If time travel hurts your head, then what does a battle of doppelgangers do for you? If you have no problems with scuffles between characters with the same visage and similar abilities, then this is the book for you! "War of the Marvels" pairs the current Ms. Marvel -- call her the Dark Ms. Marvel since "Dark" is the new black at Marvel - Karla Sofen, who just so happens to be the former Moonstone -- a villain! -- against Christine Donovan, the former alias of the once Warbird, more-recently deceased former Ms. Marvel. It appears as though Christine Donovan is the incarnation of Ms. Marvel, and that doesn't sit too well with the excessively psychotic Sofen. To complicate the storyline even more, Carol Danvers reappears in this issue, bringing the total number of "Ms. Marvels" up to three.
The battle is bright and brilliant, the action fast-paced and electrifying. Reed is really digging deep and playing up the shared universe, the history of Carol Danvers, and the frenetic energy of superheroics when innocent lives are at stake. Ms. Moonstone Marvel's actions are thoroughly repulsive, instantly making this character ten times the villain she was coming into this issue.
Briones art, while reminiscent of Bret Blevins' work at times, provides much of the energy for this story. The action is clean and easy to follow, even if the situation is challenging to render -- after all, how many titles follow three characters, two being identical, yet not twins and the third sharing costuming and many of the powers of one of the first two? Yeah, that confused me a bit too, but Briones manages to keep it all discernible for us. The coloring by Ikari Studios bears mentioning in that it is completely unlike the coloring in almost every other superhero comic on the stands right now. It looks like a painting printed in a comic, even though the original art was never intended to be a painting. The imagery is more filled with contrast, which fits this story perfectly.
The penultimate issue of "War of the Marvels" may seem like a headscratcher at first, but this issue sets the stage nicely for what appears to be one explosive conclusion. I'm not one-hundred percent certain who's who in this book, but I am certain that I am enjoying this book quite a bit. Reed is making this character a character to care about.