Great
volume. As the title suggests, there’s
some heavy stuff going on here, and Kamala rises to the challenge like a pro,
even as she worries that she can’t be everything her city needs. However, just when things are looking hopeless,
we take a detour to a two-issue crossover appearance our hero made in Amazing Spider-Man, offering up Kamala
at her excitable superhero-fangirl best enthusiastically teaming up with Spidey
(some spoilers.)
The way I
understand it, something major was going down at the time of this publication
in other Marvel titles that I don’t read, and it’s the fallout from this
apocalypse-level event that Kamala gets caught up in. There’s something mysterious and catastrophic
happening in Manhattan, and but it’s rippling into the nearby Jersey City, which
gets ignored by the authorities amid the ongoing crisis. Kamala takes it upon herself to get people to
safety and look out for them in whatever way she can, but she’s emotionally
suckerpunched by a cruel opponent looking to use the present chaos to his
advantage. Fortunately, just when she
needs it most, she finds a bit of help from the person who inspired her name.
Yep – Ms.
Marvel meets Captain Marvel! It’s my
favorite “Kamala fights alongside one of her heroes” story so far, striking an
excellent balance between Kamala being overwhelmed/disheartened by the enormous
task at hand and awestruck at meeting Captain Marvel. For her part, Carol is encouraging and
understanding, but she’s not there for handholding – she’s there to get the job
done. Along the way, she helps Kamala
find the faith she needs to keep fighting even when she knows there might not
be a win this time.
The story
also does a nice job in rounding out Kamala’s family more, especially her
mother and her brother Aamir. I like how
the comic is taking the parts of Kamala’s life that she initially seemed to
view as thorns in her side and showing why she actually couldn’t do without
them. Kamala’s parents and brother can
feel too stereotypish at times in the earlier volumes, but here, they feel a
lot more real. I really enjoy the scene
where Aamir stands up for who he is and why it’s so important to him.
And then,
just for fun… Spider-Man! Just an
amusing romp with Kamala and Peter chasing after some baddies who’ve stolen a
Terrigenesis cocoon for nefarious purposes.
Kamala is awesome pestering Peter with annoying fangirl questions and
geeking out over helping him execute some of his “classic moves.” After the heaviness of the main plot, the
shift here is kind of jarring but does make for a nice breather.
Warnings
Comic
book violence and thematic elements.
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