Marvel’s taking Ms. Marvel to the past in a series of giant-sized one-shots, kicking off this week in Giant-Size X-Men #1. The title references the iconic Giant-Size X-Men, which featured a bunch of new mutants, including Wolverine, and now we get to see Ms. Marvel tangle with them after she’s zipped off back in time. But why, and what could this mean for her identity as a mutant? This issue has more answers than you might think.
At the very start, this issue reveals who the main villain is, so it’s not much of a spoiler: Legion. He’s on a quest to go back in time and mess up key moments, but he never accounted for Ms. Marvel somehow being tuned to jump back to the same time as him. It gives characters like Cyclops an edge against Legion, but also in the battles Ms. Marvel knows about but Cyclops hasn’t lived through yet. Anyone who had doubts about this book should probably breathe easy since Legion’s involvement could make this a fun adventure without retconning all of the X-Men’s history.
An interesting wrinkle in Ms. Marvel’s time travel is that Cyclops remembers her from back when he was sent to the future as his younger self. Meanwhile, Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly write Ms. Marvel in a very Spidey sort of way, always talking and always annoying someone.
Crash landing!
Credit: Marvel
Adam Kubert brings his A-game, particularly with cool double-page layouts that are read by turning the entire comic with a vertical design. It makes the dynamic unique, even when Xavier speaks like he used to in an old-school way. A standout moment utilizing this format is Legion’s attack, with circular panels drawing your eye down the comic vertically as we catch up on what happens to each member of the team.
But does any of this matter when time travel is concerned? If you were at all interested in what Ms. Marvel’s mutant ability is, it appears we get a taste of it here. I can’t say it’s clear what it is to us or Ms. Marvel, but it’s at least a promise we’ll get some answers there.
This issue also introduces a new mutant in a short backup story. Written by Al Ewing with art by Sara Pichelli, the mutant is Italian and is met by Xavier, who is interested in her joining the team. He bites off more than he can chew as it’s revealed she’s not interested in working with “terrorists,” and her power is incredibly powerful. Seeing how she pops up later will be interesting, as her ability is a game-changer.
Blending energetic visuals, clever time-travel hijinks, and nostalgic nods, Giant-Size X-Men #1 delivers a surprisingly cohesive and entertaining start to Kamala’s retro-mutant journey. It kicks off this new chapter with style and promise, even if the time travel aspects make its longstanding impact suspect.
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