On the Panel
Ms Marvel (2014) #6
The bulk of the origin story is out of the way and now we get into seeing Kamala Khan moving towards becoming a fully fledged super hero. She also experiences her first team up with a marvel hero and it’s not quite who I expected.
As is becoming the norm for this title, it opens on a really funny situation. I like how she’s being chased by The Inventor and forced to think on her feet to try and evade detection, shows how clever and resourceful she really is. Showing her hiding as a discarded sofa is brilliant, it’s a really funny image to see her masked face as the arm. This is followed by some typical dialogue where there’s a hint at a mentor for her who knows her identity, this is nothing new in comics and I’d almost prefer her to learn by making lots of mistakes rather than having a guiding hand pushing her in the right direction. The dialogue in this section is somewhat predictable and generic so it kind of sticks out in an otherwise inventive comic.
Having said that, the rest of the issue more than makes up for this with some attention drawn to what makes a hero “cool” including mentions of secret hide-outs and theme music. Given Kamala’s fangirl status then it makes perfect sense that she’s romanticising everything even if the reality of what it really means to be a costumed adventurer is sinking in.
Having Wolverine be her first team up experience is an interesting choice that makes a kind of sense. Wolverine has recently assumed a mentor role in the title Wolverine and the X-Men so knows a fair bit about encouraging young people with super powers and offering them guidance, something that Kamala really needs at this point. Her reaction to meeting him really shows how naive she is and her fanatical excitement is just hilarious. Their interactions are generally pretty good with Wolverine showing a great amount of patience and really seeking her help especially when he gets injured. I also like that he makes her question the origin of her powers for the first time in a while, I wonder when the revelation of what she is will happen and how she will react.
I can honestly say that this comic is consistently fantastic, Kamala makes old hero tropes seem fresh and interesting -with the exception of the mentor discussion. Making the character increasingly fanatical about the world she is now a part of is a great touch, she makes every little event an exciting one and her modern outlook freshens things up a lot. Her first team up was great and I can’t wait to see how she interacts with some of the other heroes.
Silver Surfer (2014) #4
In this issue The Surfer returns Dawn home which brings him other manners of complications but we get a bit more insight into Dawn’s family and her life on Earth in general.
The comic opens with The Hulk and Doctor Strange battling what appears to be the Universal horror monsters which is certainly a strange place to open a Silver Surfer comic, it clearly is meant to feed into an upcoming story but the how is somewhat unclear. What is interesting about this is that it seems to be from a while ago considering the caption as well as the artwork looking somewhat old school.
I enjoyed the introduction to Dawn and The Surfer as she is continually reminding him of the little things that he’s been overlooking plus her sense of wonder at the universe as well as her constant inquisitive nature are causing him to do a double take on his established feelings. Sadly this moment is broken up by a fairly pointless cameo by the Guardians of the Galaxy. I feel that with the upcoming movie, Marvel are shoehorning these characters into every comic they can regardless of what sense it makes. to the overall story. Having them on the cover is really exploitative considering their overall lack of contribution to the story.
Dawn and The Surfer’s discussion following this brings a new spin on his character, I like the idea of him absorbing our pop culture on a molecular level which hilariously includes endless repeats of The Wizard of Oz. A pop culture savvy Silver Surfer isn’t something I’ve really seen before and it makes sense that the character wouldn’t go out of his way to reference things. I imagine Dan Slott’s intention here is to make him seem very alien while being all too human at the same time, I like this spin on the character and I really like that he’s far less melancholy that he normally is. Seeing the character eat for what is -at least to me- the first time goes a long way towards making him seem for relatable in a human sense. It’s also something really new to him which makes it even more fascinating to see explored.
When he brings Dawn to Earth there’s a lot of strange things going on that The Surfer doesn’t seem to notice such as a giant squid attacking a fisherman and the couch sporting a nasty looking mouth. Clearly something is happening that requires his attention and it must be linked to Dawn somehow given her random appearance in outer space. The moment where he mistook Dawn’s twin sister Eve for a Skrull was really funny as well, his rationale behind it made sense to me even if it does fly in the face of his cosmic wisdom somewhat. The ending of the issue raises many questions and I look forward to the exploration of this.
Overall, I really enjoyed this comic despite the fact that it felt like setup for things that are going to come. I feel that the Guardians of the Galaxy appearance was entirely unnecessary and I’m not sure what to make of the Doctor Strange/Hulk section. Most of this didn’t matter as The Surfer and Dawn moments were so strong, I really liked how she questions him and makes him think by explaining himself and I like Dawn’s outlook on the universe. She also challenges him in ways that he hasn’t experienced before, it’s really great stuff. Dan Slott’s version of the character is very different to previous appearances but his interpretation is a fascinating one.
On the Panel #2
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8/10
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7/10
Summary
Ms Marvel (2014) #6
I can honestly say that this comic is consistently fantastic, Kamala makes old hero tropes seem fresh and interesting -with the exception of the mentor discussion. Making the character increasingly fanatical about the world she is now a part of is a great touch, she makes every little event an exciting one and her modern outlook freshens things up a lot. Her first team up was great and I can’t wait to see how she interacts with some of the other heroes.
Silver Surfer (2014) #4
Overall, I really enjoyed this comic despite the fact that it felt like setup for things that are going to come. I feel that the Guardians of the Galaxy appearance was entirely unnecessary and I’m not sure what to make of the Doctor Strange/Hulk section. Most of this didn’t matter as The Surfer and Dawn moments were so strong, I really liked how she questions him and makes him think by explaining himself and I like Dawn’s outlook on the universe. She also challenges him in ways that he hasn’t experienced before, it’s really great stuff. Dan Slott’s version of the character is very different to previous appearances but his interpretation is a fascinating one.