Stretchy, Not Funny
Ok, this series has over-reached its boundaries and now really stretching its legs, hands, arms, neck, fingers, and whatever appendages it can possibly think of. Or maybe it hasn't stretched creatively enough. Through the 10 issues, audiences have cheered, applauded, laughed and fallen in love with Kamala's character. Well, at least anyone who aren't afraid to recount their high school days probably would. Me, on the other hand, sees this as another decent, albeit very successful Marvel fare. It's not Old Man Logan, it's not Hawkeye, it's pedestrian Marvel. And let me clarity, pedestrian Marvel is really good at making these characters tick, no matter how annoying and how blistering their constant teenage vernacular gets, I will always be a dedicated reader because I for the most part enjoy G.Willow Wilson's work, and I like comic books in general.
But I can't help but wonder, has she stretched her boundaries where her imagination has reached its imaginary peak? The Wolverine tie-in issue was a tear drop of beauty, comic hall of fame stuff. And now, unfortunately, we are back at it again for the last 3 issues. Ms.Marvel fighting this bird-man called the Inventor who has convinced some dumb-ass kids to be human batteries. Now let me say that again. She fights a bird-man who enslaves kids as human batteries, goes into his little mechanical nest, oowing and ooh-ing her way across multiple weaponry and finding a whole army of batteried-up kids. There was very little execution in this story, things are simple, ideas are stagnant, art is comically fitting, characters are wonderfully wobbly and charming, but where is this Superhero thing leading to? So far we haven't seen much of Kamala developing her powers in a myriad of ways other than her stretching and user her size to squash villains. I guess it's a noble concept that's enough to get people to come to these nerdy comic sites and inform everyone how wonderfully unique this all is.
And about that story, if this was a Spider-Man story, or an X-men story, or god forbid Superman story. Would people have had the same reaction? And yes, they do go up against these tech geeks from time to time ranging from Robot Master to Toyman. It's right in the realm of a Spider-Man or Superman story. So technically I could use this same spiel for every comic of this sort, and I'm actually doing it here. Maybe I just don't quite understand the climb from lowly Ms.Marvel to comic Mount Everest. I do notice the charm, the engaging (*ahem annoying) Kamala family and friends, but the story itself is losing its grip on me. And if this continues the next several issues, I would be merely reading this for pure curiosity instead of pure enjoyment. I know Marvel loves these teenage characters because that is one of their staples, but don't come at me if there are more 1 or 2 star reviews down the line.