Written by: Saladin Ahmed
Art by: Minkyu Jung, Juan Vlasko, Ian Herring, and VC’s Joe Caranagna
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: November 6, 2019

The Magnificent Ms. Marvel has been a consistently good book and any fears that Saladin Ahmed wouldn’t “get it” went right out the window immediately. Kamala is as strong as her family and friends and Ahmed gives us that in the usual ways, but also the heartbreaking ways as well. That continues this issue, so let’s just jump right in…

The issue opens with Kamala and Zoe studying and chatting…and eating Samosas! Now I’m hungry, thanks a lot Saladin! By the way, my secret is I’m always hungry!

Of course, just when things are looking up, disaster strikes and it’s one of those times that you know Kamala wishes it involved that stupid Terrigen Mist or even worse, a geneticist who can time travel to alter convoluted timelines. Nope, it’s her father who ends up in the hospital after a bad fall.

Of course, Bruno shows up to help and while it is very brief, seeing Kamala break down broke my heart. It’s little moments like this that show you how much you really care about a character. It’s one thing to go on Twitter and tell everyone that you are a big fan, but when you find yourself crying along with them while reading, that’s special. Awful and special.

We almost get a very special moment, but it’s interrupted by Iron Man and Doctor Strange and they bring the dad jokes with them. It serves the issue well and it doesn’t hurt that I’m a dad and try to figure out what my kids are talking about half of the time! Speaking again of that stupid Terrigen Mist, it looks like it is causing disease in latent Inhumans…like Kamala’s father. That is a nice little twist and the best part is it can be cured! That is so awesome, but Tony isn’t done bringing the good times as he hugs Kamala (doesn’t that hurt?) and tells her to follow her heart’s GPS to Bruno street and give us all what we want.

The issue continues with Doctor Strange doing some mystic surgery while Kamala deals with a little Mister Hyde problem. You think she could catch a break, but it does give us a bit of a distraction while we wait and hope. And then it happens! It happened!!!! Really!!!!!!

This is one of those issues that reminded me how much I love Kamala and how glad I am that Ahmed took over when G. Willow moved on. This issue was packed with feels and the were not forced or unearned at all. Sure, I like superheroes to fight the bad guys and gals as much as the next guy or gal, but I also love an issue like this. Sometimes I think I like these a little bit more when it’s with a special character like Kamala.

I do usually love Minkyu Jung’s art, but this was not her best work. It is still good, but it didn’t have the pop and zip it usually does. It may have been the hospital setting that called for Ian Herring to give the colors a more washed-out look, but there was also detail missing in a lot of panels as well.

Final Thoughts:

Saladin Ahmed gives fans of Kamala an issue with hope, tears and an OMG moment that I loved. I really liked it, but that shouldn’t be much of a surprise because it’s obvious that Ahmed loves Kamala as much as her most passionate fans.

9.0/10