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Ms. Marvel #26 Posted 29 May 2008Writer: Brian Reed
Reviewed by Sara Michelle Kowalczyk |
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In the previous issue of Ms. Marvel, Carol Danvers has a run-in with a Super-Skrull invader. After the skirmish, she finds her boyfriend and possible Kree, William, murdered in his apartment. As if things weren’t bad enough, a Skrull agent is secretly posing as Carol! Iron Man Tony Stark orders Ms. Marvel’s own strike force to bring her and the impostor into custody.
“Adriana Melo provides a much needed woman’s point of view with her attention to femininity rather than overexposure.” |
During Carol’s interrogation, Agent Sum morphs into the Super-Skrull she squared off against. Carol mobilizes her team: the real Agent Sum, Machine Man, and Sleepwalker, and together they defeat the Super-Skrull with some serious blast power. Ms. Marvel and her squad turn their sights on Carol’s double. The Skrull reveals William is not dead; she pretended to be William to fool Carol. The Skrull exposes the Empire’s strategy of holding William prisoner. If Carol spares her life, the Skrull operative promises to surrender information. I really liked the artwork on this panel. When Carol speaks to the Skrull, it assumes the form of William. However, Carol’s eye reflects the Skrull’s true appearance (a green, pointy-eared extra-terrestrial).
When I found out Adriana Melo was going to be the new series artist for Ms. Marvel, I had to pick it up. I loved Adriana’s depiction of Sara Pezzini in the Witchblade comics, so I figured I’d give Ms. Marvela shot. Adriana provides a much needed woman’s point of view. She pencils her characters in gorgeous trends that are flattering. Her attention to femininity rather than overexposure is yet another reason why I’m a fan. I totally dug Adriana’s Super-Skrull design. The Super-Skrull looks like a mixture of several X-Men. It possesses Cyclops’ optic blasts, Wolverine’s claws, Nightcrawler’s tail, and Colossus’ steel body armor. I was glad to see Mariah Benes (Witchblade) on inks; Adriana and Mariah consistently turn out beautiful pages.
I’ve gotta give props to Brian Reed (Spider-Woman, Captain Marvel). His writing infuses Carol with power and determination. From what I gather, Carol is a born leader. She heads the Mighty Avengers as well as her own covert-ops division. As far as a jumping on point for this series, I’d get on board with the previous issue, Ms. Marvel #25. However, this issue would probably be okay to start with, especially if you have a good working knowledge of the Secret Invasion.
As huge as the Secret Invasion is, I’m kinda new to the Marvel events. Ms. Marvel is a tie-in to the epic story arc. My knowledge of the Secret Invasion is fairly limited. Skrull spies are infiltrating Earth by stealing superhero/heroine identities, replacing heroes altogether in some cases. The question on everyone’s mind is, “Who do you trust?”