Today, Taylor and Spencer are discussing Ms. Marvel 18, originally released September 9th, 2015. This issue is a Secret Wars tie-in. For more Secret Wars coverage from the week, check back Tuesday for our Secret Wars Round-Up.

Taylor: The old axiom says there are five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. While I have my doubts that every person experiences grief in the exact same way as this, I do believe that most people go through something akin to this before arriving at the final stage of acceptance. When something truly traumatic happens it takes awhile for our brains to shift to the new reality of things. However, I think given time we all come to accept whatever bad thing it is that’s happened to us. Ms. Marvel 18 delves into this last stage of coping with grief and shows us that for everyone who undergoes it, it looks a little different.

Ms. Marvel and her personal hero, Captain Marvel, have just found Kamala’s brother Aamir, who was kidnapped by her evil ex-crush Kamran. In an attempt to turn Aamir against his family, Kamran has attempted to wake up Aamir’s latent Inhuman powers. This works (kind of), but when Aamir wakes up he beats up Kamran and escapes with the lady Marvels. Back at Kamala’s school, Carol Danvers reveals to Kamala that the world is about to end, which causes Kamala to reveal her superpowers to her parents.

That the world is ending is a big shock to Kamala. Throughout her short life she’s idolized superheroes and relishes being one and able to save the day. But what can you do when the day simply can’t be saved? For Kamala, she’s been lucky in that she’s been too busy to really consider such things. But with her brother saved she finally has a moment to process the idea of the world ending. At first she acts as if nothing has changed: she goes and argues with her brother and then with her parents. In typical teenage fashion, she gets angry because she feels everyone is against her. A thought occurs to her then:

When she accepts that the world is probably going to end, she tells her mother everything. Even though it turns out her mom has known this all along, the point is that Kamala is coming clean. Before she heads to oblivion she wants to make sure her slate is clean. This is Kamala’s way of accepting what is about to happen. More poignantly, it shows us that she has grown up a little bit. She’s not keeping secrets from her parents now. She’s taking into account their emotions and their needs. With this, we see that she has come to accept her situation in virtually every way.

Earlier in the issue we see that Carol Danvers also goes through her own period of acceptance.  Before they part, Carol gives Kamala a token for each to remember the other by.

Carol gives Kamala a GPS emblazoned with their each of their logos, “gorgeous yet functional.” Carol does this before she flies off to go see to other things which might make us think she’s still fighting to save the world. However, the giving of the locket isn’t something Carol does idly. She does so because she knows this is going to be the last time she sees her protege. She has accepted the end of the world and before that happens wants to let Kamala know she cares about her.

Kamala’s brother, Aamir, also has his own issues with acceptance. He’s not so concerned about the world ending (because he maybe doesn’t know it’s happening). Rather, he’s dealing with people not accepting him for who he is. Aamir is a fundamentalist Muslim and as such his priorities are different from many of the people around him.

He’s angered that no one seems to believe he’s happy with his life. Apparently most people see his lifestyle and assume in some way he’s unhappy. Worse yet, few people, his sister included, seem to understand that his religion is one of the things that make him most happy. What I love about this aspect of the issue is how it makes me confront my own beliefs. A lot of us tend to believe that fundamentalist religious people, regardless of faith, are somehow missing out on life or aren’t happy. What writer G. Willow Wilson shows us though, is that this isn’t necessarily the case. It’s a lesson in how to accept people for who they are regardless of what their belief or lifestyle might be. A lot of us, myself included, who consider themselves progressive could learn a lesson from this. Just because we consider ourselves to be accepting of different cultures, beliefs, etc., doesn’t mean we really are. In what subtle ways might we be unaccepting of those different from us? It’s a subtly deep message and one I know I’ll examine long after reading this issue.

Spencer! Acceptance is a big theme in this issue, but what other things stood out to you? The art of Adrian Alphona is stellar as usual – any new visual gags stand out to you this time? Also, does the fact that Kamala’s parents know about her powers cause you to reconsider earlier issues of this series?

Spencer: It will be fun, when I get a chance, to go back and reread this run with this new information in mind. In retrospect, I’m not especially surprised that Kamala’s mother knows — judging from my own personal experiences in this area, mothers just have a way of figuring out secrets. It’s like a sixth sense. Also: Lockjaw had to be a pretty big clue that something strange was going on with Kamala. I never bought that Mr. and Mrs. Kahn thought he was just a normal dog (though I do wonder if Kamala’s father knows her secret too, or if only her mother’s figured it out; I’m actually leaning towards the latter).

To answer your other question, Taylor, I think my favorite visual gags all fall in this panel:

I don’t know what’s better, the movie posters (“Aunties and Androids 2!”), the car with a sombrero, the raccoon riding a car, or the herd of rampaging pigs. It’s a masterpiece of a panel, really. Alphona is so gifted at humor — I’m also a huge fan of the way Aamir’s powers have torn apart the room he’s being housed in at the school, to the point where it’s bulging out of the wall with a student dangling legs-first out of the window. The fact that Alphona is so great at depicting humor makes the serious nature of the first half of the issue stand out all the moreso. Just look at how Alphona and Wilson choose to open the issue.

This spread is a bit chilling for Ms. Marvel. It’s still got Alphona’s charm —  the squiggly borders and details like Aamir’s out of control shoelaces see to that — but the white borders frame it as a big important, “widescreen” moment, milking our concern over Aamir for all its worth. That sense of drama is maintained throughout the entire confrontation between Aamir and Kamran. The faux-Terrigan mist consumes the background, heightening the tension by removing any distracting background elements and keeping the reader focused on the two combatants.

All that makes for an powerful confrontation and fight, but Alphona and Wilson are just as clever about diffusing that tension once the fight is over.

Nope — Aamir had his moment in the sun, but I can’t take him seriously now. One of Wilson and Alphona’s greatest accomplishments, both throughout Ms. Marvel as a whole and this issue, is how well they manage tone, balancing humor, heart, and action in equal measure. They know when to focus on one element more than others, but never shortchange any part of their winning formula. It’s probably the key to Ms. Marvel‘s great accessibility and popularity.

Taylor, I agree with you that this issue is all about acceptance, and I love that, for Kamala, it’s not just about accepting the end of the world, but accepting her family for who they are. We see a fantastic range throughout this issue in terms of how Kamala interacts with her family: Aamir drives her up a wall once he’s revived, but she also discovers how much he truly cares about her (and just let me say that I love how he shuts down any attempts Kamran may make at shifting blame to Kamala); her mother presses her about something seemingly out of her control, but also shows surprising amounts of sympathy and understanding when Kamala reveals her identity. As far as I’m concerned, this is how family really acts; sure you love them, but they can also drive you out of your mind like no one else. Wilson’s realistic take on family life is endearing, and also highlights Kamala’s growth and maturity: accepting her family’s flaws and the fact that they’re complicated people with their own thoughts and feelings, and not just obstacles in her teenaged life, is an important step towards growing up.

Perhaps more importantly, it’s growth that benefits Kamala Kahn as an individual, not just as a superhero. We’ve all watched Kamala grow into a fine hero over the past 18 issues, and with the end of the world near at hand, it’s fitting and powerful that she’s able to use everything she’s learned as a hero to bring her family together in what could be their final moments on Earth.

One last thought before I sign off (and let you guys take this to the comments): there’s a quick, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment in this issue that highlights one of Kamala’s best qualities in an extremely effective, succinct manner:

Kamran’s been nothing but terrible to Kamala and her family, but when he’s in danger, her first instinct is still to warn him. Kamala’s got a big heart and thinks like a true hero, showing compassion even to her greatest enemy. Is it any wonder everybody loves this girl? It’s just like Captain Marvel says: Kamala Kahn’s special.

For a complete list of what we’re reading, head on over to our Pull List page. Whenever possible, buy your comics from your local mom and pop comic bookstore. If you want to rock digital copies, head on over to Comixology and download issues there. There’s no need to pirate, right?