Spider-Man, the Hulk, Captain America, Wolverine-- these guys are the headliners, the Big Guns, the heroes that not only represent their corners of the Marvel story-verse but serve as icons for the company itself. But... where are the women? If one Marvel heroine deserves to be a headliner, it's Carol Danvers, Ms. Marvel!
Here's Ms. Marvel's current look, as illustrated by the eminent George Perez. Certainly it's distinctive, memorable, and has a strong brand identity. But every look Ms. Marvel has sported would have to fall on the "basically a swimsuit" side of the costume spectrum, and this is no exception. Ms. Marvel, to really be a headliner, would do well to have a costume that's more of a costume-costume. I mean, if it were up to me, Ms. Marvel would go on to headline not just her own comic, but also movies, animated series, video games, and, of course, Marvel office stationary and correspondence. Do you really want someone in a swimsuit on all of that? (Okay, don't answer that. You might want it, I think, but would it be best?)
And if Ms. Marvel steps up to the big leagues, that means she should headline her own corner of the Marvel Universe-- and that corner pulls out two of her backgrounds and mashes 'em up together. Ms. Marvel is an alien hunter - slash - secret agent.
Ms. Marvel is already a bona fide hero-- soaring through the skies over an adoring public that she both protects and serves. Unfortunately, the alien Kree have Earth in its sights-- no, they aren't interested in an alien invasion. We are a place for experimentation. We are their petrie dish. Thank goodness Ms. Marvel knows all about Kree and their experiments. By taking out one of their latest Sentry robots, she dedicates herself to safeguard Earth from all Kree.
But things get complicated when she rescues a Young Genius from an alien menace. The Genius points out to her the obvious-- Earth has had some pretty significant alien activity over the past few years, particularly the Kree. And all that alien tech isn't just laying around-- it's falling not only into the wrong hands, but hands all over the place! Foreign governments, terrorist groups, corporate thinktanks, even clandestine U.S. black ops! Thank goodness Ms. Marvel came from a spy background. As "Codename: Warbird," she's an independent operative infiltrating and destroying alien tech wherever it may be.
So, in a weird way, her superhero identity is actually her public persona, kept up so that her "real" secret identity-- the costumed secret alien-destroying agent Warbird-- can act with impunity. It also lets her corner the all-things-alien on Earth corner of the Marvel Universe, such as Nova and Quasar used to do. (Just avoid taking too many trips to space-- that's what killed Ms. Marvel's chances of headlining when she became Binary. And what killed Nova and Quasar, too, interestingly enough.) It also gives Ms. Marvel such friends and foes as Project: Pegasus, SWORD, A.I.M., Brood, Kree and the Lunatic Legion, the Inhumans, and the Supreme Intelligence.
Of course, what does this all mean for her identity as simply Carol Danvers? And what happens when our Young Genius' true self is uncovered?
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