Ms. Marvel Vol. 7: Damage Per Second

by G. Willow Wilson

[Quirky Cat]

Fans of Ms. Marvel rejoice! There’s a new volume out. But seriously, I know I’m quite a bit behind in reading this series. It’s the one downside to relying on Marvel Unlimited for a lot of my comic reading (if I bought every issue for all the series I read I’d be broke in a month). I am thinking about switching this one over to issue by issue though, if nothing else to support the series. Anyway, I digress. Ms. Marvel volume seven holds up to the standards and expectations I’ve developed over the past six, which I’m very relieved by.



There are three main story lines in this volume. The first is a bit more of a one-shot short of story, but it also has the most iconic images. I’m sure around voting time last year (has it been a year already? Yikes) we all saw the image of Ms. Marvel holding a banner and getting people to follow her to the ballots so they could vote. Pretty iconic, right? Now I finally have the context to go with this image, though if I’m being honest you could probably take a guess about it. Still, it was a good read and had a lot of useful information in it (for American readers/voters at least).
The second plot is the longest in this volume, being three issues long. Kamala encounters a sentient/learning virus, which is that wasn’t enough, it turns out the virus literally learned all its behavior from the internet…need I say more? While the concept/villain is admittedly a little hokey, it was still a good read. The setup and solution were interesting, and it made for a lot of jokes (“you’ve been on the internet, right?”). There are also a lot of heavy and wonderful moments that make this one worth reading. One of the tactics our bodiless villain uses to attack people is to find out their deepest, darkest secret (that they’ve saved on an electronic device at least), and release it to the world. Seeing the community band together during this and their lack of judgment was inspiring. I would like to think that this would happen in real life (even if I’m a bit too cynical to truly believe it would happen, especially in a high school of all places). Still, it gives the message of hope and love, which is pretty sweet.
The final plot is another one-shot story - well, I’m assuming it is at least, but since I haven’t read the next volume yet I can’t say that for certain. I actually really enjoyed this one in particular, even though the focus wasn’t on Ms. Marvel (shocking, I know). Bruno has spent the last few months (I think?) in Wakanda on a scholarship, and needless to say he’s having some trouble adapting. He’s gone from being the brightest kid in class to the dummy in class who can barely even write (remember, his arm and leg have been pretty badly injured). It was great to see Bruno trying to adapt to this change, as well as seeing a slice of Wakanda that I haven’t seen before (though it reminds me I’ve been wanting to try reading World of Wakanda, which I suspect introduces a lot of these characters).
So on the whole Ms. Marvel volume seven was a fantastic read, even if it didn’t have a plot that covered all five issues. I can’t wait to see what volume eight brings us. I’ll confess with all the cancellations lately I’m worried about this series. I think it’ll be ok, but it’s hard to calm down that worry. So if you’re debating about reading/supporting this series, go ahead and give it a try!


For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks