Ms. Marvel is in for a Change: Ms. Marvel #3 – March, 1977
Ms. Marvel #3: "The Lady's Not For Killing!"
In the previous issue Gerry Conway was the writer/editor and in this issue he is responsible for the plot, and he wrote a terrible plot. Chris Claremont is the new writer. This is a transition issue, and the next issue will be all Claremont. The difference is felt immediately.
This time the cover of Ms. Marvel is uneventful and inoffensive, simply declaring "The world's new superheroine sensation in her deadliest battle yet" with Doomsday Man. The DC Doomsday came later on, as he first appeared in 1992.
Last issue ended with both Professor Kerwin Korman, a.k.a. the Destructor and Ms. Marvel passing out. They both recover at the same time with Ms. Marvel wondering how she even managed to survive the blast from his Tachyon Blast beam. The Destructor moves to take her out, but her seventh-sense warns her against his coming attack. Eventually she defeats him using a hydrant's water stream which she fell on. Victory is hers, but only shortly.
She gets a headache which means she should turn back into Carol Danvers, but then it disappears as the people who work for A.I.M simply burst through the ground. They came to retrieve Korman, but in order to do that they need to distract Ms. Marvel. So they shoot at a building, causing debris to fall on little children. Ms. Marvel manages to save them, but just barely as she is still weak from being hit by the Destructor's beams twice. She is left wondering where did she hear the name Korman before? And who where the costumed men who took him?
The children that she saved thank her and apologized because the bad guys got away because of them. Her answer is just adorable, she says: "I'd rather save lives than capture crocks any day. Take care, children." It's a reality nice exchange as this is the first time that we see someone particular that she saved being thankful. Even her gesture of putting her hand on the child's head is just full of affection, making her more of an actual person then just a generic, fighting crime heroine.
After saving the children Carol flies away and lands on a rooftop of an office building. She contemplates her existence, the fact that she can't remember who she is, she's human, but with superhuman strength more connected to the Kree, and even when she tries to think about it, nothing comes up.
As she thinks about it too hard she gets a really bad headache that leads her to change back into Carol Danvers. Carol has no idea how she got there. All the employees think she was simply on a lunch break, but comment that she looks unwell. When she comes into her office, Mary Watson is already there on her couch. In these panels there a shift in a tone in the relationship between MJ and Carol, MJ's attention suddenly seem like a problem to Carol who has to send her away so she could work in peace. She states that with everything that's been going on "she's a lot more than I can handle these days." That is one less Spider-Man connection in the Ms. Marvel comic.
When Carol looks at her desk she sees a memo announcing that NASA is planning to secretly launch a team of astronauts which includes a woman. It's a great scoop for her magazine. Just to be clear, this is historically inaccurate, this issue is from 1977 and the U.S. sent a woman to space only in 1983, while Russia sent a woman into space in 1963, so it has been done by that time. However, it is a nice show of support of women in the space program in the U.S.
Dr. Mike Brant calls her, telling her that he's lonely, but after she makes sure he can't help her headaches she hangs up. No more running into his arms crying. Also, a busy working woman doesn't have time to go out every night while also being unconsciously a superheroine.
Carol needs J. Jonah Jameson to approve the female astronaut story and she handles it very tactfully. She tells him that she has good news and he asks "Spider-Man's been arrested?" just to remind you that he is a jerk, in case you forgot before the next exchange. He is not happy that it's about female astronauts, stating "don't even like lady cab drivers." Then he wants someone else to do the story and she tells him it's her or no one as the astronaut is her friend, he accuses her of blackmail but lets her have the story. He asks her how she intends to handle it and she tells him that she will do a photo shoot and will do an exclusive interview while the Daily Bugle will publish the initial story. He agrees to these terms rather easily. This is beneficial to his magazine as well. After Carol leave he states: "Women! Where'd they ever get the idea they were any good outside a kitchen anyway?!" Everything that he says sounds like the opposite of what the readers should think.
We switch to A.I.M headquarter to find out that they want to stop the launch which Carol intends to cover, as it interferes with a few of their projects. They fire a rocket to stop it.
Then we go back to Carol who was just arrived at the Cape and is met by her astronaut friend Sally. Carol again gets her usual headache and her friend thinks that the best cure is some rest on the beach.
The next day, the missile is still on its way (comic book logic) and Carol gets another headache. Her friends are worried about her, but she manages to get away from them just before she changes into Ms. Marvel. As Ms. Marvel she notices the missile and flies to stop it. She manages to disable the engines, but then a robot called Doomsday Man appears.
This is the first time we see how useless her scarf is. After Doomsday blowup the missile that they are on, they fall back to earth. As they start falling he grabs her scarf (why would you need a scarf in a superheroine costume?), to prevent her from slowing down as they re-enter earth so she will burn, but she doesn’t.
As she lends on earth, her seventh sense calls her to the cave where she received her powers. It is a siren calling her. There, she receives some of her/Carol's memories back.
Ms. Marvel finally realizes that she is Carol Danvers. A big mystery solved for her. I have no idea how the comics authority code authorized this panel, or maybe it's just me. As she yells with joy Doomsday Man finds her and the issue ends with a cliffhanger.
I have to mention how cool it is that the first published fan letter in this issue is by an electrical engineer who works for NASA and is an owner of half a comic book store. So cool. She isn't happy about the split-personality, but I guess that this is why Gerry Conway has been shown the door on this comic.
This is an impressive issue for both Carol and Ms. Marvel. Carol finds a great article through her connections and handles J. Jonah Jameson pretty impressively. She get her way, by showing him that it's best for everyone. It's nice to see that this issue is more progressive then reality with a woman astronaut. Ms. Marvel finally finds herself and Carol Danvers inside of her. Most importantly, we are moving towards the end of the split personality arch.
Do you agree with me? 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.