Marvel Comics is once again reaching out to a broader reader base with it’s latest ethnic hero, a re-imagined version of Ms Marvel as Kamala Khan, the 16-year-old daughter of Pakistani migrants living in New Jersey.
The new comic, launching in February next year, will be edited by Sana Amanat (Captain Marvel, Venom), written by Muslim convert G. Willow Wilson, and drawn by Adrian Alphona (Marvel Runaways). Amanat says that the series will reflect Kamala’s struggle being torn between ‘two worlds’; her identity as a Muslim-American teen and her new found superpowers.
Speaking about his story for Ms. Marvel/Khan, Wilson said: “I wanted Ms. Marvel to be true-to-life, something real people could relate to, particularly young women. High school was a vivid time in my life, so I drew heavily on those experiences – impending adulthood, dealing with school, emotionally charged friendships that are such a huge part of being a teenager.”
Kamala’s powers will see her body-morphing and shape-shifting, similar to Fantastic Four‘s Mr. Fantastic, but she’s most definitely not the only hero born of Muslim faith/culture. Marvel’s comic Dust features another young Muslim female from Afghanistan, Sooraya Qadir, who first appeared back in in 2002 and is able to manipulate the desert environment. Sooraya has also appeared in the X-Men books.
However, being Muslim won’t be the “critical foundation” of her character, as she is described by her creators as “a 16-year-old girl from the suburbs who is trying to figure out who she is”. They say they want her to appeal to “geek girls” and everybody else who has ever “looked at life from the fringe”.
