Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #39
Credits
In the deserts of Saudi Arabia, some men are joy riding in their jeeps when they come upon a strange energy form in the shape of a woman. Speaking to them in an alien language that makes their eyes and ears bleed, it demands to know where a batch of something is. One of the men tells them they loaded it onto a boat and that there is a second on in Atlanta. The energy being then unleashes a powerful heat that melts the men.
Meanwhile, in Atlanta, Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM) have used a reverse mass driver to pull a meteor down to Earth in an attempt to destroy the city. The new Ms. Marvel (Karla Sofen) manages to stop it, but not without some casualties. In the aftermath of the incident, Karla is surrounded by reporters who have all sorts of questions for her about what caused this near disaster. One of the “reporters” is actually former SHIELD agent Dave Sum, who wants to know what happened to the original Ms. Marvel. Karla claims that there is a connection between Carol Danvers and the recent Skrull invasion of Earth.[2][3] She tells them to connect the dots and then flies away.
Karla heads to a HAMMER field office in the area to report back to Norman Osborn. She was sent to Georgia to find the local AIM cell and only found their accountants. She explains that the meteor she stopped was originally aimed at New York but she diverted it to kill the terrorists while also appearing to save the city. The reason why she went there was to follow a lead in the original Ms. Marvel’s investigation into AIM.[3] While she tells Norman she went in subtly, in reality she blasted her way in and met with the man in charge of that building, an AIM operative named Reginald Fisher. Fisher was a slick customer and knew that Karla had come to talk. Going into his office, she made the proposal given to her by Norman Osborn: An olive branch. If Fisher agrees to work with them to reunite the warring AIM factions, they would have his support.
Reginald found this offer amusing and decided to show Ms. Marvel what his AIM cell was working on. They were originally accountants and used early model MODOCs to assist in their money laundering schemes. When the organization splintered, they decided to diversify their operations. While operating a semi-legit accounting firm above, down below they harvested the MODOC brains and made a new version of their Storyteller project.[4] He explains that they have a the power to make anything they wish into a reality and right now they are willing a meteor to hit New York City. As they leave the room, Karla hears voices pleading for her to help. When she asks Reginald if he hears something, he tells her he does not.
When Karla finishes telling her story, however, she doesn’t mention the MODOCs. After hearing her recounting of events, he is pleased that she used the meteor to squash a bug after Fisher turned down his offer.
24 hours later, out in the Pacific, the being of energy has tracked down a vessel called the Donna Blue. She kills everyone on board and goes down into the ship storage. There, she finds a cache of Storytellers who wants to know who she is, as they called Ms. Marvel for help and she is not her.
Meanwhile, Karla has stashed the Atlanta Storytellers in her closet at Avengers Tower. When she checks on them she stresses that Norman Osborn cannot know about their existence. They plead with her to free their others, and she promises to get to it as soon as possible. That’s when the wall of her room is blown open. It is the energy being and it demands she hand over the babies. However, Karla tells the intruder that she will have to kill her first!
Recurring Characters
Ms. Marvel, Norman Osborn, AIM, Storytellers, strange entity, Dave Sum
Continuity Notes
The Skrull invasion happened primarily in Secret Invasion #1-8, Carol’s involvement in that affair was chronicled in Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #28-30, and was the last time she was seen in public. This is because her powers were slowly burning her out and she seemed to have perished in Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #37. In reality, she has been split into different beings. The energy being we saw earlier is a part of Carol’s essence. This will all be detailed in Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #42-46.
Because he killed the leader of the Skrulls in Secret Invasion #8, Norman Osborn was made America’s top cop. One of his first duties was to make a team of Avengers of his own in Dark Avengers #1. They mostly consist of former villains masquerading as previously established heroes, including Karla, who took on the Ms. Marvel identity.
Carol has been going after AIM hard since Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #11-12 and clashed with them multiple times as seen in issues #15-17.
The original Storytellers were the children of AIM scientists who were experimented upon in order to give them reality altering powers. The only success was a boy named Gavin, who managed to escape. Carol Danvers encountered him twice in Ms. Marvel Special #1, and Ms. Marvel: Storyteller #1.
