Category Archives: Marvel
The 6 Coolest Middle Eastern Superheroes
With the announcement yesterday that Marvel is going to introduce a new Pakistani Ms. Marvel, I started thinking about all of the other Middle Eastern superheroes I’ve seen introduced since 9/11. In an effort to combat the obvious prejudices in this country, both Marvel and DC have taken it upon themselves to diversify their superhero line-ups with characters of Middle Eastern descent. And as great as that is, most of these characters rarely stick around.
The market is never very kind to new characters in general.
Especially if they have weird hands
Still, we can’t forget about them if I keep blabbing about them. So in my own effort to celebrate diversity, I’ve decided to take a look at all Middle Eastern superheroes to pick out the coolest ones. Some you may recognize, some you may have forgotten about and some you may have never known existed. But trust me, they are all cool.
Ms. Marvel to Return as a Teenage Pakistani Muslim Girl
Marvel Comics announced a new Ms. Marvel today: the teenage shape-shifter Kamala Khan. She will star in her own series starting up next year, exploring the life of a teenage Muslim superhero living in New Jersey. I would like to say we live in a world where this sort of announcement would be beloved by all, but we don’t, but to hell with those people. This is awesome news.
She’s also got a good fashion sense
As detailed in an article today in the New York Times, Kamala Khan is a teenage girl growing up in New Jersey who is not only both Muslim and Pakistani, but is also a huge fan of the superheroine Captain Marvel. When Kamala discovers her own super-powers – which include being able to change her shape – Kamala decides to become a hero, and she decides to use Captain Marvel’s old superhero name, Ms. Marvel.
The comic will be written by G. Willow Wilson, herself a convert to Islam, with art by Adrian Alphona. I’m not familiar with either of their work, other than Alphona’s brief run on Runaways. Either way, I’m definitely picking up this series.
“This is not evangelism,” Ms. Wilson said. “It was really important for me to portray Kamala as someone who is struggling with her faith.” The series, Ms. Wilson said, would deal with how familial and religious edicts mesh with super-heroics, which sometimes require rules to be broken.
Sounds good to me! I fully support and look forward to any and all attempts to make a more diverse superhero lineup. Though, of course, it’s not just going to be about growing up as a Muslim-American. Wilson told the Times that she wants to focus on the general experience of growing up a teenager. This one just happens to be Muslim and have super-powers.
Though I’m not sure what’s up with the porcupine with Hulk Hands
Full X-Factor Cast Announced – And I Don’t Care for Any of Them
When Marvel and Peter David announced the new X-Factor series last month, they revealed three members right off the bat: Quicksilver, Polaris and Gambit. The remaining three members were kept a mystery, because that’s how comic books work sometimes. Well now it seems the new Previews catalog has revealed the full lineup, and scans have hit the web courtesy of the CBR forums.
This isn’t it, this is what we’ve already seen
I’ll post the scan after the jump in case you don’t want to be spoiled. Suffice to say, I don’t particularly care for anyone on the new team. It really does seem like PAD threw darts at a wall to pick this cast. Kind of like how Uncanny X-Force ended up with Psylocke, Storm, Spiral and Puck.
Click the jump to see the full roster!
Review: Ultimate Comics: All-New Spider-Man #28
I apologize for the lateness of this review. These are busy days and I am nothing if not a horrible procrastinator. I picked a bad issue to be late on though because this is the last issue of Ultimate Spider-Man! They say that very thing in the letters page. As we all know by now, Cataclysm begins in a month or so, possibly bringing about the end of the Ultimate Universe. We don’t yet know what’s to come of our hero, Miles Morales, but it’s not looking good. I’ve said before that I don’t want to see him brought over to the normal Marvel Universe, but obviously the decision is out of my hands. All I can do is enjoy the final issue of Ultimate Spider-Man for what it is: a fun superhero romp.
Ultimate Spider-Man #28
The last issue of Ultimate Spider-Man sees an end to the threat of Roxxon in playful fashion. It also reaffirms Miles as Spider-Man – while answering a few questions about his origin – just in time to close the book.
Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it until the end of time: Miles Morales worked, at least creatively. It was a bold move for Marvel to kill off Ultimate Peter Parker and replace him with a brand new character, but writer Brian Michael Bendis made the absolute most of it. Miles lives up to the ideals and character we expect from Spider-Man, but he’s a different sort of man than Peter Parker. He’s quieter, for one. And sometimes it feels like he has a lot more responsibility resting on his shoulders. But he’s as entertaining as Spider-Man has ever been. I would happily read about Miles from now until that very end of time. I want to read about him growing up. I want to read about Miles as an adult Spider-Man. I want him to have the life Ultimate Peter Parker never did.
But the world is unfair and Ultimate Spider-Man as we know it is probably over. This is why we can’t have nice things.
This final issue is a good one. Spider-Man and his amazing friends team up to take down Roxxon, and they make fine work of it. The story isn’t written like an ending. By all accounts, it seems like Bendis is more than ready to keep going. The villains at Roxxon don’t put up much of a challenge at all for our little team, which isn’t too bad. Climactic fights are fun, but I’m a man who likes words and dialogue more than punches, and this issue is good on those. This victory means more to the heroes than the villains. And, of course, it’s all drawn spectacularly by Dave Marquez. The man is a dream artist. I would read Bendis and Marquez on Miles Morales well into the afterlife.
But I can’t, because this may very well be it. Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!
Someone at Agents of SHIELD is Reading My Blog; I Hope it’s Joss!
Marvel has released the synopsis the Nov. 19th episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., called The Well. I don’t normally post this sort of thing, but this one is special because I had the idea first!
Here’s the synopsis:
“The Well” – In the aftermath of the events chronicled in the feature film Marvel’s “Thor: The Dark World,” Coulson and the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. pick up the pieces–one of which threatens to destroy a member of the team, on Tuesday, November 19 (8:00-9:01 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.
So the team from Agents is going to deal with the aftermath of Thor: The Dark World? More synergy between the show and the movies? That’s exactly what I suggested in my list of 6 things I want to see from the show! So clearly somebody saw my list a few weeks ago and immediately spun it into a script, then filmed it and produced it for television in these short, few weeks. The wonders of television, amiright?
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