Ms. Marvel and the Importance of the Comic Book

Response 4: Ms. Marvel and the Importance of the Comic Book

Dear parents,

I understand that you have some reservations about including a comic book in the curriculum. I want to assure you that Ms. Marvel is not only appropriate for students, but also academically and socially relevant to students. Ms. Marvel will excite students and get them reading. Legitimacy of a text extends beyond its complexity or the medium in which its message is told. We need to embrace where the students live, and in this case, they reside in comic books. If you will allow me, I wish to show you how Ms. Marvel is culturally, academically, and artistically significant for students.

            Today’s political and social climate is as heated as it has ever been. With so many people harboring misguided anger, it is necessary to introduce texts that are socially constructive.

According to Katherine Bucher and KaaVonia Hinton:

A multicultural approach to literature is essential because it can foster a self-worth and motivation in students of diverse cultural background that was not present before. In addition, it can show that there is a great deal to be learned from people who have had different cultural experiences (39).

Within our country there are cultures and races that are terribly misrepresented or unrepresented in literature within schools. However, as America becomes more diverse it becomes necessary to expand what is taught in schools in order to accommodate the multiplicity in schools. These marginalized groups need a voice so that they can build a sense of self-worth within a historically white America. Further, in order combat bigotry towards these belittled groups we need to introduce different cultural experiences into the classroom to ensure that our classrooms are full of students who are familiar with, aware of, and able to see how culturally similar varying groups can be. Ms. Marvel gives Muslims a mainstream Islamic hero to look up to. I foresee that the response to pushing characters who are racially and culturally diverse will be perceived as social justice in the classroom, and in a way it is, but that label should not deter anyone from considering Ms. Marvel’s inclusion in the classroom. For years, the go to literary, religious source has been The Bible. Ms. Marvel, uses the Quran where the bible would usually be used for guidance. Wilson Alphona writes, “There’s this ayah from the Quran that my dad always quotes when he sees something bad on TV. A fire or a flood or bombing. ‘whoever kills one person it is as if he has killed all of mankind and however saves one person, it is as if he has saved all of mankind.’” This gives Muslim students a character to identify with as well as introducing values that may not be familiar to a majority of students. However, many will also challenge the book by acknowledging that it is diverse, but is it any good?

            Academically speaking, Ms. Marvel forces students to challenge the norms that they face every day. The text invites students to think deeply about Kamala’s actions and the decisions she is forced to make. Alphona writes, “Fabulous. Now, I’m in trouble, too. This has to have happened for a reason. I saved one life. Does it stop there or do I go on? Maybe this is what I’ve been waiting for. Maybe I’m finally part of something… bigger.” Ms. Marvel invites students to consider the bigger picture. It wants students to consider complex problems. Is saving a life worth it if it gets you in trouble? Is disobedience acceptable in light of the greater good? A text does not need to be textually complex to be academically worthwhile. Ms. Marvel works to have students engaged on a deep level of thinking, despite the text being seemingly simplistic. As Hemmingway has taught us, words are just the surface of what is happening. As with Hemmingway’s simplistic sentences, we can find the real meaning below the comic’s text and drawings.

In Ms. Marvel’s drawings, students are forced to use more reading skills. The process of reading a comic book may be more in depth that reading complex texts since it involves more senses than traditional books. Bucher and Hinton write, “comics appeal to many poor readers and visual learners because in comics readers are expected to apply different ‘reading’ skills.” Comics invite poor readers to use skills that are not often associated with reading. The drawings in comics invite readers to explore reading from nontraditional angles. Common Core calls for classes to be cross curricular and comic books can fill that void. Students can learn and grow from looking at and admiring the art in the comics. Students can read into subtleties that may not be possible in traditional text. Ms. Marvel’s medium opens up a new realm of possibilities for expert and novice readers to explore.  

            Ms. Marvel will prove to be an important and meaningful text for your children. I encourage you to give the book a chance and to discuss what your children learn while reading. I look forward to learning alongside your child.

Sincerely, Alex Severson

Works Cited

Bucher, Katherine, and KaaVonia Hinton. Young Adult Literature: Exploration, Evaluation, and Appreciation. 3rd ed. Boston: Pearson, 2014. Print.

Alphona, Wilson. Ms. Marvel. New York: Marvel Worldwide Inc. 2015. Print.