The Khan family space adventure begins in Magnificent Ms. Marvel No. 3
By Alex Widen
Will This Be Ms. Marvel’s “Planet Kamala?”
Artist Minkyu Jung, inker Juan Vlasco and colorist Ian Herring do a terrific job with this issue’s visuals. Designing both aliens and an alien world must be a challenge, specifically since it has been done many times before. While other alien races have been designed with Asian influences, Saffa seems more inspired to be brighter and less stereotypical than some previous attempts. A Middle Eastern inspiration seems obvious, and this is hardly a bad thing. Readers have seen too many generically Caucasian aliens in fiction.
Image by Marvel Comics
Next. It's Invasion of the Parent Snatchers in No. 2!. dark
On the whole, this issue performs quite a balancing act. It seeks to cement Ahmed’s run as one which won’t merely play in Wilson’s sandbox, but is willing to venture beyond it. On the other hand, relying too firmly on predictable tropes will undermine that goal. Taking Kamala outside of Jersey City sometimes is a fine idea, but not to act out a generic space adventure. Hopefully the saga of Saffa turns out to have more layers and imagination that it appears to. After all, “magnificent” is a big adjective to have to live up to on a monthly basis!