ADVANCED REVIEW: ‘Ms. Marvel: Beyond the Limit,’ Issue #1

Kamala is visiting her cousin Razia, thinking she’s going to have a chill time visiting Chicago and finally get a breather from all she’s been through. But after a run-in with a renegade at her cousin’s lab, Ms. Marvel finds she may have gotten herself into far more than she bargained for. Ms. Marvel: Beyond the Limit #1 is written by Samira Ahmed, with art by Andrés Genolet, colors by Tríona Farrell, and letters by VC’s Joe Caramagna.

I would be remiss not to mention that this is the first time in the comics that Kamala has a South Asian Muslim main writer with Samira Ahmed, and it’s very welcome and evident, especially with the cultural specificities for Kamala and her family. Ahmed does a great job at capturing Kamala’s spirit as our young hero finds herself reflecting (literally in the reflection of the Chicago Bean’s metal shell) on her adventures so far, back to when she inhaled the Terrigen mist that caused her to turn into her then-idol Carol Danvers. But the plot moves rather quickly as Kamala must head home only to find she may have brought something back with her. Throughout it all, Ahmed does a good job of keeping the reader engaged and intrigued with the mysterious circumstances Kamala finds herself in.

The art and colors by Genolet and Farrell are overall quite good. Ferrell includes a wide range of colors throughout the issue and does an overall good job at depicting the skin tones of the characters correctly. But there are a few panels where Kamala has an oddly distinct red blush that may not be accurate for someone with her brown skin tone. The art style by Genolet is pleasant with some great details put into the characters and the scenery around them. But the action scenes are unfortunately stilted, with little sense of the movement that we’ve had in previous Ms. Marvel titles. With a few tweaks in future issues centered on conveying movement, the action scenes should suffice better.

The lettering by Caramagna is great as always. He does a great job of adding weighted personality to his writers’ words, emphasizing where they need to be and receding them from intruding in on the page. You can always expect a pleasant read when he’s at the lettering helm.

Ms. Marvel: Beyond the Limit #1 is an intriguing start to one of Kamala’s wildest adventures yet. Samira Ahmed does a great job of writing our heroine and imbibes her with Ms. Marvel’s distinct spirit. Even though the action scenes and sense of movement could use more work, Genolet and Farrell’s art and colors are vibrant, and Caragmna’s letters cap it off to make this a swimming read. I can’t wait to see where it goes next.

Ms. Marvel: Beyond the Limit #1 is available December 22nd wherever comics are sold.