Is it Carol Danvers or Wonder Woman: Ms. Marvel #1 – January, 1977
Two years after her last appearance, Carol Danvers is back. And not just back, now she's a superheroine all on her own, kind of. She has an interesting and controversial start.
Let's start with some historical background for her transformation. In Marvel Comics: The Untold Story Sean Howe explains that Goodman (Marvel's publisher and creator) wanted to "challenge Myron Fass’s Captain Marvel trademark by launching a character with that name" and that's how Captain Marvel was created. I will not go into the legal battles that the name created with Myron Fass and later with DC. It was not enough for Marvel who wanted to solidify their ownership of the Marvel name. They already had Marvel Girl (Jean Grey), and for a few years Marvel looked for a character to take the name of Ms. Marvel. According to Howe, Ms. Marvel was basically created as a "trademark strategy" and as "an empty gesture toward feminism." I'll let you decide whether that's true or not over the course of her first title run.
Speaking of feminism the reference word Ms. has become more common and popular during the second wave of feminism. Eventually the leading magazine for the movement was named Ms. and it was published in 1972 (with Wonder Woman on the cover of the first issue).
Now let's move to the cover of this issue. On the left side is says "fabulous first issue." I defiantly think that this is an attempt to attract the female side of readers; her hair is very fashionable in style, but a little too short to be "fabulous". While on the right side is says "all-out action." I guess that this is aimed at the male audience. That's an interesting dichotomy. The cover also declares that she's a "bold new super-heroine in the senses-stunning tradition of Spider-Man!" and as you can clearly see on the cover page, even though she has the shredded outfit of Captain Marvel (with a scarf no less), she has Peter Parker's the supporting cast. Probably to give her a boost in popularity, but it is also a sign of lack of faith.
Now for the issue itself. I liked that her introduction simply calls her "Marvel: Ms. Marvel." It's very Bond, James Bond looking. But her description is that of a warrior anticipating a battle rather than that of a spy. Now it's interesting to notice that Gerry Conway is the writer and he is credited at the top, and there is a little note that mentions that Carla Conway "more than a little" aided him in his writing, so I think its fare to share the blame for the poor choices that are on display in the issue.
Like all good action movies, this issue opens with an actions scene of Ms. Marvel taking down some bank robbers. These panels show us her set of powers, she can fly, she is super-strong and she has a seventh-sense that warns her about the dangers around her and that are to come.
I think this panel explains what Ms. Marvel should be all about. We see a man who says that Ms. Marvel "makes Lynda Carter look like Olive Oyl." Obviously Linda Carter is most famous for playing Wonder Woman on TV during that time period. This comment is meant to show that Ms. Marvel is or will become more impressive than Wonder Woman's current incarnation. A mission destined to fail. Most importantly, we see a little girl who tell her mother: "I wanna be just like her!" meaning that Ms. Marvel should be viewed as a role model. I will not go into Ms. Marvel's costume because those of you who have tried cosplaying know that you can die from heat in superhero costumes. So short is not necessarily bad. But other than stopping a single crime, let's see if Ms. Marvel and Carol Danvers are role models.
Now despite her seventh sense, the scorpion (from the Spider-Man comic) manages to steal money and get away. The other thieves were just a decoy. However, the thieves did catch the attention of the police and when they show up, Ms. Marvel leaves like all good superheroes-vigilantes. We later find out that the scorpion wants to kill J. Jonah Jameson, Carol Danvers' boss in just a few panels.
Then we switch to Carol Danvers. And she is a totally a different person now. We see her in a job interview with J. Jonah Jameson. He wants to hire her as an editor for a women's magazine called "Woman" (how subtle and totally not a reference to Ms. magazine). J. Jonah Jameson is presented as a typical chauvinist boss and he is unhappy that his women's magazine has articles about things like "women's lib, interviews with Kate Millett…" (a prominent second wave feminist activist) "…stories about careers for women – yecch." Yes, the word yecch is written there. Because if you didn't think he was terrible in Spider-Man, here are more reasons to hate him. He wants a magazine with "useful" women stuff (direct quote). But he hates superheroes so he also wants an article written against Ms. Marvel.
Carol Danvers already dealt with work problems in the 60s as the head of security at the Cape. Back then she dealt with lack of respect, now she is dealing with more practical problems, like paychecks. There is a consensus that it is harder for women to talk about money and ask for a raise, but here Carol has no such problem, she is confident and does not hesitate. She informs her future boss that she might be new in the business but she has a reputation (she wrote for Rolling Stones, and her own book about the space industry for example) and that will cost him. They argue about the paycheck and she gets her way, both in her salary and in the content of the magazine. She also demands respect from him, she is not a "woman" he is arguing with, but Ms. Danvers, again an emphasis on Ms. This is not a realistic depiction of an job interview exchange, but she is presented as a role model here. Even though I doubt that in reality you can get everything as Carol did.
Now Carol works for J. Jonah Jameson just like Peter Parker. And the moment that she steps out of his office she meets Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson, so basically Carol Danvers has Spider-Man's supporting characters, not very original.
Carol invites MJ to a coffee in her central park penthouse, because revenues from a book can apparently make you that rich. Here MJ notes that Carol was a "security consultant" when in fact Carol was the head of security, but why worry about an accurate continuity? This issue takes a lot of liberties describing Carol inside the Captain Marvel comics. Here Carol states that she had to leave her job because of her "inability" to capture Captain Marvel. If you'll check out my previous posts, you can see that she hardly tried to capture him as she believed that he was innocent and she was in love with him. Carol explains that after that she had to leave (even though she seemed completely secure in her work last time we saw her) she decided to back to her first love, writing.
Up until this point in the issue I love it! Now comes the terrible part. Carol gets a migraine, asks Mary Jane to leave and just collapses on her bed.
Then Ms. Marvel is off to being a superheroine. Yes, the outfit is open from the front and back. She needs to save J. Jonah Jameson from the scorpion. She goes into the Daily Bugle and the city editor asks her for her name. She says she doesn't think that she has one. On her way off again we see Carol's empty apartment and can start speculating that Carol is Ms. Marvel.
We start to see a few pieces of puzzle coming together, Ms. Marvel thinks that the Daily Bugle offices seems familiar, but her "Kree-born skill" will help her pass the maze of traps that scorpion set up. Kree-born even though she is an earth woman. She passes the maze using both her brain and strength, similarly to Captain Marvel. She finds the scorpion who wonders at her costume because it is similar to that of Captain Marvel's (minus a lot of fabric), but she also has the strength and skill of a Kree solider. He tells her that she is human and she agrees, but states that she has gained Kree powers (although Kree don't usually fly or have a seventh sense). But our Ms. Marvel has an extra unique superpower "total amnesia." Because nothing says superheroine like I having no idea who you are.
Still she defeats the scorpion and frees J. Jonah Jameson, telling him to call her Ms. Marvel as she too assumes that they are somehow connected.
Now from some reason this comic has an epilogue. In that epilogue Carol is at work. Jonah screams at Carol to write an expose on Ms. Marvel. Carol says she got a "weird chill" when Jonah mentioned Ms. Marvel. Carol is worried about her blackout, too worried to go see a doctor.
The issue leaves us with a mystery that isn't so mysterious in my opinion. Who is the bigger mystery Carol or Ms. Marvel? Making it pretty clear that they are one in the same, but don't know it. Obviously, it's impossible for a woman to be a successful career woman and a superheroine. In fact the ordinary person in her is not aware that she is a hero at all, leaving the reader wondering what is the point?
Now Gerry Conway wrote a letter anticipating some of the backlash for this issue. I will not analyze his entire letter just a few points. He is well aware that he is living inside the second wave feminism and tries to appeal to feminist readers. He claims that there is a "parallel between her quest for identity, and the modern woman's quest for raised consciousness, for self-liberation, for identity." That's pretty bad. Second wave was never about identity. It was about "women's legal equality" and breaking free from the feminine mystique that Scarlet Witch referred to in Avengers #92 (A History of U.S. Feminism, page 74). The word identity is all wrong I think, I would use find a new place in society. And Carol doesn't seem to lack identity apart from her amnesia. She is interested in her career, equal pay, and respect. In fact she seems pretty liberated; sure her boss is a jerk, but she knows what she wants and she got it.
He is also aware that people might not like the fact that a man is writing a female character. He says that "there are no thoroughly trained and qualified women writers working in the super-hero comics field." An interesting comment considering the fact that his wife at the time helped him write this issue or that the job was first offered to Mary Skrenes and not to him (Howe). He says that he is a man who wanted to write this comic, but one cannot be sure that other women didn't want the work, but just didn't get an opportunity. Then he explains that because of equality women can write excellent male characters and men can write excellent female characters. Sure men can write excellent women characters, but apparently he is not one of them.
Ms. Marvel is not Wonder Woman, Wonder Woman always knows who she is, and is aware of all of her actions, Carol Danvers doesn’t even know she's a superheroine. Not exactly the role model she was presented at the beginning of the issue. However, Carol as a career woman is a role model. She's confident and stands her ground, which is impressive. However, there is too much Spider-Man is her story, like training wheels which only hold you back, an original supporting cast which would help the story arch would have been better. I will end by just saying that the split personality is a terrible idea. No other superheroine has this problem, why should she?
Do you agree with me? Do you feel that Carol Danvers as Ms. Marvel is "an empty gesture toward feminism?" Have anything to say about this or any other related issue? Let's discuss in the comments below or on my Facebook page or on Twitter.