“Muslim, teenage, female superhero who uses some accurate jargon? Cool. Dig it. The dialogue is pretty good too. There’s a nice balance of culture where I don’t feel like I’m getting an after school special, but it’s not like the characters are saying “Oh, we’re Muslim, and now that we’ve stated that, it will not play into any further events.” They are actually Muslim and that does have an effect.
3 stars? Here’s why.
I am just hard on origin stories. There’s nothing wrong with this origin, and I think it’s a realistic reaction for someone to get powers for the first time and not fully understand them.
That said, as a reader, I’ve read a hell of a lot of comic book origin stories where someone gets powers and experiments with them and is uncertain and kind of freaked out and excited at the same time. So while the character is acting realistically and seeing all of this for the first time, as a reader I’ve seen this series of events many, many times.
Powers gained? Check. Intersection of new powers and personal belief system or morality? Check. Secret identity problems? Check. Confide in a friend? Check. Semi-failure first outing? Check. Introduce a bad guy? Check.
It’s a little like me and comics are at a crossroads. They have to tell origins, but unless there’s something super new and compelling, I kind of don’t want to read them. I would love to read a story that skips past the origin, but I know that I’m in the minority here. Lots of people tell me that they think the origins are the best stories. Which, oftentimes, they are, but I think that often has to do with the fact that there’s such a reliable formula, and it’s when the character is beyond the origin phase that the stories SHOULD be getting better instead of worse. Although oftentimes I think that has to do with a lack of origin-related character trajectory, which is something missing from Ms. Marvel as of this first volume.
You could say that Batman became Batman when he trained and did a bunch of ninja stuff. But really, Batman becomes Batman when his parents are killed. You could say Spider-Man became Spider-Man when he was bitten by a radioactive spider, but when he really becomes Spider-Man is when he realizes that he could’ve stopped the criminal that shot his uncle.
Really good superhero origins usually explain the powers a character gains and how they wrestle with that, but the decision to use those powers in a specific way, the emotional, moral decision is a lot more interesting to me, and it’s really what separates a driven character from a more generic superhero.
I think this is what has made a lot of DC characters feel less thought out for me. Hal Jordan is Green Lantern, but WHY does he do it? They’ll tell you it’s for the thrill, but c’mon. That’s dumb. The Flash has speed powers, but WHY is it important to him to do what he does? It’s why the recent Superman movies don’t work. He has powers, but WHY does he give a shit?
Or look at most villains. Why is Dr. Doom such an asshole? Because he has a scarred face? Who cares? He lives in a world of monsters. What’s a scarred face now and again? Or Lex Luthor? It’s like he just goes, “Should I do this evil thing? Yes. Because I’m evil.”
Ms. Marvel, so far, seems to have gained powers and then just sort of decided to do superhero stuff because it’s cool. Which is understandable, but it’s speaking the shorthand of comics, which is special abilities equals be a super hero. And yet, we don’t have that same self-awareness and willingness to breeze through when it comes to her origin and the telling of her getting used to her powers.
So what I’m saying is, I think this particular story flies past the part of the origin I typically enjoy, which is the character origin, and does still expend the typical time on the “Holy shit, what are these powers all about!?” part, which is the part that seems a little boring to me.
And for the record, it’s a criticism that can’t really be levied at one title. The origin in this title wouldn’t be boring if I hadn’t seen so many similar ones elsewhere. It’s not you, Ms. Marvel, it’s me. I can’t reasonably expect that comics will skip their power-origin stories. But I can still wish they would.
Oh, and a last thing, the art was cool, but because the characters were drawn in an exaggerated way, from time to time the scale was so malleable that the impact of a giant hand or a tiny body or whatever was lost in the context of the overall style. That said, I liked the art, it just didn’t translate the physicality of this book in the best way, methinks.
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