She burst on to the scene and took the world by storm. She can change size and alter her shape to help people and fight crime. She followed in the footsteps of her idol and has become a legend in her own right. She’s Kamala Khan, Ms. Marvel! How did she get her powers and get into the Avengers? Let’s find out!
Kamala Khan is a second generation Pakistani-American whose parents, Muneeba and Yusef, came to Jersey City from Karachi while Muneeba was pregnant with Kamala. She grew up a big old nerd, loving superheroes and especially her favorite hero, Ms. Marvel who would eventually become Captain Marvel. Whereas Kamala’s brother, Aamir, seemed to be what her parents wanted their children to be, Kamala struggled due to her love of superheroes to fit in with family and at school.
Things would only get weirder when the Terrigen Mist would come to Jersey City while Kamala had snuck out from home to attend a party. She’d be transformed, literally, with powers that made her look just like her idol, Ms. Marvel. Even while terrified of her changed state, she’d save someone’s life and experience a feeling of wholeness she’d never had before. She’d begin to control her powers and turn back into herself and begin fighting crime with the aid of her best friend, Bruno, she’d become the new Ms. Marvel. Using her cosplay skills, she’d build herself a new costume that was all her own. Jersey City had a new hero and Kamala had a whole new set of headaches of leading a double life.
Soon, other heroes and villains would cross Kamala’s path and she’d even meet Captain Marvel herself. Many heroes upon meeting her would see she was still rather young and Kamala often ends up with many mentors from the people she grew up worshipping. The Inhuman royals would embrace her as one of their own and even had their own beloved dog, Lockjaw as her bodyguard for a time. She’d soon find herself on an Avengers team with several heroes her own age as well as some more experienced ones.
Life as an Inhuman, superhero, and high schooler would prove to be a very tough balancing act. She had new people she had comradery with whether as an Inhuman or superhero, sometimes both. Trying to balance schoolwork and family life got so difficult she had her friend Bruno, who is a technical genius, build her clones so she could tray and be everywhere she was needed. This lead to a terrifying army of eager to please Kamala clones flooding the streets of Jersey City. Some superhero assistance was needed but eventually Kamala was able to find a little bit more balance so she could attend her brother’s wedding.
Kamala would become an icon as Ms. Marvel, especially for the youths of Jersey City. She often inspires them as well as enrages them with her decisions as she tries to make her way in the superhero community and who she sides with. When the prophetic Inhuman came to be, where crimes could be prevented by being seen in advanced, Kamala would side with Captain Marvel on using this to stop crimes before they happened.
Given control of her own team of Jersey City high school students who would help wrangle people for their yet to be committed crimes, Kamala would begin to have her doubts. Soon she and Captain Marvel were at odds and Kamala was having a crisis of her faith in her hero. She’d eventually pull away from Captain Marvel and side with Iron Man in this new civil war. Bruno would be badly injured trying to stop the prison that Kamala had once been in charge of and when Bruno was well enough, he’d leave Jersey City to go to a school better fit for his skills, leaving Kamala and his girlfriend, Mike, behind.
Disillusioned after the second superhero civil war, Kamala would quit the Avengers and join up with heroes her own age to try and help the world on less of a supervillain or street crime front and deal with more social issues. She helped form the team and other teen heroes and teens in general, are ready to work with the team on bettering the world and saving it from social ills and natural disasters.
There you have it! Kamala Khan has quickly become one of my favorite characters in comics. Always willing to help others and do more than just punch in faces, she’s living the dream. She was a fan of superheroes and their adventures and now lives it and realizes that while their is much to be desired, there is also so much good that can be done. I hope we get to see her in the movies sometime soon. See you next time!
Suggested Reading
Captain Marvel Vol. 7 #14
All-New Marvel NOW! Point One #1.NOW
Ms. Marvel Vol. 3 & 4
All-New All-Different Avengers
Champions
Dr. Bustos
drbustos@comicattack.net
