Ms. Marvel #10

Released: December 21, 2006

Publisher: Marvel

Writer: Brian Reed

Pencils: Mike Wieringo

Inker: Wade Von Grawbadger

Colors: Chris Sotomayor

Letters: Dave Sharpe

Cover: Mike Wieringo

 

Out of nowhere comes Mike Wieringo, a fabulous artist, but hardly the first one I would have expected to see on these pages. His work is a cartoony style, very clean and clear, but naturally lends itself to a more light-hearted tone, especially since it’s so bright and vibrant. That plus the inclusion of Rogue and the world of the X-Men and something just feels off.

 

The tone of the book had been one of action-adventure with an ‘identity finding’ sub-plot. Having Carol go to Beast for scientific advice instead of one of the many Avengers’ scientists makes the comic itself in need of finding its identity. We’ve been dealing haphazardly with old villains and plots for two arcs now the clashing genres are making it difficult to pin down exactly how this book reads. First we had science fiction (Brood, space battles), then we had fantasy/supernatural (The Traveler), and now we have…what?…alternate reality Carol Danvers and the X-Men?

 

However confusing the surface plots are, the sub-plot of ‘identity finding’ has stayed throughout. Reed does do a commendable job of using the alternate reality ‘Warbird’ (an old Danvers’ superhero name) as a mirror to view our own floundering Carol Danvers, but we get achingly little in the way of progress towards actually giving her a proper identity. After almost a year of searching for one, we better get an answer fairly soon or the book will continue to flounder itself. Something needs to ground the comic for longevity because the character is ill-defined (on purpose), the genre is changing arc-to-arc, and the side-cast is too infrequently seen to be a draw for the reader, not to mention the now fluctuating art styles.

 

Reed was correct in staking out a need for a firm identity in Ms. Marvel, but he really needs to give the reader something to hold onto. The job of being a Registration enforcer and mentor to Araña may just be what he’s looking for, a fortunate happenstance to fall into his lap. It gives her a role to play (beyond the broad and meaningless ‘superhero’ title) and it can ground the book even while allowing her character to still ‘find herself’. The only problem may come when the new ‘Mighty Avengers’ is started and she’s forced to fit into that box we’ve just spent ten issues exploding.

 

The actual plot between her and Rogue is odd and not very intriguing for me, for one, I’m too young to have read the original comic where Rogue permanently absorbed powers from Carol, so I really don’t have the emotional foreknowledge to care. Also, Reed isn’t truly trying to explore the idea of the ‘reformed villain’ since Rogue has been an acknowledged good guy for a couple decades now, so that topic is danced around but ultimately not explored. Finally, the story seriously brings into question Carol’s sanity, hero-status, and/or temper when she attacks Rogue. She says something about Rogue ‘hitting’ the alternate ‘Warbird’, but there isn’t anything close to Rogue ‘hitting’ the alternate ‘Warbird’ in the pages. In fact, our Carol saves Rogue from the evil, alternate ‘Warbird’ then attacks her, on the same page!

 

The potential for this book’s long-term success is slipping away, and so is my interest. Normally I’d say ‘something needs to change’, but it’s quite the opposite, something needs to be left the same from arc to arc for this book to get its feet under it.

 

Rating - 5