The Legacy of Kamala Khan and What it Means for Comics and YA Literature by Margaret A. Robbins, PhD

Margaret A. Robbins has a PhD in Language and Literacy Education from The University of Georgia. She is a National Writing Project Teacher-Consultant and a Teacher-Scholar at The Mount Vernon School in Atlanta, Georgia. She has peer-reviewed journal articles published in The ALAN Review, SIGNAL Journal, Gifted Child Today, Social Studies Research and Practice, and The Qualitative Report. She also has chapters in the following scholarly books: Fantasy Literature: Challenging Genres, Edited by Mark A. Fabrizi, Comic Connections: Reflecting on Women in Popular Culture, Edited by Sandra Eckard, and Writing Can Change Everything: Middle Level Kids Writing Themselves into the World, Edited by Shelbie Witte. Her research interests include comics, Young Adult literature, fandom, critical pedagogy, literacy communities, and writing instruction/practices. ​

Margaret A. Robbins

The Legacy of Kamala Khan and What it Means for Comics and YA Literature 
by Margaret A. Robbins, PhD 

On February 24, 2021, Marvel released Issue #18 of The Magnificent Ms. Marvel by Saladin Ahmed. This was the 75th issue of the whole series, with G. Willow Wilson as the first writer, and brought an end to Kamala Khan’s solo series. As a comics reader and scholar, the end of the series brought me mixed feelings. I was satisfied with the ending; it left unanswered questions, but given the age of the main protagonist, some open endedness was appropriate. However, ever since the series has been cancelled, I’ve been less eager to go to the comic shop on a weekly basis and wonder if others may feel the same. If so, what does this say for comic readership and how to keep a diverse array of comics readers and creators? 

I still go to the comic shop periodically, as there are a few series that still intrigue me. I’m especially interested to see how Wonder Woman and other female superheroes will be represented over time. Yet there’s a little less urgency now that Kamala Khan, the most recent Ms. Marvel character, is not in a solo series, although she continues to be an important character in Champions. Having said that, Kamala Khan is clearly here to stay, regardless of her solo series running its course. Her next adventures may indicate the direction that comics and related media are going and, hopefully, will continue to go. As educators, we need to pay attention to the growing trends related to female representation in comics and related media, and it’s important to have these dialogues with our students. ​

In late 2021, Disney Plus will release a television show of Kamala Khan’s story, which will consist of six episodes. This show will be a part of an ongoing Marvel series, which so far has included the popular show WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and for the month of June 2021 Loki.  Although the offerings have been inclusive of diverse characters, none of them so far have included an adolescent character.  In making this move, Marvel shows the significance of Kamala Khan as a character. She’s among the first female characters of color to have a solo series in comics and the first Pakistani-American Muslim lead character in a comic. Also, by including a teenage girl, Marvel shows an appreciation for youth culture.

​What does the television series, along with Kamala’s continued appearance in Marvel comics, mean for critical literacy conversations in classroom settings? Several years ago, when I first saw a Kamala Khan cosplay at DragonCon, the young woman was thrilled that I knew who she was because up to that point, no one else had recognized her character. Once the television show comes out, more and more people will recognize Kamala Khan cosplay at popular culture conventions and other events.​

 If there’s anything that the Black Panther film phenomenon success has further imparted upon us, it’s that representation matters. Cultural relevance begins with comics and books; however, including these diverse characters in film and television increases their recognition with the general public. Everyone deserves to see themselves portrayed in comics and books, along with television and media. I’ll be curious to see how more diverse representation in the Marvel television shows and movies will affect the rising generation of students. 
As more women of color become highly recognized and iconic superheroes, how will this change conversations of diversity and inclusion in the classroom? Monica Rambeau will apparently have a more prominent role in the forthcoming Captain Marvel film, as will Kamala Khan. As female characters of color play a more prominent role in comics and their mainstream television shows and films, conversations related to #weneeddiversebooks and related movements will become even more pertinent. We see these related trends in greater society as well, as evident by having our first female and first person of color as a Vice President of the United States of America. 
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Over the past four years, I have taught Ms. Marvel: No Normal in my 7th grade classroom, two years in a Composition course and two years in a Humanities course tied into a unit on immigration. This past year, I added a literature circles book club of five choice books related to immigration, which I further discussed at the UNLV YA Summit. My challenge to educators is to discover and read more comics and YA literature novels with prominent female protagonists of color and to teach them in our classrooms. Additionally, as related films and television become more popular, how might we include clips from these shows to foster conversations about critical literacy and critical visual literacy? 

My challenge to the comics industry is to include more comics with diverse characters, including new characters. We have many reboots of Wonder Woman/Diana Prince and Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers, which is wonderful. However, I’d love to see more series with new characters. The Firefly series has a new “verse” with young diverse characters, which is a great place to start, and the new Buffyverse comics include new and reimagined diverse characters. While Joss Whedon’s legacy is problematic, the writers of these two series are clearly proactive in their quest to create and reimagine characters more befitting to modern day conversations about inclusivity. The Marvel Voices comics series includes indigenous characters, along with a new comic with LGBTQIA characters in honor of pride month.

How might we continue to encourage this important #ownvoices and #weneeddiversebooks work? I believe that the comics industry, aspiring writers, educators, and readers all play an important role in this process. Kamala Khan may be the first female Pakistani-American Muslim primary character in comics, but hopefully, she will not be the last.  

Until next time.