snap judgments

One thing I would be remiss in mentioning (since a review of #2 is due up in a couple hours) is the rather well-recieved Ms. Marvel #1. Now, let me start by saying: YES! ROCK ON! Go Marvel for FINALLY stepping up and putting a super powered heroine in her very own ongoing book! Not that this is a new thing, but still, it’s a beautiful thing. For a company that during the 80’s had a rough looking black woman in charge of a small underground army and one of the most power groups of teens, err, twenty-somethings, this is a step back into the right direction. Heck, if you think about it Shanna the She-Devil was a pretty rough and tumble book outside of the cheesecake.

And Carol Danvers is AWESOME! Seriously, go over to Sufferingsappho.com, and see their salute. Did you know she’s was romantically linked to Wolverine… and she’s STILL ALIVE? Not to mention the Head of Security for NASA, Editor in Chief of a premiere women’s magazine, and freakin’ Chief of Tactical Operations and Superhuman Liaison for the Department of Homeland Security pre-9/11 folks. Wow. Sure, she’s had some horrifying things happen to her, but she’s candid about them and still stronger for them (or so I like to tell myself). She’s a recovering alcoholic, former military pilot, she can check ‘rape’ off her list and she had cosmic powers (possibly cosmic awareness too, but that might have been an allusion to ‘women’s intuition’ apparently) and now, after years of inactivity, she’s being brought back forward into the spotlight. A ‘Woman of Wonder’ for Marvel, so to speak, someone to balance out the lack of using Jessica Drew for anything particularly meaningful or encouraging in New Avengers (let’s face it folks, she’s there for big pin-up shots and to be a total tool for both Hydra and SHIELD, though a personality’s in there somewhere, I’m sure of it), a team Ms. Marvel had the balls to TURN DOWN, even with Captain FRIKKIN’ America giving her the offer personally, saying that she needed to get out there and do this on her own. That’s courage. That’s someone I want to read about. No teams, no setbacks, just her, some incredible gams and a will that is set on justice.

Yeah!

… oh wait. Let’s see, #1 has her fighting Stilt-Man (oh yeah, running gag of the MU giving her some credibility there), engages in a moment of ‘girl talk’ at a cafe in which not only does she put her hair in a scrunchie, but talks about eating ice cream after saving the world. All they had to do was put in a comment about a guy’s butt and you would have your typical ‘how guys think girls talk’ trifecta. Turns out she’s insecure about getting out there again, and goes to hire a PUBLISIST to help her with her image. Not ‘Well, I’m not sure how people will remember me, maybe I should go out and do some heroic deeds to put me in the public eye’, no. A Publicist. These people also apparently handle the FF (which, I will admit, makes sense because they are practically a business team and have marketing and whatnot) and the ‘Astonishing’ X-Men (in a world that ‘hates and fears them’, I guess they need spin). Out on patrol, she gets wind of something strange happening and gets nervous enough to actually make a cell phone call in the air to Captain America (you know, the guy in New Avengers she told she could do it on her own?) for advice. He’s too busy busting Hydra heads to really help (and she drops the cell phone from flight), so the poor little girl’s on her own. Brood show up. She’ll probably punch them.

*sigh*

While I understand the idea of humanizing characters to make them more empathetic … but this has so much potential for good. This could be a different book, a better book, a book I want to put on my pull because the character is engaging and strong, not just because she’s a chick and I like promoting super heroes that are female (not ‘female super heroes’, thanks turning me on to the distinction, kalinara). Greg Rucka got it on his Wonder Woman run, making the character not only a philosophical premise, but making the world around her rich and entertaining. Sitting at a cafe and chatting with Jessica Drew on ‘Oh, I don’t know what I’m going to be’, not as much.

And as much s we may snicker at the use of ‘Ms.’, let’s take a look at what that might mean. Ms. shows that she is not married, but not a younger woman, someone who is old enough to adopt her own title, but doesn’t attribute it to marriage. Then again, I could just be over thinking things here, but does that at least sound like a good idea?

We’ll see what the next issues hold. Maybe some self-assured strength, maybe binging on bon-bons.