Ms. Marvel - Vol.3 #6

I have such a hard time deciding how I feel about this issue, Healing Factor. On the one hand, I loved the story more than I did the previous issues. But in this issue, Adrian Alphona’s art is replaced with Jacob Wyatt’s, and it’s not the same. That’s not to say it’s bad, and I understand that every artist is unique, but who Kamala is on the outside looks so different it was jarring. Thankfully, who she is on the inside remains and that’s what saved this issue for me.

The Inventor has stepped up his game and unleashed spider-like bots to make Kamala’s life miserable. She spends almost every night ridding the Jersey City streets of these nuisances. Of course, this means she’s sneaking out at night and keeping secrets. Kamala’s father finally gets her to sit down and speak with Sheikh Abdullah, who Kamala swears hates her.

Surprisingly, he’s pretty damn cool. Kamala won’t tell him what she’s been up to exactly, but she does tell him she’s helping people - although, she’s not always very good at it. He gets her to promise that if she’s going to continue whatever it is she’s doing, she will do it with as much skill and honor as she can. He also wants her to seek out a teacher who can help her get better at giving this mystery assistance.

The biggest surprise in the issue comes when Kamala goes into the sewers to fight mutated alligators courtesy of The Inventor, who greets her via his bird-like clone. He doesn’t want Kamala dead - yet. He hints that he has bigger plans for her, but for now he’ll settle on using her to study his inventions as she fights them and he perfects them.

Before she can tangle with his latest threats, she’s rescued by Wolverine. He’s trying to find his friend’s brother who was kidnapped by The Inventor. Kamala knows about the hideout the other kids who worked for him used, so she offers to lead him there. But when Wolverine is injured, that’s put on hold and Kamala has to take on the “Dungeon Boss: Most Ginormous Alligator Ever.”

I’m totally here for Sheikh Abdullah becoming a mentor and I loved the cameo by Wolverine, but it was so hard for me to focus on this story when no one looked as they should. I mean, just look at Wolverine. Look at him!

Pros

+ Kamala fangirling over Wolverine

+ Wolverine

+ Sheikh Abdullah isn’t that bad

Cons

- The Inventor’s bird clone isn’t frightening and seems a bit silly

- Not feeling the new art. Kamala doesn’t look like Kamala at all