Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant #1: You Khan Do It! (Spoiler-free Review)

“Forget that your peers hate you and there’s an evil organization hunting you. Forget the life on the run in underground tunnels. The scariest thing is not knowing yourself.

What you’re capable of.” – Kamala Khan

The New Mutant has arrived at Empire State College and is ready to start her next chapter in life. However, a few things stand in the way of Kamala’s college life. While ESU may look like a living brochure, its administrative body leaves much to be desired. 

Iman Vellani and Sabir Pirzada kick things off deep in the recesses of Kamala’s mind as she deals with her newfound way of life. With a who’s who of Marvel teams, she tries to sift through what is reality and what is not. The opening pages set an excellent tone for how her mind may be one of her greatest foes as she learns how to live again. And let’s be honest, being a mutant has never been easy, and it’s not gonna start at Empire State University. 

From the first panel, you can tell that Iman Vellani and Sabir Pirzada are having such a blast writing this book. They capture her geekiness and anxiety in perfect detail and set up the succeeding issues as a must-read. The fun bus that is this issue continues at breakneck speed with Carlos Gomez and Adam Gorham. From costume design, to dream sequences, their visual field trip stands on its own; telling its own visual story of our new favorite mutant. I’d be remiss if we didn’t talk about Erick Arciniega’s and his army of hues and their glorious assault. I love his respectful take on skin tones and his uncanny ability to have the pages come to life with vigor and vibrance (X-pun intended!). Putting a pretty bow on this great package is Joe Caramagna. From being able to hear the chewing noises, the sighs, and the explosions. Joe sets the pace of the book and keeps the peace within the panels better than Scott Summers!