There is nothing wrong in trying to reflect the growing diversity in comics, but to totally change the lineage and origins of a character just to make it politically palatable is insulting to its original followers.
Avid fans of Marvel Comics' Ms. Marvel know that she is no other than former Air Force personnel turned CIA Carol Danvers. In the course of her battle with Colonel Yon-Rogg, Carol and the Kree warrior Mar-vell were caught in the explosion of a Kree Psyche-Magneton device. The energy bombardment somehow caused Carol’s genetic structure to be melded with Mar-vell's.
While Mar-vell was apparently unaltered by the event, Carol was now a perfect hybrid of Kree and human genes. In addition, she possessed all of Mar-vell's Kree knowledge and training. Through this transformation, Ms. Marvel was born.
However, in the latest series, Marvel chose to ignore all these by having Ms. Marvel as a 16-year-old daughter of Pakistani immigrants living in Jersey City named Kamala Khan. According to writer G. Willow Wilson, the series will reflect Khan's vibrant but kinetic world, learning to deal with superpowers, family expectations and adolescence.
I'm not sure what were they thinking in their effort to “explore the Muslim-American diaspora from an authentic perspective”, but why not create a new freakin’ character for that purpose. Is that too hard to do given that there are thousands of superheroes already and there are no rules that say you cannot add another thousand to it.
"I wanted Ms. Marvel to be true-to-life, something real people could relate to, particularly young women. High school was a very vivid time in my life, so I drew heavily on those experiences — impending adulthood, dealing with school, emotionally charged friendships that are such a huge part of being a teenager," said Wilson, a convert to Islam whose previous comics work includes the graphic novel "Cairo" and series "Air" from Vertigo.
So, just because the writer has this urge to revisit memory lane and wants to honor all those geek girls who looked at life from the fringe, he is ready to rewrite the history of Ms. Marvel aka Binary aka Warbird aka Capt. Marvel.
Are we supposed to just forget Carol’s second exposure to the energies of a Kree Psyche-Magnetron which imbued her with some of the properties which formally resided in her Kree uniform (namely flight and the ability to change into costume at will)? How about the time when she joined the Avengers and caught the attention of Marcus, the son of Immortus, who later impregnated her? There was also the epic battle between Ms. Marvel and Rogue after the latter was informed by Destiny that would be involved in an event that would destroy the life of Mystique's foster daughter, Rogue.
In the spirit of "transcending racial divide through mainstream via internationally recognizable figures of comic lore," Marvel Comics want us to ignore all that and redefine our experience with Ms. Marvel.
What is Marvel doing right now to promote the culture of those people who are fans of the original Ms. Marvel? And, what's the point of calling her Ms. Marvel now if there is an entirely different person with different powers, but with the same name?
If Marvel is truly going to make a character that represent and help identify with the Muslim-American culture, why not develop a Burqa-clad migrant heroine that emerges from the American ghetto and pound Islam’s criminal female infidels until they learn their place. She will not be allowed to interfere with male criminals though, because she would be beneath them, and would only be allowed to stand and look at the ground until they leave the scene.
Avid fans of Marvel Comics' Ms. Marvel know that she is no other than former Air Force personnel turned CIA Carol Danvers. In the course of her battle with Colonel Yon-Rogg, Carol and the Kree warrior Mar-vell were caught in the explosion of a Kree Psyche-Magneton device. The energy bombardment somehow caused Carol’s genetic structure to be melded with Mar-vell's.
While Mar-vell was apparently unaltered by the event, Carol was now a perfect hybrid of Kree and human genes. In addition, she possessed all of Mar-vell's Kree knowledge and training. Through this transformation, Ms. Marvel was born.
However, in the latest series, Marvel chose to ignore all these by having Ms. Marvel as a 16-year-old daughter of Pakistani immigrants living in Jersey City named Kamala Khan. According to writer G. Willow Wilson, the series will reflect Khan's vibrant but kinetic world, learning to deal with superpowers, family expectations and adolescence.
I'm not sure what were they thinking in their effort to “explore the Muslim-American diaspora from an authentic perspective”, but why not create a new freakin’ character for that purpose. Is that too hard to do given that there are thousands of superheroes already and there are no rules that say you cannot add another thousand to it.
"I wanted Ms. Marvel to be true-to-life, something real people could relate to, particularly young women. High school was a very vivid time in my life, so I drew heavily on those experiences — impending adulthood, dealing with school, emotionally charged friendships that are such a huge part of being a teenager," said Wilson, a convert to Islam whose previous comics work includes the graphic novel "Cairo" and series "Air" from Vertigo.
So, just because the writer has this urge to revisit memory lane and wants to honor all those geek girls who looked at life from the fringe, he is ready to rewrite the history of Ms. Marvel aka Binary aka Warbird aka Capt. Marvel.
Are we supposed to just forget Carol’s second exposure to the energies of a Kree Psyche-Magnetron which imbued her with some of the properties which formally resided in her Kree uniform (namely flight and the ability to change into costume at will)? How about the time when she joined the Avengers and caught the attention of Marcus, the son of Immortus, who later impregnated her? There was also the epic battle between Ms. Marvel and Rogue after the latter was informed by Destiny that would be involved in an event that would destroy the life of Mystique's foster daughter, Rogue.
In the spirit of "transcending racial divide through mainstream via internationally recognizable figures of comic lore," Marvel Comics want us to ignore all that and redefine our experience with Ms. Marvel.
What is Marvel doing right now to promote the culture of those people who are fans of the original Ms. Marvel? And, what's the point of calling her Ms. Marvel now if there is an entirely different person with different powers, but with the same name?
If Marvel is truly going to make a character that represent and help identify with the Muslim-American culture, why not develop a Burqa-clad migrant heroine that emerges from the American ghetto and pound Islam’s criminal female infidels until they learn their place. She will not be allowed to interfere with male criminals though, because she would be beneath them, and would only be allowed to stand and look at the ground until they leave the scene.
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