Ms. Marvel and those Persian guys
Unpacking Kamala Khan’s layers of crazy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22003271 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Hans-Georg Erney (0000-0001-8244-7794, Georgia Southern University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 32-48 |
| Publication date | 2024-01-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Graphic Novels & Comics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2150-4857 • E-ISSN: 2150-4865 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/21504857.2023.2223662 |
| OpenAlex | W4380244480 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 18 |
Upon her introduction as the new Ms. Marvel in 2013, the Pakistani-American superhero Kamala Khan was celebrated, by audiences and critics alike, as a welcome addition to the world of superhero comics. Familiar superhero tropes and ethical dilemmas were given an added twist for Marvel’s first Muslim protagonist as the teenage girl strives to reconcile her newfound powers with the moral authorities of her family and her faith. Many comics scholars reserved special praise for the nuanced and unobtrusive way in which the new Ms. Marvel introduces American readers to Muslim culture by following its eminently ‘relatable’ heroine on her search for moral guidance, whereas others were more sceptical of the extent to which the comic’s representation of Muslims can be considered progress. This article probes this ambivalence by analysing the cultural authorities invoked in the first eleven issues of the series. Instead of resolving the critical disagreement, a close reading of Kamala Khan’s implicit and explicit appeals to authority allows for a more complicated and richer understanding of the comic’s, as well as its eponymous intersectional superheroine’s, ambiguity
Aesthetics · Ambivalence · Art · Comic strip · Comics · Epistemology · Faith · Islam · Literature · Political science · Popular culture · Praise · Psychoanalysis · Skepticism · Sociology · Comics and Graphic Narratives · Digital Storytelling and Education · Law · Philosophy · Psychology
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |