Ms. Marvel (2015) #7

Previously in Ms. Marvel #6

Ms. Marvel #7 (The Road to Civil War II) | Writer: G. Willow Wilson | Artist: Adrian Alphona | Color Art: Ian Herring | Lettering: VC’s Joe Caramagna | Cover Art: Cameron Stewart

This issue took a short break (sorta) from the usual high stakes, end-of-the-world adventures and showed Kamala in another element in which she shines: high-achieving nerd. Kamala and a team of other students that includes Bruno and Mike, represents their school in the Tri-State Science Fair. The real treat is that Miles Morales (Spider-Man and Kamala’s fellow Avenger) is also competing for his school. I’ll give you a moment to recover from your nerd freak-out.

Still with me? Good.

Kamala knows Miles’ secret identity, but he has no idea she’s Ms. Marvel. When his spidey senses alert him to her spying on his team, the two have a totally adorable face-off. Of course, what would a day in the life of Kamala Khan be without something going terribly (and hilariously) wrong? Bruno’s pocket fusion reactor goes boom, and the heroes jump into action (with an assist from Nova) to get all the students to safety outside of Madison Square Garden.

When the smoke clears (literally), Miles and Kamala also clear the air (I’m not doing that on purpose!). They don’t confess who they are, but they both agree to dial it back a bit when it comes to academic competition.

This issue ties into the new new Civil War II event at the very end when we see newly-Inhuman Ulysses with Medusa at New Attilan. Watching the news coverage of the science fair incident, he has a premonition that something terrible is on the horizon.

I need to point out how much I appreciate the diversity in this series. Not just seeing Muslims and people of color represented, but all body types as well. It’s a refreshing change in an industry with busty and impossibly thin women heroes. And despite her super abilities, Kamala remains one of the most grounded and realistic teenage characters in literature today.