Welcome back from spring break everyone!
I hope you all enjoyed and are feeling refreshed from the brief respite we received from schoolwork.
There were a lot of things to celebrate during our break: vacation, completing midterms, and, most recently, International Women’s Day (which was celebrated on March 7).
Inspired by this holiday and the incredible stories of women that were cropping up and flooding my social media feeds, I decided to refocus my comic reaction series toward that of the female protagonist.
This week, I chose to read Marvel’s America: The Life and Times of America Chavez.
For a brief moment upon glancing at the cover, I thought America was to be a story that served the continuum of the Captain America plotline, only with a female counterpart.
However, upon reading its contents, I was proven wrong.
While Captain America does make a cameo appearance in this graphic novel, America is an independent story chock-full of POC and LGBTQA+ representation, and showcases examples of how women can rise and thrive despite massive hardships obstacles that threaten to stand in their way.
Let’s start with the first thing that captured my attention: the artwork.
In contrast to previous comic books I have seen, such as Wonder Woman and Iron Man, America was illustrated in a very bright and animated 2D style.
The layout and designs were flat and simple to follow along, but admittedly there were some instances within the artwork that I felt the illustrator may have rushed, particularly in background scenes.
That being said, I did have fun following the illustrations as the comic progressed; the colors were vivid and the forefront images were all incredibly well-done.
The comic follows the story of America Chavez, a young woman who seems to have a lot on her plate right from the get-go.
She is a young Avenger and the leader of The Ultimates, another Marvel superhero group, and she works very hard to save the areas of the multiverse that need her help.
America is also consistently shown to be turmoiled by the absence of her two mothers after their deaths, had recently broke up with her potentially serious girlfriend, and on top of that, she just started college.
She doesn’t just have a lot on her plate; her plate is overflowing.
To make matters worse, she immediately falls behind in one of her classes, her girlfriend gets kidnapped by Chavez Guerrillas (a crazy fan-club devoted to getting America to notice them), and whatever “star portals” she creates and slips through ultimately and without warning lead her to a time of the past.
Eventually, she gets stuck in a time that isn’t her own, and her problems only intensify from there as she struggles to figure out a way to return home and save her girlfriend.
This comic tells a great story, but the writing is not without its flaws.
Being a Spanish speaker myself, I was stoked to see phrases of Spanish slang and expression of culture that I was familiar with appear in the text, especially from a female superhero.
However, America’s character was reminiscent of girls that I would actively avoid back in high school: loud, obnoxious, disrespectful of their surroundings and figures of authority, and little to no regard for anyone who held opinions that conflicted with her own.
This personality made it a little difficult to sympathize with America’s character, and there were moments where I disliked her.
Yet, I will say that despite my lack of overall sympathy in her earlier moments, this comic made America feel genuine to me.
Her voice resonated in my mind as of a legitimate, strong Latina woman who had little patience for disagreement and who was always ready to both start and end a fight if necessary.
America is a story layered in humor, verbal and physical beatdowns, Spanish slang, portrayals of LGBTQA+ and interracial relationships, and overall, just women being fabulous.
In honor of International Women’s Day, I think America was the right way to go, especially with her the first Latina superhero that I’ve come across.
Gisselle Lopez
Features Editor