The conclusion of the War of Marvels is bittersweet: Carol is back but the roles of the others are confusing.
MS. MARVEL #46
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Brian Reed
Artist: Sana Takeda
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Cover: Sana Takeda
Summary: WAR OF THE MARVELS: THE FINAL CHAPTER There’s only room for one Ms. Marvel, and both Carol Danvers and Karla Sofen will kill to take the mantle. It’s the ultimate showdown of Dark Reign as the lines between good and evil are blurred…and the last Ms. Marvel standing will face the surprise ending of the year!
Review: Unfortunately, Brian Reed’s story arc of the battling Ms. Marvels was confusing and could have improved with some key changes. Having three women as Ms. Marvel could have been handled better if reading the issues didn’t feel like a whirlwind of schizophrenia combined with some PMS. That’s right, I said it! Karla Sofen’s quips about Carol Danvers being the “fat Ms. Marvel” is truly an honest creation of female dialog. The chick fights are fun and entertaining but not quite on par with Moonstone’s brawls with Rogue in Dark Avengers.
The cast of characters includes: Carol Danvers, the original Ms. Marvel who was recently reconstructed from pure energy; Karla Sofen/Moonstone who has been the Ms. Marvel on the Dark Avengers team; and now there’s a third seemingly random character Catherine Donovan who is the split personality of Carol which is supposed to be a non-superpowered human form, a “gift” from the baby M.O.D.O.K.s, for Carol to have a normal life on some level. The caveat is that when the ladies come in close proximity to each other their powers increase including the “human” Catherine who is suddenly able to crank out battle moves. The three women also have a telepathic link to each other which is where the schizophrenic banter takes over. The connection between Carol and Catherine makes sense since they were split apart from one being but there’s no reason given for either of them to be trapped inside Karla’s mind.
Karla’s role as Ms. Marvel has been questioned from the beginning of the Dark Reign story line along with all of her team mates. Can a villain really be reformed and take up the hero’s mantle? On one page, Reed explains that Karla has done well as a hero then she starts throwing citizens through the air to keep Carol busy. Both women seem to be willing to kill for the mantle of Ms. Marvel which is arguably not heroic behavior in the Marvel Universe.
During the action-packed fight sequences handled smoothly by Sana Takeda’s illustrations, the Moonstone and Catherine personalities are swapped like a bad remake of Freaky Friday. The conclusion is nothing short of an after school special when Carol steals the powerful Moonstone from Karla and tells her she’ll find it before she dies if she begins searching her soul for redemption of her past evil-doings. The vision of Carol up in the sky acting as Karla’s conscience is reminiscent of the awful cinematography at the end of the Van Helsing movie where the Valerious family watched over the heroes. *blech*
The art is beautiful but unfortunately from issue to issue the artists change causes inconsistency in the visual appeal of the book. I appreciate the attention to detail such as the textures of the fabrics on their costumes and the shine to their masks. I can’t help but see a young Morgan Fairchild in the panels of Moonstone who is ever so slightly given a manga touch.
It’s just a boring story aside from the great battle. At least fans will have Carol back as Ms. Marvel in her own book, but let’s face facts – the Dark Avengers still exist so Moonstone isn’t going anywhere just yet. Something is definitely up with Norman Osborn so his team is probably going to crumble within the next few months.
