Reading Comics #129 "Wilson's Marvel"

I've been reading Ms. Marvel since it launched earlier this year, not because of the rather gimmicky ethnic hook but because Marvel came up with the perfect writer to pull it off.  Quite shamelessly, I've been reading Ms. Marvel because of G. Willow Wilson.

Wilson became an instant favorite thanks to her remarkable run in the little-read Vertigo series Air, which twice topped my annual QB50 list (2009-2010).  Then she kind of went away.  Granted, Wilson is an accomplished writer outside of the comics medium.  Recently I read her novel Alif the Unseen, and that was pretty good, but it wasn't quite as satisfying as Air was.  I was surprised to see her resurface, but not surprised (okay, pleasantly surprised) to see Wilson tackling her relationship with Muslim culture directly, in a superhero comic of all things.  I approached Ms. Marvel with great faith but also some trepidation.

I think as of #6 I can strike "trepidation" completely from the record.

#5 was the conclusion of the opening arc (mistakenly printed in the issue as "Part Four of Five"), the origin story of Kamala Khan's debut in the role.  Being a superhero is great and all, but Wilson's genius in the series is that she recognizes and embraces that Kamala's journey kind of has nothing to do with that.  The best moment of this issue is a chat between father and daughter.  The issue also features the debut of Kamala's permanent costume.

via Things Matter.  This is her making it.

via Project Fandom. And then the finished product.

But as I said, the best issue so far is #6.  Surprisingly, it features none of the by-now trademark family scenes.  Substituted instead is Kamala having a conversation with her spiritual adviser, Sheikh Abdullah, which is probably a better moment than the one with her father in the previous issue.

The highlight, though, is the guest appearance from Wolverine.  I know, I know, Wolverine seems as gratuitous as you can probably get.  Putting aside that guest appearances from rather than in stories featuring better-known characters will never be as effective in finding new readers, this one's handled with considerable skill.  It addresses current Wolverine events but still manages to get across exactly what Wilson and Kamala need at this point, which is for Kamala to have an unabashedly good superhero moment, now that she's gotten over her introductory jitters.  

This comes about thanks to Kamala going off in search of her apparent nemesis, the Inventor.  The Inventor, unexpectedly, seems to come straight from the pages of Atomic Robo.  I didn't see that coming.  It fits perfectly with the tone of the series, too.

via Scans Daily

And then Wolverine shows up, and Kamala's endearing fangirl tendencies emerge for the first time since the first issue.  Who does that around Wolverine???  This girl, apparently!  It's fun.  It's so atypical, just like the whole series, but in a way that hasn't really been featured so far, it pushes the whole thing forward.

via Reddit

The artist for the issue is Jacob Wyatt rather than Adrian Alphona, and he does an excellent job on all accounts.  Alphona tends to get a lot of the credit for helping Ms. Marvel stand out, but it's nice to know someone else can step in and help knock it out of the park.

Loving it.