Ms. Marvel is still seeking her place in the Marvel Universe.

Operation Lightning Storm falls in the aftermath of Marvel's Civil War event, and there are still pieces that need picking up. One of them is Arachne, formerly Spider-Woman (one of several), whom Ms. Marvel dealt a foul blow in the preceding storyline. Can she make amends? Read it and see.

Most of this book deals with Ms. Marvel's new S.H.I.E.L.D.-funded and equipped task force to track down villains before they foment the sort of crisis that requires the Avengers' intervention. (Oddly, formation of this team was one of Ms. Marvel's conditions before assuming leadership over those self-same Avengers.) Operation Lightning Storm, as it's awkwardly named, spends most of the book duking it out with members of A.I.M., a scientists-only group of global terrorists.

Now, I've always had trouble connecting with stories in which the bad guy's sole aim is to cause death, destruction and panic in the streets. I mean, where's the motive? It doesn't help that A.I.M.'s brainy but extremely disposable goons dress like giant pencils or that they're led by a guy with a head the size of a minivan and itty-bitty arms and legs. That just makes it silly.

That said, I can't help but enjoy this book. Good art, this time by Roberto de la Torre and Aaron Lopresti, certainly helps. But it's also entertaining to watch as our heroine, under writer Brian Reed's guidance, fumbles and stumbles through her efforts to become a really well-known and admired superguy. She has a long way to go, but let's hope she keeps plugging away.