The Magnificent Ms. Marvel #4 // Review
Kamala’s still reeling from the knowledge that she’s supposedly destined to save the planet Saffa from destruction when she’s hit with another bombshell; the threat to the planet may be from the inhabitants themselves. Writer Saladin Ahmed continues Kamala’s alien adventure with the help of the art team, penciler Minkyu Jung, inker Juan Vlasco, color artist Ian Herring, and letters by VC’s Joe Caramagna.
After escaping the palace, Kamala, her parents, and rebel leader, Cheb Hura are on the run. Kamala is putting her trust in Cheb that he won’t turn out to be an even bigger liar than the king and that she’s making the right choice as the Destined One. With her parents completely out of their element, she’s got no one to rely on but her own instincts as a hero.
Bringing Kamala’s parents, along on the adventure, gives the story an added layer. Questions of what will her parents think, will they be okay, etc., are no longer theoretical for Kamala but very real. She has the added pressure of having to look out for their safety as well. Ahmed uses this to further Kamala’s character development both as herself and as Ms. Marvel, as she begins to realize since she became Ms. Marvel she hasn’t had complete control of her own story and its time to change that. However much it may hurt.
Herring’s talents are put to good use in this issue as the story takes place across a variety of alien landscapes, creating an opportunity for some beautifully colored panels. And while there was a lot of downtime between battle scenes switching up the panel layout on each page helped generate interest and flow.
Watching Kamala mature from a Captain Marvel fangirl into an increasingly confident superhero in her own right has been an incredible journey to follow, and so far this series is continuing that growth. Focusing on this character development has made the action more spread out, but this issue feels like it’s the end of the exposition. Like all of the pieces have been moved into place and now it’s time for the action to begin.
