General Information
Title: Ms. Marvel #6-8
Author: Brian Reed
Illustrator(s): Roberto de la Torre (pencils), Jon Sibal (inks) and Chris Sotomayor (colours)
Original Publication Date: These issues cover dated October - December 2006.
Cover Price:
Past comic reviews can be found
here.
Premise
Carol Danvers, Ms. Marvel, is working to bring in unregistered super heroes. Arachne, Julia Carpenter (a former Spider-Wonam), pretends to be doing that, but it actually trying to help unregistered heroes get away. When discovered, she and Shroud try to get Julia's daughter out of the country.
High Point
Arana forces her way into the briefing.
Low Point
Julia brings out her daughter. That just wrecks all possible sympathy and ambiguity in the moral side of the story.
The Scores
The only element that feels original is what feels like a pro-registration bias. The main Civil War title portrays that side (particularly Tony Stark and Reed Richards) as being very cold individuals, which leads many readers to feel an anti-registration bias. This story arc clearly shows the other side of the coin. I give it 4 out of 6.
The artwork is well done. The pencils by de la Torre remind me a lot of the quality and detail of Gary Frank's work, which is a good thing. We've got some very dynamic panel arrangements, as well. Julia's face structure can be inconsistent, sometimes in the same conversation, but it's mostly good stuff. I give it 5 out of 6.
The story is set up well, tying a few corners of the Spider-based end of Marvel's universe together, and showing a reasonable and natural progression from mole to fugitive. I give it 5 out of 6.
The characterization is well done, showing a truly sympathetic pro-registration viewpoint for once. We can even understand every decision Julia makes, except the one that brings her daughter out of the house. (That felt like a forced event just to make the girl a witness.) There are perspectives, but not a lot of depth. I give it 4 out of 6.
The emotional response is fairly good, with well done action moments and some points of doubt along the way. As I mentioned above, it's also nice to see the other side of the coin. I give it 4 out of 6.
The flow was very well done. It's a continuous story, with each issue picking up where the previous issue left off, and some very smooth depiction of the action sequences that tie everything together. I give it 6 out of 6.
Overall, it's an interesting chapter and different perspective, but I don't see anything here that will have a really lasting impact, other than clarifying that Ms. Marvel is pro-reg and Arachne is anti-reg. I give it 4 out of 6.
In total, Ms. Marvel #6-8 receive 32 out of 42.
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