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This article examines two recent Israeli webcomics and explores how each has introduced new modes of graphic communication in Israeli comics. Both are rooted in the Israeli cultural milieu but they reject the forms and substance traditionally associated with Israeli comics and graphic novels. In particular, I analyse Barlev's use of anthropomorphism and Nachmany's use of superhero parody in order to offer novel critiques of Israeli society while also expanding the range and scope of the Israeli comic book and graphic narrative marketplace. I conclude the article by offering a tentative assessment of what it is about webcomics that has facilitated both of these works and how Nachmany's and Barlev's popularity can lead to future novel expressions in Israeli comics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Upon her introduction as the new Ms. Marvel in 2013, the Pakistani-American superhero Kamala Khan was celebrated, by audiences and critics alike, as a welcome addition to the world of superhero comics. Familiar superhero tropes and ethical dilemmas were given an added twist for Marvel's first Muslim protagonist as the teenage girl strives to reconcile her newfound powers with the moral authorities of her family and her faith. Many comics scholars reserved special praise for the nuanced and unobtrusive way in which the new Ms. Marvel introduces American readers to Muslim culture by following its eminently 'relatable' heroine on her search for moral guidance, whereas others were more sceptical of the extent to which the comic's representation of Muslims can be considered progress. This article probes this ambivalence by analysing the cultural authorities invoked in the first eleven issues of the series. Instead of resolving the critical disagreement, a close reading of Kamala Khan's implicit and explicit appeals to authority allows for a more complicated and richer understanding of the comic's, as well as its eponymous intersectional superheroine's, ambiguity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]