Ms. Marvel Is a Muslim Superhero and She’s From Jersey City; Comics Have Always Been Diversified

Ms. Marvel Is a Muslim Superhero and She's From Jersey City.

Marvel Comics announced their new superhero this week, the first since a few weeks ago, but we won't get into that here. Marvel Comics' new Ms. Marvel is a Muslim. Marvel Comics have had female superheroes and Muslim characters, but this is the first time one has gotten their own comic book series.

Marvel Comics' new superhero is a 16-year-old Muslim-American girl named Kamala Khan and it speaks to the rapid diversity of Marvel Comics fans. The new Ms. Marvel debuts in January and will appear in a monthly series starting on February 6.

Comics have always been slightly ahead of the curve in accepting new characters, races, genders. Comic book writers write for young people. They have young writers themselves.

Marvel Comics' new character Kamala Khan, lives in Jersey City with her conservative Pakistani family. Her father is Yusuf Aamir, her mother Disha and she has a friend from the Jersey City hood, Bruno. Kama Khan is a comic book fangirl, so much a fan that she beings to stretch her arms and legs and soon realizes she can change her shape. This Muslim Teen from Jersey City is a polymorph. The last superheroine to hold the Ms. Marvel title was Carol Danvers.

Series editor Sana Amanat said "It is so important that we tell stories that reflect the ever-changing world that we live in and being a Muslim-American is so much a part of that."

Sana Amanat previously worked on Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate X-Men comic books. She wanted to explore the Muslim-American experience, but said at the end of the day, "It is about a young girl who is figuring out who she is and what happens when these really extraordinary things happen to her. It pays homage to the legacy character."

Amanat got the idea for the new superhero after telling her senior editor, Steve Wacker, about her own experiences a Muslim-American. She said "He was interested in the dilemma I faced as a young girl and the next day he came in and said, 'Wouldn't it be great to have a superhero that was for all the little girls that grew up just like you, and who are growing up just like you are today, and to create a character they can be inspired by.'"

Writer G. Willow Wilson said, "It's for all the geek girls out there, and everybody else who's ever looked at life on the fringe." Wilson is a convert to Islam he is on the Ms. Marvel team along with and artist Adrian Alphona. The project started about 18 months ago.

Amanat said "People have been mostly positive about it. We are always trying to upend expectations to an extent but our point is to always reflect the world outside our window, and we are looking through a lot more windows right now."