Ms. Marvel’s solo adventures wrap up for now as Stormranger returns for revenge and the Kamala Khan faces that greatest of high school threats: the homecoming dance in Magnificent Ms. Marvel #18 written by Saladin Ahmed, art by Minkyu Jung, colors by Ian Herring and letters by VC’s Joe Caramagna.
The cover of the final issue of the current Magnificent Ms. Marvel series proclaims it to be the 75th issue of Ms. Marvel (thanks to legacy numbering and Marvel’s penchant for relaunching series at the drop of a hat), and I wish it was a more fitting send off and celebration. But alas, this series remains a victim of last year’s industry wide shutdown and so this ending feels like a rush to tie up some of the plot threads that never got the time to really develop.
For those who don’t follow the ins and out of comic book publishing like we do around here, a moment of explanation. One of the last comic released in March 2020 before Diamond Comics Distributors stopped shipping and the industry ground to something of a halt was Outlawed #1, an issue designed to set off an event that spread through all the teen hero books, including Champions, Miles Morales: Spider-Man, a group of new mini-series and Magnificent Ms. Marvel. Unfortunately, with a two month gap in general publishing after that issue, and then a further gap until some of these titles relaunched or launched, this event sort of died a quiet death and wasn’t publicized as it was intended. On top of that, Marvel’s big Spring 2020 event, Empyre, had a few of its tie-in mini-series cancelled due to the shutdown, including one starring Stormranger, the Kree suit of nanoarmor that was briefly used by Ms. Marvel, so the threads meant to be picked up there from earlier issues of Magnificent Ms. Marvel were also not addressed.
All this is to say that this volume of Ms. Marvel’s adventures have been hamstrung since the pandemic by publishing initiatives. It’s a real shame, because Saladin Ahmed did a great job following up on G. Willow Wilson’s definitive run on the character. Ahmed has Kamala’s voice down, and those of all her supporting cast, and knew exactly how to balance action with teen superhero soap opera.
This is a lot of context to get to a single issue review, but as this is the final issue of Kamala Khan’s solo adventures for the foreseeable future, it’s important. The final issue is in itself a fairly standard teen superhero action story, with the solid writing you’d expect from Ahmed. After nearly being destroyed at the beginning of the Outlawed event, Kamala’s high school has been repaired enough that it is going to hold its homecoming dance in the gym. Kamala is going to the dance, has some moments with her friends and family, and then must run off from the dance to stop Stormranger, which has returned to Earth, with the aid of her new ally, Amulet.
If this was the end of an arc, I’d be perfectly happy with it. But there feels like there’s a lot left unsaid here. The past four issues have heavily dealt with the fallout of Outlawed and Kamala’s Law, the anti-teen vigilante law. This issue effectively handwaves all of that away with a quick exchange between Kamala and her brother about how the fervor over it has just died down. Something similar occurs when Kamala is alone in the car with her friend Zoe who sold her out to C.R.A.D.L.E., the government task force designed to police teen heroes; Zoe apologizes and they just decide to be friends again. It feels like Ahmed had so much more story here, not to mention more about Kamala’s dad and his recovery and the return of Bruno’s ex-girlfriend, Mike, that just gets addressed here as being just fine and moved aside.
The battle with Stormranger isn’t any more satisfying. Strormanger just returns to get her revenge on Kamala, with no context or real motivation, and all credit to artist Mikyu Jung for drawing a really dynamic and well choreographed fight, Stormranger isn’t a terribly interesting foe. The addition of Amulet to the fight is a welcome one, as he is a fun character and a hero for being a hero’s sake, something that works with Kamala’s similar nature. The ending of their time together, with Kamala deciding to trust him with her identity, works better than a lot of the other rushed emotional beats earlier in the issue because it feels earned and pays off something from earlier issues.
I look back at the reviews of these past few issues of Magnificent Ms. Marvel I’ve written as I look at the series as a whole, and I feel bad I’ve come down as hard as I have on this book. There has been a lot to enjoy in these issues, and especially a couple moments in this one, notably the resolution of Kamala’s fight with Stormranger and the final couple of pages, all that pack a great emotional punch and say a lot about Kamala as a person who is good and loyal, and who has earned the love and respect of her friends. But it’s the lost potential of where this series could have gone, and how strong the previous volume and the early issues of this one, that have left this last arc feeling empty.
We don’t know what’s next for Kamala Khan. She’ll be front and center in Danny Lore’s new run on Champions, but that seems to be where she will be spotlighted. With a Disney+ series coming in the not too distant future, and her eventual appearance in Captain Marvel 2, I can’t imagine this will be the last solo adventure for Ms. Marvel, but until then, let’s bid adieu to Ms. Marvel and her Jersey City cast, and hope for bright days ahead.
Matt Lazorwitz read his first comic at the age of five. It was Who's Who in the DC Universe #2, featuring characters whose names begin with B, which explains so much about his Batman obsession. He writes about comics he loves, and co-hosts the creator interview podcast WMQ&A with Dan Grote.
