I have never read a Ms. Marvel comic book and I knew next to nothing about the character so, when it was announced as the next Marvel/Disney+ series, I was interested only to the extent that any Marvel project is worthy of note.

Ms. Marvel, the series, is really good. The main star is a delight, the supporting cast is solid, the story is interesting and the style and presentation are refreshingly different from anything else Marvel has previously given us.

The plot is, at times, a bit of a mess, and I can't help but feel the scripts needed a fresh set of eyes before filming began. But I was able to lose myself in the color and excitement of the show, which manages to plow right through any complaints about "plot" and "clear writing."

The hero is Kamala Khan, played by Iman Vellani with a great deal of charm. Vellani, a native of Pakistan, brings a solid foundation to the role, and her performance is particularly good given that her acting credits before this series are ... well, nonexistent. For a first-time actor, being thrust into the spotlight in a major studio production has got to be intimidating, but she pulls it off -- perhaps some of the bewildered excitement she exhibits as she discovers her new superpowers reflects a bit of her own emotions at doing the show.

Kamala is a high school student in Jersey City, and she idolizes the Avengers -- particularly Captain Marvel. She dresses as her hero for a superhero convention in her town and accessorizes with a Pakistani bangle sent to her by her grandmother. That bangle, it turns out, contains great power and, while her powers in no way resemble Captain Marvel's, she emulates her hero by doing her best to save people around her.

Then members of the Clandestine -- superpowered beings from another reality who are trapped on Earth -- come looking for the bangle, with which they can open a portal back to their own world. The fact that opening the door will destroy the Earth doesn't dissuade them.

Only Kamala and her friends -- and a ragtag Pakistani group known as the Red Daggers -- stand in their way.

I loved watching Kamala's utter joy at gaining her powers and testing them out, even if she doesn't seem too curious at first how she got them. The early episodes have fun with her clumsy attempts to master her unusual gift, but when the chips are suddenly down and she faces several highly trained antagonists, Kamala very suddenly possesses superior fighting skills. That, more than anything, disrupts the storyline.

She is also a rampant doodler, and her amusing squiggles often make it into the background of whatever's going on around her; it's a clever technique, not unique to this show but very well done and never obtrusive.

It's important to note that Ms. Marvel treats the Muslim faith and culture -- both in the United States and Pakistan -- with respect, approaching the topic with humor but not mockery. The history of Pakistan and the Partition that violently divided it from India is also presented respectfully here.

Besides Kamala, the cast includes a fun, quirky bunch of supporting players, among them her best friend Bruno (Matt Lintz), her cousin Nakia (Yasmeen Fletcher), her parents (Zenobia Shroff and Mohan Kapur), her older brother Aamir and his fiancee Tyesha (Saagar Shaikh and Travina Springer), school frenemy Zoe (Laurel Marsden) and Damage Control agents Deever and Cleary (Alysia Reiner and Arian Moayed). It's a large ensemble -- there are more I could mention, but you get the idea -- and they do a good job with the material.

And the material is -- well, it's a lot of fun, it's colorful and exciting. It's geared more to a young-adult audience than some Marvel shows have been, but as an adult I was entertained. The plot, as mentioned, doesn't seem as polished as it could have been, but it's a comic-book movie, not Lord of the Rings.

Some folks seem unhappy there wasn't more action, but sometimes it's OK to take time to breathe and develop the characters a bit. Ms. Marvel does that admirably well.

All in all, another solid win for Marvel.