by Brian Reed (Writer) and Sana Takeda (Artist)
Some Thoughts Before The Review: Ms. Marvel #46 marks the end of the War of the Marvels arc. While it’s been decent, I have my doubts about whether Brian Reed can pull his strange story together well enough to make it all worth it.
The Story: Catherine Donovan finds herself trapped within Karla Sofen’s mind as Carol Danvers beats the hell out of the mentally disconnected Ms. Marvel.
What’s Good: The conclusion to the War of the Marvels arc features Sana Takeda’s best Ms. Marvel work to date. From the character work and level of emotion on display to the action that manages to be surreal at certain times and hard-hitting at others, Takeda proves that she’s finally gotten the superhero comic stuff down pat. In Ms. Marvel #46, the large panels and characters look fantastic, the two full page scenes are striking, and the storytelling does an admirable job of making sense of a script that’s, to put it lightly, something of a mess. Also worth mentioning is how Takeda’s colors are rich and deep, yet incredibly vibrant at just the right times. It’s especially noticeable when powers are being used throughout the book. In those scenes and the two full-page shots, Takeda’s color choices really shine.
Notice how I lead off the “What’s Good” section by talking about the artwork? That’s because there’s only a couple of good things about the final chapter of the War of the Marvels as far as the story is concerned. In order to talk about those good things, however, I have to read into spoiler territory. So…consider this your SPOILER ALERT!!
The first good thing Brian Reed does by the time The War of the Marvels wraps up is reestablish Carol Danvers as not only a badass, but also a true hero. While the conclusion of the story is a bit heavy-handed, it leaves Karla Sofen in a rather interesting place. I just hope it doesn’t lead Sofen down the road to being a hero, because her attitude and deviousness makes her one of my favorite female villains. Another good thing that Reed does is having Danvers put Sofen in her place. Having them fight as equals worked early on considering the story, but I’m glad that it’s eventually established that Moonstone is no Ms. Marvel.
What’s Not So Good: I’m a fan of Ms. Marvel. I’m a fan of Brian Reed. Hell, I’m even a fan of the story that Reed has been telling with the War of the Marvels arc. Regardless though, I cannot possibly act as though the conclusion of War of the Marvels is, in any way, satisfying. While Reed reestablishes Carol Danvers well enough (which I assume was his ultimate goal from the start), so much is left unexplained that, even after reading it three times, I still can’t figure out just what the hell actually happens throughout most of Ms. Marvel #46. Storyteller fetuses, gooey chairs, a cat, Catherine Donovan, and then…Moonstone? While it’s entirely possible that the story will make more sense in the near future when Reed finally gets around to…you know…finishing his story/explaining what exactly happened to Danvers, I doubt that’s going to happen in Ms. Marvel #47 considering that all the ads seem to hyping the date Ms. Marvel owes Spider-Man.
Conclusion: It looks pretty great, but looks can only get a comic so far. Good luck figuring out what’s going on in Ms. Marvel #46. Feel free to educate me if you think you’ve got the War of the Marvels all sorted out.
Grade: D+
-Kyle Posluszny
Filed under: Other | Tagged: Brian Reed, Carol Danvers, Catherine Donovan, Comic Book Reviews, dark avengers, Karla Sofen, Kyle Posluszny, Moonstone, Ms. Marvel, Ms. Marvel #46, Ms. Marvel #46 Review, Sana Takeda, The War of the Marvels, WCBR, Weekly Comic Book Review, weeklycomicbookreview.com | 1 Comment »
Weekly Comic Book Review 