Ms. Marvel had been conceived as a trademark strategy, but Chris Claremont had transformed her into a carefully shaded character by dwelling on her relationships with her parents and the challenges of her career. “We’re trying to appeal to a female audience, trying to make her a hip, happening, 70s woman striking out on her own,” Claremont recalled. “We say to the artist, ‘ . . . and we need her to look sexy.’ Well, his interpretation of sexy was derived from the ’40s, so what we got was a continuous series of crotch shots.” Claremont lobbied to get his old X-Men partner Dave Cockrum on the title, and they went through several dozen costume redesigns, trying to get it just right. No one had invested so much energy into a female superhero before, and, as Cockrum observed, no one else much cared. “When I brought in the one that was ultimately approved, Stan said, ‘why didn’t you bring me this one first? This is what I’m after . . . tits and ass.’” It wasn’t what the readers were after, though. Just as Claremont found his rhythm, Ms. Marvel was cancelled abruptly, without resolution, after the twenty-third issue.
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