Whoops! Late reviews a comin’ and split into smaller chunks. Because I love you.

Ms. Marvel #1

Writer: G. Willow Wilson

Art: Adrian Alphona

Colors: Ian Herring

Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna

It’s the first issue of the new Ms. Marvel, Muslim teen Kamala Khan, and it is wonderful. That was easy, goodnight…

Seriously though, this is one good comic book. Writer G. Willow Wilson writes a great character in Kamala, headstrong, awkward, sweet and a bit Avengers obsessed. She feels real in her interactions with her friends and family, and we get a good look at growing up Muslim, opening the book with Kamala savoring the smell of bacon. We meet a couple of her friends, we meet a sickeningly sweet, phony girl from her school. We get a slice of her home life, which sets up the bit of teenage rebellion that kicks things off. Sneaking out to a party, and being served a spiked drink and mocked the leaves just a mists envelope the city. Kamala has a vision, a glimpse of Captain Marvel, Captain America and Iron Man, telling her she will have the kind of reboot most people can only dream about. When she bursts forth from the cocoon that formed around her, things are looking very different for her indeed. Great first issue, no brawling, no super powered foe. Just a teen girl wanting to do things like the other kids her age.

The script by G. Willow Wilson, herself an American Muslim, is great, through interactions with her friends and family, we really get a good handle on Kamala and her world. This is proof you can do an all-ages book that isn’t dumbed down, that you can have some teen angst, without all the gritted teeth and all consuming darkness ( Hi DC!). A book to share with my kids, my girls especially. I actually just started reading Runaways within the last couple weeks, and was already a fan of Adrian Alphona, he has grown by leaps and bounds since he started on that book. Every character is very different in body type, facial structure, with great “acting” from the characters. The art has a touch of manga, very animation ready, loosened up to the point, that the colors do a lot of the rendering. Let’s talk about the colors a bit, Herring does a lot of the lifting here, this is a beautiful book all around, I read it digitally, and it looked stunning. And a no I’m not forgetting Joe Caramagna either, but this review is super late, and I can’t say anything more, than BUY THIS BOOK, support things like this.

Love it.

-Kris