Ms. Marvel #39

I usually read my comic books in the order that I am most anticipating them. Because of Brian Reed's great story last month and this issue's awesome cover by Mike Deodato Jr., I read this one second out of all the comics in my pile. I sure hope this doesn't turn out to be the second best comic book I read this week.

This isn't a terrible issue of Ms. Marvel. It's just uninteresting. We don't get any characterization of Moonstone, which is what made last month's issue so great (I refer to Karla Sofen as Moonstone and Carol Danvers as Ms. Marvel). In this issue, Moonstone just schemes. The scheming could turn out to be something cool, but it sure hasn't generated any interest yet.

Moonstone comes across a group of AIM agents who have crossbred MODOK with that boy from the Ms. Marvel Annual who can make things with his mind. I like how she hides some of details from Osborn. This keeps her villainous character intact and provides a great number of possible stories. I'm not sure about this story though. Her connection to these hybrids comes off as a little forced. Also, I have never seen those beings of light that protect the babies before. I'll withhold judgment on them until I see what their about though.

One of the main things that confuses me is Moonstone's power set. From reading Thunderbolts, I got the feeling that she can fly, become intangible, and shoot beams (and be lazy :-P). But apparently she's as strong and durable as Ms. Marvel now. Moonstone actually stops a meteor in this issue with brute strength. That's a little absurd. I hope that whole thing was all cooked up by her magical hybrid babies, because Moonstone is just not capable of pulling off that feat.

The worst thing about this issue is Sana Takeda's art. His (or her, I've never heard of the artist) is everything that's bad about Salvador Larroca's art without all the good tech and action stuff. All of Takeda's characters are shiny and odd looking and every person smiles as if he or she is posing for a picture.

After last month's stellar issue, I was disappointed with this one. The new story arc has the potential to be good, though. It introduces Agent Sum questioning Moonstone about the Ms. Marvel name in a brief appearance. This probably has nothing to do with the current arc however, foreshadowing the inevitable showdown of the Ms. Marvels instead. Hopefully this story can keep me entertained until that happens.