Carol Danvers Receives Assistance from the Avenger: Ms. Marvel #18 – June 1978
Ms. Marvel #18: "The St. Valentine's Day/Avengers Massacre!"
Ms. Marvel faces against Ballard with the help of the Avengers.
This issue pickup exactly where the last one stopped: Ballard shooting Ms. Marvel with a super weapon that he stole from S.H.I.E.L.D., well Mystique stole from S.H.I.E.L.D. and gave it to him. She lands hard, remembering that her seventh-sense visions always ended with her dead.
Then the issue switched to Wanda Maximoff and Janet Van Dyne doing their shopping when they spot someone shooting Ms. Marvel and her falling from the sky.
The WASP arrives at a familiar moment. One that is familiar from Ms. Marvel’s seventh-sense vision, when Ballard is about to shoot Ms. Marvel from point blank. Yes, in that moment the WASP saves Ms. Marvel from death. I have to say that I love that a female superhero saves Ms. Marvel. The WASP tells Ballard that the Avengers don’t like crazy evil people trying to kill their friends. That’s so heart warning. But Ballard just adjusts his super-weapon for the WASP. The Scarlet Witch shows up and joins the fight as well. They have to also protect all the stupid standbys who are simply there to watch, because from some reason they don’t try to escape someone shooting around them.
When Ballard draws his attention back to Ms. Marvel, he notices that she is gone. Because she switched back to Carol Danvers without anyone noticing. Ballard who hoped to kill Ms. Marvel before the Avengers show up, has to deal with the Avengers. Apparently, Mystique told him that his equipment will make him equal to the Avengers and now it is time to put that theory to the test. Ballard hits Yellowjacket straight in the chest and WASP catches him at the last second. He manages to neutralize Vision, but Wonder Man comes to the rescue. While Woman Man attacks, Carol Danvers changes back to Ms. Marvel, hoping to surprise Ballard. However, his suit actually lets him know when anyone is about to attack so surprise it out.
Ms. Marvel wonders about this. How can he know that she is coming? But we know that he can track her suit. She falls hard, too injured to fly. She manages to fly off the bus she crashed on, but Ballard is on her heels. Wonder Man intervenes. He punches Ballard, who in return shoots him with a disintegrating beam, which surprisingly does nothing to Wonder Man. No matter where Ms. Marvel tries to escape, Ballard manages to follow. She than realizes that he has sensors that can track her Kree battle suit and she changes back to Carol Danvers. Betting her life on this hunch. She was very right as we know.
Wonder Man rescues Carol Danvers from a building she was hiding in. He notices that he has seen her before and she moved usually fast but doesn’t make the finale connection that the woman is Ms. Marvel.
Suddenly we switch to Raven Darkhölme who receives a phone call that tells her to stop the assault on Ms. Marvel, because their failure might lead to a risk of discovery. Raven says that she will do as he says, but we know she doesn’t mean it. We also see her switching to her blue form for the first time, which is pretty awesome. We also learn that she thinks of both Ms. Marvel and Carol Danvers as threats without making the connection that they are the same person.
Suddenly we switch to the Kree empire itself, where we find that the Supreme Intelligence is still alive. I guess that Ms. Marvel will get to explore her Kree roots more fully in the future, or that that was the plan at first.
Then we switch back to the Avengers who are arguing about whether to follow Ballard because of his strength.
Ms. Marvel solves that problem for them. Yes, this is Ms. Marvel. Also, in one frame she has pants and in the next one she doesn’t. Yes, she has a silly hat and a cape. She walks in and throws Wonder Man at Ballard and they collide. The Avengers didn’t notice that Ballard was coming back to attack them.
Ms. Marvel loses the hat and the cape and attacks Ballard. Yellowjacket jabs her for changing an outfit at the same day, which angers Mr. Marvel justifiably. She changed so Ballard can’t follow her. She also likes the freedom that a bare shoulder suit gives her. Then for some horrible reason she cares about how she looks like when she is fighting. She is aware that that is absurd. We all have strange errand thoughts even at the most unlikely times, in her case, fighting for her life. She makes a tactical mistakes and Vision comes in and buys her time. He is also taken out in the process. She realizes that Ballard has a computer inside the suit that he is wearing. In the end she wins the battle with her mind. He follows her into what I think is a power station, and she electrifies him. This causes his special suit to malefaction really badly. Then he explodes after she gives him one good punch.
When the Avengers show up again the crisis is already over. The Avengers unmask Ballard and apparently, he is the government official that canceled their agreement with the government, so I guess that that will get revoked. Though Wanda says that the threat is over, Ms. Marvel knows that someone sent him, she won the battle “but the war has just begun.”
This was such a fun issue. Mystique is a worthy enemy for Ms. Marvel, even though that she too is someone else’s pawn. It’s also great to see Ms. Marvel teaming up with other female superheroes and the rest of the Avengers. However, in the end she wins with her mind. There is a sense of some closer in this issue, despite the fact that the war with Mystique has just began. Also, Ms. Marvel is also one step closer to her iconic black bathing suit costume.
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. Also, please help the site grow by liking it and sharing my posts. Have a great day.