Free Comic Friday: Ms. Marvel #1

Ms. Marvel #1 (Halloween ComicFest 2018 edition)
“Meta Morphosis”
Writer: G. Willow Wilson
Art: Adrian Alphona
Color art: Ian Herring
Lettering: VC's Joe Caramagna
Assistant Editor: Devin Lewis
Editor: Sana Amana
Senior Editor: Stephen Wacker
Editor-in-Chief: Axel Alonso
Cover: Sara Pichelli and Justin Ponsor
Released: Oct. 27, 2018

Turns out Free Comic Book day isn't the only day on which you can get free comics.

There have been efforts to duplicate the success and interest generated by the May event, sometimes with specific promotions for characters like Batman, Wonder Woman and Hellboy. There's also Halloween ComicFest, which was an annual event,* though I always seemed to forget about it.

In 2018, Marvel reprinted the first appearance of Kamala Khan, Ms. Marvel #1, for the aforementioned fest. Judging from the ads, they were trying to capitalize on the debut of the Marvel Rising animated series in which she co-starred and maybe build off the release of the “Captain Marvel” movie earlier that year. Plus, the new Ms. Marvel had some pop cultural buzz as a Muslim superheroine.

With the character about to hit the big screen in “The Marvels” and ushering in a new status quo in comics, this seemed like a good time to feature her for Free Comic Friday.

The issue opens with Kamala coveting meat she isn't allowed to eat due to religious dietary restrictions, as we are introduced to her supporting cast of best friend Nakia, just friend Bruno and Zoe Zimmer, who barely hides her mean girl nature behind a veneer of false kindness. We also learn Kamala is a superhero superfan, with the throwback Ms. Marvel jacket a major clue.

Iron Man, Captain America and Captain Marvel appear next, battling a dragon that has attacked Planet Unicorn and taken the life of Rainbow Toots. Sadly, this is not canon but an example of Kamala's Avengers fan fiction. As she's called down to dinner, we meet her Pakistani immigrant parents and older brother, getting a glimpse at her Muslim home life and how it feels familiar, despite the cultural differences readers may have. Her parents don't understand her interests; they won't let her go to a party; her father needles her brother about getting a job. It's clear Kamala is different – and those differences are a source of frustration and anxiety for her – but also that a lot of readers have been in her place.

As many teenagers do in stories like this, she sneaks out to the party but finds it's not what she'd hoped. As she walks home, a mysterious cloud surrounds her, which readers circa 2014 when this originally came out would recognize as Terrigen mists. That's what gives Inhumans their powers and, in our world, was the mechanism by which Marvel apparently hoped to raise the Inhumans' profile for its cinematic universe since Fox still had the rights to mutants by way of the X-Men.

Instead of seeing her cocoon form, we follow Kamala's perspective, where Captains Marvel and America and Iron Man, accompanied by some birds and other animals, address her in Urdu. I'm going to assume there's some cultural and/or religious significance to their words and not crack any jokes about that.

When the Captain Marvel avatar asks Kamala what she wants to be, the girl answers “beautiful and awesome and butt-kicking and less complicated. I want to be you” – though she has some specific ideas about which version of Carol Danvers she'd like to be.

Then Kamala wakes up in the aforementioned cocoon, bursts out and finds her wish has indeed come true.

This is a strong first issue, albeit a 21^st century first issue. I don't want to sound like the old comic fan telling Ms. Marvel and the other Champions to get off my lawn, but we get (almost) no powers and no costume, though there is plenty of character work. It is an excellent introduction to Kamala and her corner of the world, and I guess, when everything appears to be written with a trade collection in mind, you don't have to worry about grabbing people from the first issue as much as you used to. On the other hand, despite the quality, I'm not sure we see enough to make a casual reader come back.

I like this Ms. Marvel as an addition to the Marvel universe. She's a legacy character but taking on a name that isn't going to be taken back anytime soon. I mean, I never thought Bucky or Barry Allen would come back, but I really don't see Carol Danvers dropping the Captain anytime soon. 

Some people might dismiss Ms. Marvel as primarily a push for diversity. She's not; she's a new character who happens to be a Muslim of Pakistani heritage. She's also a unique character with a different set of powers (though, as this issue makes clear, the powers aren't the point) whose mixture of exuberance, determination, self-doubt and conviction make her fun to read.

Any issues I have with Ms. Marvel are outside the story. I don't mind that she's an Inhuman, but Marvel's efforts to inflate them never felt earned, and really didn't work. Now, revealing she's also a mutant, as she is in the MCU? That doesn't feel like it's serving any in-story purpose, but I am curious to see what the limited series, which started this week, co-written by the MCU's Kamala Khan and avid Marvel fan girl Iman Vellani, has to offer.

* - Not anymore though.

** - Or the two. Or free throws.