Ms. Marvel #2 – Review

By:  G. Willow Wilson (writer), Adrian Alphona (art), Ian Herring (color art)

The Story: With great power come awful wedgies…

The Review: Kamala Khan burst into the Marvel Universe in a big way last month, but it’s hard to deny that her debut issue didn’t function as a complete origin story. At the end of issue two it’s not certain that we’re there, but if not we’re getting closer.

Just as last issue gave us a shockingly complete look at Kamala’s ‘normal’, this one is focused on our young hero’s reaction the dose of abnormality that’s just been administered to her life. G. Willow Wilson spends a lot of time dealing with Kamala’s new powers, how they operate and what Kamala knows about them. It’s not gonna scratch the same itch that Avengers did, but it’s remarkably fun learning the ins and outs of being an Inhuman with her.

Kamala is very much in the Peter Parker tradition and this issue features her very own “Go, web!” moment. As silly as it sounds to say about a story that features a teenage girl shapeshifting into a buxom superheroine, Ms. Marvel #2 takes a decidedly realistic view of superpowers. Alongside the standard joy of having power, Kamala experiences the frustration of not knowing how to use it and the terror of not understanding it.

Though the script touches on it, Adrian Alphona brings a sense of the real horror that suddenly gaining shapeshifting abilities would entail. It’s not overt, more there for those willing to see it, but, at least for me, it’s impossible not to consider the disturbing parallels of someone waking up in a city after the detonation of a “bomb” nauseous, disoriented, and with their arm in a position it shouldn’t be in. I’m not pretending that this is a dark book, it’s the farthest thing from it, but Wilson and Alphona are clearly willing to draw upon the power of such cultural fears.

And it’s not just large scale physical fears, but the small ones: not fitting in, being helpless, losing faith, being alone. Though things don’t crystallize into a “With great power…” moment, Kamala does have a defining moment, and one that demonstrates the warring influences in her life.

One thing that strikes me is that, unlike many books about teenage superheroes, this actually feels like a story that you could hand to the Kamala in your life. Ms. Marvel focuses on struggles that teens are dealing with, even if some of them are exaggerated to superhuman – perhaps inhuman – proportions. It’s a nice change, though it only exacerbates the issues that series has with talking down to its audience. Though there’s less  of a ‘ very special episode’ feel to this issue, for better or worse, the way that Wilson hammers some points home and lingers on certain concepts still feels overly didactic, something that will please some readers and infuriate others, especially among teens.

Particularly as I was rereading the first few volumes of Runaways over this past month, I noticed that Adrian Alphona, talented as he is, is not the most consistent artist. His style changes with the mood, finding little grooves that can have drastic effects on a character’s appearance from one panel to the next. In the 10+ years that separate one series from the other this has obviously improved but, while traces of it linger, there may be no book better suited to this peculiarity than this one. Like Alphona, Kamala changes according to her emotional state and the freedom to channel this trait into her shifting form works wonders for the title.

It doesn’t hurt that Alphona has some interesting scenery to work with, either. In the fading mists of the Terrigen bomb, Alphona turns Jersey City into its own Wonderland. Especially with the help of Ian Herring, this issue becomes truly lovely to behold. One early splash is a perfect monomyth moment,  conveying all the wonder and fear that this new world holds.

Perhaps most important, though, is Alphona’s work in the last few pages of the book. While it’s technically present in Wilson’s dialogue, it’s very much Alphona’s facial work that brings depth to the Khan family. Kamala’s father, in particular, reads sternly, maybe oppressively so, but there’s a look of worry and exhaustion in his face that reminds you that he loves his daughter dearly, even as he reprimands her. That would be enough, but the final page is brilliant in its simplicity and Alphona aces it.

The Conclusion: Ms. Marvel #2 continues much of what was best and worst about the previous issue. Kamala continues to be a wonderful, specific character that anyone can relate to and her struggle to define herself is thoughtful and beautiful. The art is stunning, with Alphona and Herring both showing off their strengths. Still, as great as the identity politics are, you won’t need sparknotes to understand their depths. Two issues in it already feels like Wilson is repeating herself and if there’s one thing that the young girls who could benefit most from this comic will resent it may well be being spoken down to.

Things are slow but wonderful in Kamala’s corner of the Marvel Universe. The joy of knowing this character never clashes with the grinding pace, but you’ll likely wish that they could work together better.

Ms. Marvel is honest about its flaws, but there’s no denying that this series is something special.

Grade: B

– Noah Sharma