Marvel Rising is the next chapter in the all-ages adventures of Ms. Marvel and Squirrel Girl with the help of Spider-Man, Inferno, and Tippy-Toe. The series coincides with the Marvel cartoon Rising: Secret Warriors and focuses on younger heroes for a younger audience. How does it hold up though? Is it good?
So what’s it about?
Read our preview.
Why does this matter?
The all-ages format is a tried and true method to bring in younger readers, but it’s also a good entertainment starter for new older readers. This issue focuses on the characters getting a tour or Squirrel Girl’s school with a conflict to resolve too.
Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?
Fight!
Credit: Marvel Comics
Nilah Magruder does a good job with the characters at hand, focusing more on Ms. Marvel and Squirrel Girl, but giving each character a moment to shine. The captions put you inside Ms. Marvel’s head, who has the distinct problem many younger people have: She doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life. Set during a school tour guided by Squirrel Girl, all the characters seem to have an idea of what they want to study. Ms. Marvel is a bit in the dark with that. That gives the story a strong A-plot while cars seem to be coming alive for the B-plot. Magruder opens the book with a flash-forward delivering action up front and then character drama at the middle, keeping your interest all the way through.
The culprit of all the mind control and car mayhem is an interesting choice. The same villain popped up in Weapon H: War of Weird World, giving the villain more relevance. It’s an interesting villain for these teen heroes to come up against, certainly making me more interested for more.
The art by Roberto Di Salvo and colors by Rachelle Rosenberg suit the characters nicely. It’s a bubbly, fun color palette with a lot of pink skies and bright splashy backgrounds. Squirrel Girl has the most unencumbered face which is well rendered and expressive (and sometimes comically so).
Homework. Yuck.
Credit: Marvel Comics
It can’t be perfect, can it?
The pacing is a bit janky due to the book opening with a flash-forward, then catching up to it and then ending with a tacked on scene. The flash-forward obviously puts the action up front to pique our interest, but it makes the tacked on final scene feel even more awkward. It’s a pacing problem.
Is it good?
A good first issue that can be enjoyed by all ages. The strongest elements are great like Ms. Marvel’s internal monologue and a good mix of attention on each hero.
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