Review | Ms. Marvel, Vol.2: Generation Why by G. Willow Wilson, Adrian Alphona and Jacob Wyatt

Ms. Marvel, Vol.2: Generation Why

by G. Willow Wilson, Adrian Alphona and Jacob Wyatt

My Rating: 

Who is the Inventor, and what does he want with the all-new Ms. Marvel and all her friends? Maybe Wolverine can help! Kamala may be fan-girling out when her favorite (okay maybe Top Five) super hero shows up, but that won't stop her from protecting her hometown. Then, Kamala crosses paths with Inhumanity for the first time - by meeting the royal dog, Lockjaw! Every girl wants a puppy, but this one may be too much of a handful, even for a super hero with embiggening powers. But why is Lockjaw really with Kamala? As Ms. Marvel discovers more about her past, the Inventor continues to threaten her future.

You can find my review of Ms. Marvel, Vol.1: No Normal here!

In Volume 2 of Ms. Marvel we're met with a young superhero who's growing in both confidence and awesome factor. This volume was much more action-packed than the first, including Kamala's showdown with The Inventor and her chance meeting with one of her top five favourite superheroes, Wolverine. Kamala even has a literal out of this world experience when she meets Inhuman royalty.

Basically, this volume was a lot of fun.

The main criticism I had of the first volume was that, while I adored Kamala, the plot felt a little all over the place. Thankfully, I found this volume much more succinct. There was more of a sense that Kamala is slowly but surely becoming more comfortable with her new role in life, though I was pleased to see none of her problems had been resolved overnight; while this volume focused less on her home life it was still made clear to us that Kamala continues to struggle between balancing the person she wants to be with the person she's expected to be. Something all of us face, I think, particularly during our teens.

It was teenagers who made this volume in particular really special. Kamala gives a brilliant speech about the modern generation, how they're judged and how they're made to feel about themselves and their role in society, and I found it incredibly powerful. It was one of my favourite parts of this volume, my other favourite part being Wolverine. Naturally.

I loved that Wolverine was included in this volume. Out of all of Marvel's superheroes, he really is one of the best role models and teachers out there; he has a real talent for taking young people (particularly young ladies - just look at Rogue) under his wing and helping them realise their own potential, which is just what Kamala needed. Their scenes together were so much fun.

I really enjoyed this volume, I love where this series is going, and I can't wait for the next one!

Review | Ms. Marvel, Vol.1: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona

Ms. Marvel, Vol.1: No Normal

by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona

My Rating: 

Kamala Khan is an ordinary girl from Jersey City — until she's suddenly empowered with extraordinary gifts. But who truly is the new Ms. Marvel? Teenager? Muslim? Inhuman? Find out as she takes the Marvel Universe by storm! When Kamala discovers the dangers of her newfound powers, she unlocks a secret behind them, as well. Is Kamala ready to wield these immense new gifts? Or will the weight of the legacy before her be too much to bear? Kamala has no idea, either. But she's comin' for you, New York! 

What a fun start to a series!

If you've been following my blog for a little while you might have noticed that I've been getting more and more into graphic novels over the past few months, and this year in particular. In January I read all four of the current volumes of Saga as well as the first volume of Rat Queens, so it only seemed right to get my hands on a copy of Ms. Marvel - I'll support anything female-led in the Marvel universe, because frankly the lack of female-led superhero movies is shocking. Thank God for Ms. Marvel and Agent Carter.

Don't even get me started on DC...

Anyway, as much as I enjoy the Marvel movies I don't know if I'd call myself a Marvel fangirl. I'm definitely no expert on the Marvel universe, and Ms. Marvel counts as the very first Marvel comic I've ever read. But hey, I'm not going to let that stop me from giving you an honest review!

I knew from the very first page that Kamala was going to be a heroine I liked a lot. She's a sweetie, and there's something about these stories featuring teenage misfits that call out to the teenage misfit in all of us, whether we're still struggling through adolescence or we left it behind, or so we like to think, years ago. Kamala's an ordinary teenager who's struggling to find the middle ground between being true to who she is, or who she'd like to be, and making her parents proud.

I'm rather ashamed to admit that I don't think I've read a book with a Muslim protagonist before now. That's something I need to change. I loved the way Kamala's family were portrayed; while their religion mattered to them on a personal level, it didn't define them. Kamala's family is a family like anyone else's, and I'm glad they were portrayed as such. That's something all of us need to remember, I think, when we sit down to watch the news.

While there were certain aspects of Kamala's culture that I could understand her frustration with, I loved that her family were still portrayed as likeable people; her relationship with her father, in particular, was very touching, and I look forward to seeing more scenes between the two of them in future volumes.

The only area of this volume that was a little lacking for me was, unfortunately, the plot. Obviously this is only the beginning so I'm sure whatever has started here will continue to grow and grow, but at times this volume felt a little all over the place; Kamala seemed to settle into her new powers fairly quickly, and I expected a bit more freaking out before that happened. Even in a world where the Avengers are real you'd still get a bit of a shock if you woke up with the ability to shoot lasers from your eyes.

All in all, though, I enjoyed this volume, and I'm looking forward to further instalments!