The Ms. Marveling continues! Sana Takeda swaps back into the art seat to join Brian Reed in continuing this surprisingly epic storyline. We begin with a distraught Lily Hollister recounting how an unusually sloppy Ms. Marvel came smashing through the ceiling looking for Osborn and was shocked to see her. As she began to power down and show concern for Lily, Lily rewarded her with a pumpkin bomb to the face.
Meanwhile, Catherine Donovan is still flying to New York, making a list of things she knows about herself, not liking some of it. she lands, deletes all the messages from her boss on her phone, and gets a cab to Avengers Tower. At that same location, the sort-of-Ms. Marvel is in restraints in a chair. she’s about to be transferred to Thunderbolts Mountain, but is slowly breaking her restraints, something we’re told Ares and the Sentry shouldn’t be able to do working together. Osborn goes to see her, and is informed they’ve already pumped her full of sedatives. Ms. Marvel says she’s getting stronger by the second, and sooner or later, she will kill Osborn.
Retinal scans detected that “Catherine” is Carol Danvers, which makes Norman go ask the Ms. Marvel he’s got who she is, and she finds this amusing. Norman calls in his Avengers. They soon track down the terrified woman, and as she keeps running, Bullseye puts an arrow in her leg. Before Venom can eat her…
Soon they have Catherine in a hospital bed, freaking out, and Ms. Marvel still in her chair, which she promptly tears to bits before tearing through various HAMMER goons. Moonstone figures out that Ms. Marvel is more powerful the closer she is to Catherine, and wants to kill her to solve that problem. Osborn gives her permission.
Well, that looks bad. And brings us to…
Phillippe Briones and Ikari Studios hop through the revolving art door for this one. Right back where we left off.
Before Moonstone can kill Catherine, Ms. Marvel appears, blasting Moonstone right out of the building so they can have another brawl. As they beat each other through the air, Catherine finds herself surrounded by HAMMER goons.
One assumes the MODOK babies are behind all this. Somehow. Back at the fight, Moonstone is sent smashing into an office, where she informs Ms. Marvel that her teammates are probably killing Catherine right now, making Ms. Marvel try to go back. but Karla picks up 2 regular folks and throws them into the air to keep her here.
Brian Reed repeatedly getting in on Brian Bendis’ dumb thing of these impossibly perfect, interchangeable women calling each other fat is tiresome. Back in the Tower, Catherine is on the run with a HAMMER gun when she runs right into Osborn. She quickly learns her special gun is programmed not to shoot him, and he crushes it.
Well, I guess that’s it. Show’s over, fo–
Oh, nevermind. Rather absurdly, the “storytellers” animate the Rubik’s Cubes coming out of Catherine there and go jam them into Moonstone…
Oooohkay! Big finish.
Complete with Sana Takeda. Moonstone says she’s Catherine Donovan and wants to know why she’s dressed as Ms. Marvel. Then…
Oh, “cow,” too, got all the really unfortunate Bendis female things going on. Out in the real world, Ms. Marvel is pounding Moonstone to bits, and Moonstone is just voicing Catherine’s thoughts. In her mind, Carol Danvers’ memories are slowly taking over and sublimating Karla Sofen.
How is she ignoring her moonstone? How would she have any powers? I’m lost. Moonstone goes smashing in to Catherine’s attempt to act normal, and in the real world… well, I don’t know, really…
Did Moonstone just throw MODOK babies at Ms. Marvel? How? From where? Somehow, this reunites the 2 parts of Carol. I really don’t know. Well, with her head clear, Carol starts whupping Karla, which is what she was doing, anyway, and Moonstone asks if she forgot Moonstone can just absorb Carol’s energy blasts. She can? That’s also Carol’s power. This is so confusing.
Cut to Karla in Osborn’s office, saying Ms. Marvel has condemned her to a slow death. That, within 72 hours, she’ll die without the moonstone, and Carol knows it. Norman doesn’t buy that Carol would do that, and tells her Carol didn’t destroy the stone on purpose, and to go find it.
That doesn’t look like it worked! Did it? I’m pretty sure it did not. But, that’s War of the Marvels. Would you believe our next post is still another issue of Ms. Marvel?