Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan, has found herself stretched really thin lately. And I'm not talking about Kamala's terrigen mist imbued shape-shifting powers. Between her responsibilities as a Junior Avenger, her fan-fiction, school work and responsibilities at home including baby-sitting her infant nephew, Kamala is barely keeping it all together. There just isn't enough hours in the day nor does the new Ms. Marvel have the energy. Something's got to give and Kamala's family are afraid it's them that will suffer the most!
Kamala knows that she's got to do something soon. But before she makes those changes, there's a new villain on the horizon- Machinesmith. An online antagonist and one that threatens to destroy Kamala's family if Ms. Marvel doesn't betray the Avengers! Kamala thinks she can do this on her own. But when the villain attacks Kamala through her nephew's favorite new mechanical toy, the young hero just may have to hand over the keys to Avengers tower in order to save her loved ones.
It took a while but Marvel has started to get on the young adult graphic novel bandwagon. Along with the Miles Morales Spider-Man, Spider-Ham and Black Panther, Ms. Marvel is leading the way in this 2021 graph novel for readers aged 8-12. Though I think readers up to the age of 15 could really get a kick out of this book.
That's not to say that Stretched Thin isn't without its problems. For one thing, I don't think Nadia Shammas (X-Force) has done all her research on the character of Kamala Khan. Early on in this book, Khan mentions that it's only been a few weeks since she was affected by the terrigen mist. So far, so good. But the Khan family dynamics are all wrong.
In the comics, Kamala's brother isn't married, nor does he have a son. He's still in school, secretly pining for the girl who will become his wife eventually. So where did this nephew come from? Was it so necessary for the story to add a never before seen character and age up Kamala's brother? The Kahns are such a large family with cousins and uncles and aunts. Why couldn't the baby Kamala have to babysit be cousin? Why play fast and loose with the family dynamic?
I also feel that the need to point out that Machinesmith was a good guy. Well, he was at least 5 years ago. In 2017, he was on the side of the angels as part of Scott Lang's Ant-Man Security Solutions. So I must ask: when did Machinesmith turn bad again? Or did Nadia Shammas tinker around with more Marvel Comics canon?
I also had some issues with the artwork of Kamala. I thought all the other characters, especially the cover baddie, whom I might say looks an awful lot like a Recorder or even X-51, the Machine Man, were great. And when it comes to Ms. Marvel, I had no issue with the shape-shifting or even her costumes. No, what I had an issue with was Kamala's face. In some panels, artist Nabi H. Ali (Beautifully Me) illustrates Kamala as a pre-teen girl. But from time to time, Kamala's face looks de-aged like a toddler. Could it be some sort of symbolism? Maybe. But, I doubt that many young readers would get the connotation.
Ms. Marvel: Stretched Thin was an enjoyable read. I just feel that some liberties were greatly taken with the source material. Also, there were some minor inconsistencies with the art work. Still, despite these small flaws, this was still a pretty faithful adaptation of Ms. Marvel. I think the kids will love it even though the more established readers will nitpick the flaws.
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.
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