SHIELD #2 review

I enjoyed the first issue of Marvel TV tie-in SHIELD lots. I enjoyed this second instalment lots more. The opening story was sprawling, epic stuff which still found room for some nice character bits. This time it's a much smaller-scale tale, offering plenty of room for even more great moments with its tighter cast.

The bulk of the book takes place in Jersey City, where SHIELD agent Jemma Simmons is undercover at the high school attended by Kamala Khan, the new Ms Marvel. A couple of the kids have a dubious money-making scheme going, selling out-of-date supervillain tech, and it falls to Jemma, Kamala and the late-arriving Agent Phil Coulson to put one very doughy genie back in the bottle.

En route, there's an unofficial contest of superbeing geekery, Ms Marvel learns a new way to use her abilities and Jemma offers some support that's going to be needed, especially given Kamala isn't ready to accept one piece of advice. 

It's similar to something Wolverine told Kamala recently in her own, unmissable series, and I don't blame a young teen at all for holding onto her ideals. Of course she won't be able to save everyone, but if she makes Spidey's mantra that 'Nobody dies' her own, it's certain that fewer will.

This issue also introduces us to Jemma's father, whose London-based job with dodgy industrialists Roxxon Oil could lead to complications for the daughter he thinks is a party planner. It's a splendid two-page scene from writer Mark Waid and artist Humberto Ramos, a declaration that this book is going to be a winner. And it is, with Waid capturing Coulson, Jemma and Kamala excellently (is this the first time anyone other than Ms Marvel creator G Willow Wilson has written her?). I hope the three of them have another adventure before long.

And bonus, there's a great gag for anyone who's read a lot of Silver and Bronze Age comics.

Ramos's always elongated art style fits right in with Kamala's crazy power set, and the overall energy required by Waid's script. What's more, his likenesses of Jemma and Coulson are spot on. Victor Olazaba's sharp inks and Edgar Delgado's restrained colours firm things up nicely. Joe Caramanga supplies the neat letters, Julian Totino Tedesco the cute cover, edits are by Jon Moisan, Ellie Pyle and Tom Brevoort, Jessica Pizarro designs, I read the thing...

... oh, I don't get credit for that? Well, I'll give you credit if you buy this issue, it's the perfect meeting point of Marvel's comics, telly and film continuity. Wonderful.