kamala to one of her concerts. That's where the issue ends, which is a weird place to leave it. Lila's watching the fight from the shadows, and Godlewski keeps her in shadow when she announces her presence. Then Kamala's in the crowd at a concert and just starts cheering wildly once Lila walks up on stage and begins to play.

So, why the mystery of her identity? Or, conversely, why have Lila essentially abduct Kamala because she needs X-Men, but then not speak to her about it at all. It seems like the cliffhanger ought to be Kamala materializes in a strange place full of aliens, and then next issue figures out it was Lila who did it and why. Or, have Lila approach her and at least make some cryptic and suspenseful or misleading statement to close the issue on. Like, "Ms. Marvel, you're killing it," or "I need you to have my baby, Ms. Marvel." OK, those are shit examples, but you get what I mean.

What I Bought 11/29/2023

I think I'm going to be lazy this weekend. It won't be easy, but if I dedicate myself fully to the task, I think I can pull it off.

Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant #4, by Iman Vellani and Sabir Pirzada (writers), Carlos Gomez and Adam Gorham (artists), Erick Arciniega (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - Look at this book, trying to tempt people to buy it with the promise of Dead Cyclops.

While Kamala fits the Stark Sentinel and protects Typical Marvel Morons from falling rubble, Bruno tries to get a few of the kids to help him to rig Michelle's plasma generator into a sort of fusion reactor that, when placed on the unibeam spot on the Sentinel, does. . .something that blows up the Sentinel. The battle also revealed the ORCHIS lab, and Kamala and the other students save the people trapped there. Then Kamala has to run because more Sentinels are showing up.

Aftermath: Kamala gets a repaired costumed that's still more X-person than Ms. Marvel, but she got the golden wrist thing she always wore back, at least. The ORCHIS scientist with the bots is now a former ORCHIS scientist in hiding, compiling info on Ms. Marvel for some future purpose. Because, as Emma Frost tells Kamala, while her movie synergy energy powers didn't manifest, there is now the possibility they will in the future. Maybe.

Oh, and Kitty Pryde won't high-five Kamala, because it is a character trait of hers to be on unfriendly terms with all the other teen girls Logan befriended at one point or the other. Though I don't get that expression she's making in the last panel. Like she's confused watching Kamala's hand pass through her, or thinks this is really awkward. What did she think was going to happen?

I'm surprised Vellani and Pirzada didn't bust out the movie powers, but not disappointed. It felt like a classic adventure for Kamala Khan: Save some people with size-changing and stretching powers, plus some science back-up from her friend. Choose to help a downed enemy rather than destroy them, even if it'll make her life harder. Go home to dinner with her family.

Granted that G. Willow Wilson did a few stories where Kamala's powers evolved or changed, so a mutation going active wouldn't have been out of place, but saving that for later, and letting this story focus on the character finding her footing after being alive is a nice touch. It reaffirms the essential core of the character, regardless of whatever new stuff they bolt onto her.

Moon Knight #29, by Jed MacKay (writer), Federico Sabbatini (artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (color artist), Cory Petit (letterer) - That's got to be a pretty good knife to go through that chestplate so easily.

Moon Knight fights Black Spectre and eventually beats him, revealing it to be the 2nd Black Spectre, who it can't be because he was in jail. Which is when the actual Black Spectre behind everything shoots Marc a bunch of times. Well, trusting Moon Knight to barge into a fight and stop watching his six is smart planning, at least.

Hunter's Moon found out how to stop the "use sound to kill everyone plan", and Soldier defused the mine Tigra's sitting on, and argues she's the only one who would have noticed it, so that kept Moon Knight from getting blown up. Great. Either way, none of them can reach Moon Knight because the real guy blew out the floors below.

In the most amusing development, Zodiac wearing a gold necklace with his name had a purpose beyond identifying him as a self-involved tool. It's his version of a cross, to defend himself against Reese. Because he's the only thing he has faith in. This does not, however, save him from the stupidity of going into the Midnight Mission after Reese, what with the mission being a sentient (and hungry) building. So hopefully that's the last we see of him.

The Black Spectre is revealed on the last page to be Plesko, Marc's psychiatrist friend we saw in one issue interviewing Zodiac. Then he was supposedly blown up (off-panel, which was really obviously significant) in the next issue. I figured something was up with that, which makes me 14 for 726 for accurate predictions on this blog.

I don't know what his reason would be for doing this. I could see him feeling like he needs to help Marc by destroying Moon Knight, but he acts as though he never intended for Moon Knight to be involved. That it was a mistake to pose as Black Spectre, because he knew it would bring Moon Knight after him. Which means he really wants to kill everyone in New York, which seems like an odd turn. But with Marc being shot up, I suppose Plesko will have lots of chances to monologue in the finale.

What I Bought 10/25/2023 - Part 2

The temperature started dropping like a rock midday Friday and didn't stop until Sunday morning. Went from mid-70s to mid-20s. As long as there's no ice, I'm fine with it. Meanwhile, we've got two X-Books to review.

Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant #2, by Iman Vellani and Sabir Pirzada (writers), Carlos Gomez and Adam Gorham (artists), Erick Arciniega (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - Again, only one of these characters appears in the book. Thankfully, it's not Gambit.

Contrary to the first two issues, over half of this issue is spent in Kamala's dreams, as she and her fanfic Silver Surfer/Dr. Strange mash-up travel through her mind, trying to sort out her identity issues. Whoever draws the dream sequences makes Kamala look a closer to how she did when Adrian Alphona was illustrating her adventures. Kind of gangly-limbed even without her powers, alternately drawn in on herself and uninhibited (scarfing down popcorn while watching one of her memories with Dr. Surfer.)

Meanwhile, ORCHIS' little bug thing has injected something that, if Kamala unwittingly accepts it, will attack the minds of every telepath she communicates with. The virus appears before Kamala, pretending to be her X-gene that never activated, offering her the chance to feel fully accepted by the X-Men because she'll be a "real" mutant now. It would seem ridiculous for ORCHIS to think that was going to work, if the X-writers hadn't spent the entire Krakoa era with the X-Men touting Magento's "mutant supremacist" horseshit. Also if ORCHIS wasn't employing a bunch of morons who take the zero-sum approach to human & mutant relations.

Either way, Kamala finally recognizes she won't be defined by any one aspect of herself, biological or otherwise, and wakes up. To find a Sentinel outside her window, because she does register as a mutant now. Although the color scheme seems like the classic purple Sentinel, and I thought they were all rocking the red-and-gold Stark paint job now, so I can't rule out this still being some sort of hallucination. But the art style shifted back to what it is when she's awake, so I assume this is the point where she manifests the energy powers they gave her in the TV show.

There's a point where Bruno's hacking of the little drone allows ORCHIS to figure out which dorm building Kamala's in and send drones to look for facial recognition. Which Bruno beats by slapping Kamala's floppy-eared winter hat on her head and a facial mask over her mouth. The drone concludes this student matches no one in their records. But Bruno comments the X-Men must have some serious tech to fool facial recognition software.

I know the X-Men did do something similar to that, but I'm pretty sure it turned out face masks were great for fooling facial recognition software when the cops were trying to arrest people after the fact for protesting the cops being authoritarian, jackbooted thugs. But Bruno didn't know about that, or why disguise her? And since he did, why assume that wasn't what did the trick?

Uncanny Spider-Man #2, by Si Spurrier (writer), Lee Garbett (artist), Matt Milla (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - I don't mind when Marvel does alternate universe versions of the Rhino that are in big mechanical exo-suits (like the Ultimate Universe's version), but I don't like it for the classic Marvel version.

Most of this issue is Silver Sable flirting (or openly lusting after, if you prefer) Nightcrawler. There's a little bit at the beginning where he's trying to talk to Mystique, except she doesn't recognize him. Oh, and the details of his birth are going to change. Again. I know, right? Kurt's origin gets shifted around more than Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver's. ORCHIS sends Rhino, controlled by the same doohickus they used to make Kurt kill people, after Kurt.

I would have been curious to see how Nightcrawler handled that sort of challenge on his own, but Silver Sable's group bust in and briefly capture him. The control thing is messed up and hurting Rhino, so he goes berserk and Kurt escapes into the sewers, bringing Sable with him. Who acts extremely unprofessional, unable to stop openly making comments about how attractive she thinks Kurt is.

That's one of her two settings in this issue, the other being condescending.Spurrier writes her a lot like he wrote Elsa Bloodstone in that Black Knight mini-series, but hornier. It just seems silly. Let one of Silver's subordinates be the one openly ogling and being reprimanded for it. Silver Sable's supposed to be professional, but with enough of a core of decency she ends up doing unprofitable things sometimes anyway.

Either way, Nightcrawler escapes to spend another day arguing with little Bamf ghosts and keeping all his problems bottled up.

What I Bought 9/27/2023

It was a very chill week, aided by my taking today off. Not a lot going on at work, which was fine. I am going to try not to think about what next week might bring. I'll have to deal with whatever it is then, so let it be Future Calvin's problem.

Unstoppable Doom Patrol #6, by Dennis Culver (writer), Chris Burnham (artist), Brian Reber (colorist), Pat Brosseau (letterer) - Come on guys, you're never going to get that Justice League International #1 homage cover done at this rate!

A training exercise for some of the newer kids is interrupted by all those villains General Immortus has been recruiting, who warp inside the base. In the middle of that, the magic-using guys who were hanging out in the basement in issue 2 show up, because the real threat is Houngan is doing something to give the general a new body that involves Dorothy's corpse. Hey, a Doom Patrol member I sort of know!

Did the evil plan work? Maybe? Immortus is more "wax melted over a skeleton" than ever, but there are a bunch of candles hovering around him and he's calling himself the Eternal Flame. Seems ominous. It's a nice look, though, props to Burnham, and the name is a good play on Immortus' longevity.

I'm not sure how Culver's going to resolve this and whatever Peacemaker has going in one issue. Plus, the seeming conflict in Jane's system about The Chief being in charge all the time. It makes the capture the flag sequence feel like padding the story can't afford at this point, even though it was probably important for a variety of reasons. Introduce the people Doom Patrol is helping and show some examples of how (community, self-confidence, control of their abilities, etc.,.) It evens up the numbers in the big fight, and provides some potential casualties. Although the core cast have died so many times, it's hardly any big deal to kill them again. Go ahead, blow Robotman up! He goes through bodies like the Gotham goes through innocent civilians.

Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant #2, by Iman Vellani and Sabir Pirzada (writers), Carlos Gomez and Adam Gorham (artists), Erick Arciniega (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - Only one of these characters is actually in this comic. Thankfully, it isn't Cyclops.

Kamala's still having that dream, but a conversation about it with Bruno helps her realize the Silver Surfer she keeps seeing is from one of her fanfics. Kamala resolves to try actually talking to it the next time, while Bruno cobbles together some machine to monitor her brain waves.

But first she has to deal with an anti-mutant hate parade. There's one person standing up for mutants, and she gets threatened and forced to run. Kamala does nothing. I mean, OK, you're not going to bust out the superpowers and whoop bigot ass because you're undercover, but you could stand with her as a fellow student, right?

ORCHIS tracks her encrypted communications with the X-Men and attack Ms. Marvel with a bunch of drones that can combine into a larger robot. That's kind of cool, in a lameass Voltron knock-off way. Iron Man shows up in his stealth armor to help, but apparently one of the drones already injected Kamala with something that will let them control her so they can make her do things to make people hate mutants more or something. And of course she's going to be sleeping soon to try and unravel her dream.

Somehow that last bit of the summary really depressed me. ORCHIS hasn't done enough damage, they have to keep doing more? Like a bunch of lame asses, they're going to control someone else into doing it instead of just doing their own shit. And it's not as though I'd want Ms. Marvel to kill them, but maybe Frank Castle could return from the dead conveniently and start shooting people?

The dream sequences are still a different art style from the rest of the issue, and I still don't know which artist is responsible for which. Maybe it's Arciniega's coloring that makes it look different. There's less going on in the panels during the dreams, so there tend to be fewer colors. It's more just gradual shifts from one shade in the background to the other. But the lines also look thicker and things blend a little more.

I think I prefer the dream sequence art, the expressions feel more natural. Some of the panels during the rest of the comic, character's faces feel frozen in awkward or uncanny valley expressions. Like the character is posing or acting - this is me enjoying playing a video game with my friend - rather than just doing that.

What I Bought 9/5/2023 - Part 2

I took today off. I originally planned to run some errands and then rest up ahead of a lengthy funtimes driving trip. Instead I'm going to run errands and rest up ahead of a much shorter funtimes driving trip. In the meantime, the other two leftovers from last month, both from Marvel.

Fantastic Four #10, by Ryan North (writer), Leandro Fernandez (artist), Jesus Arbutov (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - Looks like a story Skrull kids tell around the campfire.

The story feels a bit like the sci-fi suspense/horror stuff of the '50s and '60s. Mystery in Space and whatnot. You've got an alien craft with all its inhabitants in stasis save one, who maintains the ship until awakening and training their successor. Except one caretaker finds their ship has simply stopped in space, and all the stars are gone. But there are monsters roaming the ship.

Unlike the aliens, we recognize the Fantastic Four. Like the aliens, we don't know what the FF are doing. Why they seem to be trying to get in. Why they're blocking off sections off the ship. Why they're not doing anything as one caretaker after another loses their mind or dies trying to keep them out.

I don't know that it's an entirely effective approach. I think the reader can see it enough from the aliens' perspective to understand why it's terrifying them, but not so much that it really works that way on the reader. Fernandez helps by typically drawing the FF at a distance, or obscured, so their humanity is de-emphasized. That helps with the notion they're perceived as strange and terrifying by the aliens, though going further with it, like when one caretaker is trying to fend off a bunch of "worms" that are actually Reed's fingers, could have ramped it up even further.

Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant #1, by Iman Vellani and Sabir Pirzada (writers), Carlos Gomez and Adam Gorham (artists), Erick Arciniega (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - Join the X-Men, learn to walk on air.

So, Kamala Khan's alive again. Good, fine. She's also apparently a mutant, but also an Inhuman. Seems like too many hats, and the comic itself starts with a dream Kamala's apparently had every night since her resurrection where all the hero factions want a piece of her and it's overwhelming. The connection to the Inhumans was one of the least interesting parts of her character under G. Willow Wilson and I don't see that being a mutant is going to be any different, but sure, fine, slap an "X" on her and let's go.

Anyway, Kamala was accepted into a summer program at a university science center. . .funded by ORCHIS. So it's an X-Men undercover mission thing and an educational opportunity! To be fair, Kamala asked to help, unwilling to run and hide from bigots, which is very on-point for her. She decides to go against Emma Frost's advice (always a good choice) and tell Bruno the truth about herself.

Glad to see Vellani and Pirzada aren't throwing Kamala's classic supporting cast away entirely in favor of X-Men. One positive about Ms. Marvel's supporting cast was so many of them weren't costumes. They were just other teenagers and relatives to be part of that side of her life. And the supporting cast still look mostly recognizable. I don't know whether that's Gomez or Gorham, because I think one drew the dream sequence at the start and the other drew the rest of the issue, but I don't know which did which.

The conversation with Bruno is partially interrupted by the arrival of something that looks halfway to being a Deathlok. Lotta tubes and wires, but not quite enough metal parts yet. She's tries to talk with it and gets a hint it's related to whatever ORCHIS is working on, but then it self-destructs and she has to protect a bunch of ungrateful college kids. Still, Kamala's more bothered by those dreams, and will stay up all night playing video games with Bruno to avoid sleep. Although the look on her face in the panel where she suggests the idea is kinda creepy. The wide eyes and smile are starting to veer into rictus grin range, if not quite, "dosed with Joker gas" territory.

We'll see how it goes from here.