The co-editor of 'Ms. Marvel’s America: No Normal,' a scholarly examination of one of the first Muslim Super Heroes to headline her own series, Hussein has a decades-long love of comics, but got back to serious collecting with the reveal of Kamala Khan as the new Ms. Marvel. Visit Marvel.com to find out how heroes like Kamala, Amadeus Cho, and Cindy Moon have influenced Hussein’s work and fandom!
As a scholar of religion focusing on Muslims in pop culture, I had a professional obligation to check this book out. From page one, I was in love with Kamala Khan and her overly cautious parents and her eclectic friends, all of which reminded me of myself at that age. The intentional writing, the detailed art, and the layered coloring just showed how much attention was devoted to this title.
As someone who never quite grooved to Peter Parker, Cindy Moon, AKA Silk, was an absolute delight. Her total lack of cultural awareness, desire for family, and wanting to do the right thing, despite what it cost her, sang to me. Unlike the comics of my childhood, I would truly see myself in the struggles and personal dilemmas that she faced.
Created by Greg Pak and Takeshi Miyazawa, Amadeus Cho was a clever inversion of the nerdy Asian stereotype. He didn’t have to sacrifice his intelligence to be strong like the Hulk I grew up with. He was smart, strong, and emotionally aware. In addition, his relationship with his sister Maddy grounds him in broader Asian cultural norms and commitments to family—something I could relate to.
One of my favorite scenes that shows a shared Asian culture, when the heroes are fighting over who will pay the check. If you don’t fight over the check, there is no love present.
Meet Dr. Faiza Hussain, AKA Captain Britain! As an agent of MI13, Faiza was sent out with her team to combat various supernatural threats in the midst of the Skrull’s Secret Invasion.
When I first picked up comics in the 80s, I wasn’t thinking about representation. I was more focused on learning how to be like the Super Heroes I loved. Like most folks then, I found the X-Men. Cyclops is still my man, and the fact that Jay Edidin recently made him canonically neuroatypical makes him even more dear to me, especially as someone who was diagnosed with ADD as an adult.
