I’m not going to lie. I’ve been anticipating this comic for months. Usually when I do this, I get very disappointed because nothing stands up to my expectations.

Well, ‘Ms. Marvel’ #1 was nothing like I expected, but I still really liked it.

Now, I feel like I should mention that when I expressed interest in this comic at my local comic book store, I was told that it “had the stink of death on it”. They never really elaborated on why, but I sort of got the impression that a teenage Muslim girl was not their first choice for a super hero.

Well, they may be right. Maybe the main comic book audience won’t buy this comic, but that doesn’t mean that book isn’t one of the most quality books I have read in the Marvel universe in a long time. The main character, Kamala Khan, is relatable and quirky, even for someone like me who hasn’t had to grow up in two different cultures.

‘Ms. Marvel’ follows Kamala, a Pakistani transplant in the heart of New Jersey with love for writing Avengers fanfiction. She’s somewhat conflicted about her culture, as she feels both out of place in her family for being a bit too American, and out of place with the other kids for having “weird food rules”.

She magically gets transformed into Carol Danvers, with the very revealing Ms. Marvel outfit after a mysterious fog rolls in and has a conversation with her via the avatars of her heroes.

So, yeah. It lacks a little bit in the plot department. We don’t know where the fog comes from, why it came, or why it chose Kamala. But it’s just one issue, and for what it doesn’t have in plot, it has in spadefuls for character development. It’s a smart move, really. Get readers attached to Kamala, and then roll out the plot.

What it does feel like is that the plot is going with Kamala turning into Ms. Marvel is going to deal heavily with identity, something which Kamala is going to need to have a grip on before she goes out on the streets of New Jersey. After expressing to her fog gods that all she wants to be is Ms. Marvel, why would she ask if it’s “too late” to change her mind when the transformation happens? What is she going to do now that she is the beautiful and buxom Carol Danvers?

I don’t know, but I’m happy to buy the next issue to find out.

All in all, a great start to series that I hope will entertain me for some time to come.

MS MARVEL #1
Written by G. Willow Wilson
Art by Adrian Alphona