Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — THE final page of the first issue of the new Ms. Marvel comic is pitch perfect. A strange mutagenic mist pervades the streets of Jersey City, activating a secret alien gene that triggers a transformation within our teenage protagonist. She punches her way out of a chrysalis to find that she has mutated into another body: The Pakistani-American Muslim Kamala Khan, with her newly minted superpowers, has been transmogrified into a tall, leggy blonde.From Our AdvertisersIt is a fantastic visual gag. And it is the perfect metaphor for the teenage immigrant who is struggling both in her skin and to find her place in America.Continue reading the main storyRelated Coverage Kamala Khan is a teenage Muslim girl living in Jersey City. Marvel Comics Introducing a Muslim Girl SuperheroNOV. 5, 2013But it doesn’t take long — three issues or so — for Kamala to realize that her brown Muslim self is as potent as can be. All she needed to become super, besides a costume and a mask, was a strong sense of individualism, righteousness, a can-do spirit and a purpose. The superhero comic is an inherently egalitarian genre, even though its lead characters are exceptional: After a bout with a radioactive spider or some Terrigen Mist, it could be you or it could be me.”
Source: That Oxymoron, the Asian Comic Superhero – The New York Times
