Ms. Marvel #12 Review: Soul Searching And The Red Dagger

Kamala Khan has hung up her Ms. Marvel costume to go soul searching. This leads her to her homeland of Pakistan. What she finds is the Red Dagger, and perhaps her destiny!

Writers: G. Willow Wilson (main story); Margaret B. Stohl (backup)

Artists: Mirka Andolfo (main story); Ray-Anthony Height (backup)

Colorists: Ian Herring (main story); Don Sanchez-Almara (backup)

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Red is a theme for this twelfth issue of Ms. Marvel (which Marvel promotes as a “number one” of a new arc). Kamala’s costume is mostly red, and in this issue she meets a masked vigilante named Red Dagger. But the price of the issue is also up a buck due to a backup strip introducing Red Widow, a Black Widow spin off. It is random and ultimately unneeded, but it helps illustrate the excellence of Ms. Marvel and the heroine G. Willow Wilson has breathed life into.

Image by Marvel Comics

To say things have been rough on Kamala Khan is an understatement. She’s become the local hero of Jersey City, but that added fame was nearly exploited by Dr. Faustus to take it over. Civil War II caused her to get bogged down in Captain Marvel’s “predictive crime fighting,” which has cost her best friend Bruno his arm, and almost his life. Not only has she left the Avengers, she’s left America to do some soul searching in Pakistan, the land of her birth.

Image by Marvel Comics

Can You Go Home to a Place You’ve Never Been?

Not even her super powers can keep Kamala from being profiled from airport “security theater.” Even worse, she nearly runs into Bruno as he heads off for his last ditch scholarship in Wakanda. Bruno’s not just heading to Black Panther’s nation as a last shot at a future, but to get away from Kamala’s violent lifestyle. Wanting to flee from a land of painful emotions and tragedy is something Kamala can relate to all too well. She hopes to pick up the pieces in Karachi, Pakistan.

Image by Marvel Comics

As usual with Kamala, what she expects is hardly what she finds. Her maternal grandmother (or “Naani” in Urdu) has rallied nearly three dozen assorted family members around her. Kamala even finds herself bunking in the same room that her mother once did. Yet she feels like as much of an outsider here as she did in Jersey City. She’s too much of an American here in Karachi to fit in seamlessly, much as she’s too Muslim to blend in in Jersey. Naani, thankfully, is full of good advice.

Image by Marvel Comics

Another thing that Karachi is full of is explosions. It seems that water is quite a commodity there, and bandits have been blowing up public hydrants to force locals to buy water from them. Kamala learns more about this from Kareem. He’s the son of Kamala’s aunt’s friend (a “friend-in-law”), and had been staying at the room that Kamala’s now in. He’s energetic and doesn’t quite fit in either. He takes Kamala on sight seeing tours of the area and the pair get along famously.

Image by Marvel Comics

A Great New Hero with an Obvious Weapon! Meet the Red Dagger!

Ultimately, Kamala realizes that her mixed up emotions are a feeling within herself, not her surroundings. Every area has its own problems, and her responsibility is still the same. So, she throws together a low rent costume and decides it’s time for Ms. Marvel to become an international heroine. Her first battle with the water bandits causes her to run afoul of the area’s local vigilante, the Red Dagger! He certainly looks familiar! Is he Kareem? Is water wet?

Image by Marvel Comics

Comic books are full of amazing coincidences. It is strange that Kamala would find herself bunking with another Muslim superhero during the one month she decides to travel abroad. It would also be strange for Spider-Man to share a college dorm with Captain Britain, but that totally happened in 1978’s Marvel Team-Up #65. Speaking of Spider-Man, he would be able to relate to Kamala needing some time away from the costume to figure out where she stood after a personal crisis.

Image by Marvel Comics

Ultimately this story is about Kamala learning that she can’t flee from her problems. Simply changing her scenery won’t immediately lead to a resolution. In fact, it often leads to a whole new set of problems! She has a lot of fun interaction with Kareem, and his (presumed) identity as the Red Dagger is thrilling. I’m sure most of the series’ fans are hoping to see a resolution with Bruno, which seems more organic. Despite the nations between them, I’d love to see more Red Dagger.

A Backup Strip Isn’t a Bonus If You Pay For It!

The backup strip introducing Red Widow is presumably the reason why this issue is higher priced. It’s a backup strip meant to promote the latest Black Widow prose novel by Margaret B. Stohl. Expanding their characters into the traditional book market is a wise move, even if it means catering more to women. Most book buyers are women (which is why romance novels make up the bulk of the fiction market). The ten-page comic offers a crash course about Red Widow.

Image by Marvel Comics

Ava Orlova offers a good juxtaposition with Kamala Khan. Her origins involve her being connected to Black Widow via retroactive continuity. Having been trained in the same “Red Room” that Natasha was, Ava immediately is of similar skill level. Not only is she also a SHIELD agent, but a tragic accident also gave Ava genuine super powers that Natasha lacks. Stohl means well, but Red Widow is a perfect example of why Kamala Khan rises above her peers in the young hero category.

Ms. Marvel vs. The World!

So many new teenage Marvel characters seem to spring forth like Athena, perfectly formed from the body of a preexisting character. Upon introduction they’re already on a par with their adult peers and dive head-first into that world. It’s done mostly because there’s no guarantee any writer will have the time to develop them before sales dictate they move on. Even Mark Waid is guilty of this, as his new Wasp (Nadia Pym) is instantly on par with the original. This can feel like a cop-out.

Image by Marvel Comics

In contrast, G. Willow Wilson has slowly and steadily developed Kamala over nearly three years. She’s connected to Captain Marvel due to adoration, not a complicated backstory. Readers have watched her build her identity, master her powers, and rely on her friends as back up. Every victory has been earned, and many of them still required some assistance or a dash of opportunity. This has allowed Kamala and her exploits to feel more genuine and have more impact as a result.

“Guest Artist” is How We Say Fill-In Artist Now!

Mirka Andolfo fills in for both of Ms. Marvel’s regular artists and does a fantastic job. Her style fits in well with the world created by Adrian Alfona and Takeshi Miyazawa. Yet it also has a flair and style all her own. Kamala’s thrown together suit looks authentic, and Red Dagger’s design is simple yet effective. I like the touches such as Kamala not being able to stretch all of her limbs, since these clothes don’t stretch with her. Herring’s color palette is also amazing for Karachi.

Image by Marvel Comics

Next: See what Kamala is running from back in #11

Ms. Marvel is hardly the only teenage heroine Marvel Comics is throwing at readers, but she’s quickly become one of the best. Both DC Comics and Marvel themselves have sought to imitate and replicate her success. Yet what so many of her peers lack is the steady patience, vision, and attention to detail that G. Willow Wilson has. Genuine emotions, a full and expanding supporting cast, and creative adventures are all part of why Ms. Marvel is the cream of the superhero crop.