Who's the Best... Origin Story?

Derivative Ladies: Ms. Marvel

Ms. Marvel #1 (January 1977)

"This Woman, This Warrior!"

Gerry & Carla Conway-John Buscema/Joe Sinnott

Doug:  Today we're going to begin a four week look at three heroines and a hero who were either derived from another existing hero by some connection to the original's origin, or in a couple of cases were specifically named to secure a copyright.  We'll start off with the lovely half-naked lady you see above (sporting a Farrah-like coif, no less), and then check in on Spider-Woman, She-Hulk, and Black Goliath.  In Big Bill's case, we're going to review Black Goliath #1 rather than his actual first appearance, which was in Power Man #24.  As we've done over the past year or so with first appearances, the trade paperback Marvel Firsts: the 1970's (volume 3) will be our resource for reading and images. Below you can see Sean Howe's mention of Ms. Marvel in the BAB recently-reviewed Marvel Comics: The Untold Story.  We'll consult Howe as we go through this month's series.

From Marvel Comics: The Untold Story, (c) Sean Howe

Doug:  I'm going to start off by saying that it's a shame there's a UPC code on the cover of this book, because it really prohibited the inclusion of one more call-out!  Sheesh -- we get it already!  Number one book, exciting heroine.  Enough!  But the main image of Ms. Marvel as drawn by the Jazzy One is pretty nice, isn't it?  Do you want to start in on the costume now, or wait?  I say we hit it right now.  To begin, her midriff was bare until the 9th issue.  Does that express a confident, independent woman, or is it sexually exploitative?  Most people feel Dave Cockrum rescued Ms. Danvers near the end of the series.

Karen: Oh boy, that costume... I mean, they took a costume designed for a male character, what with the broad bands at the shoulders and hips, which is really not flattering for most women, and then to make it worse, they just sort of nonsensically removed the lower front and back of the suit!  It's not a two piece, it's just two strangely shaped cutouts. I'm not even sure how that thing stays adhered to her body. So yeah, it's sexist, but certainly not sexy. It's just ugly. But to top it all off, they must have realized it didn't look very feminine, so somebody thought it was a good idea to throw a scarf on it! Oh good lord. Yes, thankfully Dave Cockrum showed up and saved poor Ms. Marvel. Not only that, he gave her a really memorable outfit, perhaps one of the best female costumes at Marvel.

Doug:  Gerry Conway drops us right into the action, as our heroine swoops in on a bank robbery in progress.  Some thugs with nylons over their heads (man, that's a creepy look.  You ever do that when you were a kid to get a rise out of a sibling?) are making a break for it when Ms. Marvel arrives to quickly mop up the place with them.  The scene is really a showcase for her powers:  flight, super strength, and a mysterious "seventh sense" (uhhh....).  Of course, the assembled crowd just gawks at her, and we get the sometimes painful pop-culture reference "I've seen tough... but that little lady makes Lynda Carter look like Olive Oyl!"  As an aside, if like me you were wondering about the temporal proximity of the Popeye live-action film to that line, the film was not released until 1980.  Anyway, back in the bank we see who the mastermind of this caper really is:  none other than the Scorpion!  Now, while it was good to see ol' green-scales, that he'd mastermind anything seems a bit of a stretch to me.  He makes his getaway out a side door, on his way to see a Professor Korman, and we're sent back to the street to survey the damage.

Karen: Buscema and Sinnott do a great job of showing off our heroine's powers. She's certainly strong and tough, not afraid to throw a punch, and the seventh sense is intriguing. You know, it seems like at some point they dropped that power from her repertoire. At least, I don't seem to recall her using it later on. The Scorpion seems like an odd choice of villain, but as we'll see, he was not the only Spider-Man element to grace this mag.

Doug:  Ms. Marvel stands amongst her handiwork while the residents make claims of a publicity stunt and the like.  She scoffs to herself, and as the NYPD arrives she takes flight.  We then get dropped right into a projection room at the Daily Bugle, where none other than J. Jonah Jameson is watching film of Ms. Marvel.  Seated beside him is one Carol Danvers -- we've met Miss Danvers earlier on this blog in our reviews of the "Kree/Skrull War" and a Captain Marvel yarn that Karen reviewed, as well as in various Avengers stories.  JJJ tells Carol his vision for a new magazine he's launching, one for women that would contain pretty sexist fare.  Carol reminds him that although she was once tops in the field of military security, over the past year she's acquired a reputation as a writer (really -- in a year?).  They negotiate her salary, and Carol wins; she also makes it clear that the magazine isn't going to include recipes and fashion spreads.  This is not the JJJ we've come to know and loathe over the years.  As Carol takes leave of Jonah, who should she bump into but Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson?  Mary Jane takes a shine to Carol and they begin conversing while Pete heads in to see Jonah.

Karen: Wow, they developed that film pretty fast. So what did you think of them co-opting Spidey's cast? It seemed kind of odd to me. I don't know that I think it's a good idea, although I suppose it's easier on the writer, not having to come up with a bunch of new characters. But it feels like exactly that -a cheat. 

Doug:  The next scene shows our boy Mac Gargan hightailing it across town, money bags still under his arms.  He's reached his destination, the lab of Prof. Korman.  The joint's booby-trapped, though, and the Scorpion has to run a gauntlet of hazards to get to the lab.  The Scorpion hands the cash over to Korman and in return receives a high-tech key.  And, the use of the space apparently.  Korman lets on that he's a big-time weapons designer for Hydra and others, but wants to get out of the game; the loot the Scorpion's just given him will go a long way toward that desire.  Nit-pick:  Did you notice that Korman's name was spelled two different ways in the same narration box?  Talk about oversight!

Karen: That was all rather mysterious. And yes, some carelessness with the spelling. Doesn't $200K seem like pretty small change for a robbery now? It's like the "$1 million dollars!" joke in Austin Powers.

Doug:  Back to Carol and MJ, who've apparently become fast friends...  They arrive at Carol's deluxe apartment in the sky, complete with doorman (who looks a lot like the guy on The Jeffersons), and ascend for some coffee.  They chit-chat, when all of a sudden Carol collapses.  MJ helps Carol to her feet.  Carol says that she's had migraines, and if MJ just leaves it will get better.  Carol vehemently denies MJ's offer to call a doctor.  As MJ heads out, we see Carol stagger into her bedroom and collapse on the bed.  Back on the street, JJJ is in a bit of a snit.  His driver is late, and Jonah ain't happy about it.  Suddenly the Scorpion's tail (in broad daylight, people) knocks Jonah clean out, and we see our nasty-of-the-day spiriting the publisher up the side of a building and away.  As he climbs, all the Scorpion can think of is revenge for what Jameson did to him and how he'll now pay with his death!

Karen: Well, I get migraines, and I've never collapsed like that! I kind of doubt Gerry Conway had ever experienced one. But really, Carol could afford that ritzy apartment from the royalties off one book? On the space industry?? Uh huh... It's interesting though that when they decided to create a female Captain Marvel (to protect the name?) they went back to the Carol Danvers character. They could have just come up with a brand new person but instead they chose to really tie it to the old Captain Marvel series, as we are reminded several times over by writer/editor Conway's footnotes. Apparently (based on the text piece in the back of the book) it was Conway himself who made this choice, partly because he was a continuity fan, and partly because he thought a woman who could be a security chief at NASA could be a super-hero too. I guess that's not bad reasoning.

Doug:  Ms. Marvel flies across Manhattan, telling the reader that she felt that Jameson was going to be kidnapped, but could do nothing about it.  She flies to the Daily Bugle offices to "pick up the necessary vibrations" that will help her track down her enemy.  Landing through an open window, she has a funny feeling that she's been in the offices before.  She meets Joe Robertson, and when he asks her for her name, she tells him that she doesn't have one!  As her "seventh sense" allows her to "see" where Jameson's been taken, the police arrive.  That's her cue to leave, and she does.  As she flies past Carol Danvers' apartment, she makes no notice of it.  OK, I can't take it anymore -- obviously this book's 36 years old by now and we all know how this plot device would turn out.  But are we to assume that a different hairdo is any better disguise than a pair of thick-rimmed glasses?  The whole "mystery woman/dual identity" schtick -- I'm just not feeling it here.

Karen: I have to agree with you partner. What bothers me even more is the fact that she has amnesia. Again, going back to the text piece, Conway thought he was making some sort of statement about modern women not knowing who they were, or trying to find themselves, but the whole thing about Ms. Marvel and Carol Danvers not being aware they were one and the same is tiresome and we're not even through the first issue.

Doug:  Back at the tenement laboratory, ol' Scorp has JJJ suspended above a vat of bubbling acid while he rails on about how Jameson ruined him.  Of course, Jonah can't understand why, when Gargan had been offered a membership to the private club, he'd turn on him this way.  We get a 2-panel recap of the Scorpion's origin and how the super-suit has actually bonded to his skin.  And then he sticks the magic key in the magic keyhole and boom -- Jameson begins to lower into the vat.  But since this is a hero mag, the hero(ine) arrives in the proverbial nick of time.  She enters the front door, thwarts three deadly defense mechanisms, and flies into the lab.  The Scorpion is happy to see her (shoot -- he doesn't even know her!), and is probably less happy when she jacks him in the jaw.  Ms. Marvel surveys Jameson's predicament, and as she's about to set him loose she gets knocked to the ground by a hunk of machinery.  As the Scorpion pounces, he remarks that her costume is like that of Captain Marvel; we then see another of our lady's powers -- super-agility.  Suddenly Ms. Marvel seems to come to life, calling herself a Kree warrior.  Apparently the reference to Mar-Vell stripped away some mental barriers and she now finds herself mentally unchained and fighting like a tigress.  What we the reader get is the wordiest slugfest in comics history as Ms. Marvel works through all of her problems and shortcomings for our benefit.  Finally, she grabs Gargan by his tail and swings him into the vat -- it bursts, spilling acid all over him.  He runs from the building screaming, and Ms. Marvel helps Jonah down.  She tells him her new superhero name, and leaves with a coy smile as Jonah screams at her to free his hands.

Karen: Wordy is right! It's like a very aggressive psychoanalysis session! One thing though: Mar-Vell's red and blue togs were not an official Kree uniform. If her powers really came from the Kree, you'd think she'd wind up with an outfit more like his old green and white one. But yeah, they want it to look like Captain Marvel's, and blue and red probably sells better than green and white, I get it, I get it. 

Doug:  The last page is sort of an "awakening" page that is used for recap, set-up, and further mystery.  Carol Danvers has been commissioned by Jameson to write an expose' on Ms. Marvel.  What we find out is that Carol still does not know that she is indeed Ms. Marvel, but she feels a weight on her mind and soul whenever she hears the name or thinks of the other woman.  The plot remains a bit thick, and we're promised an origin for Ms. Marvel -- next issue!

Karen: Well, not awful, but certainly not great. I did buy this issue when it first came out, and I recall feeling the same way then. I only picked up the title sporadically. It really never caught on with me, although I gave it a more of a chance after the costume change. Still, it was never a book I read regularly.



Doug:  Here is the letters page from the first issue, which is included in the Marvel Firsts, volume 3.  You can see author Conway's musings on the character and his goals --