Quirky Cat
Written on Jul 9, 2018
It’s hard to believe that this run of Ms. Marvel has already hit 8 volumes, but here we are. For those that haven’t been following the series, I strongly urge that you give her a try. Kamala one of the most passionate characters I’ve read in years, and I absolutely adore her. Sure, I don’t always agree with her logic or the decisions she makes, but that just further reminds me of just how human they’ve made her character.
This volume of Ms. Marvel does tie in with some of the events happening in the Marvel Universe, however on the whole they’re either pretty subtle or their context is perfectly explained. So you don’t really need to be reading anything else to understand what is happening here.
Kamala just has a way of finding trouble, doesn’t she? I suppose that’s a habit of any superhero, especially those of the teenage variety. Here Ms. Marvel finds herself facing enemies inside her own town; her neighbors and others that she thought were friends. That mess is followed by a visit from an old friend, whose secrets she somehow hasn’t unraveled yet.
I’ll admit that I was somewhat unimpressed with the last volume of Ms. Marvel. That isn’t t say that I didn’t like it, just that I felt like they had lost something in translation. Volume eight is a whole new beast – the creative team behind Kamala has given her back her stubbornness, drive, and sass and I love it so much.
Kamala is constantly dealing with threats that shake her very core. They make her question her existence as a hero, and sometimes even as a person. Despite all of that she comes out stronger every time – learning from her mistakes as well as her self-doubt. It’s something I wish I was more capable of, to be honest.
This volume is split into two plots, more or less. The first one is very clearly based on current events. Here we have neighbors turning against neighbors, with some arguing/believing they have more of a right to be there than others. While most of the racism is reserved for inhumans and X-Men, it clearly overflows to affect people of other races; and those that are both inhuman/X-Men and non-native to America seem to be getting affected the most.
Obviously it doesn’t take much to figure out where they’re pulling from here. It’s nice to see that the inhumans characters are picking up the fight along with the X-Men. One can also see how this sort of fight would deeply wound Kamala, a person who is arguably incredibly open and accepting of others.
The second plot brings back none other than Red Dagger. You’ll remember that Kamala ran into him while visiting family, well now it’s his turn to visit her! Despite knowing each other both in and out of costume neither of them seem to have put two and two together yet. I personally suspect this is willful ignorance on their parts – they don’t want to guess/figure it out if the other doesn’t want to tell their secret. I respect that.
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