MS. MARVEL [2014] / 21 NOV 2014 BETWEEN THE PANELS: WHY MS. MARVEL IS THE NEW SPIDER-MAN
What makes Marvel's newest heroine so special?
Marvel's All-New Marvel NOW promotion resulted in the launch of a lot of new superhero comics earlier this year. And while there were certainly a fair amount of Avengers and Wolverine-themed comics, there were also plenty of titles that focused on relatively lesser-known characters. Books like She-Hulk, All-New Ghost Rider, and Elektra have tried new things when it comes to storytelling and visual presentation. They've helped address the problem that not enough superhero comics focus on female and minority characters. They've earned Marvel plenty of critical praise, but not a lot of cold, hard cash.
The sluggish sales of these books would seem to support the notion that the general superhero audience just doesn't care for books that don't revolve around A-List characters and big, continuity-driven storylines. However, not every book has struggled to find and maintain a large audience. The new Ms. Marvel series might just be the biggest success story to come out of All-New Marvel NOW. It's new, it's different, and it's built up quite an impressive audience over the past nine months or so. Ms. Marvel (and books like it) taps into a niche that Marvel and DC haven't done enough to cater towards in the past. And it's a niche that will continue to be important not just in terms of comic sales, but the continued growth of the superhero film genre.
Clearly something about Ms. Marvel is hooking readers in a way books like She-Hulk haven't quite managed. Sales for monthly issues of the series are surprisingly robust. The first issue alone is going back to the presses for a seventh printing, which is something we haven't seen since the launch of DC's New 52 comics three years ago. And there are even rumors that Ms. Marvel is the rare sort of comic that sells better digitally than it does in print. There's no way to corroborate those rumors since publishers are still reluctant to reveal digital sales figures, but any way you slice it, the future is pretty rosy for this comic.
But why has Kamala Khan proven such a hit with readers when more established Marvel characters continue to struggle to find an audience? Even writer G. Willow Wilson seems surprised by the reception to the series, as she's admitted she never expected the book to last more than six months. Clearly it's not simply a matter of Marvel placing the spotlight on a female character. Otherwise She-Hulk and Elektra would be selling much better than they are.
It seems to be a case of Kamala's story and ongoing struggles resonating with readers in a way most superheroes don't. She really is the rightful heir to Peter Parker's mantle as the ultimate relatable superhero. Not that Peter doesn't have his own enduring appeal, but he's not the same character he was in 1962. Kamala is young. She's inexperienced. She's charming in a dorky sort of way. She's a hopeless fangirl of all things superhero-y. And Like Peter, she struggles to balance the needs and responsibilities of her day-to-day life with her desire to venture out into the world and do good. Thanks to artist Adrian Alphona, Kamala and her friends are rendered like real teens with unique qualities and fashion choices and not cookie-cutter, impossibly pretty superheroes. All of this serves to make Kamala an identifiable and well-realized character.
And certainly, Kamala's status as a Muslim-American is worth noting. I'm sure the fact that Marvel finally has a comic that hinges squarely on a Muslim character has helped the appeal of Ms. Marvel. There's a segment of the readership that now has a character who can speak directly to their life and experiences. But it's not as if readers need to be Muslim themselves to understand Kamala's struggles. This is a character who bristles under the pressure of her well-meaning but overbearing parents. She has to deal with things like racism and the fear involved in going to high school in a world where violence and shootings are a real possibility (or in her case, a supervillain attack).
There's so much fear and uncertainty and so many mixed messages kids have to wrestle with growing up these days. Characters like Ms. Marvel speak to the drama of young adult life in the 21st Century in a way Spider-Man did in the '60s and '70s. She appeals to a newer and fast-growing segment of comic readers. These readers are younger than the stereotypical age 30-40 male reader. They're less interested in traditional superhero stories. They're more media-savvy and more prone to buying comics digitally than in a comic shop. They've discovered books like Ms. Marvel or DC's Batgirl revamp or any number of indie titles from Image and they're finding something in the comic book medium they weren't before. It's a new audience, and it's one publishers need to court more than they are.
That goes for superhero films as much as it does for comics. Ms. Marvel could easily make a huge splash in Marvel's Cinematic Universe. Looking ahead at Marvel's recently announced Phase 3 lineup, Inhumans stands out as the most difficult sell. The concept is more esoteric and the characters more bizarre and outlandish than most Marvel properties. And unlike Guardians of the Galaxy, the Inhumans franchise doesn't immediately lend itself to humor and snark. Obviously, Marvel has big plans for the Inhumans. There's ample evidence that they're leading up to an Inhumans storyline in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. this season. There are rumors that Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are being re-imagined as Inhumans for this movie universe. The goal seems to be crafting an X-Men-like movie franchise to replace the actual X-Men franchise that Marvel can't make use of. But the X-Men are wildly popular because they have a broad and very innate appeal. Translating that appeal into the Inhumans movie could be a difficult challenge.
Not if Kamala is brought into the picture, however. She can and should be the face of the Inhumans movie franchise. It wouldn't be a stretch. We've already learned in her comic that Kamala is an Inhuman whose latent abilities were sparked by the events of Infinity. She's been exposed to this strange culture, learned that she has a grand destiny ahead of her, and gained a faithful sidekick in the form of Lockjaw the teleporting
dog
. Kamala serves a vital purpose in terms of balancing out the grandiose spectacle of the Inhumans and their centuries-old empire with the grounded perspective of a teenage girl who just wants to be a hero. All Marvel needs to do is make Ms. Marvel the focal point of the Inhumans film and they'll give this franchise the broad appeal and relatable protagonist it needs. Given Kamala's ties to her idol, Carol Danvers, it would be a way to tie the Captain Marvel and Inhumans
movies
together. And it would help Marvel further address the ongoing problem of the lack of diversity in superhero movies.
Sony
would do well to think outside the box with their Spider-Man movies as well. The studio doesn't seem to have a clear idea of how to move forward from the critically and commercially underwhelming Amazing Spider-Man 2. Perhaps the best thing they can do is shift focus away from Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker and towards other characters who can appeal to these younger, more diverse readers that Kamala Khan attracts. Just look at the instant success of the Spider-Gwen character. Spider-Gwen hails from an alternate universe where Gwen Stacy, not Peter Parker, was bitten by the radioactive spider. Even though she appeared in one issue of Marvel's Edge of Spider-Verse comic, Spider-Gwen has developed such a rabidly passionate fanbase that Marvel has already announced an ongoing series for the character. Clearly this riff on a familiar hero is filling a void that no one knew existed before now.
The whole problem with Sony's rebooted Spider-Man franchise is that it spends too much time regurgitating elements of the previous trilogy. They need to offer superhero movie lovers something new. So why not shift direction and craft a Spider-Gwen movie instead? Heck, since Emma Stone has been the highlight of these last two movies, why not let her reprise the role and play a super-powered version of Gwen? Or barring that, why not follow the example of Marvel's Ultimate Spider-Man comics and pass the Spidey torch from Peter Parker to Miles Morales? Both Gwen and Miles are great characters, and both have the potential to reinvigorate an ailing franchise.
The comic book audience is changing. Big, epic superhero crossovers still have their place, but there's a growing segment of readers who are less interested in spectacle and more interested in characters that can speak to them and their life experiences while still fighting larger-than-life battles. That's why Ms. Marvel has connected with so many readers this year. The comic blends the best elements of the Marvel Universe with great characterization, unique storytelling sensibilities, and a truly relatable protagonist. As the superhero film genre grows, we may see a similar trend of where audiences are no longer satisfied with movies that simply strive to be bigger and louder. Characters like Kamala Khan are going to be key to the long-term health of superhero storytelling in every medium.
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