Review: Ms. Marvel Vol. 1 by G. Willow Wilson & Adrian Alphona
Ms. Marvel Vol. 1: No Normal
by G. Willow Wilson & Adrian Alphona
A Muslim girl growing up in Jersey City, Kamala Khan yearns to be “normal” - to be allowed to go out to parties with friends, to taste bacon, and to wear the same clothes as the other girls at school. But when Kamala is enveloped in a strange fog, she gains mysterious new powers. Kamala gains the ability to change her appearance and to shrink or increase in size. She adopts the old superhero name of her hero, Captain Marvel, and begins running around town fighting crime under the title Ms. Marvel.
As far as superhero origins go, Kamala’s isn’t a particularly interesting one. Granted, I haven’t been following the greater Marvel universe so there may be something significant about that fog, but ‘mysterious cloud’ is right up there with ‘cosmic rays’ or ‘gamma rays’ for unexplained power-granting. She also lacks a strong villain; the X-Men had Magneto, and the Batman had the Joker, but Kamala’s origin story has several petty-crime teenagers working for a man with a chicken head? Iconic he is not.
Where the comic shines is in its depictions of Kamala’s costume-free life. Her interactions with her family are great - in just a few scenes you get a real sense of her parents’ character and how they’ve influenced Kamala’s choices. Her friends are sketched quickly, but they’re fun and really add to the story. Kamala’s struggle to fit in and her desire to be simply normal are very real teenage problems that are easy to empathize with. These domestic scenes are very believable and work so well. It’s a pity that the “super” scenes utterly fail to measure up.
Alphona’s drawing style can be almost cartoonish at times, with a dream-like quality that lightens the overall story. Occasional sight gags also infuse some needed humor into the story. There are some odd moments, though - he’ll draw a crowd scene where half the figures have enormous heads on short, squat bodies, which jars against the normally-proportioned main characters. Zoomed-out panels also tend to go very light on details, with just dots for eyes and a line for the mouth on faces. I’m not the biggest fan, but that’s just personal taste - as a storytelling vehicle Alphona’s art is very effective.
Ms. Marvel has been one of the most hyped comics in recent months due to the focus on an Muslim female character, and it’s worth checking out if you like comic books. Personally, I didn’t like it enough to continue with the series, but I know that for a lot of people this just might be the thing that draws them into the Marvel universe.
4 out of 5 stars
To read more about Ms. Marvel Vol. 1, buy it or add it to your wishlist click here.
Peeking into the archives...today in:
2014: Vienna Nocturne by Vivien Shotwell
2013: Sailor Moon Vol. 9 by Naoko Takeuchi
2012: Sailor Moon Vol. 2 by Naoko Takeuchi
2011: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
2010: Stella Mutatina's Moving Giveaway
2009: Fool by Christopher Moore (Guest Post)
by G. Willow Wilson & Adrian Alphona
A Muslim girl growing up in Jersey City, Kamala Khan yearns to be “normal” - to be allowed to go out to parties with friends, to taste bacon, and to wear the same clothes as the other girls at school. But when Kamala is enveloped in a strange fog, she gains mysterious new powers. Kamala gains the ability to change her appearance and to shrink or increase in size. She adopts the old superhero name of her hero, Captain Marvel, and begins running around town fighting crime under the title Ms. Marvel.
As far as superhero origins go, Kamala’s isn’t a particularly interesting one. Granted, I haven’t been following the greater Marvel universe so there may be something significant about that fog, but ‘mysterious cloud’ is right up there with ‘cosmic rays’ or ‘gamma rays’ for unexplained power-granting. She also lacks a strong villain; the X-Men had Magneto, and the Batman had the Joker, but Kamala’s origin story has several petty-crime teenagers working for a man with a chicken head? Iconic he is not.
Where the comic shines is in its depictions of Kamala’s costume-free life. Her interactions with her family are great - in just a few scenes you get a real sense of her parents’ character and how they’ve influenced Kamala’s choices. Her friends are sketched quickly, but they’re fun and really add to the story. Kamala’s struggle to fit in and her desire to be simply normal are very real teenage problems that are easy to empathize with. These domestic scenes are very believable and work so well. It’s a pity that the “super” scenes utterly fail to measure up.
Alphona’s drawing style can be almost cartoonish at times, with a dream-like quality that lightens the overall story. Occasional sight gags also infuse some needed humor into the story. There are some odd moments, though - he’ll draw a crowd scene where half the figures have enormous heads on short, squat bodies, which jars against the normally-proportioned main characters. Zoomed-out panels also tend to go very light on details, with just dots for eyes and a line for the mouth on faces. I’m not the biggest fan, but that’s just personal taste - as a storytelling vehicle Alphona’s art is very effective.
Ms. Marvel has been one of the most hyped comics in recent months due to the focus on an Muslim female character, and it’s worth checking out if you like comic books. Personally, I didn’t like it enough to continue with the series, but I know that for a lot of people this just might be the thing that draws them into the Marvel universe.
4 out of 5 stars
To read more about Ms. Marvel Vol. 1, buy it or add it to your wishlist click here.
Peeking into the archives...today in:
2014: Vienna Nocturne by Vivien Shotwell
2013: Sailor Moon Vol. 9 by Naoko Takeuchi
2012: Sailor Moon Vol. 2 by Naoko Takeuchi
2011: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
2010: Stella Mutatina's Moving Giveaway
2009: Fool by Christopher Moore (Guest Post)