Ms. Marvel gets the look she’ll have for a decade. But first…
The last few issues have seen Carol Danvers shedding her Kree-ness. In #18, her costume was destroyed and she basically wore a black bathing suit with no exposed belly. Last issue, she met with Captain Mar-Vell and rejected the advances of the Kree Supreme Intelligence. Here, she finally gets a new costume that’s much closer to being Ms.-like. It’s still sexy—and let’s face it, even most male superheroes go for a flattering bulge—but it seems better suited for her. Despite the high heels.
After getting the new duds, she fights some lizard men. Then a giant snake.
Marvel was so excited about the new outfit, they did a house ad:
Issue #22 brings back Deathbird, and she’s always fun.
See how muscular both women look in this issue? That’s probably due to the influence of inker Mike Zeck. This is some of his earliest work.
Overall, these issues are mostly harmless. Mystique is still doing her little plots, but they don’t seem to be going anywhere, and Ms. Marvel is basically just moving through each story by punching the latest thing that appears in front of her. Standard superheroics, made better by Claremont’s scripts. He was one of the best male (or female) writers of women during the early 1980s.
Art by Dave Cockrum (pencils #20-22), Mike Vosburg (pencils, #22). Early work of Mike Zeck on inks.