Ms. Marvel #17 Review: Kamala Khan Triumphs Over Online Hatred

Kamala Khan has figured out how to defeat the Doc.X virus. Yet can she manage to spread goodwill online for even a moment?

Ms. Marvel #17

Writer: G. Willow Wilson

Artist: Takeshi Miyazawa

Colorist: Ian Herring

More from Comics

• X-Men: 6 reasons why Marvel’s mutants are the best superhero team
• Harley Quinn renewed for a fifth season on Max (and it’s well-deserved)
• Marvel Comics announces seven important X-Men comic books
• The X-Men were betrayed by Captain America in Uncanny Avengers
• Spider-Man: Miles and Peter team-up for their first ongoing series

The internet can often be a dark and scary place. Its ability to bring people together can also encourage them to drive each other apart. Bigotry, hatred, or simple pettiness can travel around the world anonymously. Kamala Khan has a new enemy who has become a manifestation of these dark elements. Doc.X has learned about how to act based on online behavior, especially in gaming. Ms. Marvel can’t defeat this enemy with an enlarged fist. Or can she? Seems like a bit of both!

Image by Marvel Comics

Yet it isn’t Kamala Khan who bares the brunt of the last issue, it’s her friend Zoe. Doc.X sought to blackmail her into helping him spread into SHIELD. Kamala refused, but managed to warn Zoe in advance that her forbidden love for her pal Nakia would be spread online as a result. Therefore, it is Zoe, not Ms. Marvel, who has to waltz into high school feeling more vulnerable and exposed than ever. Not only is her orientation public knowledge, so is her unrequited love for Nakia.

Image by Marvel Comics

Seems Like a Group Hug Can Fix Everything?

While Zoe certainly faces a locker hall gauntlet of haters and detractors, she soon finds her friends. Michaela Miller, Nakia, and even the cynical Gabe Hillman all come together in a group hug. Inspired that her quest against Doc.X isn’t hopeless, Ms. Marvel redoubles her resolve to rewrite it. This means going back to the source of its creation—the ” World of Battlecraft”  online game. To this end, Kamala Khan arranges a real life meeting with her online “guild” mates at the Circle Q.

Image by Marvel Comics

We already met one of them back in issue fourteen, but now we get to meet the entire trio. Considering online circles, it’s curious what was more surprising to them—that “Slothbaby” turned out to be a girl, or turned out to be Ms. Marvel? Regardless, they take the news in stride and immediately agree to help Ms. Marvel out by doing the most difficult thing to do online. They all agree to play a session, yet spread goodwill and compassion instead of a quest for loot.

Image by Marvel Comics

Their plan almost works. Because Doc.X reboots itself every twelve hours, their online generosity starts to pay off. Yet Ms. Marvel still has to purge isolated units of the virus, and she finds herself running into a populated area. Still able to “hack” into people’s minds, Doc.X continues its fight against Kamala Khan. It even somehow manages to assume giant size. It looks like Ms. Marvel will have to fight against it physically after all. The end result is a mixture of heart and feel good action.

Image by Marvel Comics

Furthermore, Who Hasn’t Wanted to Punch a Computer Virus?

G. Willow Wilson once again writes a script which seeks to educate as well as entertain. She seems fully aware of many of her younger readers, as well as attempts to connect to them with shared experiences. Everyone has felt like an outcast in high school, but for many people, that feeling is more than angst or paranoia. It’s the result of genuine mistreatment over who they are. We live much of our lives online, whether gaming, blogging, tweeting, or writing review articles.

Image by Marvel Comics

The group hug moment of love over hate with Zoe may have been cheesy, but was effective. Considering how much toxicity exists in the world, it is good to see a scene of genuine togetherness among characters. This is especially needed within Marvel Comics, which can often lose itself in its zeal for the latest annual crossover. Their latest, Secret Empire, blurs the line between comic book fascists and the very real life fascists who have come out of the woodwork.

Image by Marvel Comics

Yet much like her election issue, Wilson’s zeal to strike a chord with a moral can sometimes be too blunt. The plea for compassion to become common both online and off is a noble one, but working it as a plot mechanic risks being corny. Furthermore, that plan doesn’t even work. Without any real explanation, Doc.X assumes a form that can be punched out. It makes for a satisfying visual, but, in terms of the established plot, it comes out of left field. A line about solid holograms would’ve been good.

Image by Marvel Comics

In Light of Secret Empire, Today’s Issue Is Especially Relevant!

Takeshi Miyazawa and Ian Herring once again produce a visually amazing issue. The scene at the school with Zoe and her friends is a masterwork of facial and physical emotion. It’s on display during the meeting between Ms. Marvel and her gamer friends at the Circle Q too. The bits set in “World of Battlecraft” allow the pair to go all out in a fantasy setting with elves, orcs, and other bizarre landscapes. It almost reminds me of an issue of Saga in that regard, which is no bad thing.

Image by Marvel Comics

I wish more of Marvel’s comics were as hopeful and inspiring as this one. Some, like Amazing Spider-Man, bend over backwards to lambaste fans embittered by his demonic annulment in 2007. Others, like Secret Empire, profess that the Nazi like HYDRA were destined to win World War II and that Captain America has been retroactively recreated as their ultimate sleeper agent. In a world with plenty of hate and bitterness, too many of Marvel’s comics punch down at readers.

Image by Marvel Comics

Next: See how Zoe was set up from #16!

In conclusion, while Wilson’s messages may sometimes be heavy handed, they result in amazing issues. Considering how much of the comic book industry, especially Marvel Comics stories, can be deliberately mean-spirited or controversial, a book like Ms. Marvel, which strives for a positive message, is appreciated even more. Rather than lecturing or talking down to readers, Wilson uses Kamala Khan to connect in a genuine, honest, and often exciting way. More series like this, please!