Kamala Khan is not the first Ms Marvel of the vignettes. Before her, the mantle was Carol Danvers (yes, Captain Marvel herself), Sharon Ventura (who would eventually become Woman Thing) and Karla Sofen (better known as Moonstone), who only held the title for half a year. But without any doubt, Beyond Carol, Kamala is the Ms Marvel that has had the most importance in the history of the House of Ideas. And we are going to tell you why.
The beginning of 2010 was a very interesting time in Marvel, hated by some and adored by others. Many classic heroes stepped aside and other new creations appeared, such as Ironheart, Miles Morales (Spiderman) or Sam Alexander (Nova). And among them, the one that quickly covered all the covers was a Pakistani teenager who, almost unwittingly, took over from Peter Parker’s high school stories. Born from the inhuman earth mist, Ms Marvel has been commanding the youngest section of the company for a decade. Do you want to catch up before his eponymous series arrives on Disney +? We tell you the comics you have to open. excellent!
‘Ms Marvel: Out of the ordinary’
And the best thing is, of course, to start at the beginning: in 2014, a fan of superheroes who wrote fanfics and was obsessed with Carol Danvers about to become her apprentice. After Marvel decided to bet on the Inhumans in ‘Inhumanity’ and the Earth Mists turned people into superheroes, Kamala Khan would discover her powers in which he can lengthen and modify his own body becoming giant, hitting with a huge fist and being able to heal quickly.
G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona they knew how to find the perfect tone of the superheroine in these first stories. In his next volume, ‘Generación por qué?’ her first archenemy was revealed: a clone of Thomas Edison called The Inventor and contaminated with the DNA of a cockatoo. If you’re willing to get to a stretching teenager, you’re willing to get to Edison’s clone. But Ms Marvel was much more than a hilarious series: It was the most thoughtful, beautiful, pure and endearing comic of that Marvelite batch. And this had only just begun.
‘Civil War II’
I don’t want to be the one to blame for you reading ‘Civil War II’, nothing to do with the cinematographic ‘Civil War’, but sadly it is an essential toll to understand the path that Ms Marvel has taken. In fact, it is probably the only really interesting part of a rather bizarre and tasteless story. In his tie-in (and the main story), Kamala discovers another different face of Captain Marvel and confronts hershowing a side that was intuited until then but never materialized: Ms Marvel fights for what she thinks is fair.
Later got back into a certain relationship with Carol (especially from his one-shot in ‘Generations’), but this moment of rupture was vital for the character and made him evolve into the icon he is now. kill your idolsWhat did that book say? The only pity is that to get to this point you have to go through reading ‘Civil War II’. Phew.
‘Ms Marvel: Damage Per Second’
After the events of the unnecessary macro-crossover of the day, G. Willow Wilson manages to surprise us once again with a comic in which he steps out of his comfort zone in New Jersey to go to Pakistan in an essential number. More specifically to Karachi, where we will learn more about her, her extended family and her customs. Faced with the complaints of those who did not want to see a muslim superheroinetake two cups.
in this adventure we will meet Red Dagger, a vital character in the trajectory of Kamala Khan for, well, several reasons. But here it is the ying to her yang, the local superhero who shows her that she is needed wherever she comes from. This character adventure is not only tremendously original, vindictive, funny and opens the future of the series, but also shows the purest Ms Marvel. Wonderful.
‘Champions’
No, Kamala doesn’t hang out with Oliver and Benji at any point: The Champions is a group that has been at Marvel for many years with different iterations. In her day Black Widow was the leader and they ended up entering characters as unknown to the mainstream public as Crimson Dynamo or Black Goliath. The new group of Champions had a lineup full of young superheroes coming from that stage of Marvel in the early and mid-2000s in which anything went.
Nova (Sam Alexander), Spider-man (Miles Morales), Viv Vision, Cyclops (young version from the past), Hulk (Amadeus Cho) and Ms Marvel formed an idealistic group to face, in a rarefied post-‘Civil War II’ environment, some adult superheroes who did not represent them. In fact, Ms Marvel left the Avengers to come in here, so that’s no small feat. This collection is a breath of fresh air in the superhero scene and Ms Marvel makes first-time mistakes that will mark her for the rest of her career. Not suitable for marvelite purists.
‘The magnificent Ms Marvel’
When in Marvel they saw the success of the character they did not hesitate to overexploit it: she made cameos in every comic, she joined the Secret Warriors, she traveled back in time to meet the Carol Danvers who shared a code name with her… And, in the end, it had to be Saladin Ahmed, taking the legacy of G. Willow Wilson, who would give his `own version of the heroine. And it is worth reading.
It may not be as amazing or vibrant as the original version, but she is again in essence. Superpowers in Jersey City, emotional and family problems, teen drama and epic scenes. Outside of superhero dramas, Ms Marvel’s true heart has always been in her own series.
‘outlaws’
It is not the best written or best explained story, but it is one of the most important for the character’s future, which had ramifications in both ‘Champions’ and ‘Ms Marvel’: Basically, after an accident that puts Kamala in the hospital, the underage heroes have to have an adult companion in what is called the “Kamala law”. Those who do not comply will be caught and imprisoned.
This is a turning point for the heroine, who feel guilty for what has happened until he realizes there is a mole among the Champions. Once again: it is not the most interesting or best written story, but it has the focus on everything that makes Ms Marvel special: adolescent doubts, compassion and empathy.
You will notice that in this list I have put aside everything that has to do with kisses, loves, friendships, heartbreaks and trouble with his secret identity, because the best thing is that you discover it yourselves. In just a decade, Ms Marvel has made a name for herself in comics and is the current favorite character of many. She has appeared in all kinds of audiovisual material and was It’s only a matter of time before the New Jersey Protector had its own series.
Controversies with their powers aside, The important thing about Kamala Khan is the heart that all the authors have been able to include in their stories. Love for others, respect for his family, adolescent rebellion and the love doubts are much more interesting than the fights themselves (although they are also spectacular). If they have been able to do it correctly, we are at the beginning of something very big. As big as Kamala.