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Classic Review: Marvel Masterworks- Ms. Marvel Vol. 2

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Quick Summary

Pros: Most of the stories here are entertaining and show off Ms. Marvel’s physical and intellectual prowess. Ms. Marvel is a great main character and her personal journey is appealing. The collection’s final chapters help fix some of the problems in an earlier chapter. Some of the artwork looks great.

Cons: This volume contains one of the worst Avengers and Ms. Marvel stories of all time. Some of the artwork is subpar and works against the book’s feminist messaging.

Overall: Though this book has some troubling moments within it, the majority of it is entertaining and works well as a showcase for Ms. Marvel. Many of the stories here detail exciting exploits, showcase a great hero, and look good while doing so. There are places where the artwork is upsetting and one of the stories is downright terrible but these negatives are in the minority. Readers interested in some classic Carol Danvers stories will find a lot to love over the course of this book.

Story

Marvel Masterworks: Ms. Marvel Vol. 2 is a mostly positive collection of stories. Ms. Marvel’s battles against villains are consistently entertaining and many stand out as some of the better stories from this era of comics. Over the course of these battles, character development also makes it a joy to read about Ms. Marvel, both in and out of her secret identity. The volume’s biggest pitfall is that it contains one of the worse comic issues in Marvel’s history. However, the negatives from this disaster of an issue are somewhat mitigated by the issue’s follow-up story, which focuses on a much-needed message of recovery and mindfulness. All in all, this collection has some drawbacks but is still worthwhile in a number of different ways.

(spoilers start here)

The majority of Ms. Marvel Vol. 2 is written by Chris Claremont and has Ms. Marvel taking on various threats that come her way. Most of these encounters show off Ms. Marvel’s physical prowess but also show her ability to assess the situation and adjust her plan accordingly. For example, her fight against the Lizard People has her defeat several of them in combat but she resolves the entire situation by tricking the Lizard People’s leader. Watching this type of conflict play out is far more entertaining than just seeing two characters take shots at each other for an entire chapter.

There are also stories here that work well in establishing a larger narrative around Ms. Marvel’s character. Her fight against Ronan and her team-up with Captain Marvel echo back to her ties to the Marvel legacy and the Kree people. Meanwhile, her interactions with friends and coworkers reaffirm her insistence on maintaining her independence and helping others do the same. By the end of these stories, Carol Danvers is a more effective inspiration than ever before.

Unfortunately, as Ms. Marvel Vol. 2 moves toward its conclusion, it details the events of and the events leading up to the now-infamous Avengers #200. This is an absolutely terrible story arc for the Avengers and for the history of Ms. Marvel (a topic we discussed in our review of Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 19).

This story is then immediately juxtaposed against the return of Ms. Marvel in Avengers Annual #10, a direct condemnation of Avengers #200. This return attacks the horrific concepts of mind-control and rape that persist through Ms. Marvel’s departure and introduce sanity into an otherwise ridiculous situation. This return also allows Ms. Marvel to move past her traumatic experience while not simply pretending it never happened, which works well as a real-world representation of recovery. Though this story does not completely make up for the mistakes of its predecessor, it gets about as close as possible.

(spoilers end here)

Art

About half of Ms. Marvel Vol. 2 is filled with some wonderful artwork. Jim Mooney starts the book out with a wonderful take on Ms. Marvel’s activities. His work makes her adventures Ms. Marvel is bright and energetic when they need to be, while never feeling frivolous. Meanwhile, the artwork in Carmine Infantino’s single chapter is as dramatic as the story needs it to be. Even Avengers #200, which has a terrible story, has some great artwork from George Perez.

Unfortunately, the other half of the volume has a few other artists take over and significantly lower the collection’s visual appeal. Dave Cockrum’s chapters have a great level of detail to them but aren’t always structured that well. Mike Vosburg’s chapters lose a significant level of detail and are some of the worse looking chapters in this book. All of these chapters also get weirdly perverse when depicting Ms. Marvel. Over the course of them, Ms. Marvel wears an unrealistically revealing work outfit, is depicted in only a towel for several pages, and has her clothes/outfit torn to expose her cleavage far too often. Artistic decisions like these are unfortunate in any comic but are particularly upsetting in a comic that is attempting to work against the objectification of women.

Continuity

Marvel Masterworks: Ms. Marvel Vol. 2 continues the story from Marvel Masterworks: Ms. Marvel Vol. 1 (Review).

The Ms. Marvel series ends with this volume. Ms. Marvel’s adventures continues here continues in the X-Men series, specifically around Uncanny X-Men #150, collected in Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men Vol. 6.

This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:

Previous Volume Review

All Ms. Marvel Reviews

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