Reviews

Destined by Saladin Ahmed

ghostlightbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny inspiring mysterious tense
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

breakfastgrey's review

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3.0

I've been down with Ms. Marvel since Day 1. I've got every issue of Wilson's previous run in a longbox downstairs. When she, like Bendis on Ultimate Spider-man, announced she was leaving the fan favorite character she had created, I was pretty heartbroken. In a weird twist of fate, Saladin Ahmed--someone I hadn't read before but had heard decent things about--was announced to be taking over her title as well as Bendis'. I dropped my monthly pull of both in the end, not sure if I could continue on with someone taking over a character that was so much a product of its creator. Like Ultimate Spidey, though, I picked up volume 1 of the new run to check things out. While I liked this one more, it still didn't do much to convince me to follow any further.

Starting with the good: the art is very much on brand. Jung fits right in with the artists who've come before, largely helped by Ian Herring's consistent colors. Herring is a staple and has done a lot to define this character's style. I do miss the background jokes in the art, though. I also quite liked using different characters as narrators in the separate issues. It was a cool touch. Ahmed seems to have a solid grasp on his cast and their voices here, something I didn't feel like he had on Ultimate Spidey. The overall plot, though, was pretty bland. There's a space war. Motivations are never really established. Moving the story from an established setting to a whole new world doesn't really work when you're already trying to introduce so many new elements. Everything just moves at a breakneck pace to establish a new status quo. It would've benefited more from a slow burn.

Overall, my disappointment comes more from expectations than the actual product. It's a very serviceable start to a new run. It's just not G. Willow Wilson.

colindalaska's review against another edition

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5.0

Magnificent

Not as good as the original Ms Marvel opener, but a bonus star for being a genuinely good starting point (it really helps in #1 to do a brief summary)

unladylike's review

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4.0

4.5 stars

This really was fun and imaginative. Ahmed is starting out super strong as he takes the title over.

thethirdcrouch's review

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5.0

Ms. Marvel comics have artful and fun covers. The covers here were drawn by Eduard Petrovich. The issues were drawn by Minkyu Jung and inked by Juan Vlasco. I just notice a quite too dramatic facial reactions like when Kamala was mad it looked too mad. Ian Herring is the colorist. I really like the texture and the magical effect of the paint splatters.
Saladin Ahmed wrote this new series. I particularly liked the narration for the first two issues, I think, where it's not Kamala. Then the next issue it was her and it started with how other people tell her story. This is in parallel with a prophecy about her or her likeness.
I liked when she said that sometimes we must believe the best story someone told about us. Sometimes we should try to see for ourselves the best that we could be, however hard we believe it to be true. But ultimately, we write our own story.
Kamala learned about a heartbreaking news that I thought should have gotten a sadder interpretation like when her parents melted in her arms. But she was telling about how she should be strong and I think it makes sense. Iron Man's suggestion to make the most of his time with her father is thoughtful.

smlot's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

capodoglio's review

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3.0

[a:G. Willow Wilson|815259|G. Willow Wilson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1569026621p2/815259.jpg]'s run on Ms. Marvel must count among the best of the decade in comics. Actually, it does. This, sadly, ain't it. I was excited for Ms Marvel to be written by an Arab-American writer; but this first arc is no match for Kamala Khan's previous series, which were built on stellar storytelling. Though the quality admittedly rises in the later episodes, so there's hope.
[a:Saladin Ahmed|4025591|Saladin Ahmed|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1325700680p2/4025591.jpg] has concurrently been assigned the new Miles Morales series; I remember reading at least a few of its episodes and being equally unimpressed. Kamala Kahn and Miles Morales are two of the greatest new addition to the Marvel canon in recent years, but their restyling is underwhelming. I can't help but feeling that they have both been demoted from "bright new stars" to just another comic book in the pull list. Please bring back the magic.

blairconrad's review

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4.0

Pretty entertaining. I thought Kamala felt like Kamala. The story itself was pretty good, but had a couple more coincidences than I needed, like
Spoilerhow the original defender looked
. Also, I can't believe
Spoileranyone trusts a new costume they get from an alien planet
anymore.e

rbreade's review

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I wondered how Ms. Marvel would fare once the remarkable G. Willow Wilson moved on to write Wonder Woman and, happily, Saladin Ahmed has proven more than capable. The key to this series is to keep the storylines grounded in Kamala Khan's everyday life as a teenager in Jersey City, and that's exactly what Ahmed has done, even as the adventure takes Khan off-world and into a a sweet suit of Kree nano-armor. Like all things Kree, I expect this will turn out to be more blessing than curse!

cassie_grace's review

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3.0

The new suit (Kree nanotech) is pretty cool, but it does that comic thing where it resets character development by wiping people’s memories, which for me undermines the entire point. Why bother have characters learn and grow if you going to take it away?