ms marvel

[krissy]

Ms. Marvel #1: Embracing The Paradox [Review]

From the beginning, Ms. Marvel feels like the best kind of young adult fiction. Page one introduces you to Kamala Khan, a 16-year-old Muslim Pakistani-American and the star of the series, as she longingly smells some bacon she describes as “infidel meat.”

Kamala Khan doesn’t have that benefit. The character is female, Muslim, and new. Because of that, there are some readers who simply won’t give the book a chance and some retailers who won’t even bother to order it. In that sense, the pressure on the Ms. Marvel team to put out a good product far exceeds that of creators on other books. Chris Rock once said his father told him that if he wanted to succeed as a comedian, it wouldn’t be enough to be as funny as the white comedians around him, and then complain that they got jobs ahead of him. He had to be funnier than them – much funnier — in order to make it. He had to give people no choice but to acknowledge his talent. It’s not fair, but but it’s true. I think that’s the position the Ms. Marvel team finds themselves in. Sadly, it isn’t enough to be good; they have to be better.
Fortunately for us, they were up to the task. Maybe this is the revolution.

[Calliope]

Oh my gosh, those furry-hatted dream birds. I was very excited about this release, although to my shame I haven't bought a copy, having not bought comics in years. I wonder if I can get a PDF - ah, it links to a digital copy, yesss.

Anyway, I do agree about having to exceed expectations in all areas just to survive. In a world where Wonder Woman can't even get her own movie, it's a minor miracle this is able to run in the first place.

It reminds me of a couple of my writing groups - my "foreign" words (Like "lounge" as in "sitting room". How is that some obscure word?) got heavily criticized, while I was also praised for my "exotic" depictions at the same time. Readers will often take any excuse to criticize the unfamiliar - although thankfully, it's not always true and a lot of people are pretty open minded. I've heard multiple stories of people being criticized for "having an agenda" in telling their story, or people being offended that writers dare to include dialogue in their native language. Do these kinds of readers only read books by white Americans and Britons? A good Junot Diaz quote that sums up this phenomenon is, "Mothersmurfers will read a book that’s one third Elvish, but put two sentences in Spanish and they [white people] think we’re taking over."

Anyway, yes - I'm a fan of this diversity (while still remaining true to a core teenage experience) and will shortly be reading the first issue in full.

[Ayen]

That last panel made me lol.

[Slothy]

Bought the first issue last week and this is definitely going on the old pull list for every month. One of the best new comics I've read in the last few years. Actually, between this and Captain Marvel, it's been a good couple of years for the Marvel family quality wise. And it feels pretty good to be able to say that two of the best comics in recent years star female characters. Even better that one is a Muslim american. Not that she's the only Muslim female in the Marvel Universe though.

[Spuuky]

I don't read comics, but she does have my favorite design of any comic character, I think.

[Mercen-X]

Ditto. I mostly don't read comics. But that's in sleeve form. When the comics are bound together in books, I'll read them (like recently, I read Batman Court of Owls). I would also watch if it were released as a movie.