Friday, April 8, 2016

Femme Friday: Ms. Marvel

My boyfriend recently started a new job and I have been home recovering so I have had a lot of time to catch up on comics. In march, I discovered some new (or new to me) titles. I have been wanting to read G willow Wilson's Ms. Marvel for awhile now and since my comic shop was having a sale on first volumes I decided to pick up Ms. Marvel: No Normal. I really enjoyed reading it and being introduced to Kamala Khan. Kamala is a teenager that takes over the mantle of Ms. Marvel from Carol Danvers. I will admit that prior to this, although I knew some things about Ms. Marvel, my knowledge about the character is somewhat lacking. I enjoyed everything about this book from the art to the writing. Adrian Alphonia's art was fantastic. I am a fan of the iconic costume but it was nice to see a more realistic take on it as well. It seems like with the popularity of comics like Squirrel girl, less sexed up, "real" depictions of women are on the rise. It is possible to be the embodiment of sass in a realistic costume, after all.

G willow Wilson's writing is superb as well. It is really refreshing to see young women portrayed so realistically. One of the things I enjoyed most about reading this was that crime fighting does not come naturally to her. She had to learn to use her powers while hiding her true identity from her very concerned parents.the Overarching theme of volume one seems to be Identity. Kahn is Marvel's first Muslim character and although, it may have turned some off of the character her struggle with faith is relatable to anyone regardless of religion preference. She faces peer pressure at a party which magnifies the differences between her and the party-goers, leading her to question her faith. Ultimately she ends up saving one of her a"frenemies" from the party from drowning later on. The struggle with keeping her identity from her parents is also very real. Being a teenager is hard enough without being a superhero, you know? Her father wishes that she would focus on school, and her mother is worried that she will make the wrong choices. Again, this makes Kahn an easily relatable character.

I will definitely be picking up volume two!Are you a fan of Kamala?