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Culture May 10, 2017
Kamala Khan debuted in Marvel’s Captain Marvel Volume #7, Issue 14 in August 2013. To the naked, non-nerdy eye, this may not seem like a revolutionary event. However, it’s a groundbreaking moment in the comic world. Kamala Khan, the current Ms. Marvel, is the first Muslim-American led superhero to ever get a standalone series. The character got her first series and took on the mantel of Ms. Marvel in November 2014. Writer G. Willow Wilson, editors Sana Amanat and Stephen Wacker, and artist Adrian Aphona all worked together to create this Ms. Marvel series about a Pakistani-American teenager from Jersey City who discovers her shape shifting powers.
While Kamala may not be the first-ever Muslim hero character in Marvel (X-men’s Dust was also Muslim), she is the first headlining Muslim character. Despite her religion at Marvel, her writers, specifically Amanat and Wilson (who are both Muslim themselves), do not want her to be defined as only the “Muslim” character. Creator Sana Amanat described it in an interview with Marvel as:
“As much as Islam is a part of Kamala’s identity, this book isn’t preaching about religion or the Islamic faith in particular. It’s about what happens when you struggle with the labels imposed on you, and how that forms your sense of self. It’s a struggle we’ve all faced in one form or another, and isn’t just particular to Kamala because she’s Muslim. Her religion is just one aspect of the many ways she defines herself.”
It’s true. Kamala is more than just a Muslim character. She’s just a normal teenager. She is perhaps as “normal” as they come. She’s written with the nervous, excited, awkward, and frenetic energy that one has at 16 years old. She writes Avengers and X-men fan fiction, plays online video games, has silly crushes, and does her homework.
Overall, fans have really responded well to Kamala. Ms. Marvel Volume 1: No Normal debuted in November 2014 at #2 on The New York Times Best Seller Paperback Graphic Books list. It has been rumored within the blogosphere that there is even going to be a television show. Kamala’s fans even include the former president Obama. Sana Amanat visited the White House for Women’s History Month in March 2016. She is pictured showing an issue of Ms. Marvel to Barack Obama. In response to the comic, Obama says, “Ms. Marvel may be your comic book creation, but I think for a lot of young boys and girls, Sana’s a real superhero.”
Kamala’s creation and placement is a breath of fresh air, socially, and in the comic world. She proves that no matter your origin story, you can be a good hero.
