X-Men: The (fan fic) Series

I’m pretty sure at this a point the NYPD has just called it a day. Seriously, how do they get any real police work done? Do they have a code for “screw it, superheroes are involved”? I kinda want to read that comic.

Anyway, Kamala is safe, apparently her abilities offers some extra benefits of not transferring over wounds. I wonder if this means if she’s hurt as Kamala she can turn into Carol and be okay? It’s something we might find out later, I hope.

Kamala didn’t quite learn her lesson though and is getting herself in over her head again. But her heart is totally in the right place. She has a hero’s gumption, she just needs to work on her tactics and planning. She’s growing as a character already and that’s wonderful to see. The title also isn’t relying on undue angst and torment so it is genuinely entertaining.

So far this title has been a throwback to the classics but maintains a very modern feel. It proves why a lot of the current tropes just don’t work anymore.

Right now, I’m gonna say this is Marvel’s best title. If you’re not reading it… you might want to fix that.

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Now I want you all to stop and take a look at the artwork in this title, drawn by Adrian Alphona. Seriously, from the cereal name “GM-O’s” with the tag “trust your gut, not the lawsuits” to the random parking meter with a hatchet stuck in it… it’s all gold.

And it’s made even better with the excellent story telling by G. Willow Wilson.

To be honest, the story of Kamala Khan is all one big trope, the kind of stuff we’ve seen in every teen superhero story where the kid gains powers, they’re horribly awkward with them, meaning they accidentally destroy school property, etc… etc… But through Kamala’s eyes, the story is fresh and new, and it’s because she’s a young teenage Muslim girl who is acting like a young teenage Muslim girl. She is not one walking cliche, but she’s not an anti-cliche.

She’s perfectly normal and reasonable. She’s charming and funny. She’s relatable and sympathetic.

And when she gets shot in the end you’re rather shocked and worried while knowing that you kinda saw it coming.

This is what I call perfect storytelling.

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Getting what you want is rarely all it’s cracked up to be…

Kamala gets super powers that allow her to become Ms. Marvel, in dress at least, and she discovers why sensible footwear and proper underwear is important.

She’s a little freaked out too, but this doesn’t set her back when someone is in trouble, someone who wasn’t nice to her. Instead of letting events take their course, Kamala steps up to do the right thing. Later, once she gets over the fact that this is really happening, she’s still a little freaked, but determined. There is definitely a “Steve Rogers’ or ‘Peter Parker’ vibe in there, a good person given a great power…

I have a feeling Kamala is going to be able to handle that responsibility… but maybe not so much the wedged heels.

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Marvel’s decision to have a Muslim girl pick up the Ms. Marvel mantel was a great forward step in growing the diversity that has always been lacking in our super heroes. The only problem is that they could have easily screwed it up by either trying to become too political about it, or worse, making her heritage be completely token.

So far in this first issue, Marvel is getting it right.

Kamala is a young woman who, like all young people, is having trouble figuring out who she is and where her place is. This is complicated by the fact that she is Muslim and, in the eyes of her classmates, “different”. Kids are cruel, and really, so are adults, whose bigoted nature can be very traumatizing. She wants to be herself, to fit in, but she also doesn’t want to give up who she is.

She’s a typical teenage girl, as she should be. Her family is also very typical in its dynamic.

One might think these were real people and not caricatures of a stereotype.

Go figure?

Now that she’s presumably gained powers, I can’t wait to see Kamala kick butt in wedged boots. She’ll have a few speed bumps on the road, that’s just natural, but she has the making of being a great super hero.

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