[quote=@Lord Wraith]
<Snipped quote by Star Lord>

I could be wrong, but I always saw that as for the benefit of the reader or viewer so we know she's using her abilities. In a text format, you can just describe her channeling the animal's spirit and then performing the resulting actions. No need to describe the spectral animal shape.
[/quote]

I'm with Wraith on that one. It's a very visual thing for the viewer due to not being able to go "I call upon the power of the mighty bear", since that'd be [i]whack[/i].