Ms. Marvel (2014-2015) #1

All the feels!

I liked volume 3 better than vol 2, but not as much as vol 1 or 4.

Volume three was a geek romance, but way too predictable and still had some strange art things.

http://bookwi.se/ms-marvel-generation-crushed-last-days/

Story
This series has been a bit uneven. Kamala is a great character, and there is some good humor here, but the stories haven't always been that interesting. I want a bigger story, not a series of one-offs or lame villains.

The first issue has Loki showing up. I'm not really sure why. The whole story seemed pointless. I will say the “hipster viking” comment was great though.

Thankfully the rest of this issue seems to be building on the Inhuman plotline introduced in the last volume. I hope future volumes focus on that because it's been a lot more interesting than the other random issues.

And while it was a one-off, I enjoyed the bonus S.H.I.E.L.D. issue. I'm really enjoying the TV show and it was cool to see Kamala work with Coulson and Jemma.

Artwork
What is going on here? Mark Waid & Takeshi Miyazawa make the 3rd and 4th artist this series has had in 15 issues. The art has all been pretty good, but how about some consistency? It looks like volume 4 returns to the original artist Adrian Alphona. So maybe the rest were just filling in for some reason? I hope so.

Gosh, I just love this series. I love what it is as a story, and I love what it stands for in the future of comics. It's so much fun watching Kamala come into her own, as a superhero and as a girl. I do think this issue seemed short - the three stories were completely disconnected, so felt less like a story arc and more an ad for the Agents of Shield. That said, I still devoured it. I love what Wilson is saying with the character of Kamala, and I love the messages she has for girls. (Yep, I agree they are on-the-nose - but let's remember, her target audience is teens, who haven't had years of experience teasing out subtext.) Her clear and well-placed commentary on consent in this story was fantastic. I can't wait to read the next issue - I can't wait for my kids to read this one - definitely recommended.

This is so so good. You're probably all sick of my fangirling over Kamala Khan, but I refuse to stop until every single one of you has this series in your TBR piles! Yes, it's that good. I've said it before, I'll say it again, I really wish this series had been out when I was a teen. I love it so much now, and I can only wonder how much more it would have given me when I was a teen. There is so much good stuff wrapped up in G. Willow Wilson's epic! I'm smitten.

From the first panel, a very cocky (and highly adorable) Loki stole my heart. I can't express enough how much I love the characters that flit in and out of Ms. Marvel's life. In this particular installment, Kamala has a lot to deal with. She's still trying to balance her normal home life, with her superpowers. She's still trying to be a teenager, while also saving the world. How do you balance something like that? Now, however, Kamala faces the most difficult challenge of all. The one thing that can bring any teen to their knees in an instant. Heartbreak.

I loved all the messages that came through in this volume. The idea of love knowing no boundaries, especially religious ones. The fact that girls are so quick to blame themselves any time something bad happens to them (there's a nod to women and rape shaming here). Even the fact that someday, quite soon, Kamala might have to kill someone. We all know that superheroes have that expectation, but Kamala is only a teenager. How will she deal with it?

Ah, so much good stuff. Friendship. Love. Family. This series has so far been packed to the brim with nothing but things I adore. I'm only sad that I'm going to have to wait a while for the next volume to come out.

(read as single issues except not the issue of SHIELD that's apparently collected here, whatevs)

Kamala is still perfect, and I love the relationships drawn out here. I even liked Loki! what!

Oh, glorious! Read this on the recommendation of a wonderful PBS Idea Channel episode about it. And what?! Mainstream comics corporations like Marvel and DC have actually, finally updated their superheroes?! To people that aren't ponderous caricatures of hyper-Aryan masculinity!?

Honestly, I never felt like the superhero comic genre would ever be for me: it seems so incredibly remote from anything I cared about, it still carried so many ridiculous vestiges of its 1940s origins. It was boring, and took itself incredibly seriously, and, yes, was mostly aimed at young white dudes.

But when - in the first few pages of this comic - our protagonist, the Pakistani-American Kamala, rejoices in her Avengers fanfic getting 100+ upvotes on the fanfic site, I was hooked. What?! A comic that's aware of actual geek culture (not the Comic Book Guy stereotype, which is a bit outdated and also a specific subset of geek culture anyway). A comic that was humorous and layered and featured a brown girl superhero? That featured a realistic, bumbling, complex family? That ends with her shaking a giant, enlarged fist at the villainy of the world?! CAN I LOVE THIS MORE? No, I cannot.

And I can't recommend this highly enough. Very much looking forward to the next issues.