Change Has Finally Come for The Magnificent Ms. Marvel
Dread it. Run from it. Creative changes still arrive. The day we all feared has come: G. Willow Wilson will be leaving Ms. Marvel. She’s written the character she helped create for five years now, at around 60 issues, but word came down today that she’s leaving. I have long feared this day.
Wilson’s run will end soon, and then the new year will kick off with The Magnificent Ms. Marvel #1, written by Saladin Ahmed, with art from Minkyu Jung. More on them in a minute.
I am saddened to see Wilson leaving the title because Ms. Marvel is a fantastic comic. Kamala Khan is arguably the greatest new comic book character of the 21st century, in large part to Wilson’s pen — with help from editor Sana Amanat, and the various awesome artists. Together, they created a freshly original superhero character who is both instantly charming and deeply complex. Kamala’s journey from fangirl to legit hero has been wonderful to read over the past five years.
Personally, I’ve always been a little disappointed at how quickly Marvel spread the Ms. Marvel love. Kamala succeeded in large part because of her grounded humanity. For me personally, Wilson and Amanat welcomed me into the world of Muslim households and places of worship, giving me greater insight into a culture I have never been exposed to. But then Marvel had to go and make her an Avenger almost immediately, and now she’s joined and left and re-joined so many major superhero teams that the very act has no meaning.
Thankfully, Wilson kept the main series grounded. I really am going to miss her work on this comic.
Meanwhile, Wilson wrote an open letter today at Marvel.com. Fun read!
I don’t know what to expect from Ahmed. Word of mouth around the internet on him is great. But I didn’t care for his Exiles comic at all, and I still haven’t read his Black Bolt series (though I have the first tpb sitting on my “to read” pile). I didn’t much care at the time for the short story he wrote in Ms. Marvel #31, but I suppose it was fine. I guess we’ll have to wait and see!
And then we can all get hyped for the Ms. Marvel movie! It’s gotta happen eventually, right?!
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Posted on December 14, 2018, in Comics, Marvel and tagged G. Willow Wilson, Kamala Khan, Ms. Marvel, The Magnificent Ms. Marvel. Bookmark the permalink. 3 Comments.
Henchman-4-Hire 
Ahmed’s a great writer. He’ll do a great job. But I am really sad to see Wilson leave. I was hoping she’d stick around way longer.
And at least Ahmed’s pairing with an artist whose style I like. He’s got Javier Garron on Spider-Miles, and I hate his art style too much for me to be able to read that comic.
I’m not familiar with Jung off the top of my head, so I’ve looked him up. He did a Batgirl issue I reviewed once upon a time, and I flipped back through it and I really like that art. So now I’m even more excited!
I’ve never read anything he’s done, but based on Google, it seems like a good style.