Creative Staff:
Story: G. Willow Wilson
Art: Adrian Alphona
What They Say:
How does a young girl from Jersey City become the next biggest super hero? Kamala has no idea either. But she’s comin’ for you, New York.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The first three issues of Ms. Marvel definitely hit a sweet spot for me in providing a bit of a decompressed but dense origin story for Kamala that was reminiscent of the 60’s origin stories for many superheroes. We got who they were, the values they hold, the friends that they have and what will drive them to do the right thing when the chips are down – or just in general. The fourth issue expanded on that as I expect, but it also turned us to the next phase of the story which is less appealing with the rundown house that has Bruno’s cousin Vick under guard by a weird retro punk kid named Doyle. All with a host of odd gear and teases of who he works for, someone only known by his name of the Inventor. It just took an odd feeling as Kamala went to do her first real rescue as a hero, costumed and all, though her charm and goofiness shines through.
Events do not go well for her though and while she does her best to fight Doyle and the array of gadgets and robots he has, she does find herself getting shot by a laser beam of some sort and succumbing to the more aggressive side that Doyle presents. Superheroics are not all fun and games seems to be what she really learns here. And she learns to take a loss as she’s not able to save Vick as she’s only able to save herself by shrinking down to a tiny size and heading home. It’s no surprise that she does come back for him later after working with Bruno to figure out more about her abilities while also getting some stretchy clothes, but it’s something that feels like it’s done just to get it done rather than something really engaging. Doyle’s just an entry point to something bigger (and by the one panel we get of the Inventor, something that doesn’t look like fun to me) and there’s a kind of just getting past this aspect of it as it doesn’t gel together well.
The best part of the book is once again the character material. Kamala’s sneaking back into the house has her ravaging the icebox to get a lot of food as shrinking has used up a lot of her energy. But she ends up getting caught by her mother – in half her costume at that – and that leads to quite the chewing out. Relationships between mothers and daughters have their own complications and her mother simply can’t understand Kamala at this point and vocalizes it with some real accusatory aspects. What helps to soothe things is that her father talks to her about the connections they have and why she was named Kamala which helps to ease the tension a lot. Naturally, he has to be a father too and that takes a lot of the wind out of her sails, but the important things are there that reinforces the foundation that is her family. We also get a little more foundation for her with Bruno as she seeks him out for help when it comes to costume material ideas since he has some science skills and that just makes it fun to see how the two of them interact.
In Summary:
While the heroic side of this issue is pretty weak for me and I’m really not enthused about what the Inventor will bring to the book, Kamala as the star continues to be a delight. What she offers in this book is some really good family time, even if it’s all complicated by what she’s hiding from them and the trouble she’s in. Seeing her trying to be a hero, not living up to her minds eye of it and the re-applying herself to do what needs doing is really good to see. She’s still got some of that goofy aspect in the earlier instances of it all which is both charming and frustrating in a way because she seems like she’s playing at it, but when we see her get serious and use her mind and her abilities, the hero she can be is starting to show through.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics
Release Date: June 25th, 2014
MSRP: $2.99
