Ms. Marvel #12 Review

It’s team-up time, but Ms. Marvel is not ready for her latest crossover partner…

But neither, it seems, is Loki ready for her.  Your Major Spoilers review of Ms. Marvel #12 awaits!

MS. MARVEL #12
Writer: G. Willow Wilson
Artist: Elmo Bondoc
Colorist: Ian Herring
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Editor: Sana Amanat
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99

Previously in Ms. Marvel:  “After a strange Terrigen Mist descended upon Jersey City, Kamala Khan got polymorph powers and became the all-new Ms. Marvel.  With strict parents on her case, her best friend Bruno by her side and a whole lot of weird ensnaring Jersey City every day, Kamala soon realized that being a superhero is… complicated.”

A VERY SPECIAL VALENTINE’S DAY ISSUE

We open in the halls of Asgardia, with a story that we are told explicitly takes place before Axis, as Loki is dispatched to deal with a mysterious threat in a strange faraway land, a wondrous world called Jersey City.  Loki’s arrival is pretty hilarious, as he is first mistaken for a “Brooklyn Hipster”, and then somehow chances into a tableau during which Kamala’s dear friend Bruno is trying to find a way to ask her out to the big Valentine’s Day dance.  There’s a quiet pathos at seeing how completely he botches his attempt (she laughs and thanks him for always cheering her up), before Loki agrees to help him write a love note in return for helping Loki scout out the wilds of New Jersey.  This whole issue is about character, with Kamala sort of intrigued at the idea that someone is in love with her, Loki trying to prove that he’s actually on the side of the angels for once, and Bruno utterly failing in a chillingly realistic high school way to explain his interest to a friend.  There is a tiny bit of fighty-fighty between Ms. Marvel and the agent of Asgardia, a truth serum and an ending so gorgeous that if it were a girl, I’d want to kiss it…

TOOK A BIG CHANCE AT THE HIGH SCHOOL DANCE

Art this time around is different from regular penciler Adrian Alphona, but still has the same quasi-independent feel to it, and the bizarre Ditkoesque shape-shifting that makes up most of Kamala’s powerset is just as weird and likeable as Alphona’s work.  The real star, though, is writer Wilson’s scripting, again making Kamala a wonderfully likeable character (she’s Marvel’s most successful attempt to recapture the spark of Peter Parker in a new bottle), especially at the end of the story where she thanks Bruno with a fist-bump in her Ms. Marvel identity.  The story of a girl with a complex home, family and superhero life makes for great reading, and I’m really gratified to see Ms. Marvel growing and thriving as the book enters it’s second year.  I have to say I’m a bit worried to find that the letters page is entirely empty this issue, though, with a full-page ad for #13 that I hope is a matter of editorial lollygagging and not a lack of feedback for a great comic series.

THE BOTTOM LINE: A CHARMING CONTRAST

If you’ve been avoiding this book for any reason, you really should check it out.  This is a clever, fun, emotional done-in-one, the kind of single issue that we almost can’t get any more, and an immensely likeable central hero.  Ms. Marvel #12 hits the sweet spot (because Valentine’s Day candy joke, shut up) and reminds me of how good a series and a main character Marvel has going for them here, ending up with a VERY impressive 3.5 out of 5 stars overall.  Seeds of future stories are planted here, as well as some charming character stuff, all of which add up to a good read…