Ms. Marvel #2 – Review

By:  G. Willow Wilson (writer), Adrian Alphona (art), Ian Herring (color art)

The Story: With great power come awful wedgies…

The Review: Kamala Khan burst into the Marvel Universe in a big way last month, but it’s hard to deny that her debut issue didn’t function as a complete origin story. At the end of issue two it’s not certain that we’re there, but if not we’re getting closer.

Just as last issue gave us a shockingly complete look at Kamala’s ‘normal’, this one is focused on our young hero’s reaction the dose of abnormality that’s just been administered to her life. G. Willow Wilson spends a lot of time dealing with Kamala’s new powers, how they operate and what Kamala knows about them. It’s not gonna scratch the same itch that Avengers did, but it’s remarkably fun learning the ins and outs of being an Inhuman with her.

Kamala is very much in the Peter Parker tradition and this issue features her very own “Go, web!” moment. As silly as it sounds to say about a story that features a teenage girl shapeshifting into a buxom superheroine, Ms. Marvel #2 takes a decidedly realistic view of superpowers. Alongside the standard joy of having power, Kamala experiences the frustration of not knowing how to use it and the terror of not understanding it.

Though the script touches on it, Adrian Alphona brings a sense of the real horror that suddenly gaining shapeshifting abilities would entail. It’s not overt, more there for those willing to see it, but, at least for me, it’s impossible not to consider the disturbing parallels of someone waking up in a city after the detonation of a “bomb” nauseous, disoriented, and with their arm in a position it shouldn’t be in. I’m not pretending that this is a dark book, it’s the farthest thing from it, but Wilson and Alphona are clearly willing to draw upon the power of such cultural fears.

Inhumanity #1 – Review

Matt Fraction (Writer), Olivier Coipel, Mark Morales, Leinil Francis Yu, Gerry Alanguilan, Dustin Weaver (Artists), Israel Silva, Laura Martin (Colorists)

The Story: Karnak tells the Avengers and other guests the story behind the inhumans and what could be the possible future for this blooming species.

The Review: Launching franchises must not be particularly easy stuff. To get people invested in something that needs to be huge must be pretty challenging. Sure, most indie creators do that each time they launch a new series, but right now there must be a lot of weight on Matt Fraction’s shoulders.

Tasked with bringing forth the inhumans as a viable franchise, as a new race that can thrive in the Marvel universe as a whole is something rather big. With a track record which indicates that he might just be better at more ground-level and independent stuff, can he actually pull off a way to make these concepts and characters feel new again?

Unfortunately, it’s a mixed bag filled with elements that are executed really well, while others really aren’t. While it does leave a certain impression and does its job at bringing excitement about the new titles and some of the changes to the Marvel universe at large, there are multiple flaws in this story that makes it weaker than it needs to be.

Secret Avengers #10 – Review

by Ed Brisson (Writer), Luke Ross (Artist), Matthew Wilson (Colorist)

The Story: There’s a new recruits for field work at S.H.I.E.L.D. and she’s one of the new inhumans. It’s a pity for her that Infinity is still going on…

The Review: It’s not necessarily the fairest or most positive thing to say, but there is a reason why most people hate even tie-ins. Shoehorning elements or characters important to the main book, stopping the natural narrative flow for elements that will be untouched further along and many more are possible reasons for the general dislike those issues receive. There are some rare cases where it can produce something of quality, like when Jason Aaron took on Black Panther during Secret Invasion, yet those are few and far between.

This is one of those issues, as regular writer Nick Spencer is replaced by Ed Brisson in order to show readers what S.H.I.E.L.D. is doing during Thanos invasion in Infinity. Set right after the terrigenesis, this shows how a young agent gets turned into an inhuman and then gets sent to the field right away. While this concept could actually give way for a satisfying story, this issue doesn’t really use it very well as it rushes along.