Wilson wraps up this Ms. Marvel arc rather nicely. In fact, she finally does what I said Ms. Marvel should’ve done issues ago–she calls the cops. Not sure why she couldn’t call Wolverine, who’d be guest star value (oh, wait, I heard he’s dead), but still… calling for help’s a good move.
Alphona has some great art moments at the end of the issue. The art’s fine–even if the action scenes are confusing and not particularly rewarding–but the art at the end on all the characters (there are about two dozen roaming around) is great. There’s a lot of personality to that scene.
And the comic’s got personality too. Wilson’s final speeches for Kamala are a little much, but they’re sincere as far as the character goes.
The story arc ends with a big bang, but not much character development. Ms. Marvel is a sturdy comic book.
CREDITS
Generation Why, Part Four; writer, G. Willow Wilson; artist, Adrian Alphona; colorist, Ian Herring; letterer, Joe Caramagna; editors, Devin Lewis and Sana Amanat; publisher, Marvel Comics.
In some ways, the more rushed Alphona gets on the art, the better the art gets. The energy in the rushing moves the comic along. Wilson goes for inspirational superhero talk quite a few times this issue, which drags it out. And it’s good she drags it out, because the story consists of a fight scene and the aftermath. Not a long time.
It’s secret origin of Kamala Khan time. Does she particularly need a secret origin? Maybe. But the way Wilson brings in the Inhumans–they’re not quite deus ex machina, but they’re a very convienient way to tie Ms. Marvel into big Marvel publishing events–doesn’t take advantage of anything.
Alphona is back on the art, which explains the awkwardness of the action scenes. Alphona goes crazy with the settings–this time an abandoned factory setting–and that detail distracts from the action. It's hard to discern foreground from background.
It’s not often I’m reading a superhero comic and think, why don’t they just call the cops, but really… they should have just called the cops.
Well, this issue definitely delineates Wilson’s strengths when it comes to writing scenes. The opening where Kamala reveals her secret identity to Bruno is a fantastic, long scene. Wilson gets to do all the “I’m a superhero now” exposition and brainstorming about a costume amidst a sincere scene between two friends.
Wilson does some really cool stuff this issue–having Kamala not just deal with the possibilities of her superpowers, but also what the ability to shape shift means for her identity–but she also gets way too after school special melodramatic. She’s mixing too many subplots together.
I remember worrying about whether or not Wilson would be able to maintain the first issue’s level of quality as Ms. Marvel went on. Apparently I didn’t need to concern myself, because not only is the second issue just as good, Wilson starts to show her hand.
Finally. And it’s a Marvel book–insert Jeanette Kahn doesn’t work here anymore jokes about DC here. But someone finally did a superhero book aimed at teenage girls without being exploitative or objectifying the protagonist.