Lots of new Marvel relaunches this week, but these two
caught my eye. Spoilers ahead (especially for Wolverine).
Wolverine #1
Here we are again, another Wolverine #1. This relaunch was
brought to you by the kind people at All-New Marvel Now (I’m too lazy to look
up the correct capitalisation and amount of exclamation points that I’m
missing). This new Spring branding initiative was supposedly designed to allow
for brave new interpretations of firmly established characters. A lot of the
characters being treated to the All-New treatment have been somewhat stuck in
the doldrums over the past while (with the exception of the new book launches
like Loki and Ms Marvel) and have been deemed worthy of radical new looks at
the central themes and ideas behind the characters. With that in mind, here’s a
relaunched Wolverine title.
It feels like this book was just relaunched ten minutes before
this current version, but this marketing move can be forgiven thanks to the quality
of the comic. For a jumping-on point, this issue could be considered confusing
as hell, choosing to start in media res.
The newly mortal Wolverine and his associates are in the middle of a prison
break-out, trying to get their hands on a Hand Ninja. It seems like Wolverine
is working under-cover to foil Sabretooth, but by the end of the issue, he has
blood on his hands, and not in the usual manner. Wolverine shoots and kills an
investigative journalist and it’s all very weird. Readers are more than
familiar with the sight of Wolverine popping his claws and stabbing people to
death. It was pretty much the basis of Mark Millar’s entire super-gory run on
the comic, but here the way he kills that journalist is hugely shocking.
While the act of murder can’t be classed as Wolverine
defending himself, the character feels very defensive and vulnerable
throughout. He totes weapons other than his claws, his new costume is nigh-on
indestructible armour, he’s surrounded by a crew for dirty work that he’d
normally carry out on his own. The way he kills that journalist- removed from
the act of violence, almost protecting himself by his distance from the act,
feeds into this feeling of vulnerability. It’s an interesting subversion of the
Wolverine fans have been growing ever-more comfortable with over the past few
years. Wolverine’s over-riding status quo since the Schism has been as a more
conservative, earthy character, almost father-like in his role as protector of
the school. In Paul Cornell’s Wolverine
#1 we have something new: a wounded animal with what seems like a whole new
set of rules. This relaunched book is treading new ground for the character and
that feels very exciting!
Ms Marvel #1
This was the best comic-book I’ve read this year. On a
purely surface level, everything is pitched perfectly. It’s warm and incredibly
funny, with a wonderfully loose and interpretative art style. There isn’t
another Marvel book that has the same tone and style as Adrian Alphona’s
pencils. Ian Herring’s colours help a lot, too. The colouring is warm and
inviting when it needs to be, while during scenes such as the release of the Terrigen
gases (how many more times will Marvel revisit this scene?) they’re cold and
feel unsettling. It’s great, clever art to match similarly clever writing.
Here we have a mainstream super-hero comic about an American
Muslim teenager, written by an American Muslim woman. This is the first time we’ve
had a Muslim character written by somebody who isn’t a white male. Grant
Morrison, as much as I love him, delivered a very one-note character in the X-Men’s
Dust, a character who hasn’t been much used since the Schism. Here we’re
presented with a fresh, exciting new take on a Muslim character. It might sound
like I’m fixated on the fact that the new Ms Marvel is a Muslim, but G. Willow
Wilson’s writing doesn’t side-step it, or pander to any misplaced expectation
of tokenism. A lot of the humour in this issue comes from Kamala’s (the new Ms
Marvel) experiences as a Muslim. The
lines about honour killing and infidel meat are literally laugh out loud funny.
This is Marvel’s funniest book, easily snatching the title from Wolverine and the X-Men. There’s more to
Kamala than being a Muslim, of course. She deals with high school posers like
Zoe Zimmer (Stan Lee would be proud of the alliteration!), writes Avengers
fan-fic, has parents who just don’t get her and has a best buddy in Nakia. It
could be interpreted as being a pretty pedestrian introduction to a new character,
but the details make this all killer material. The dialogue just bounces off
the page and Wilson’s deftly introduced cast of characters feel both relateable
and novel.
At one point towards the end of the book during her
Terrigenesis, Kamala has a vision of the Avengers and tells Captain Marvel that
she’d like to be just like her, except with the controversial high heels and
swimsuit costume. So, as she erupts from her Terrigen Cocoon, that’s how her
new shape-shifting powers manifest. She has transformed into the white,
swimsuited, high heeled Carol Danvers. For a comic that has spent its first
issue laying out its lead character’s occasional restlessness and conflict with parts of her Muslim heritage,
as well as her teenage awkwardness, she now has the ability to blend in or
stand out and become a hero. That’s going to make for some fun internal
conflict and exciting challenges for Kamala in the coming issues. This is the
beginning of a classic origin story. I cannot wait for the next issue!
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