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Overview: Ms. Marvel (Some Spoilers)

Posted by Attok12 on 3/25/2008, 10:53 am
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I woke up in the middle of the night and thought about all of this, so here I am. Basically, the original MS. MARVEL series is my most treasured comic collection of all, all 25 issues of them, counting #24 and #25, which were reprinted in MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #10-11. The first issue I ever bought was this one: This was also the first time I ever saw the super-villain Tiger Shark, too. And, of course, Raven Darkholme also appeared in two panels, swearing to deal with Ms. Marvel once she returned to Washington D.C. I bought the remaining issues as they went along, and eventually I bought the back issues, until I had everything. I love this series. Claremont's writing was at its best here, making me wish Marvel would pull him out of the X-universe and give him a chance to write a regular MU hero title, such as a new Marvel Team-Up series or something. The stories Carol was in, and the villains she faced, were fabulous. MODOK and AIM plagued Carol for six issues. The Grotesk gave Carol a hard time over the Cavourite Crystals, my most favorite power object in the MU. She battled Deathbird, a Shi'ar character Claremont created for this particular title, likely intending to write an UNCANNY X-MEN and MS. MARVEL crossover story at some point. She fought the Doomsday Man, Hecate and the Elementals, Steeplejack, Sapper and Golden-Blade (also likely to be a part of his Shi'ar storyline, I'd imagine), Tiger Shark, the Lizard People, the Faceless One, Sabretoothe, Myqtique, the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and the Hellfire Club. Claremont crafted the mystery surrounding Raven Darkholme (not called Mystique at all throughout MM's series), a mystery that started way back in MS. MARVEL #9, when she sent Geoffrey Ballard to steal documents Carol had in her possession, which ended up with Ballard firebombing Carol's apartment. The mystery continued in #14, when Ballard broke into Carol's office at Woman Magazine and failed to steal the documents again. Raven showed up in the aforementioned MM#16, and things then went into full swing in MM#17, when Raven and Ballard broke into the SHIELD Helicarrier to steal the Centurion armor, which Ballard then used to try and murder Ms. Marvel. The Avengers were on hand for the battle, and Centurion gave them all a seriously hard time. Raven was seen reporting to her boss on the Council of the Chosen (later revealed to be Sebastian Shaw, although originally possibly the Shadow King), swearing revenge against Ms. Marvel. And then Raven showed up in #22, disguised as a guest at Carol's party. Two issues later, in #24, Michael Barnett was seen dead in a pool of his own blood inside his office, behind his desk, as Carol called him, trying to talk with him. And in #25, we learned that Raven had beaten Barnett to death with her bare hands -- disguised as Carol Danvers and we learned Raven hated Ms. Marvel because MM was foretold by Destiny to be involved in serious hurting Rogue, so she wanted to prevent it from happening by killing MM first. Raven had other reasons she hated Carol, of course, likely due to their shared past in espionage, and we never learned what were on those mysterious documents. Claremont intended for some big final battle between Ms. Marvel and Mystique, along with a huge three-way fight between Carol, the Hellfire Club (a.k.a. the Council) and the Brotherhood of Evil in the pages of MS. MARVEL #26-28 (which would have also shown that mentioned first encounter between Carol and Rogue and between Rogue and Sebastian Shaw), but unfortunately the title was cancelled. Another plot Claremont started in MM#25 detailed Mastermind's seduction of Carol Danvers, intending for a Dark Ms. Marvel storyline he immediately changed into the Dark Phoenix Saga the next month in UNCANNY (after MS. MARVEL #23, technically the final issue, hit the stands). I liked Carol as Binary, but I was waiting for the day she would return as Ms. Marvel. I knew it would happen, too. And it did, thanks to Kurt Busiek, but then she changed her codename to Warbird. :-/ But finally, MS. MARVEL has her own series again. Not a limited series. Not a Binary series. Not a Warbird series. A MS. MARVEL series. Scripted by Brian Reed. What a long wait. Over 20 years. What a treasure this was to me. And what did he do in his first storyline? He brought back the Cavourite Crystals!!!!!! Damn!!!! I last saw those things in NEW MUTANTS #6 and was waiting for them to return. He introduced Cru, an enigmatic creature whose motivations were kept secret. It took two years, but when Reed finally unveiled who Cru actualyl was -- a female!!! -- he made Cru yet another cool female character in the MU. She seemingly died in #24, but she was blown up once before and survived so.... >:-D And Reed has crafted his own Claremonmtian mysteries, the kinds of ongoing mysteries I once enjoyed in the original series. The first book had the Mystique mystery; this second title has the Sarah Day mystery, along with the mystery of who William Wagner is. The Cru infection was also a long mystery, hit upon here and there, by the way. In any case, Sarah hasn't done anything too malevolent as of yet, other than chase William Wagner away. She was seen looking at a tome of strange scriptures and symbols, but nothing more has yet to come about. At first I thought she might be Hecate, and the book was a spell book or something. And then I thought she might be Dr. Minerva, since Reed has said a Kree is lurking in disguise in the title. Now I am flip-flopping between the two, with a third idea in mind -- Sarah is somehow involved with Warren Traveler. And as for William Wagner, I originally thought she was Mystique, but now I think he's Michael Rossi, Carol's ex-lover and friend, since the first two letters of either name are RO. I am also thinking William is the secret, surgically altered Kree, considering his true identity will be unveiled during SECRET INVASION. As for other stories, Reed brought back the Doomsday Man in a two-issue action-fest, proving that any older, established C-list villian can be written excellently if only a writer put his mind to it. He brought back AIM and MODOK again, introducing MODOK's son, Headcase, who I am eager to see again. He brought in Rogue, bringing up Carol's old issues with her right along with them. Reed used the Puppet Master in a unique way, doing something different with him rather than use the same old, same old motivations the PM has had for years on end. And Carol is growing darker and darker. She disconnected the Destructor from the Doomsday Man armor without concern for his life. She willingly let the Puppet Master die. She relished in the death of the Brood Queen's children, something that happened years ago in UNCANNY X-MEN and was now brought up again in MM#21-24. And Reed says things are only going to get darker. Carol is falling, and she's falling hard, struggling to do what she thinks is best but may ultimately do her in. And the Skrulls are here, making her life miserable, turning everyone against her. Oh, by the way, did I mention how much I love both MS. MARVEL runs? I won't even get into how well Reed is writing CAPTAIN MARVEL, or the fact that he's now my favorite Marvel writer. Anyway, I just thought I'd share my thoughts about the MS. MARVEL series and why I enjoy it so much (along with the original). Everyone has their favorite books. Everyone has specific comics they treasure above all others. Mine just happen to be both MS. MARVEL runs.

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Message Thread: Overview: Ms. Marvel (Some Spoilers) - Attok12 3/25/2008, 10:53 am « Back to thread

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