Exclusive preview of Saladin Ahmed and Minkyu Jung's big 'Magnificent Ms. Marvel' finale

Next month, writer Saladin Ahmed and artist Minkyu Jung will wrap up their acclaimed run with Kamala Khan in the pages of The Magnificent Ms. Marvel with an oversized celebration commemorating not just the conclusion of their story, but 75 issues of Kamala Khan Ms. Marvel comics overall. Today, SYFY WIRE is pleased to present an exclusive lettered preview of the finale, which features the return of Magnificent Ms. Marvel's most persistent struggles while Kamala is just trying to enjoy the Homecoming dance.

Kamala's been through a lot over the course of this 18-issue run, even if you don't count all the struggles with C.R.A.D.L.E. and the anti-teen-superhero fallout from the events of Outlawed. She's gone to distant planets, met a new hero named Amulet, dealt with a crushing family health crisis, and even tried for a little while to have a boyfriend. She also connected with a Kree nanosuit that calls itself Stormranger who bonded with her, then separated her and became its own violent persona. It's that threat, which emerged in Magnificent Ms. Marvel's very first arc, that she'll have to deal with once again in this final issue even as a whole host of other personal dramas converge on the Coles Academic Homecoming dance.

"During our run Ms. Marvel has been everything from the savior of an alien world to a federal fugitive," Ahmed told SYFY WIRE. "But our oversized finale 'Homecoming' is all about classic Kamala — a beleaguered teen hero battling a powerful supervillain against the backdrop of an awkward school dance."

In the exclusive preview pages below, find out how the Ms. Marvel vs. Stormranger battle is rekindled once again, and get set for an oversized finale that will demand everything Kamala's got.

The battle with Stormranger is a major part of this series finale, tying Ahmed and Jung's story all the way back to the beginning, but it's far from the only thing going on. Because this is billed as a celebration of 75 issues of Kamala Khan solo adventures, the creative team is getting the chance to really show their stuff one last time. For Ahmed, it's also a chance to spotlight his collaborator and principal artist over the course of 18 issues, who helped bring Kamala Khan's storyinto a new era. 

"Minkyu really made this book feel like a new chapter in Kamala's story by drawing influence from previous iterations, but adopting a tonally different approach," Ahmed said. "His layouts always pushed the storytelling farther and his little cameos and grace notes just shone. Watch this artist!"

While this is the finale of this volume of The Magnificent Ms. Marvel, it doesn't mean the character is going anywhere. She'll still have a role to play in Champions, which continues with its fourth issue in February and will launch its own new era with writer Danny Lore and artist Luciano Vecchio in April. And then, of course, there are the other major ways in which Kamala Khan's pop cultural footprint just keeps growing, from starring in the most recent Avengers video game to landing her own live-action streaming series on Disney+, which will build directly from the comics to flesh out her supporting cast. Though Ahmed's time with Kamala's story is ending, he's very aware that he got to play a major role in the larger shaping of an icon. 

"Well, on a personal level, stewardship of the most prominent Muslim American superhero in the world is a pretty big deal," he said. "I'm more thrilled than I can say that I've been able to be a part of getting her story out into the world! But more than that, it's thrilling to see Kamala taking her place on center stage. A pop culture moment some of us have been waiting a very long time for!"

The Magnificent Ms. Marvel #18 is in comics shops February 24.